Like all the town's public buildings, the police station is old. About ten people work here. The first floor and upper floors are reserved for the sheriff and his deputies, while the lower floors house the morgue.

Throughout the journey, no one speaks. Alicia and Julia are anxious to face their parents. Eli wonders why they have to go, given that the sheriff has already heard them and is sure to have taken further testimony.

Leon pulls into the parking lot and everyone gets out of the car.

Eli looks at his friends and asks, "Ready to face your parents?"

"Definitely not. My parents are going to lecture me about what happened and also about how I took so long to tell them," Alicia replies.

"Same as Alicia, but I don't think my dad's been around. He's probably sleeping it off somewhere," Julia explains.

Eli and Alicia look at Julia with compassion. They know Julia's father is complicated. Not a bad person, per se, but a bad father, for sure. Fortunately, her mother, Maria, is absolutely brilliant.

They enter the lobby of the police station. Tom chats with Julia's mother and Alicia's parents.

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They notice the newcomers. Maria rushes over to Julia, and Alicia's parents do the same with their daughter.

Eli looks at his father. "Good thing you already know everything."

His father replies with a big smile, "Maybe, but expect a lecture tonight about what happened at the party."

Eli purses her lips. Her father can either scold her hard or scold her gently. She never really knows what to expect. He hasn't said anything so far because he's worried and because Eli is with Alicia and Julia, but he never forgets.

The sheriff arrives. "Leon, shall we start with Eli? The others look like they need to talk before they see me."

"Sounds good to me. Let's go, Eli."

Eli and his father follow the sheriff into his office.

The sheriff asks Eli a lot of questions. His father intervenes when he feels the questions are irrelevant or intrusive. The interview lasts over an hour. By the time Eli leaves, she's exhausted. Why is the sheriff asking her so many questions? Unrelated questions, or questions she's already answered at the party.

"I'm hungry, aren't you?" asks her father.

"Me too," replies Eli.

"Let's go eat at Chez Marie.

"Sounds good to me!" thinks Eli, already thinking about what she's going to order.

Eli and his dad tell Julia and her mom that it's their turn to go see the sheriff. Eli says goodbye to her friends, then sets off with her father in the direction of the town's café-restaurant.