The morning after the party was a normal one. I had enjoyed the party and was ready to take on my duties for which I had come to town. And everything was under control before Annie called. She had exciting news; she said. I doubted the news was as exciting as she made it out to be, but boy; was I wrong.
“So, I heard that a woman washed up on the beach this morning.” She said. I stopped what I was doing for a second, stunned.
“Oh? What do you mean?”
“I mean, a dead woman washed up on the beach today.” Annie sounded appalled. “I overheard Molly telling Peter that the police said it was probable that she committed suicide or she drowned.”
“That’s a lot of gossiping,” I said. I refused to believe any bodies washed up on the beach; especially in such a sweet and peaceful little town. “So far, it’s all hearsay.”
“Well, yes. But no.” Annie shrieked. I thought she sounded like she was shrieking, but she didn’t think she was.
“Who found the body?”
“Vanessa.” I know who Vanessa is; she’s the girl I… never liked. The one girl who was better than me at building sandcastles, eating marshmallow eggs and even building snowmen. I didn’t hate her; I disliked her immensely. “You need to grow up, Angie, that was years ago,” Annie said.
“What?”
“I know you’re still mad at her because one time when you were like twelve; she built a bigger snowman than you,” Annie said. I groaned; I was ten, but I decided not to mention that. “Anyway, who was the victim?.”
“We’ll see. Wait for the police to come to you.” I said. “And don’t say things that’ll incriminate you.” I still thought this was all a load of garbage, some lively gossip to liven the town and bring a little scintillating thrill.
But a police officer showing up at Aunt Poppy’s front door thwarted my hopefulness. I heard the knock and peeped through the peephole. A police officer in uniform. My breathing picked up and I could feel my hands go clammy and sweaty. Ew.
I opened the door and looked at the police with wide eyes. “Hi?” I sounded as panicked as I felt.
“Miss…” He looked down at his little notebook. “Blackburn. I would like to ask you a few questions about the body we found on the beach.”
“A body?” I asked. “I don’t think I can help…”
“Were you at the party last night?” I nodded. “Then you can help me.”
“Oh. But that doesn’t mean I could have seen anything or heard anything.” I felt curious.
“May I come in?” I let him come in and took him to the sitting room. He looked at me solemnly then said; “This morning, a woman’s body was recovered on the beach.” I’d gathered as much. “I need to talk to any possible witnesses because I can’t yet identify the woman.”
I nodded slowly. “I still don’t think I can help.”
“Have you seen her before? I’m afraid the only photo we have of her is after she died.” He held out his phone to me, I took it and looked at the woman.
“No,” I said, but something about her seemed familiar to me. “What are you saying killed her?” I handed the phone back to him.
“We’re treating this as accidental death or a suicide.”
“But it couldn’t have been any of those,” I said. My appalled face told him how unimpressed by his sleuthing skills I was.
“What do you mean?” He asked me.
“Well, you see. If she committed suicide; how did she end up in the water? And if it was accidental, the same question stands.” I said. He gave me an amused look. He probably thought because he had a badge and was about thirty-five; he was more intelligent than me.
“The answer to those questions would be she drowned…”
“Yes, but no,” I said. Maybe I hadn’t explained myself eloquently. “She has strangulation marks around her neck.”
He frowned at me and took out his phone. After looking at the woman, he directed his gaze back to me. “And?”
“And if she committed suicide, someone must have put her in the water. But if they strangled her, then that’s not accidental, is it?” I asked. “Did you see the body before you came here, detective?”
“No. They called me from the station.”
“Well, next time, look at the victim before traumatising poor civilians.” I stood up and expected him to do the same, but he didn’t. So I sat back down. “What else?”
“How did you see that?”
“What? The strangulation marks?” He nodded. “Oh, they’re visible,” I said. Then realised my mistake. The picture only had a tiny part of the neck exposed. But to me, it had been as clear as day. He raised an eyebrow, and I shrugged.
“Did anything worth telling me happen at the party last night?”
I tried to remember everything about the party I’d been to a few short hours before this, but my brain came up with normal party things. People drank, ate, talked, laughed, hugged and made out. I couldn’t remember anything out of the ordinary. And I figured that was because I didn’t live in Lesbrook, so I wouldn’t know what was abnormal to everyone here.
“No. I didn’t move around much and I didn’t talk to many people.” I said, apologetically. “I’m more of an… introvert so I don’t like crowds.” I’d gone because my aunt made me…
“Thank you. I’ll be talking to you again, so please stay in town.” And with that, he stood up and saw himself out.
I tried to focus on my work but failed beautifully. Giving up, I trudged to Aunt Poppy and tried to think of a plausible excuse to leave her alone at this time of day. I decided on telling her I would be at Annie’s house for a few hours. She wholeheartedly agreed to let me go, so I left.
Aunt Poppy desperately wanted me to have a social life, and when I seemed interested; she jumped at it. But I didn’t go to Annie’s house. I went to the beach; the crime scene. Or alleged crime scene. I had an inkling of an idea that it wasn’t the crime scene; I wanted to be able to prove it to the detective if I ever got to talk to him again.
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