Crime At Northland Lake (Completed)

The Final Interrogation

Nick was totally confused. This made absolutely no sense. After getting maximum information from Zachary, Nick exited the building. The weather had completely changed, and so had the case. The detective drove back. But this time, he chose to pass by Northland Lake.
The lake seemed to get fuller and fuller as the rain got more heavier. "Rain at this time." Nick looked out of the window. "Strange weather."

The detective felt the place was too decent for it to be the starting point of the case. Just when Nick started the accelerator, a half drenched woman with an umbrella, something in her hands came in front of the car. "Woah!" Nick exclaimed. The woman suddenly stopped and turned towards the detective. "Mrs. Howard maybe?" Nick guessed.
"Be careful ma'am." Nick said as he opened the window. "You're Mrs. Howard I suppose?" He asked. The grey-haired woman nodded with a smile.
"I'm Nick McAllister from the police department. I talked with your husband earlier on in the day." Nick informed.
Mrs. Howard slowly came towards the white sedan. "You-you're that detective aren't you?" She asked.
"Yes ma'am. I'm working on a case in which this place has great importance." Nick replied.
"Well, then I think you shouldn't stay here." Mrs. Howard gulped. "You better get moving. This place is filled with strange things since Friday night." Without expecting a reply, she hurried towards the cottage.

"Mrs. Howard!" Nick called and immediately the lady stopped. "You know that something has happened. And why do I think you know more than me?" He asked.
"What if I accept that?" The lady asked coming towards the car once again.
"It would be good for me and you."
"But I don't think I should." Mrs. Howard said. "What if I get harmed."
"That won't happen. Plus I'm a detective. Even if you don't tell me, I'll find out somehow. So, I prefer you to tell me what you know yourself." Nick said with a serious look on his face. Mrs. Howard nodded softly, yet not so confidently. "Will your cottage be a place good enough to discuss?" The detective asked.
"No." The woman replied. "My husband will be there. What about the nearby coffee shop?" She suggested.
"That's more risky." Nick replied. "Get in the car. This seems like the most safest for the time-being." As he said this, Mrs. Howard entered the well-maintained vehicle. She was shivering, either with fear or because of the weather.
"Now ma'am, I need you to tell me all you know about the case." Nick said. "Everything."
"My husband must've told you that he'd heard something. Well, I saw a lot of things." The lady said.
"Tell me."

"I was fast asleep at midnight. But a sudden engine sound woke me up at twelve twenty five." Mrs. Howard said. "I wouldn't have heard it if I'd slept in my own bedroom. But me and my husband had a conflict earlier on in the day, so I preferred to sleep in the living room couch. The engine of the vehicle was on for a pretty long time. I also heard the door open and close several times. Then I slowly started hearing voices." Mrs. Howard cleared her throat.

"What time did you hear the voices?" Nick asked.
"Around twelve forty I guess. Definitely not before that." The lady replied. "Anyways, I felt really annoyed after some time. So I went out to have a check. There, I realised that the engine sound was coming from a white jeep."
"Did you see any other vehicle?" Nick asked.
"Nope. I looked around but the white jeep was the only vehicle that was there at that time." Mrs. Howard answered. "Till then, I was at the porch. After a moment, I noticed a manly figure come out of the jeep. I couldn't see his face, so I went a bit more closer. Unfortunately, the hoody covered his face. But I did notice one thing when the figure went in front of the headlights." The lady said as she scratched her neck. "He was wearing a necklace with a pendant shaped like an 'S'. The pendant was so shiny which made it visible to where I was standing."

"Pendant." Nick murmured to himself.
"Then it appeared that somebody else was inside the jeep. It was around one that the figure went to hide behind the other side of the jeep when another vehicle approached a few meters behind it."
"That was the time Mr. McMillan arrived." Nick thought.
"Then I noticed a man get out of the vehicle. He immediately went near the so-called pine tree and kept something. I couldn't see what it was. The entire time, the figure was behind the jeep as if he didn't want to be seen by the new fellow. The man stood there for some time and came back up to the road near the white jeep. As he moved around the jeep, the figure moved along the same direction. Something very serious was going. I almost screeched when the figure attacked the man from behind. Immediately, he carried the man and kept him inside the other vehicle. The figure seemed to be in a rush. Then he went near the tree and collected some cloth. I think it was a bag." Mrs. Howard stopped.

