Kenhardt - Secrets 11

By the time Joe finished speaking with the teachers, it was already lunch time. He couldn’t say that he was too pleased with the results. Every one of them had said the same things: The girls were good, studious kids who worked hard and didn’t cause any trouble. He wished that there was a better way to get an understanding of what those three were like. Joe wandered through the courtyard, which just twenty - four hours prior, was taped off and scattered with police officers. He made his way down the hallway and into the cafeteria. It felt strange to him, being back in high school. The atmosphere, the busyness of it all. The tables, the cliques. He headed to one of the tables near the front of the room where a number of girls were seated, eating their lunches. ‘Hi there,’ Joe said as he loomed over them. ‘Anyone here that was friends with Haddie Taylor?’ They all stared at him, momentarily silenced by his visible level of authority. Finally, a girl a few seats down spoke up. ‘You’re looking for them,’ she extended her arm and pointed across the cafeteria. He followed her gaze and locked eyes on what he assumed was the table she was referring to. ‘Those girls there?’ Joe asked to confirm. The girl nodded her head. ‘Thanks.’ He walked over and repeated the motions. There were four girls, two on each side of the table. ‘Yes?’ said one of the girls. ‘I’m Detective O’Reily. You were friends with Haddie, Anya and Kiera?’ They all nodded. ‘If it’s alright with you, I’d like to talk to you about the girls,’ Joe looked around the room, crowded with people and food trays. ‘Would you mind coming outside, to the courtyard, perhaps?’ The four looked at each other, then shrugged, simultaneously gathering up their bags and leading the way. Joe following behind. They got outside and made their way over to one of the picnic tables. The sun was shining and the weather was warm. One of the girls hopped up on the table, crossing her long legs that flowed from beneath her short, striped Catholic uniform skirt, and lit a cigarette. ‘Can I get your names?’ Joe asked, holding his notepad in front of him. ‘Gabby,’ said the brunette with green eyes. ‘Full names would be great,’ Joe said. She rolled her eyes. ‘Gabriella Grace Pratt.’ The girl next to her giggled. Golden brown skin, dark curly hair. She looked at Joe. ‘Miera Bowman.’ The one sitting on the picnic table smoking the cigarette spoke next. ‘Sadie West.’ The last girl, tall, tanned, red hair cut shoulder length, ‘Rachel Dunn.’ Joe took their names down, then faced them once again. ‘No offence,’ he started. ‘But giggling and sarcasm aren’t usually indicators that one is mourning the loss of their friends.’ That hit a nerve. Altogether, their smiles dropped. Gabriella dropped her gaze. Sadie put her cigarette out on the table. It was silent for a moment before Gabriella spoke up. ‘Everyone deals with grief differently.’ ‘How so?’ Joe asked. ‘Obviously we’re sad,’ ‘We’re fucking devastated. Haddie, Kiera and Anya were our friends. Just because we had a little giggle just now doesn’t mean we’re not broken up about it. We’re eating lunch for Christ sake. We’re allowed to smile and talk normally again.’ ‘Gabs is right,’ Miera said. ‘You Can’t tell us that we’re not sad. Because we are. You just caught us at an off time. Things were getting back to normal today. People returned to school, the crying seized.’ ‘Okay, my apologizes,’ Joe said. Not even five minutes with these girls and he was already succumbing. ‘So what did you want to ask us?’ Sadie said, tilting her head sideways, examining him. ‘Why Don’t you tell me what your friendship was like,’ Joe said. ‘With the girls?’ ‘Yes.’ Rachel cleared her throat. ‘That’s a weird question.’ ‘How so?’ Joe asked. ‘How does someone explain what their friendship with someone is like? Uh, we were friends. What more can I say?’ ‘How close were you with them?’ Joe asked. ‘Not as close as the three of them,’ Sadie spoke again. ‘So I’ve heard,’ Joe said, ‘Why were they so exclusive?’ ‘Beats me,’ Sadie replied. ‘It was always the three of them, since middle school. There was always something about them, something that no one else could compete with. Sure, we were all friends with them, but our friendship couldn’t compare with what they had.’ ‘Did you all get along?’ ‘Yeah,’ the four girls said simultaneously. ‘No fights or arguments?’ It was quiet for a moment. ‘Everyone fights sometimes,’ Rachel said. ‘And we’re girls. We’re always bickering about something. But for the most part, everyone got along fine. Nothing too detrimental.’ ‘Do you know if the girls had any enemies? Anyone who might want to hurt them?’ They all shook their heads. ‘So as far as you can tell, the girls got along with everyone? They had no one on their bad side?’