Chapter 4

August 17th, 2015

“I’m sorry for making you two sit through all that, but we’re ready to ask our questions when you’re ready to answer them,” I said as I re-opened the detention center door.

“Ya’ll ‘r fine. We’ll answer yer questions now,” Jackie replied. If she was at all mad or annoyed at our delay, she didn’t show it. That’s a surprising amount of willpower considering how long the delay might have been.

“All right, then. I’ll be asking questions about last night or anything I may deem connected to the case. Anything you say will either become testimony or irrelevant to the case.  That is, if your credibility is sufficient. If what you say isn’t solid enough for what I need, I’ll just discard it or try to find out if your lying. You do promise to tell the truth, right Mac?” I said.

Mac nodded and I said, “Alright, you ready Charles?”

“Yep! Ready to write down any and all important information,” Charles said putting his pencil tip on his tongue and positioning his pencil over his paper ready to write.

‘Good,’ I thought, ‘this is exactly how Keegan does it. I just now need to ask relevant questions.’

“Alright then,” I started, “First question, how exactly do you live? In the farm and all…”

“Well,” Mac started, “Ah live on the’ orchard along with Jackie n’ Blossom. We used ta’ have our Granny livin’ here too, but she had ta’ move ta’ ‘better conditions’ as they said. She was gettin’ to old ah guess.”

“Anyone else?” I asked already sensing a contradiction.

“Well, th’ dog is with Granny, but no. No one else ‘lives’ with us,” Mac answered.

“Hmm… You did get all that, right Charles?” I asked looking his direction.

He held up his free hand and gave a ‘one moment’ gesture as he finished writing what Mac just said. When he did, he looked up and said, “Yep, it’s filed under *Places.”

“Good, next question,” I said turning back to Mac, “How does a usual day go on the fields?”

“Actually, there’s a schedule on th’ employee area of the farm. Ya’ll kin just read that ‘cause I can’t remember it’all.

“Thanks for the info. Charles, put that under *Evidence for now,” I said turning back to Charles who gave me a thumbs up.

“Next question, how many people do you have working at the orchard? You can’t do all that alone, right?” I asked.

“We have ‘bout fifty people workin’ on th’ orchard. ‘Cept on Saturday, which was yesterday… I’m sorry, but is this even going anywhere?” Mac said, his annoyance coming back.

“I’m just getting a better understanding of the vicinity in which the crime was committed, because already, something doesn’t make sense. Ignore that for now. But now, care to tell me the events that conspired that day? Don’t go into details of the crime,” I said trying to keep calm. I really couldn’t afford to get mad at him; It would make things VERY hard during the questioning and the investigation.

“Alright, I’ll try ta’ ‘member it’all,” He started, sighing in deep thought, “It was a Saturday and not much was being done out on the orchards. Most’ve th’ mornin’ was just housework ‘n repairs to th’ machinery or th’ farm ‘n general. Jackie was doin’ the housework n’ Blossom was doin’ th’ repairs ta’ th’ tractor n’ th’ cider mill. Ah was doin’ a bit’a both just ta’ help out when Ah could.”

No one else seemed to be at the farm that morning or afternoon. Still sensing an inconsistency, I let him continue relaying off his day.

“Most’ve th’ day went by like that. ‘Fore supper, all there’ve us went ta’ th’ front orchard ta’ git some apples fer dessert. We went ‘nside after that. We took a little while ta’ eat supper ‘nd then went ta’ bed. Everybody was ‘n bed by nine-thirty.”

“Nothing else of any importance happened that day?”

“Not that Ah kin think of…”

I rolled over the last few sentences for a bit as I waited for Charles to finish writing down what Mac had said. When he finished, I said, “Okay, now go into details of the crime. DO NOT lie to me. I can sense any form of guile.”

“Settle down ‘nd Ah will. A while later, Ah heard a loud ‘boom’ sound come from th’ front orchard. ‘Twas ‘round midnight Ah heard it. Ah got outta mah bed ta’ go see what it was. It was then Ah saw th’ left side of th’ front orchard on fire,” Mac explained. It seemed that he wasn’t awake during the actual starting of the fire. If he really didn’t start it, then I’ll have to prove he couldn’t have been outside. How I do that is beyond me right now.