"After that?" Nick tilted his head. The lady gulped. Words seemed to be stuck in her throat. "Tell me ma'am. You're going good."
"The-the figure put the bag inside the jeep and got a body out."
"A body?" The detective frowned.
"Yes." Mrs. Howard replied. "It was shaped like a female and I'm pretty sure it was dead."
"How can you say that?" Nick asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Because the figure dropped the body in the lake. I don't think a person who's alive would allow another person to do that."
"What!" Nick exclaimed.
Mrs. Howard nodded. "I went closer to observe but I stamped on a pile of sticks creating a sound audible to the figure. He suddenly got attentive and ran back to the jeep. If he'd turned back, he might've seen me. I'm lucky he didn't, otherwise I would've been dead by now."
"What happened to the body?" The young man asked biting his nails.
"It floated for some time and slowly began to sink. When I saw yesterday morning, the body wasn't there." The lady replied. "Since that night, I haven't gone near that lake."
Nick stayed quiet for a while. This story just didn't match up to the information he had. "Ma'am, did you see another jeep come at around twelve fifty?" He asked.
"Nope. After the white jeep, only one vehicle came." The lady answered.
"At least did you see another man keep something near the pine tree?"
"Not at all. Only one person kept a bag or something and the other figure collected it."

"So you're saying you saw only two vehicles and two people. One kept the bag and one picked it up, and also dropped a body in the lake." Nick summarised.
"Exactly. That's all I saw. My eyes can't lie and neither I can to you." Mrs. Howard said hesitantly.
"What time did u wake up yesterday? Did you see any vehicle in the morning?" Nick asked.
"I woke up at seven thirty. I just saw a vehicle move from its parking space at around seven fifty I suppose. I just ended up guessing that the vehicle was the same which I'd seen that night."
"Was it a white jeep?"
"No. It was a brown SUV, I suppose."

"Definitely that was Mr. McMillan." Nick whispered to himself. "Is this all?" He asked the woman.
Without a reply, Mrs. Howard slowly took out her phone and handed it over to Nick. "Just in case you don't trust me, you can check my gallery."
The detective was astonished. The old lady had taken snaps of the events that had taken place. Nick, now was sure that Mrs. Howard was telling the truth. "These photos match up the time and information you've given me. I'm extremely grateful to you ma'am. Keep the photos safe. This is important evidence." Nick said.

Both stayed silent until Mrs. Howard declared that this was all she knew and had to head back. As soon as the lady walked out, the detective took out Simon Mathews' diary and began reading it. Finishing it didn't take more than ten minutes. "The events in this diary are just how Mr. Mathews told me." Nick said to himself. "But according to Zachary, Sarah Mathews doesn't even fit in the story. And according to Mrs Howard, not only Sarah, but even Simon Mathews doesn't fit in." The detective took a deep breathe, and drove back to the station.

Back at the building, Nick saw both the men waiting for him impatiently. "What took you so long?" Cole asked.
"Things just got more confusing." Nick stated, as he sat down next to the Deputy on the couch. He explained the entire story to them what Zachary and Mrs Howard had told.
"This makes no sense!" James exclaimed. "It was a case of two missing women. Now it turns out that one of those woman hasn't even been a part of this."

"I wouldn't have believed it." Nick said. "But the record book had no name such as Sarah Mathews. Even the only eye witness, Mrs. Howard, didn't see Sarah or Simon."
"Then where do they even fit in?" James asked.
"What about that necklace with the 'S' shaped pendant?" Cole asked. "You found that near the pine tree and Mrs. Howard saw the figure wearing it."
"She was also sure that the figure was a man." Nick said. The detective stayed quiet and so did everybody else. After a while he got up from his seat and started speaking. "Maybe Sarah Mathews doesn't fit in, but Simon Mathews definitely does." Nick scratched his head.

"What do you mean?" James asked. Nick looked sharply at both the men and gave a smirk. "Simon was there in the scene. Not as a victim to the blackmailer, but as the blackmailer himself."