The sun was beginning to lose its radiance as the light was waning. It was much hotter than the snow would lead an observer to believe, so seeing the sun begin to dip was somewhat of a relief. The group of five was sitting around a table outside of a coffee shop. They had finished their lunches and had been lounging around in their seats for the better half of an hour. The day had proven to be a bit more strenuous than anticipated. No reason to overexert themselves on the first day.
They were silent, soaking in the atmosphere of their temporary home. Taking in the surroundings was more of a pseudo-sensation, though. There was an unspoken level of concern between the friends that no one had the courage to bring up. Then Evan spit it out, “Look guys, I talked to my parents today. To put it lightly, they aren’t so happy about us being around what’s happening.”
Tyrone nodded, “Yeah, I can see why they wouldn’t be. Look, man, I’ve enjoyed all of our time here, short as it may be. At the end of the day, though, a little skiing or snowboarding really isn’t worth the risk of getting hurt by someone.”
Tony interjected, “That’s a lot of money down the drain, though.”
Anne put her head on Tony’s shoulder and spoke, “Yeah, it is, but this is out of our control. I know none of us did anything, but we have a detective who has us under a microscope right now and a murder investigation happening around us. It’s not such a great situation to be in.”
Evan nodded in agreement, “Yeah, I’m not super happy about leaving either, but this could be trouble. I mean, hell, maybe Mel isn’t to blame. Maybe he’s an angel who delivers gifts to sick kids in hospital wards. Maybe he’s just a guy. Maybe he’s not. I don’t like what I see when it comes to him. He’s just-”
“He’s nothing, dude,” Tony spoke up, “I looked him up. He checks out. He’s a well-known psychiatrist who deals with the criminally insane. He has a book. He owns the house next to us. I looked this motherfucker up, and he’s…. I mean what the hell else do you want from him? I get it, Evan, you’re gonna catch bad guys and you’re gonna lock them up and you’re gonna be on Criminal Minds and all that good stuff. You’re gonna be awesome. You’re also wrong, this time. I’m sorry, dude, but you threw this guy under the bus before we even looked his ass up. If he wasn’t a killer before, he’s probably gonna kill us for trying to throw his name into the fucking mix as a fucking murderer. Let’s just use some common sense here.”
The group went silent for a moment. It was an awkward kind of silence where everyone wanted to say their piece, but none of them were certain if it was their place to join in. Jennifer spoke up, however, “Tony’s right.” Tyrone shot her a look of concern, but she continued.
“I think Tony’s right. This was a lot of money. Evan, I also think you’re wrong about this guy. All that said, however, we have to look at this from a different angle. Maybe we weren’t the targets here. Maybe, by some freak accident or some sick joke, someone threw an arm onto our roof. Granted, none of that makes sense. The reality of the situation looks like this: someone threw that arm on our roof. Someone threw an arm on Evan’s family’s Colorado getaway home’s roof. Maybe the killer just happened to pick our place at random, but regardless, that house isn’t just a random house anymore. That killer knows our house. That killer is going to see these cops around our house. That person is going to see this story on the news. That monster, he’s familiar with it now.”
Tony looked down for a moment, but then rose up his pointer finger to ask a question. Jennifer glanced at him, giving him the silent ‘okay’ to inquire. He cleared his throat and then proceeded, “But what does this have to do with us? If it was an accident then we’re not a part of anything bigger. We just got unlucky. Plus, why would this person even come back, knowing that the police will probably watch our place like hawks.”
Jennifer shrugged, “I’m not sure. I just know that he knows all about us now. There’s no reason for him to come back, but what if he does. Yesterday, the only people who knew we existed in this state were our families and some old guy that gave us a weird vibe. Now? Well, now we have the entire police force, half of Colorado, probably, and a killer. And the fact that we’re even in the mind of a murderer, much less the fact that we’re probably in the same five-mile-vicinity as a killer, has me freaking out a little. The only reason I’m ok with staying here for a little bit longer, to gather our stuff, is because we have cops watching our asses for the foreseeable future.”
Evan nodded in agreement, “Tony, we get what you’re saying here, but it just doesn’t seem safe. My parents just want us back. They said they could get us a flight out of here tomorrow afternoon. That was the earliest they could find, but I think we could do that.”
Anne rubbed Tony’s arm while she spoke, “I think that might be the best idea for us all. How do you guys feel about going back a little early and just getting this interview with the detective out of the way? I don’t think I’m up to ski any more today. I think I’d rather just relax together as a group.” There were collective groans of agreement as the group began to stand up and waddle their way back to their temporary home.