“Ah got up ta’ go git Jackie n’ Blossom. We couldn’t stay ‘n the fire or we might’a burned along with th’ orchard. ‘Cept when Ah went ta’ go git Blossom, she was gone.”

Plot twist! If that was true, maybe it wasn’t Mac who started the fire. Maybe it was Blossom. But didn’t the police say they had a witness as to who started the fire?

“Ah started ta’ panic at th’ thought of Blossom bein’ in there, so Ah went to git Jackie ‘n start lookin fer Blossom,” Mac spoke with his voice picking up speed, “We went outside into th’ heart of th’ fire lookin’ fer Blossom. After a bit of searchin’ we couldn’t handle th’ smoke anymore so we had ta’ find th’ exit.”

“Nothing happened during your search? You didn’t hear anything out of place?” I asked, finding another discrepancy.

“Uhh…. Nope. Not that Ah kin think of. Besides th’ sound th’ fire was makin’, I didn’t hear nothin’ outta th’ ordinary,” He answered sounding a bit confused as to what I was getting at.

“Okay, continue,” I said listening intently.

“It looked like we made it outta th’ orchard n’ time ‘cause as soon as we did, we near passed out. After a while of layin’ there, I felt me bein’ dragged. Ah still don’t know who it was, but I’m mighty thankful fer them doin’ that,” He said, provoking a snicker from me. It seemed neither of them knew who saved them and there was no way I’d tell them now.

“When Ah came to, I saw people helpin’ ta’ put out th’ fire, so Ah got Jackie up ‘n we started helpin’ too. But when the fire-men came, they forced us ta’ stop helpin’ and Ah told them ta’ let go ‘cause Blossom was still in there. Right after that, Ah saw a guy run into…” Mac trailed off then started again saying, “Wait a minute, that person was you! Why’re y’all makin’ me say all of this again when you was there?”

“Because I didn’t hear about what happened in the fire, plus what you told me is good information. Now all I wonder is A) what was Blossom doing, B) how someone thought you started the fire, and C) why you keep on saying there were only three people inside the orchard, ” I explained and stopped as I let the words sink in, “we need to go do some investigating. We’ll call you back to the detention room when we need you again.”

“Alrighty then, Mr. Tella. Ah hope ta’ see ya soon,” Mac said as he got up and moved towards the guard, most likely telling him to bring him back to his cell.

When he was gone, we were asked to leave the room and go to the lobby via the speaker on the window. When we were well away from the detention center, I said to Charles, “Charles, I need you to add a few notes.”

“Right, what should I add?”

“First off, did you write Mac’s story under *testimony?”

“Yep, already did that.”

“Good, I need you to add a few things: I need you to put Mac’s room under *places. Make sure you put that he could see the front orchard from it. Second, on my *mysteries list, put ‘Blossom’s location during the arson’. Finally, on my *mysteries list, put ‘Three people at the crime’,” I listed off from my mind.

I waited for Charles to finish. When he did he said, “… at the crime. There, finished. What should we do first?”

“Try to investigate the orchard and farmhouse,” I said, starting to walk in the direction of the farm.

“Wait, th’ orchards prob’ly surrounded th’ police. We prob’ly can’t git in…” Jackie said surprising me a bit. I had almost forgotten she was here due to her silence during the questioning.

“That may be true, but there’s no harm in trying,” I explained with a shrug as I continued walking.

“Well, Ah guess we could try… but y’all ‘r goin’ th’ wrong way,” She said hiding a smile with her hand.

“Er… right. Didn’t know what I was thinking,” I replied sheepishly, as I followed Jackie a bit red in the cheeks. Charles (unfortunately) saw this and nudged me on the arm with his elbow while raising his eyebrows suggestively. I rolled my eyes and walked away in annoyance, much to Charles’ delight.

On the way to the orchard, it gave me a good time to ask Jackie some pretty general questions such as, “So Jackie, who actually is the manager of the orchard? Is it Mac?”

“Nope, Ah’m th’ ‘manager’ of th’ orchard. Mac’s th’ one who does all th’ heavy duty stuff. Ah handle all th’ money n’ th’ employees. Ah also work out on th’ orchard when Ah can,” Jackie explained.

