Kenhardt - Secrets 29

She waltzed around the kitchen as though every movement was sequenced. The place was small but done up to perfection. Joe sat at the table watching her. She made her way from the counter, walking towards the table where Joe sat, and placed two mugs of coffee in front of him. She took a seat, crossed one leg on top of the other, and looked at him. Esmeralda Zietsman. He had tracked her down quite easily - she was the only Fortune Teller in Kenhardt. And with a name like that - which he assumed was a pseudonym - well, she wasn’t difficult to find. She told Joe how she worked out of the mall. Sometimes she would travel around to different events - Pubs, Bars - set up her stand, do card readings. Sometimes she worked from her house, out of her living room. Today she was going to setup at the Farmer’s market. Joe had caught her just before she left. He didn’t believe in Fortune Tellers (Sangomas, Bone throwers) He Didn’t believe in psychics. Thought they were all Bullshit. Most of them just wanted money. They were good, he had to admit that. They knew how to read people, how to work them. They knew what things to look for - Jewellery, expensive clothes, a necklace from a deceased parent, perhaps. Fortune Tellers were almost like Detectives, watching for body language and subtle habits that others didn’t pick up on. Except detectives didn’t exploit people for money. They spoke to you as though they were your friend. Then, slowly, they eased the information out of you before you could even realize you were saying it, telling them everything they needed to know. SO when they presented you with your Fortune, open - palmed on a silver platter, you just gobbled it right up and accepted whatever fate they handed to you. ‘Do you recognize these girls?’ Joe held up a photograph of Kiera, Haddie and Anya. The woman took the photo from him and studied it. ‘They look familiar,’ she said, then stared at the photo longer. ‘Aren’t those the three that jumped off the roof?’ Joe took the photo back and placed it in his pocket. ‘That’s is undetermined right now. If it was suicide, that is.’ ‘Such a shame,’ she said. ‘SO young and beautiful.’ ‘I Believe they came to see you a few months back,’ Joe said, putting the appointment sheet down on the table and sliding it towards her. ‘In December.’ Esmeralda took the sheet and looked at it. ‘AH’, she said, her eyes lighting up once she read the page. ‘Haddie Taylor. That was her name!’ She handed Joe the piece of paper and looked at him. ‘I remember now. Lovely girl, All three of them.’ ‘What did they want?’ ‘To have their fortune told, of course.’ ‘Who went first?’ Esmeralda thought for a moment. ‘The other one.’ ‘Anya Wilson?’ ‘Yes. She went first. Then the brunette.’ ‘Kiera Barnes.’ ‘And Haddie went last,’ Esmeralda said. “I remember her specifically. She was endearing.’ ‘What makes you say that?” Joe asked. ‘What made her stand apart from the other two?’ ‘I’m not sure what it was exactly. Something about her. She had charm and charisma, knew how to hold a conversation.’ ‘What did you say to them?’ She smiled secretively. ‘I can’t tell you that.’ ‘MA’AM, these girls are dead. I need to know what you said to them.’ Her smile fell and she nodded solemnly in agreement. “The first one, I believe I told her that she would meet a boy. She was meek, a cute little thing. Perhaps she just wanted some company.’ ‘What else did you say to her?” Joe asked. Esmeralda made a face, trying to think back. ‘I might have said something along the lines of going to school for the ARTS. She was creative. HIPSTER, they call it now. I think I told her that good things were coming for her. That was pretty much it.’ ‘And what about Kiera?’ ‘The second one,’ Esmeralda said. ‘Was so eager and full of energy. She was laughing and smiling. We had a good chat. I told her there was an opportunity on the horizon - a high ranking position either at School or of Employment. Maybe an offer from a place she applied to.’ Joe stared at her. ‘Do you Bullshit all of your clients, or just teenage girls?’ Esmeralda stared back. ‘I give them what they want, Hope. Nobody wants to hear that they will be stuck in a rut for the rest of their lives. So I listen to them as they speak. I tell them what they need to hear. Something to be hopeful for.’ ‘Okay, let’s skip to Haddie Taylor,’ Joe said. ‘What did you say to her?’ ‘We talked for a little bit. She told me about herself and I got a sense of what kind of person she was. I told her that I saw BIG things coming for her. She would graduate school, get married, start a family, and make a life for herself.’ ‘In Kenhardt?’ ‘Well, yes. She was a small - town girl. I assumed that’s what she wanted.’ ‘And how did she seem after that?’ Esmeralda thought for a moment. ‘I’m not too sure. She was kind a quiet. Smiled, thanked me for everything, was very polite. And then that was it. They left.’ ‘Did you ever see any of them again after that?’ ‘No,’ Esmeralda said. ‘NEVER saw them again.’ Joe left Esmeralda’s place thinking about everything she had just told him. Haddie had gone to a Fortune Teller hoping to hear good things. And while Esmeralda might have believed that she was helping Haddie, in reality, she had just made things worse. Because while most would have thought that a fortune such as that would be exciting for Haddie, it was in fact the opposite of what she wanted to hear. The idea that she would be stuck in this one horse town forever, caught in the loop, unable to break free. Her biggest fear coming to life. It was nearing five O’clock. Joe would need to get back to the station to regroup and discuss the investigation with the others. He wouldn’t have time to speak with the Wilson’s and the Barnes’ today. He would need to put it on the Agenda for tomorrow. He was trying to think about what he could gather from today’s events. It was a bit of a long shot going to see the Fortune Teller. It was, after all, a thrown away ticket at the back of Haddie’s closet. Did he expect to get anything useful from this woman? Not particularly. But then Esmeralda explained what she had said to the girls. More specifically, Haddie. Joe was thinking about it from every angle, trying to link this back to the disconcerting behaviour over the past few months. His previous suspicions entailed there being some sort of event or incident that happened in the girls’ lives that was the catalyst for their sudden change in behaviour and demise. Given the timeline, he predicted that this would have happened sometime around January, since it was around this time that Oliver began noticing the change in Haddie, and Chloe began noticing changes in Anya. Initially he thought that they had gotten themselves into some sort of trouble, Perhaps they went to a party and something went wrong. Perhaps they saw something they shouldn’t have. Perhaps they did something to someone. But what if this was it? The event that began to change things for them - Well, Haddie at least. Joe began to speculate; Esmeralda tells Haddie that she will be happy and content here in Kenhardt. She’ll get married, start a Family, and create a good life for herself. Haddie didn’t want to hear that. In fact, it probably frightened her. She had big plans for her future - move away from this small town, go to Jhburg, make it big and have the fame and fortune. Who knows if she even wanted a husband and a child?’ So what does Haddie do? She panics. She thinks that her normal life with Oliver isn’t quite satisfactory enough. She meets Bentley at the New Year’s party, decides to go out on a limb and try something new. She waned to be bold and daring. She wanted to know how it felt to be with someone who wasn’t Oliver, someone she hadn’t grown up with and was expected to marry. It was audacious, branching out the way she did. Leaving a life of comfort for a life of risk and thrill. And with Haddie secretly seeing Bentley, Oliver, in turn, began seeing Kiera. And the rest is just a chain reaction of events, tumbling together from that very moment that they saw the Fortune Teller. This had to be it, Joe thought. It made sense. There was no way to prove it, seeing as though the girls were dead, and it was simply a theory. A thought, A single thought planted into Haddie’s Taylor’s head. But it was possible. This could be it. This could be what started it all. Everyone met back at the Station for their end - of - day debrief, then headed down to the local Pub afterwards for a few drinks. Joe debated going straight home to Jordan, but ultimately decided to stick around to have a quick visit with the team. He showed up at the Pub where Jesse, Kennedy, Frank and Hal were all seated at a booth in the far back corner. Frank was ordering drinks for everyone, Joe slid into the booth and took off his jacket. ‘There he is,’ Kennedy remarked, taking a sip from the beer. ‘This case is making my head spin,’ Joe said. ‘No talk about the case,’ Jesse said, ‘We’re off duty tonight.’ Joe looked to Frank. He Didn’t protest. Joe complied. He was fine with that. Besides, he needed a break anyway. He was spending too much of his Time thinking about the minds of teenagers. He needed to be having drinks with people his age, in his field of work. ‘And this woman,’ Kennedy explained as she told her story. ‘Was insane. Never have I seen anyone behave that way. She was screaming, yelling, threatening me and the other officers.’ Kennedy rolled her eyes and took another sip of her beer. ‘She needed to be sedated.’ ‘So what did you end up doing?’ Jesse asked. ‘Nothing. We had to leave her and let it be. But oh boy, if I had it my way,’ Kennedy smirked. ‘This one guy I was dealing with a couple years back,’ Frank said. “He was good. Smart. You know the type, think they’re superior to you. SO anyway, we know it’s him. Only problem was, we couldn’t prove it.’ ‘Don’t you just hate that?” Hal said. ‘The worst. So we have him in the interrogation room. And one of my best men is trying to get a confession out of him. Psyche him out, make him slip up. But he doesn’t budge. He just sits there playing all innocent. But then, as the conversation progressed, the guy said something, which, at the time, seemed irrelevant. But later we discovered that the only way he could have known that little piece of information was if he was there, at one of the crime scenes. He knew this specific detail that no- one else could have possibly known.’ ‘So what happened?’ Kennedy asked, intrigued. ‘We got him. Nailed him.’ They all laughed. ‘I’m sure he wasn’t too happy about that,’ Hal said. ‘Oh, he wasn’t,’ Frank said. ‘Kept asking for his lawyer. We said, fine, here’s your lawyer. Good luck mate.’ ‘And you charged him?’ Frank nodded. ‘We did.’ ‘Cheers to that, then,’ Jesse lifted his beer. They all clinked their glasses together and drank. ‘What about the ones that don’t get solved?’ Joe asked, placing his glass back on the table. ‘Well,’ Frank took in a breath. ‘Those are tough. But as an officer, it’s something you have to live with. It’s going to happen sometimes. There will be crooks and thieves and murderers out there who get away with it. But we don’t focus on that. We focus on the ones we do catch. The ones we rid Society of and bring Justice to. That’s what matters.’ Joe nodded, trying to accept this answer. ‘You’re thinking about that case, aren’t you, O’Reily?’ Frank asked. ‘Yeah. I’ve been looking into it a bit. Talked to a reporter on the case, And the constable in charge all those years ago.’ Frank stared at him. ‘And when did you have time to do this?’ ‘Saturday,’ Joe said. ‘After the funeral.’ ‘As long as you don’t let this take your time and focus away from the current case.’ ‘I won’t Sir.’ ‘Good,’ Frank said. ‘We need to solve this thing soon. It’s driving everyone in this town mad.’ Hal nodded. ‘They just want answers. People hate not knowing. Especially when the idea of a potential murderer is on everyone’s minds.’ ‘But we still don’t know that for sure,’ Kennedy said. ‘I’m sticking with suicide.’ ‘Could have been cult related,’ Jesse sipped his beer. ‘OR they were pushed,’ Joe said, ‘Either way, it’s our job to find out. This Town - and those girls’ families - are depending on it.’ It was Tuesday, May 23rd, which meant two things. The first was that it was Jordan’s birthday. Joe was up early making banana pancakes and leaving her a bouquet of Roses before he was out the door again, on his way back to Kenhardt. The second thing was that it had been exactly one week since Haddie, Kiera and Anya ended up dead on the pavement at St. Paul’s. The phone records from the girls’ cell phone’s were finally in. Joe headed over to the police station and met with Tony Bell, who was responsible for everything from digital crime and cyber bullying, to identity - fraud and theft, to obtaining phone records and computer warrants. First up was Kiera. Just as Joe predicted, there were copious amounts of texts and calls, both outgoing and incoming, to a phone numbers registered to Oliver Harris. There was the usual stuff, calls and texts from mom, dad, Kelsey, Haddie, Anya and a few other numbers that he traced to the girls from the school. Other than that, there was nothing conspicuous or out of the ordinary. Next he looked though Anya’s. Similar to her Facebook, there was nothing out of the ordinary. Regular texts to and from Haddie and Kiera. Lots to her sister. Mom, Dad, Pamela, even. Hardly any calls. A few numbers Joe didn’t recognize, but Anya didn’t have enough contact with them for him to be concerned. Finally he looked at Haddie’s. She had enough cellphone