October 2nd, 2016

Kinsky, California, USA

Investigation

Maria looked at the board. Her eyes shifted from name to name, as she became unsettled by the choices that lay before her. Finally, she shook her head.

“I don’t want it to be any of them.”

Cole looked over her shoulder, looking at the board himself, eyeing all the names and realizing the same fact. “It doesn’t have to be one of them,” he rationalized. “It’s just that narrowing things down will make it easier to find a lead.”

There were 11 notecards pinned to a softwood board. Each card held a different name. 

                                               KAT                 ASH                  RODRIGO

                                            SADJA             LUKAS                  ROSE

                                          AARON              EMILY                 MAURICE

                                                        ISAAC            LORENZO

Maria turned to Cole. “Is it okay if we start by ruling people out?”

“Yeah, that’s smart.” Cole walked back a bit to get the whole scope of the board. He thought to himself for a moment, looking at the combination of names again.

“Can’t be Lukas. Last time he was at the house was in mid July, for the birthday party,” Cole realized.

Maria crossed out Lukas’ name with a red marker. She then walked backwards herself.

“Can’t be Maurice or Emily,” she said. “They’ve only come over a handful of times, and I was in the same room with them the entire time when they did.” She crossed both their names out.

Cole crossed his arms, taping the bottom of his elbow with his fingers. “Can’t be Aaron or Isaac, they don’t come.”

Maria shook her head. “Nope, just Isaac.” She crossed out his name.

Cole looked at her, confused. “What do you mean?”

“When Kat comes, it’s just her. But Rose always brings Aaron.”

“I… didn’t know that. She never mentioned it.”

The two went back to looking at the board. Cole spoke up again.

“Can’t be Rodrigo. He’s only come a few times too, and mostly stays in the living room. Besides, he hates kids.”

Maria crossed out his name, and reached up to cross one more name as well. “And it can’t be Ash. The only time she’s here is to help me with school.”

After she put a cap back on the marker, the two took a good look at what was left.

                                               KAT                 ASH                  RODRIGO

                                            SADJA             LUKAS                  ROSE

                                          AARON              EMILY                 MAURICE

                                                        ISAAC            LORENZO

Cole looked at the board closely, staring at the remaining names. 

“It can’t be Kat.”

Maria looked back at him. He opened his mouth, but struggled with the words.

“It… wouldn’t be Kat.”

“I thought we weren’t going to eliminate someone unless we had proof that it couldn’t be them?”

Cole shook his head, and sighed. “You’re right. Then that leaves… Kat, Sadja, Rose, Aaron, and Lorenzo.”

Maria sat back down on top of her bed. “So, the two most important dates. August 22nd…”

Cole continued to pace around. “The date that Anita told you something was wrong.”

“…and July 19th…”

“The last time we were all together. Minus Lorenzo and Ash.”

Maria turned to look at her calendar, which was above her nightstand table. “Aaron and Kat weren’t over the week of the 22nd, either. Of course, that doesn’t mean we can rule them out.”

“Yeah…” Cole grabbed a mechanical pencil off Maria’s desk, and began fiddling with it while he sat in her chair. “We should talk about how we want to split up interviews. One of us should pick Rose and the other Aaron, so they don’t get suspicious.”

Maria nodded. “I can take Rose and Sadja.”

Cole stopped fiddling with the pencil, standing it up on the desk by the end of its eraser. “Then I’ll take Kat and Aaron. When do we want to do it?”

Maria looked at her calendar more closely. “The 9th? I don’t have much on that day. It’s next Sunday.”

Cole looked at the calendar, nodding. “Works for me. How are we gonna handle Lorenzo?”

“He won’t be back in Kinsky until the 17th.”

“Is there any risk… he’ll know that we’re asking questions?”

Maria shook her head. “I don’t think so. He’s not very close to the rest of you.”

“Got it. Let me write all this down.” Cole swung the chair around, grabbing a Post-It and writing the info down with the pencil. While he did so, he pointed over to the board. “You should take down all the notecards.”

Maria nodded, walking over to the board and beginning to untack the cards. “Should we… should we get the police involved in this? I mean, it’s not like… we really know what we’re doing.”

Cole looked up at her. “I mean, we could… but we don’t have much as it is. It might make more sense to do our own research first, then once we’re closer get them involved.”

Maria looked down, leaning her back against the wall with a set of cards in her hand. “Yeah… besides, I just… I don’t want this getting out, if I can help it.”

“I understand.” Cole got up, folding the post-it note in his pocket. As he came to the door, Maria stopped him.

“Hey, Cole. You think we’ll find who did it?”

“Yeah. I think we will.”

“Do you think… it will be one of them?”

Cole thought for a moment. “I don’t know that.”

“Who else could it be?”

Cole hesitated. “I… I’m not sure. But let’s…” He turned back to face Maria. “Innocent until proven guilty.”

Maria nodded. “Yeah. Of course.” She patted him gently on the back. “Thanks, as always. I… wouldn’t be able to do this by myself, that’s for sure.”

“It’s nothing. This is my war, too.”

Maria opened the door, and the two walked out.

…

Ash was in her bedroom, doing some homework on a plain wood desk. Aligning the walls were haphazardly placed posters of bands and artists The Cure, Kate Bush, and Sex Pistols. A record player on her dresser played New Order loud enough to drown out most of the other sounds in the room. Of course, that meant she didn’t initially hear the knock at her door.

An older woman came in, taking a few steps in and stopping. She spoke delicately.

“Ashlyn?”

Ash turned around, and upon seeing the woman gave a small smile. She swiveled her chair over to the record player, turning down the volume, then turned back.

“Dinner’s going to be ready in five minutes. We’re having the pasta from last night.”

“Okay, sounds good.”

The woman turned around, but stopped herself, putting a hand on the doorframe. “Have you… heard back from Alto yet?”

Ash, who had turned back to her homework, felt a pit grow in her stomach. She knew where this was going.

“N-no… not yet. They get back to me sometime next week, for the first round.”

“Okay. Just… just know, like I told you that… I can’t give you any money, because we’re struggling enough as it is, and-”

“I know, Mom! I know. I just… I want to see if I can do it. I want to see if they let me in, and if they do, I can try getting scholarships, and…”

“You can, sure. But liberal arts colleges are really expensive, honey.” The pity in her mother’s voice only served to hurt Ash even more.

“I know. I know what I’m doing. Please, just — let me have it, this once.”

Ash’s mother turned away from her daughter, as she grasped the door frame a little harder. “Ashlyn, you know you don’t have to go to college. You can find work here, and live close to us.”

“But I don’t want to! I’ve told you this before, Mom. Everyone is counting on me. Everyone wants me to go to college, and I want to just — to just be my own person, just once!” Ash spoke with inflection, but she didn’t dare raise her voice. Besides, she was too busy trying to prevent tears from falling from her eyes.

Her mother sighed. “Alright. I’m just trying to be… realistic.” Finally she walked out the room, closing the door behind her.

Ash sat alone in the room, the New Order record now at the end of its playback. She turned back to her textbook, slamming it closed. She hung her head low, her face in her hands, and began to quietly cry.