“YOU do all that? That seems like a lot for one human being…”

“Well, Ah ain’ t no reg-u-lar human bein’. Ah’m a lot stronger than a lotta others, includin’ guys,” Jackie bragged.

“Geez the only thing it sounds like you don’t do is fix any of the machines,” I said recalling the earlier conversation with Mac, “Come to think of it, Blossom looked no more than ten years old when I saw her, and Mac said she fixed the machines yesterday. Care to explain what he means?”

“Ah can’t explain it. She’s just savvy with ‘em. Ah swear, she was born with a hammer ‘n her hand,” Jackie said, bragging a second time.

Talking about her home life seemed to calm her down, so I decided to ask some more serious questions starting with, “Right, about Blossom, what were you doing last night when you were looking for her?”

The question seemed to dampen her chipper mood as her shoulders sunk in grief. She answered my question with, “As soon as Ah heard she was missin’ in a fire, Ah was devastated. Ah didn’t even care that th’ orchard was on fire. Mah sis was more important. So we ran outside ta’ look fer her ‘nd like Mac said we couldn’t stay there forever.”

“So you escaped with your lives?” Charles asked completely engrossed in the tale Jackie was telling.

“We had ta’. I felt somethin’ awful fer leavin’ Blossom in there, but Ah tried ta’ make up fer it by helpin’ to put out th’ fire,” Jackie said with an immense amount of regret in her voice.

“I understand your pain right now, but I need you to remember back to last night. Did you or did you not hear anything out of the ordinary while in the heart of the fire?” I asked in all seriousness.

“Ah don’t think so… I would’a ‘membered if Ah did.” She said authentically.

“That still doesn’t make sense then. You didn’t hear me yell into the orchard?” I asked, finally making my point.

“A’fore we ‘scaped? No, we din’t hear ya,” Jackie answered confusedly.

“Hmm… that’s weird. I swear that when I yelled into the orchard, someone inside yelled back that there were four people in there,” I said reminiscing to last night.

“Really? That can’t be true. Not a single soul came inta th’ orchard yesterday. At least, not that Mac ‘n Ah know of…”

“Well, maybe not you two, but who’s to say Blossom saw someone and SHE was the one who answered me?”

“What did th’ voice sound like? Ah might be able ta’ tell ya if it matches Blossom’s.”

“Actually, I can’t remember. It was so faint that I couldn’t be able to tell if it was a boy or a girl voice.”

“Shoot,” Charles interrupted, “I can’t help you remember with the therapy. You already know what it sounded like, so you can’t delve into your thoughts to remember it.”

“That’s unfortunate,” I lied whilst rolling my eyes, “So, now you see why I put ‘three people in the orchard’ on the *mysteries list? It was because I heard from within the fire that there were four people. We definitely have some investigating to do.”

“Let’s git goin’ then, were almost ta’ th’ orchard,” Jackie said quickening her steps.

As we walked through the town, I noticed that people were still walking from place to place and crowding up the sidewalk, still without cars. Finding it extremely odd, I asked Jackie about it, “So Jackie, why does no one have a car in this town? For that matter, why does everyone walk everywhere?

“Actually, Ah couldn’t tell ya, even if Ah wanted ta’,” Jackie replied sheepishly, “Our family moved here ‘bout two years ago.”

“Really? What did you notice that was different here from where you came from?” I asked, curious at her beginnings.

“Th’ big thing Ah noticed is that th’ people here eat much healthier than down in Oklahoma.”

I guess I now know where that southern drawl is from. But how and why did she move all the way up to Michigan from Oklahoma?

“What do you mean by that?” Charles asked interrupting my thoughts.

“Well, in Oklahoma, our family grew pecans n’ peanuts. But life on th’ farm was kinda boring ‘cause nobody wanted ta’ visit a bunch’a nut growers and it gits mighty lonely,” She explained, causing Charles to chuckle at her sentence.

“That, and isn’t it very dry down in the pan handle?” I asked while silencing Charles with a jab to the rib with my elbow.

“That’s th’ other thing. It was so dern hot down there that it was makin’ our sweat dry up a’fore we could even sweat it. ‘N Granny wasn’t doin’ too well either so it was like we HAD ta’ move out. Boy, were we glad ta’ do it too.”

