4 Chapter Four

Emily suddenly stood up making her bag fall down in the process, the new information hit her hard. She didn't know Bianca Davis, but she knew the girl couldn't be older than nineteen, and even if she is legal it doesn't make her any less of a kid in her eyes. How could he ever do such a thing? She wondered in her mind barely aware of the sheriff asking her to sit down.

"Emily, please" the sheriff said exasperated. She took her seat back, grabbed her bag, and tried to collect her loose nerves. "From your reaction one could tell you had no knowledge of such a thing" he stated in a concluding tone. "Would you consider yourself a friend of Mr. Baker?"

"Uh, I wouldn't really say we're friends. I mean we talk about life, sometimes work, but nothing more than that really" She replied with a faint stutter, her mind still stuck to the information she has just gathered. Her perfectly manicured fingers trembled ever so slightly while she was playing with the hem of her pink blouse. The sheriff's eyes followed her every move; it was like he was assessing her, or trying to figure out one of her deepest secrets. His only reply to her words were a simple 'I see', which was followed by a long second of intense silence through which sheriff Flockhart leaned back on his chair and put his head back. "Sheriff" She called grabbing his attention, he opened his eyes and slowly turned his head to stare straight at her eyes. She gulped and carefully asked, "Do…Do you think she was murdered?"

"Emily, what I think is of no importance. We are still waiting or the autopsy report, which will tell us everything" Sheriff Flockhart explained, "Do you think she was? Murdered that is?" he raised one greying eyebrow, assessing her facial expression.

She gulped and tuck a strand of her behind her ear, "I don't know" her fingers went to fidget with her blouse once more, "I mean…I don't know. But she is young and I find it hard to believe that she just got a heart attack in the alley right behind the diner where she worked and after hours of the end of her shift. It just doesn't make sense to me"

The sheriff just grunted then said, "I also think the same. The situation is of a very peculiar nature, however I decided to treat this as a murder until proven otherwise" He opened one of the drawers and got a pack of cigarettes out, he gave it a look then turned to Emily, "Do you mind?" When she shook her head, he grabbed one out of the pack and lit it with a lighter placed inside the same drawer where he got the pack. "You know, I thought I actually quit this time?" he huffed the smoke out after he said his words then relaxed back once more on his comfortable chair. "So, what's your relationship with Liam Corrigan?"

She felt the smoke of his cigarette inside of her lung, inundating her senses. The moment she heard his question she clutched her bag tighter in her hand, "I have no relationship with Liam Corrigan" she huffed, "I knew him when we were kids, and back then he was an insufferable jerk. However, since I came back to town six months ago, I haven't seen any of him. Today when he showed up at Othello I was shocked to see him, but he decided to sit and catch up. From what he told me I gathered that he had been out of town for the past year and he just came back and it is for business mainly"

It was then that a memory hit her; it was back when she was thirteen in the school cafeteria when Liam and his friends used to taunt her. She remembered clearly that one day when she sat by herself at the very far corner, but it was like he was looking for her. The second he spotted her a smirk shone on his face, he stared at her then gestured for two of his friends, or rather minions, to follow him. The three of them stood in front of her table, Liam still wearing his mug smirk. "Fidgety Emily" He called then dropped an apple on her plate making her jump up from her seat. He took few steps towards her which but with every step he took she took a step backward, until she fell on the food on another table. Emily recalled how the whole school had laughed at her that day. "You're pathetic" Liam had said with a sneer.

"Emily. Ms. Olsen, Emily?" She heard her name being called and that was when she snapped back to reality.

"Uh, I'm sorry. What were you saying?" She shook her head then stammered the word.  

"I asked you if you know whether Mr. Baker and Mr. Corrigan are friends" The sheriff asked putting out his cigarette in the ashtray.

"I believe they are, yes. I saw them hugging and it seemed like Liam came to Othello just to greet Marcus"

The smoke swirled in the room and it made Emily on edge. The sheriff told her that she can leave and that he would be in touch in case they needed anything from her. She left the office and walked right to where Liam and Marcus were. "What happened?" Liam jumped from his seat asking anxiously.

"He just asked me about what happened" She then turned to Marcus with a glare and said accusingly, "And he asked me if I knew about your little affair with a girl half your age Marcus" She shook her head, "I really cannot believe that you did such a thing"

Marcus stood up apparently offended at the notion, "I did no such thing. Bianca was my employee and that was it. I told him that too" his aggravated voice roared in the police station making the few officers left to stare at the three of them.

"this is none of my business anyway" She turned her head away from the both of them, "the police will figure out what happened to that poor girl" And with these parting words she left the two of them in the station staring at one another.

"She was a bit young Marcus, don't you think?" Liam commented then took his seat back waiting to be called too.

"I am telling you I didn't have any kind of relationship with her, just a professional one" Marcus insisted gritting his teeth in the process.

Emily walked to the car park and once she arrived she saw a figure, a dark figure, lurking in the shadows. She stood next to her car and tried to focus more on the approaching figure when she noticed it resembled the man who was in the diner with them. Against her better judgment she yelled, "Hey"