Amicia was sitting in an interrogation room. She’d been here for about 15 minutes. She was given a cup of coffee and told that a detective would be coming in soon. The officer that had brought her in had assured her she wasn’t being formally arrested. She had a sneaking suspicion that she’d find the door was locked if she tried it.

After some time, the door finally opened. Amicia had finished her coffee and was browsing her phone. Jack and Lily had posted pictures of Blossom online. There was a photo of Lily bringing Blossom to a park. She was trying to calm Blossom down after a dog had tried to sniff her. It was adorable.

A woman came in. She was wearing her badge on her hip, a red blouse, and tan slacks. She was in her late 30s, had a wedding ring, and was African American. She took a seat across from Amicia and began to speak. “Hello, Miss Danvers. I’m Detective Felicia Wyatt of the Walland police department. I’m sure you’ve had a frightening night. I just need to ask you a few questions and we’ll have you on your way.”

“Sure detective. What can I do for you?” Amicia replied

“How do you know Jeff Lennart?”

“Before tonight, I only knew Jeff by name. I read a few of the fracking articles he’d written to prepare for my own article. Serenity City is my home and I’d rather it not be ruined by the environmental effects of urban fracking.”

“So how did you get from reading a few articles to coming down to visit us in Walland, Miss Danvers?”

“I always do my research on sources. When I looked into Jeff Lennart, I saw that he was being disgraced for faking evidence for an article. I was shocked, really. I had checked all of his sources for his fracking articles and they had come back fine. So I looked into what could’ve led to him releasing an apology for falsifying a photo. That was what led me to the hanging skin.”

“Ah yes. The famous hanging skin. “ The detective rolled her eyes.

“I wouldn’t be so dismissive, detective. Your men did find a skinless man today.”

“Yes they did, didn’t they. What exactly do you know about the skinless man, Miss Danvers.” asked Detective Wyatt. Her eyes had sharpened on Amicia. She searched for any sign that Amicia was lying.

However, Amicia didn’t have to lie. “I guess I don’t really know much. The guy pounded on Jeff’s windows while Jeff and I were talking about his recent scandal. We both saw him and freaked out. The man was saying something while hammering at the glass. I think Jeff recognized the guy’s voice. I heard him call the man Keith.”

“Jeff told us you ran outside. Why did you do that Miss Danvers? Wouldn’t a sane, rational woman have stayed inside?”

“Maybe. But I considered myself a journalist first. I wanted to investigate. I mean how did that guy get there? What happened to him to make him like that? I thought maybe I’d get the scoop.”

“The scoop.” Detective Wyatt said sarcastically. “ You’re a journalist for SNY radio, Miss Danvers. Why go to such lengths for a dying medium.”

“I guess I’m just hungry for a promotion, detective. Not that radio’s a bad gig. I think we’ll be seeing a resurgence of the audio medium soon. I mean podcasts are getting popular again.”

The detective shook her head at Amicia. “Let’s get back to Jeff Lennart. The police found an envelope of cash inside his house. He says the money’s from you.”

“It is. I’ve always been a big supporter of paying journalists for their work. As are my bosses. I do hope you’ll be returning the money to Mr. Lennart. He’s got a sick sister to take care of and he’s been very helpful to me and SNY. I’d be happy to put him in touch with the company’s lawyers should he need it.” Amicia said, while giving the detective a brilliant smile.

Detective Wyatt gave a hard glare to Amicia. “If there’s an accusation in there Miss Danvers, I’ll have you know we follow the law in Walland.”

“Laws like civil forfeiture?” Amicia asked with an eyebrow raised.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

The detective said through gritted teeth, “I assure you that your fellow journalist will receive his property once we’ve determined whether or not he had a hand in whatever happened to the skinned man. As for you Miss Danvers, I think we’re done here.”

Amicia was escorted out of the police station by an annoyed detective. She had sat in her car for an hour, waiting to see if Jeff would be released. The case against him was almost non-existent. He was also an experienced journalist. He should know to lawyer up as soon as possible. Sure enough, Amicia saw Jeff exiting the station with another man in tow. She got out of the car and approached them.