“How did you find Equine?”

“Well, we were thinkin’ of goin’ ta’ New York ‘cause we have family there so we decided ta’ cut through Canada. But we had ta’ git through Mitch-i-gan first. ‘N while we were drivin’ through, th’ police told us that there was some car accident on th’ road ahead ‘n said that we had ta’ go through th’ town ta’ get through Mitch-i-gan.”

“And that town was Equine?”

“Yeah, t’was.”

“Wait, Tell, remember yesterday at the road? Some police stopped us on the way to Ann Arbor with the same excuse,” Charles said finding the similarities almost too coincidental.

“You’re right, Charles. They did stop us with the same excuse. I wonder if that’s at all connected with Jackie and her family,” I ruminated aloud.

“Well, Ah dunno if it is, but Ah remember seein’ a big open strip of farmland at th’ towns edge ‘n Ah KNEW we had ta’ take it. Y’all shoulda seen Granny too. She looked happier ‘n a woodpecker ‘n a lumber yard ta’ see that strip o’ land,” Jackie reminisced.

“So you bought it and the rest was history?”

“Ayup. Stay’n right here still. ‘N Ah don’t think we’ll be a-movin’ anytime soon,” She said proudly, “A’sides, th’ people here ‘r much kinder than down in th’ pan handle.”

“Really? I couldn’t say yet, because Charles and I have only been here for a few hours and you’re the only person we’ve really talked to besides Mac. What are the people like?” I asked with a new found curiousness.

“Fer one, they actually like ta’ visit the orchard on our non-busy days. Heck, that’s how Ah met a few’ve mah friends here. A LOT of people like ta’ visit the orchard.”

“Why do they come? For the fruit?”

“Naw, they jes’ wanna talk. Ah was a bit surprised at first, but t’was a nice change ta’ speak with a  reg-u-lar person who actually wanted ta’ listen ta’ us too.”

“Really? That’s certainly a change from Cambridge. Most people there either talk to us because they were framed in a crime or they wanted to ‘borrow’ money.”

“Well that ain’t even th’ half of it. The people here r’ always invitin’ you ta’ different parties n’ what-not. Th’ kids r’ just as nice too. They were invitin’ Blossom ta’ all sorts of playdates n’ parties n’ dances…” She trailed off with a frown, “Equine is such a nice place, why’d someone hafta ruin it for mah sis, mah bro, n’ me? Ah don’t think we deserved it…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll be doing everything in my power to make sure you three can get your lives back,” I reassured.

“Well, you better get started, because we’re at the orchard,” Charles interrupted as he pointed ahead to the orchard surrounded by idling police officers. It seemed as if the outside fence had a remodeling in yellow and black caution tape. It was literally everywhere; on the fences, tied between police cars to make a makeshift velvet rope, and they were still putting in between two buildings about a half a block away to keep the civilians away from it.

“Geez, I hope that the tape is just for show and they let us in. Knowing how bad-tempered some police officers can get around the defense though…” Charles continued.

“That is true. Remember that time when Keegan tried to investigate near that lake?” I asked as we got closer yet to the crime scene.

“Oh yeah! They let him in, but they ended up pushing him into the lake to warn him!” Charles said with a chortle.

“Mah stars, Ah hope th’ police here r’ a bit nicer than th’ ones your talkin’ ‘bout,” Jackie remarked obviously worried.

“Aww, relax. You yourself even said that the people in Equine are much nicer than elsewhere,” I said light-heartedly.

“Ah hope y’all ‘r right,” Jackie said as we arrived at the first barrier of caution tape.

“Hold on you three. What are you doing here?” The first police man asked while walking up to us.

“I’ll tell you, we are here to investigate the crime scene. My name is Teller Coy and I am the defense attorney for this case,” I said, sticking a hand out to shake.

“Hmm. You may proceed past the civilian point. Are these other two with you?”

“Uh… yes they are,” I replied taking my hand back. He didn’t seem like the social type.

“Very well, you may pass this point with them, but good luck getting any of you by the front gate,” The officer said while untying one end of the tape and allowing us to pass.

“Thank you much,” I said as we walked closer yet to the orchard.

