What Happened to Sephy?

Episode Two - The Day Of

"First things first, wow! 

I am so blown away by the response I've had to my one, badly recorded episode of my podcast. Honestly, when I first did it, I was just desperate, trying anything to draw some attention to this case, anything at all. I didn't think it would go anywhere. I wasn't even really considering recording another episode, not for a while anyway, the first one really took it out of me emotionally, but the fact that people have listened to me...well, I am just blown away. I owe you an episode, and I feel energized for it as well. It's amazing. 

Thank you as well for all the online response. Some of it was negative, in particular those who don't yet understand why I think Sephy's Life belongs to my sister, but I was expecting that. I suppose all I can do is hope that you stick around and keep listening for long enough to my explanation, when I get to it.I'm trying to do things in a way that makes sense, and the blog doesn't come into it just yet. One step at a time. 

On to today's episode. 

 So, I guess the best thing for me to do right now, for those of you who don't live near me and haven't heard about this crime, is give you all the details. Obviously, they are quite horrific, but important in the understanding of this case, and since I'm over here asking for help, you're going to need all the information I have. 

I'll convey it in chronological order. I don't know about you, but for me that's the best way to try and get an understanding of things. 

April twenty-fifth. The day of, Tia Spencer was in charge of opening up the candy store at ten that morning, having just been promoted to supervisor, so she arrived at Sweet Tooth a little earlier than everyone else, at approximately twenty to ten, to set up the tills and make sure all the shelves were stocked and everything like that. She took her new role very seriously, Tia wanted to go far in retail. There was nothing out of the ordinary going on then, according to all reports. She had the radio on and was just getting on with her job, happy as could be. 

Olivia Smith and Molly Johnson turned up together, at ten on the dot. They were neighbors so often arrived at work at the same time, just as the front door was opening. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. The sun was shining and they were all ready for a good day. 

My sister, Lyla Joplin, was famous for being late. She was one of those people who couldn't manage to get herself together to be at a certain place on time, no matter how long she had to prepare. I never understood that, but that's because I'm the opposite. Being late makes me anxious.So, at about ten past ten, in Lyla ran and the day kicked off. 

Sweet Tooth was busy that morning. It seems the demand for sweets kept all four girls on their toes. The lunch time rush was even busier, but after that business died down a little, giving them some breathing space. 

Like I mentioned in the last episode, these four girls were all great friends, so I'm sure they used this time to gossip and catch up on what was going on in one another's lives. They all will have had a lot to discuss as well, since there was so much drama going on in all their lives. But again, more on that later. This episode is all about the facts of the day. 

Late in the afternoon, after the post-school rush, but just before Sweet Tooth closed, the straggle of customers who visited the store reported two men acting suspiciously, seeming to be in the store for something other than shopping. Men who have often been the focus of theories regarding what happened, but like I said in the previous episode, there don't seem to be any official suspects at the moment. 

Unfortunately, no one thought that these men were suspicious enough to need to report them to the police. While this is something I've wrestled with over time, because I'm looking at it through hindsight, but I suppose there are times when everyone sees someone looking a bit shady, but you can't always do something about it. 

And it doesn't always end in triple murder, with someone missing. 

The next thing to be reported is the owner of the store coming to pick up the day's earnings from the safe at nine in the evening, three hours after closing time. I'm sure his blood ran cold when he noticed the front of the store still open. Like I said before, Tia took her job very seriously. She wouldn't make a mistake as big as this one. 

Then it must have been even worse for him to walk inside, and see the mess of the store. Everything was everywhere, his sweets, most of them hand-crafted, were scattered over the floor and broken. The till had been split open and of course, all the money was gone. Tables and stands were broken. It looked like a massive struggle had taken place. 

But it got worse. 

He walked behind the counter to find the lifeless bodies of Tia, Molly, and Olivia piled on top of one another, in a horrific pile of blood.Tia's throat had been slit, Olivia had been stabbed in the chest and throat fifteen times, and Molly had been strangled. 

He had walked into a horror movie, and it was only just beginning. 

Of course, we have so much more to get into. That was the bare bones to the story, but I want everything to be understood properly. I'm going to leave it there today and hope that if you do have any questions about anything I've said so far, you will ask me. I will do my best to answer everything, I promise. 

Thanks again for listening. You have no idea what it means to me."