The Lost Daughter

Chapter 21: Despair

A Raggedy Ann Doll.

That was what Mr. Fano found.

"So? It's just a doll," Daphne rolled her eyes, rather feeling creeped out by the doll. "But I must say, a creepy one."

The Raggedy Ann doll's right eye socket was cut out, a speck of dirt of the doll's red, noodle hair and a fading blood stain on the dress.

"Wait, a blood stain? Why would there be a blood stain on the doll?" Bailey asked, examining the doll. "It appears to be broken as well."

"If we repair this doll, maybe there should be some answers. Or, it would be less creepy." Daphne whispered to Bailey, who clutched the doll in her arms.

"We already have our answers here. A broken doll, a blood stain on her dress. Where did you find this?" Bailey asked, caressing the doll's face.

"Well, I did my own investigation last night. Upon that, I found this doll next to the same spot Mary was killed. I couldn't believe police didn't notice this doll."

"Wait, but when I checked the crime scene the day Mary was killed, the doll wasn't there. Maybe someone purposefully moved it somewhere and then back there or something?" Mr. Reinald said, curiosity filling up in his reluctant brain.

"That person must be a mastermind. We have to put the puzzles together immediately before they get away again!" Daphne demanded, getting all the clues the group gathered.

"Wait, this doll is familiar. If you see this picture of Charlotte and Mary, Mary's clutching the same doll in her hands. Only, the doll is rather 'fixed' then broken in the picture." Bailey explained, pointing at the photograph.

"Then, there's my niece. She appears to be rather cynical and robotic then usual. Holly used to be a cheerful and friendly girl before that incident a few weeks ago. Now, she's just acting like a robot who only expresses hollow."

"Holly is in capable hands. Yes, she can appear to express psychological and hollow behaviour, but she's still in our good hands, Ms. Daphne."

"No, I meant how she knows Ms. Charlotte's deceased daughter. Could she have some sort of alter ego? Could this all just be child's play?"

"Well, we gathered all the clues. But, her alibi! Charlotte's alibi is amped tight and secretly hidden, which means we have to go on our own accounts and state our alibis, and Charlotte's as well."

"You never answered my question."

"Mary is Holly's godmother."

Everyone gasped. "What?! H-HOW?!"

"Exactly," Daphne sighed. "Mary died before Holly was even born. How can she be her godmother?"

"..." Mr. Fano was silent. In fact, everyone was silent for a whole, prolonged minute. Suddenly, he said something.

"The mother of Holly is Charlotte's sister. It's just as simple as that."

"But how come Holly calls her her guardian angel?"

"She simply looks up to her, even having that much knowledge of her family tree."

"This doesn't have to do with Mary's murders. This is random crap you guys are saying. Let's actually talk about the criminal."

"This is stupid. We shouldn't turn the criminal in. The law enforement won't arrest them after that...ransom night."

Mr. Fano sighed. "Look, no matter what the motive is, we have to turn them in. We gathered all the evidence and did all the detective work. We must be praised. Even if the person and law enforement have a good relationship with each other."

"This is stupid. I'm leaving." Daphne left, and so did the baker. Now it was just the boss and Bailey.

"Look, I believe we can serve justice for Mary. Let's pray that they won't be able to hide the secret. Should we go down to the police station?"

"Sure?"

***
They went down to the police station, with all the evidence gathered. They showed it to the police.

"So, she was kidnapped the night of the murder?" a cop asked, taking a look at the evidence.

"No, they lured Mary into the woods. She wasn't kidnapped; she was murdered!" Mr. Fano exclaimed.

"Ridiculous." the cop muttered under his breath.

"W-what?" Mr. Fano said, shocked by the reaction.

"This is crap." the cheif muttered under his breath.

"But you guys performed autopsy. We gathered unforeseen evidence!" Bailey exclaimed.

"Look, please don't waste our time." the cheif sighed.

"B-but..." Mr. Fano stuttered.

"In fact, we'll take your so-called evidence, detectives." the police snatched the evidence. "We must do further investigating."

Mr. Fano and Bailey left, feeling misreable. The police was competely brainwashed into the depths of despair, the abyss of darkness, the murky part being death. Obviously, the iceberg wasn't complete without the dark side. Heavily brutal.

"Well, we should have faith for them for doing the investigating into their own hands." Bailey said.

"Look, I'm sorry for dragging you all into this mess." he apologized.

"No need to apologize, boss. I understand you want to take measures into your own hands." she said, as they both walked back to the orphanage. They both drifted off to sleep, awaiting the results.

Little did they know...their detective work...solved the case.

***
The next morning, police sirens were outside Oakville Orphanage.

"Huh? What's that noise?" Bailey asked, waking up. She let out a yawn before opening the door to erratic knocking and blaring sirens.

"Hello, madam." the cheif said.

"Yes?" she asked.

He looked around. "Have you seen Ms. Charlotte Wormwood?"

"W-what's going on?" Holly woke up, and so did the rest of the orphanage.

"Ah, so there's the child." he said.

"W-what?! Am I b-being taken away?!" Holly shrieked, swatting the police officer's arm. "Leave me alone! You are not taking me."

"Relax, munchkin. I'm not taking you. I'm here to see Charlotte Wormwood."

Charlotte came out of her room, surprised to see police here. She gulped. "Hello, Mr. Willows. Great day, right?"

"Don't play dumb. I'm here to arrest you."

"Arrest me?! What in tarnation is this?! Arresting...me?!"

"Yes, I believe we found the culprit of the crime."