“See? That wasn’t so bad,” Charles remarked, “I think this will go pretty well.”

“Well, don’t get too cocky kid. We still have the front gate,” I replied dreading the thought of not being able to investigate.

Though those thoughts were interrupted by a police man yelling, “Hey, old guy!”

Surprised at the voice, I looked around seeing if there was anyone else around. I didn’t see anyone who looked old, so I turned back towards the police man and pointed at myself.

“Yes, you. Now get over here!” He said rolling his eyes.

Wait a minute, my gray hair. That’s why he called me old. Though it wasn’t the first time that happened, I was insulted. Why wouldn’t I be? I hate police men and police men hate me.

“Okay I’m over here, what do you want?” I retorted.

“Whoa. Nice set of pipes there. You don’t sound a day older than twenty-five,” He replied not sensing my anger.

“Can we stay on topic please? My name is Teller Coy and I’m the defense attorney for the arson case. I’m here to investigate the crime scene. Now may my assistants and I please do our jobs?”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t let you do that. Only the police, certified personnel, and the head prosecutor are allowed beyond this point.”

“Ugh… Is there any way to become certified personnel?”

“Well, if you get permission from the head prosecutor you could get in, but that’s all I can think…”

Well, at least he’s TRYING, unlike other police officers.

“If you could give me the name of the prosecutor, I would really be grateful,” I remarked.

“You must be new, because everyone knows the prosecutor’s name here,” He noticed eyeing me suspiciously.

“Yes, I’m new. Can I please have the prosecutor’s name?” I asked annoyed.

“Yeah I will, jeez. No need to get a stick up your ass about it,” He replied also getting a bit annoyed, “What you’re allowed to call him is Mr. or Prosecutor Banks.”

September 8th, 2004

“Eliza Daniels… There you are. Jonathon Eindt… Just Jon? Alright, that’s fine. Nicolas Freinz…” My new teacher droned on. It sounded like she was more boring than my other teachers at my old school.

Today is the first day of middle school and the fourth period of the day. Ms. Visnaw was calling out attendance for the first time, getting used to saying each of our names. Luckily she already was told I was here and about my ‘condition’ so I wouldn’t have to embarrass myself in the first five minutes of the school year.

“Elena Reinolds… Oh, there you are. Speak up next time. Ember Salve…”

That’s an odd name. But I guess mine is too, so I really shouldn’t insult it.

“… And Ace Zenith… There you are. Well that takes care of attendance, can you raise your hand if you weren’t called?” Ms. Visnaw asked.

No one spoke at first, but of course, someone saw me and asked, “What about him? He didn’t say anything.”

“I didn’t ask about him. I only asked if you weren’t called,” Ms. Visnaw replied angrily, “Now, is there anyone here that shouldn’t be? No? Alright, I have a hand-out for you…”

And the class went by, but not without the feeling of being watched. I didn’t even have to look; I could feel the steely glares others were giving me. I was different and they seemed to know that rather quickly. I, however, was used to this feeling around new people. The only reason I disliked the feeling is that I missed the feeling of normalcy back up in northern Chicago. At least they had all the time since kindergarten to get used to me. I missed Chicago where my old school, old friends, old house, old city, old everything was.

During the class, we had just been given a hand-out and we were reading the contents aloud. As before, however, Ms. Visnaw was told about me and my ‘condition’ so when my turn came to read, she told the next person after me to read instead. This action did not come without conflict, unfortunately.

“Hey, why doesn’t he have to read?” I heard a voice question. We all turned as one to see a fiery looking redhead girl pointing at me.

“Hey is for horses Ember. Now Eliza, could you finish reading…” Ms. Visnaw started but was rudely interrupted by this ‘Ember’ as she said, “No! Seriously, why doesn’t he have to read? I don’t want to read this, Sabrina doesn’t want to. No one does! Why does he get all the special treatment?”

“Now listen here!” Ms. Visnaw snapped and causing me to dread the inevitable argument that would bring me all sorts of attention, “What I say goes, and may God himself have mercy on you if you don’t listen to my demands. Now if I say he doesn’t have to read, what do you think I want?”

“Him not to read,” Ember grumbled bitterly back.