There was a portly man speaking to Jeff. “Jeff, I need you to keep your head down while we take care of this. If there’s anything you need to tell me-”

Jeff shook his head angrily. “I told you, I didn’t have anything to do with Keith. If that guy even was Keith!”

Amicia interrupted them in the middle of their argument, “Jeff? Are you alright?” Jeff turned around to see Amicia standing there. He seemed surprised that she was still waiting in the parking lot.

“Alicia! Hey. Yeah, I’m alright. I didn’t like being treated like a crazy guy going around skinning people, but I’m not surprised the police jumped on the chance to frame me.” Jeff answered.

“Did they return the money to you?”

Jeff nodded, “I did get the money back, but I have some bad news to give you. The cops took those files I collected for you. I have some backups, but not of everything.”

He sighed and scratched his head nervously, “Look I know it’s not what you paid for, but if you just give me some time I can-”

Amicia stopped him, “No, you misunderstood me Jeff. I want you to keep the money.”

“You do?” he asked in surprise.

“I do,” she reassured him. “As for the files, I’ll text you my email. I’d appreciate you sending me everything you’ve got digitized.”

“I will.” Jeff promised. “I’m ready to answer any question you have for me.”

Jeff’s lawyer coughed. “Any question not about Jeff’s involvement with Keith Duggar.”

Jeff looked at him in annoyance. “I told you before Frank, I had nothing to do with that.”

The two of them looked like they were going to continue their argument, but Amicia stopped them. “Gentlemen, please. I’ll call you if I have more questions, Jeff. I might be out of town for a while. I have another story to work on.”

Amicia said her goodbyes to the two men and walked back to her car. The files being confiscated were unfortunate, but she had another lead to follow up on. She pulled up her phone to a page she had saved. It was an elementary school staff page for a school in Knoxville. Daphne Wright had been released from Eastern State hospital just 2 years after that interview with Doctor Singleton. She went on to become a school teacher at Waylon Elementary.

Back then, the Eastern State Hospital’s bevy of mismanagement meant that often patients would just be released into the community. They’d be shipped off with a greyhound bus ticket without even so much as a farewell. Even those that were placed there by courts having been convicted by a jury of their peers. People such as Daphne Wright.

Daphne Wright had decided to leave Walland behind and start a new life in Knoxville. She got remarried and had kids. 4 boys and a girl. All adults now with their own lives.

Amicia had checked around for Daphne’s latest address. She still lived in a home in the suburbs. Daphne and her husband had bought that home together almost 40 years ago. Daphne still went out in public often. She could be seen attending bake sales, fundraisers, and other community events. Amicia didn’t know how much Daphne remembered about that night. By now, it would’ve been almost 50 years.

Still Amicia had to try. Amicia had looked into other disappearances in Wayland around the time Daphne Wright had supposedly killed her husband and skinned him. She’d come up with 3 names, but she’d hit a roadblock. 2 of the other victims were married but without children. Their spouses had passed in the decades between then and now. The last victim wasn’t married at all. Daphne was her last link to the original disappearances. There were no useful police files from that decade in the 60s. If there was, the network would’ve pointed her to them.

If the variant was a carrion type, then there would be a chance that it had or was planning to target Daphne. Nothing on Daphne’s posts online said she was experiencing anything like the people of Walland had lately. No break-ins. No shattered windows. She seemed fine. Her kids either lived in different states or a couple hours away at least. She was old and vulnerable. She should’ve been the perfect target for the carrion, but she seemed perfectly fine. For now, at least. Was the variant saving her for last? Why? Why did the original variant let her go, but kill her husband? Amicia needed to find out what really happened all those years ago.

Amicia grabbed her crossbow laying on the passenger side seat. She felt the smooth curves of the weapon in her hand. She’d cleaned it until it was pristine in form. Amicia practiced with it for weeks, honing her shots. She hadn’t mastered it yet, but Araña had always complimented her on her aim. Even on those drills and obstacle courses he’d made her do. Of course, she had a gun back then.

Amicia had tagged the creature tonight with her knife. She counted her first battle with the variant as an overall loss. She hadn’t killed the thing after all. Next time, though. Next time they met, she’d nail the bastard to the wall.