5. Dottie Palmwater

Picklewood Patridge

The stench of beer and fading cigarettes met Picklewood's nostrils, as her eyes surveyed the mess in her house. The distant smell of bacon and eggs under the lingering sourness of the alcohol informing her that Barney, her sister was already making breakfast.

Her stomach growled as she picked up her bag from the couch at the side, which her passed out dad laid on, his mouth hanging open and his round stomach out in full sight. The compressed beer cans all around him, unearthed the vivid memory of him drinking like his life depended on it last night, crushing the cans as he finished.

She knew quite well that he wouldn't be awake till late evening when he'd get up, eat and then, settle back on the couch again, leaving her once again to do all the work.

She wouldn't have bothered writing articles for their little town if it didn't bring money to the house. She also couldn't watch Barney starve. Juggling highschool and the town's newspaper, writing articles had become second nature to her.

Picklewood kicked his leg out of the way, as she moved towards the kitchen, ignoring the way his snoring seemed to have increased in volume.

She reached for the back of her pants, pulling out her cigarette pack, and lighting one before sticking it in between her lips. "Morning Bar." She greeted, her rough voice an indication of the sleep she didn't quite get last night. She had been as high as a kite. Lost in her own world.

Her sister turned towards her, straight black hair combed to perfection, chocolate brown eyes staring back at her with an unimpressed look, bringing down the outer corners of her brows.

Picklewood was nothing like her sister when it came to appearance. Her sister was the exact replica of their beautiful mother, who left them for some hot guy living in Chicago. Picklewood on the other hand didn't know where she got her looks from. Blond curly hair with a fringe that had always been carelessly arranged and hazel eyes that didn't look anything like the rest of her family members.

She would gladly love to call herself the rebel of their little family.

"Good morning. You look terrible."

"Thank you for noticing, Bar. What are we gonna do about it?" She asked with the cigarette to her lips and disinterest in her lazy gaze, before bringing it out, and blowing a string of white smoke from her mouth.

Barney rolled her eyes. "It's too early for that, don't you think?"

"What part of "cigarette is my coffee" don't you understand? I have a geo test this morning and I need an active brain to flunk it." Picklewood shot a lazy smile towards Barney. "I'm starving though."

Barney, used to her sister's behavior, only shook her head and dished her some bacon and eggs.

She pressed the cigarette butt into the counter, digging into the food.

"Mom called." Barney announced.

That didn't stop Picklewood from eating. "She send any money?" She asked, with her mouth full.

"No she just wanted-"

"Then I'm not interested." Picklewood cut her off in a tone that stated she wasn't a tad bit ready to continue the conversation.

At this, Barney sighed, pulling her attention from her sister, and back to what she was cooking.

◼◼◼◼

Elfrida

I knew I should have questioned the fact that my car was back in front of Sasha's house, Intact like nothing had happened the night before. I was hoping to have seen maybe a phone number attached somewhere on the car, to reach out to Kai and thank him for his help, but there was none. I planned on getting his number from Rhett when I eventually made my way to the sheriff's station.

For now, I was parked in front of Dottie Palmwater's house, my eyes scanning the small and yet peaceful building from the window of my car.

Last night, after I had taken some pills to ease the pain from my head, which was now covered with a small band aid, I had settled down in bed to do some research about Dottie Palmwater's case.

Although, not much came out, aside from the fact that her mother had made a statement about Dottie leaving the house with her best friend Zuri. Problem is, Zuri had said she never came to their house on Halloween.

The cops had ruled out the case, seeing as it was rumored that Dottie had fled Westbane with a mystery boyfriend, which her mother and father stated they had no idea about.

There was something off about it all. Something really shady, and weird about the fact that the officers could just rule off a case about a sixteen year old girl missing, and just let rumors that she went to flee town with a boy no one knew, or had ever seen, run amok.

I let out a breath, getting out of the car, and closing the door behind me, before walking into the property and onto the porch.