“Thank you,” Ms. Visnaw replied, “The next time you don’t follow directions, I will give you a detention. Now Eliza…”

But the bell gave its dull chime and class was over.

“That’s all for today class. Tomorrow we will finish the last of this hand-out and start chapter one. Bring your book,” She recited knowing it was probably falling on deaf ears ready for a good lunch break.

I was the last to leave the room though. Not that I was taking too long, but I didn’t have anywhere I wanted to be. In fact, the lunch room after a spectacle like that was the absolute LAST place I wanted to be. So I slowly gathered my things and left the room getting a, “Have a nice day” from Ms. Visnaw.

“Yeah right,” I thought after I had left that wretched room and headed towards my locker to get my lunch. I sighed knowing I probably would have nowhere to sit. But I pushed the thought aside and tried to clear my head as I made my way towards the cafeteria. Maybe some food will ease my nerves.

I entered through the double doors that led to the cafeteria to find not many people there yet. I must’ve been early. So I went to the most secluded area of the cafeteria (the corner) and started eating lunch.

After a few bites, the kids started piling in. We were so crowded, the only reason my table didn’t have anyone there is because I was the ‘new kid’. Otherwise, the tables were all taken and filled to the brim.

It was kind of nice after a hectic morning to be left alone though. It gave me time to think and read my book. I’m a pretty big Jules Verne fan and I hadn’t read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea yet. So I decided to start until I had that odd feeling of being watched again. I glanced over the top of my book just so until I could see a table of girls nonchalantly watching me. Rolling my eyes, I continued reading my book, or at least tried. It’s hard to do anything when you’re being watched and you know it.

I tried to ignore them, and put the book up to eye level so I couldn’t see them and they couldn’t see me. It worked for a while and I had forgotten about them. But after a while, I checked just to make sure they weren’t looking. Luckily, they had all started talking amongst themselves paying me no attention.

“Hey, you,” I heard a familiar voice say.

It seems I have spoken to soon.

I glanced towards my right to see the girl from earlier who had made a big deal in class about me not reading my share of the hand-out. She had her arms crossed and was leaning her chair back just so to the point where it wouldn’t tip. Her blue eyes seemed cross and full of resentment. Her body language just screamed ‘I’m annoyed’. But the biggest thing I noticed was her hair. Its bright red with faint orange highlights seemed to be permanently stuck in a windblown type of coiffure. People and their silly trends, I guess.

I gave her my full attention by turning in her direction and putting my book down. She seemed more annoyed at this and asked, “What? You’re not going to answer?”

I casually shook my head and sat back waiting for her to continue.

She gave me a funny look and continued with, “Okay, so you’re not going to answer me?” again causing me to shake my head.

She seemed at a loss for words at the second as I coolly imitated her posture and raised my eyebrow as if to say, “Well, I’m waiting”.

“Alright, no one has ever not answered me before, and I’m sure as hell not going to take it from you,” She retorted causing me to roll my eyes. Rolling my eyes, however, let me glance back at the table with the girls to see them watching me. My guess is that this Ember girl was at that table and was convinced to put me on the spot.

“Don’t roll your eyes at me. I wanna know, why do you get all this special treatment? No one else does,” She asked. I literally shrugged the question off and went back to reading my book though. She obviously didn’t have anything important to talk about.

“Hey! Don’t push your nose into that stupid book, I want answers and I want them now!” She replied clearly flustered. She must not be used to any sort of silent treatment. If I had to guess, she must be one of the more popular girls at this school and was sent over here to intimidate me.

It wasn’t working though as I continued to ‘read’ my book chancing some glances at her to see how agitated she was. This is just me, but I think her hair might have been actually on fire she looked so angry. And it wasn’t just me; almost the entire cafeteria was watching us, proving my point that Ember was an important figure here.

“Why are you doing this? Why won’t you answer me?” She asked almost in hysterics.

I just looked up at her smugly. I gave her a look that said, “Do you really want to know?”

She just looked at me like she was about to cry. I really didn’t mean to do all this, but I’m good at what I do. So I took out a piece of paper and a pen, motioned for her to hold on, and wrote three words, causing her and the entire lunchroom to go quiet.

I CAN’T SPEAK.