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The group of five was sitting on the same couch that they had previously been questioned on. Detective Davie was sitting on a chair directly in front of them. There was an apprehensive silence that filled the room as Davie found his words and the group was anxious to hear them. Davie adjusted his collar and then spoke up, “You kids are cleared.” These words brought out a collective sigh from the friends, even if they already knew they were innocent.
He continued, “Background checks show that you five haven’t gotten more than a traffic ticket before. Your itineraries match up. There just doesn’t seem to be a way for you kids to have gotten here and then immediately gone on to kill some random woman. The times don’t match up. You’re good, in my eyes. We’ll have someone patrol your house every hour, just in case. Every twelve hours, someone will check up on you kids. That means they’ll come up, knock on the door, and see how you’re doing. Starting at 8 AM tomorrow and then again at 8 PM. This will continue for as long as you kids are here. We don’t expect any further activity to come from here, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. Plus, we don’t want anything to happen that could’ve been avoided. It’s been a while since we’ve dealt with something like this, but I can promise you that I’ll do everything to fix this as soon as I can.”
Evan smiled, “Thank you, Detective. I have some good news for you though, you won’t need to spend too much of your manpower. My parents are getting tickets for us to get out of here tomorrow at 4. We’ll be out of here by noon to make sure we make it to the airport and then we’ll be out of your hair. I know we probably should’ve waited until we were clear to get the tickets, but I guess we got a little overconfident, being innocent and all. Not that we’re trying to look overly innocent or anything.”
Davie cocked his head and raised his eyebrow, “Son what the hell are you saying right now?”
“Shit, I’m not sure why you make me so darn scared. Not that you’re scary, but-”
Tyrone stepped into the conversation, “I think Evan’s just voicing his gratitude and letting you know we’ll be gone before you know it. Not that we’re trying to get away fast. Well, I guess we are trying to get away fast, because we’re a little scared, but…. Well hell Evan I see what you’re talking about now. This dude is nerve-racking.”
Davie shook his head, “Look, that’s not what I meant. You kids won’t be able to leave tomorrow. There’s a snowstorm coming in. The airports are going to be shut down. The road won’t be clear for another day after that. You kids are looking at being here, maybe another two or three days at least.”
Evan opened his mouth to voice his objection to this statement, as if he had a say in the matter. However, he was at a loss for words. They were stuck in this town for an extra two days at the least. Two days in a small town with a killer whose identity could easily be the Grinch’s for all the authorities knew. He finally found the courage to say, “Oh… shit.”
Davie frowned the kind of frown one makes when they feel like they’ve disappointed someone, “Also, I went and talked to your neighbor today. He’s not the most pleasant man around, but he’s no killer. I haven’t met many, but he doesn’t fit the-”
Kksksssshhhhksshhksshkk
Davie jumped a little in his seat as he reached for his walkie-talkie. He pressed the button and spoke with a commanding voice, “Yes? This is Davie. Talk up! I can’t hear a damn thing you’re saying.”
“Sorry…kssshhshhhskkk….. it’s pretty windy out here…kskshhkkkshsk…. we found another body…..kssshhhskksshhhh….”
Davie’s eyes widened and began to cough a little. He wheezed out, “Wait. Hold on, give me a minute to get out of this room and you can tell me more. Just… just wait a damn minute!” Davie gave a weak smile to the group of friends and speed-walked out of the house. Evan turned to the others and then hopped up. He ran quietly to the front door and put his ear to it. After a few moments the group heard a car peel out and slowly drive away until there was nothing but silence. Evan dragged his feet as he reentered the room.
Tony spoke up, “You alright, dude? You hear anything?”
Evan licked his lips and weakly said, “Yeah. I heard the word ‘sister’. I heard that word a lot.”
“And?”
“Well, apparently the lady who got killed had a sister. I saw her a few times today. She was pretty torn up. I mean…. I guess that only makes sense.”
“Ok? And? What’s that have to do with us? Was she the other body?”
“ I think so. The only other thing I could make out was, well…”
“Dude, just spit it out.”
“They kept saying they found her body, but she’s missing her arm just like her sister.”
BAM!!!
A loud thud was heard as something hit Evan’s front door. The group jumped as they all looked at the door with curious fear. Evan began to inch his way towards the entrance. He opened the door and shut it immediately and locked every lock the door had as he rushed back into the living room. His face was red as he barked out orders, “Take someone with you and check every room in this house. Make sure there are no doors or windows open. Make sure that no window is left without blinds covering it. Make sure there’s no fucking way someone gets in or out of this house.”
Tyrone asked with his voice shaking, “Uhh what the fuck is happening?”
Evan pulled at his hair as he tried to calm down and said, “Davie left. We need to call 911 and get a cop here as fast as we can. There’s a fucking arm outside the door.”