I rang the doorbell once, my eyes moving about, noting that the surroundings were really clean, and this particular part of the neighbourhood had a serene feeling to it.

The moment the door clicked open, my gaze shifted back to it.

The woman stared at me, brown eyes showing confusion, the pink sweater she wore, giving her whole aura a friendly and welcoming vibe. "Hello, how may I help you?"

I placed a smile on my face. "Are you Mrs Palmwater?"

She nodded. "Yes I am, is there a problem, officer?" She asked.

"No no, absolutely not. I'm Elfrida Stevenson, the new deputy sheriff of Westbane." I informed, extending my hand for a handshake.

"Oh dear." She smiled warmly at me, accepting the handshake. "Welcome to Westbane, come on, come right in." She said, opening the door wider and stepping to the side to make more room for me to step in.

I smiled. "Thank you." I said, walking into the warm house, my eyes taking in how clean the inside was also. It was a warm home in which you could tell was once bubbly, and full of joy, but there was an unsettling silence that reminded me of the times when I'd spent nights awake, soaking up the loneliness and trying to fight off sleep.

"Would you like some tea? Or coffee?" Mrs Palmwater's voice shook me off my thoughts as I turned to smile at her.

"Oh, no that isn't necessary Ma'am, I'm fine."

"No please, I insist." She urged.

Not to be rude, I gave her a small nod. "Sure then."

She smiled. "I'll be right back." She said, walking towards where I assume, was the kitchen.

My eyes wandered about once more, taking in the small peaceful home. I moved towards the table, two photo frames as the centerpiece.

Gently, I reached for the photo on the left, the smiling face of little Dottie as her parents both hugged her, met my gaze. It was a beautiful picture. One which you could feel the love around the three of them.

A family... A happy one... But now the main source of that joy is missing.

I placed the photo back, my eyes moving to the second one, this one was Dottie's grown up picture. She had an easy smile. Her blue eyes were similar to Mrs Palmwater's eyes. She didn't look like the kind of kid to go running off with a boy.

At least there was no reason to.

She had the perfect home, good reputation in school, friendly, and from the reports, shy. She was the perfect daughter.

I knew I would have been, if I had gotten the opportunity to have the life she had. The family, the serene neighbourhood. I would have been the happiest person. My life would be so different, I wouldn't have had to grow up so fast.

"Sometimes I also get lost staring at her picture." I jumped, turning towards the woman whose eyes now looked softer than they were before. "Anytime I look at it, it just feels like she's close by, you know. That if I look hard enough, I'd be able to see her."

She was holding two cups of coffee on her grip.

I reached to take one from her, the steam sending warmth all through me. "Thank you."

"My pleasure deputy, Please have a seat." She offered.

We both took our seat opposite each other, the soft couch, inviting.

I took a sip of the coffee, the sweet yet bitter taste snapping me fully awake and aware of my surroundings. "Now I know the meaning of an eye opening coffee."

She smiled. "You're welcome."

"You must be wondering why I'm here."

"Indeed I am. Although it's an honour."

I smiled. "Well, there's no problem at all. Where's Mr. Palmwater?"

"He left for work really early today."

I nodded, setting the coffee on the small table in between us. "I resumed work officially yesterday, and um, I came across Dottie's case file, and I couldn't help but feel like something was missed."

She furrowed her brows. "Is Mr Labrosky opening up the case again?" She asked, hope filling her voice.

I shook my head immediately. "No he isn't. I just want to see if there's something they missed, because her case file didn't exactly harbor all that much useful information. You might not know, something might pop up, hopefully you and Mr. Palmwater can finally get some sort of closure."

She gave a sad sigh. "What would you like to know?"

I gave her an encouraging smile. "First, let's talk about Dottie. How was she like? At home, at school, amongst her friends?"

The woman smiled, the wrinkles by her eyes making her look older than she actually was. "Oh Dottie was just wonderful. Although very shy, she was the nicest kid. She really didn't get into trouble in school."

