Detective Crawford

5

When Megan pulled up to the two-story house and saw Peter's car in the parking lot, she was relieved.

The house was large, light gray, with white tile on both sides of the house, which matched the large white windows, doors, and dark gray roof.

"Should I go with you or..."

"Go, they need you there. If you find out anything, call me."

"Okay-okay" He raised his hands in front of him in an innocent gesture.

Megan handed Alex his phone and got out of the car, leaning over to say goodbye.

"See you later. Don't forget to call!"

"Bye."

As soon as Megan slammed the door, Alex drove off, leaving her on her sister's porch, remembering the sunny days they had spent playing with Stella.

***

"Come on, Stella, throw me the ball."

It was a sunny day in June. The girl was 7 years old. In the yard, Megan and Stella were playing catch. Whitney was in the hall, embroidering and watching the game through the big window.

-"Catch it!" Stella threw the ball.

***

Megan wished she could go back to that carefree time, where there were no problems or obstacles. She gradually remembered the moments when she and Stella had been together.This house was like her own.

She hesitated, her hand frozen a few inches from the door, but she gathered her strength and knocked on the white door. It didn't take long for the owners to answer. Her sister's husband, Peter, opened the door, and he was crying. Megan had never seen a man with eyes like that.

"Megan, it's so good to have you here..."

"Oh, my God, are you okay? Where's Whitney?"

"Don't just stand there, come on in. Whitney's in the bedroom, I can't get her to calm down."When Megan entered the house, she was shocked. The whole house was upside down, chairs, table and other knickknacks were turned over, and pictures of their family were on the floor.

"I'm sorry about the mess. She was just blowing off steam. When she heard about..." Peter couldn't get the words out. "I didn't realize what happened, I was working on the computer in the bedroom and I heard everything in the living room falling over and over. I ran out and Whitney was standing there, crying. When she told me about... Stella... I thought I was going to go crazy." He looked as if he was about to cry, but he managed to control himself and said, "I'm sorry...I need to calm down a bit, so I'm going for a walk..."

"Of course," Megan didn't know that, she had never heard her husband talk about his feelings or problems.All he did was drink. It was the only way she could tell that something was bothering him.

When Peter came out, Megan ran to Whitney's room. Opening the door to the bedroom, Megan found the same scene as in the living room-everything had been overturned. Only Whitney sat with her back to the bed, her arms around her knees, crying softly to herself.

"Whitney, Honey...."

Megan tiptoed over to her sister and quietly sat down beside her, putting her arms around her frail shoulders.

"Megan, tell me it's not true, tell me the police made a mistake, tell me it's not her! They just made a mistake, it's just a girl who looks like my daughter, it can't be Stella, it can't be her..."

"Whitney, calm down..."

Whitney lifted her head to Megan's to look into her eyes, to find a bit of what she wanted to hear.

"It's not her... she can't... Who recognized her, tell me? They must have made a mistake or recognized her, but..."

"Whitney, I recognized her, I realized it was our Stella... I told the investigators..."

A storm of negative emotions appeared in Whitney's eyes. Her pupils dilated. Whitney stood up and held her head. She didn't want to accept it, didn't want to accept her daughter's death, that her daughter was in that pit.I could see the disbelief in her eyes.

"I can't believe this. You're lying to me."

"Whitney, I have no reason to lie to you."

"Why is this happening to me?! Why is this happening to her?! It's not fair, she hasn't done anything wrong, she couldn't have done anything wrong, so why is this happening to her?" She shook her head in frustration.

Megan stood up, too, to be on equal footing with her sister.

"Whitney...there are no details on the...crime yet...I asked Alex..."

"I don't care about that, I want to know who did this to my daughter!" Whitney started to scream.

"Calm down, now is not the time for anger."

"Not the time?! Is it the time for my daughter to die?! Tell me who killed her?! He must be punished! I will deal with him myself!" Whitney screamed with tears in her depressed eyes.

"Whitney, I don't know who did this! I don't know anything yet, I don't know any details! Please calm down, for your own health. If you can't do it for me, then at least do it for Stella..."

"Would she have wanted that?" Whitney wheezed a little, bitter tears welling up in her cloudy, tired eyes.

"Very much... She would be very proud of you right now."

Whitney smiled mischievously and painfully, clear tears glistening in her eyes, with a bit of sadness and grief in them. Megan had hit a nerve and she knew it. She went to her sister and hugged her tightly. They both needed support now more than ever. They had stuck together since childhood, through all the conflicts and other misunderstandings. The sisters slid to the ground, and even there they did not let go of each other. Heavy tears were pouring out of both of them, and even when 2 hours ago, Megan thought that she had cried all her tears. She now realized that they were still there, as if they had been gradually gathering for this moment in time. And she is crying, crying like she has probably never cried before.