records to make up for the entire town of Kenhardt. Calls, texts, data. The most reoccurring numbers were Keira and Anya’s. He skimmed over the past few months, identifying which number belonged to Bentley Carter. And Bentley didn’t lie - the texts and calls between the two of them began in January, and ceased around the third of May. Did something happen that Bentley omitted? What made Haddie decide to break things off with him so suddenly? And then not thirteen days later, end up dead with her two best friends. There were other numbers in Haddie’s records as well. The girl seemed to be in contact with almost everybody. Fortunately for Joe, there was another section of the records that listed the actual data contained in the text messages. It felt like an invasion of privacy, but Joe could read everything those girls had said over the past six months. But going through every single text would take weeks. Instead, he jumped to the day it happened, May fifteenth. The last text message the girls had ever sent were in a group - chat between the three of them. The first one from Haddie. (Haddie) - Meet @ our spot for lunch. Things to discuss. (Anya) - I left. Stomach hurts. (Haddie) - Where R u? (Anya) - Library. (Haddie) - Don’t leave yet. (Anya) - Why?? (Haddie) - Need to talk. (Anya) - U in class?? Where’s K? (Kiera) - I’m in Maths. (Haddie) - Meet now. (Kiera) - Where? (Haddie) - Roof. (Anya) - When? (Haddie) - Ten minutes. The last message was sent at 11:07am and Joe already knew what would ensue after that. So it was Haddie’s idea to meet on the roof during class. Anya had left with a stomach ache, and Kiera was in Maths, Yet whatever Haddie had to say was urgent enough to constitute skipping class. Joe remembered what one of the girls had said at the service. Haddie and Kiera are usually lab partners, But on Tuesday morning, Haddie asked to switch. So Joe was possibly right after all. Haddie must have found out about Kiera and Oliver - what other explanation was there? Then she asked both girls to meet on the roof. And from there, it was a mystery, A fill - in - the blanks that needed to be solved. But why ask both girls to meet if it was just Kiera that she wanted to confront? Could there have been something else going on, something that Joe wasn’t even aware of? And how did all three of them end up dead? Joe flipped through the pages, skimming the sheets, his eyes scanning for key words, names or numbers, Anything that might stand out and mean something. Then he saw a number he recognized. It belonged to Bethany Porter. The text message from her was sent April 21 - just last month - to Haddie’s phone at 2:06am. The message was short and simple: STAY AWAY FROM COREY, OR ELSE!!! Joe told Kennedy about the text messages and she offered to pick up Beth and bring her into the station. Perhaps this day wouldn’t prove to be useless after all. Beth was sitting in the interrogation room looking ever so complacent. Her white hair was falling slightly over her shoulders. Her posture was straight, both of her hands folded in front of her on the table. Joe walked into the room and took a seat across from her. ‘Hi - Beth.’ ‘Why am I here?’ was the first thing she asked. ‘No one will tell me anything.’ Joe stared at her, matching her gaze. ‘I came across something of concern. I thought I’d bring you in to see if you could help me out with it.’ Her eyes flickered to the paperwork in Joe’s hands, then returned to his. “What is it?’ Joe laid the single sheet of paper on the table, then slid it towards Beth so that she could read it. She picked up the paper and read the text message. She maintained her composure, her face barely faltering. She put the paper back down on the table and looked at Joe. ‘SO?’ ‘That to me looks like a threat,’ Joe said. ‘Oh my God, You’re not serious?’ Joe remained silent. ‘You think I killed Haddie? Is that why I’m here?’ ‘I don’t know Beth, Why Don’t you tell me?’ ‘This is ridiculous,’ she laughed. ‘You think I would kill someone because she talked to my boyfriend?’ Joe remained silent. ‘Listen,’ Beth said, leaning in close, “I was drunk, It was stupid, really. The night of Owen’s party. Haddie was being obnoxious, blatantly flirting with Corey right in front of me. Not only did she do that, but she had the audacity to get a ride home with him. IN HIS CAR.’ ‘Why would your boyfriend offer her a ride in the first place?’ ‘He was drunk!’ she said. ‘Boys do stupid things when they’re drunk.’ ‘You two still together?’ ‘YES,’ she fidgeted in her chair……