"Did she ever get bullied?"

She shook her head. "Not that I know of. Dottie had friends everywhere, but Zuri Brooke was her best friend."

I nodded thoughtfully. "In the file, you stated that Zuri came over on the 31st, and then left the house with Dottie?"

"Yes, that's what happened... At least that's what I remembered happening. They had this party to attend at one of their classmate's home. A Halloween party. Zuri had come over at exactly 6:32PM. They both left together, and Dottie just never came back. When Zuri was asked, she denied ever coming to our house. There was no other eye witness that she left with Dottie, and everyone at that party said Zuri came alone. That's when the rumors that I was trying to pin my daughter's disappearance on the poor girl started. So I let it be, and waited for news until Mr. Labrosky called off the search. I was devastated, my daughter was never found and my life just-- everything just stopped."

"Has Dottie ever mentioned any boyfriend to you? Or anyone she might have liked?"

Mrs Palmwater shook her head. "Dottie tells me everything. If she had ever liked anyone, or had a secret boyfriend, I would have known."

I nodded. "Her car was found just outside of Bane Woods, do you know if she had reason to be there? If there's an old tree house she usually goes to? Anything?"

"No one goes into the Bane Woods, deputy. It has been like that for years."

"Any idea why?"

"It just is." She said.

I nodded, those three words sounding quite familiar. "If Dottie's still out there somewhere, I'll bring her back to you."

She smiled. "You're so kind, but it has been a year already."

"It doesn't matter. A few years ago, I thought I would have died, yet here I am."

I reached over, taking her hand in mine and squeezing comfortingly.

* * *

My next stop wasn't the Sheriff station... It was in Westbane high.

Zuri Brooke was committing a grieve crime by lying about that night. I had seen the look on Mrs Palmwater's face, and I just knew she was telling the truth, Zuri did visit them that night.

Why was she lying about it? Is she involved in Dottie's disappearance?

"I hope there isn't any trouble deputy? Zuri is one of our finest student's here. Do we need to call her parents?"

"No," I said to the principal, his brows pinched together in worry. "There's no need for all of that, Mr. McIlroy. I just want to ask Zuri a few questions, that's all." I was saying as the door to the office pushed open, revealing Zuri Brooke.

She was just like the photographs I'd seen of her. Curly brown hair, a lighter shade of dark skin, and innocent eyes hidden under thick recommended glasses.

"Um, I was called?" She let out, her voice telling me that she'd panicked upon seeing me.

Her eyes dropped from the principal, over to me, then back to him. "Am I in some sort of trouble?"

"No, not at all Zuri." I answered this time, getting to my feet. "Is it okay if I ask you a few questions outside the office?"

"Um... Sure?"

I smiled. "Great." I turned briefly to the principal. "Thank you, Mr. McIlroy."

He gave a brief nod.

Zuri and I left the office.

"What's this about? Am I gonna need a lawyer?" Zuri asked eagerly as we stepped out of earshot into the empty hallway.

"No Zuri, you won't. Only if you tell me the truth."

She swallowed. "Is this- is this about Dottie?"

"Yes it is. Her mom said you came to their house on the 31st, she was quite certain that you left the house with Dottie. And she wasn't lying."

Zuri shook her head. "I don't know how many times I have to repeat this. I never saw Dottie on the 31st. I didn't even go to her house. We were supposed to go to the party together, but I can't really remember what happened, but we didn't. And I went to the party alone. I have a bunch of witnesses if you doubt that. And the next day, I went over to Dottie's house to check up on her, and Mrs Palmwater told me she thought Dottie was with me, since to her, we left the house together. But I swear on my life, I didn't see Dottie on the 31st."

She didn't look like she was lying either.

What really is going on here?

"Do you know about Dottie's secret boyfriend?" I asked her.

She shook her head. "That's the weirdest thing in all of this, I don't even know who started the rumor. But Dottie doesn't have a boyfriend. I'd never seen her with any boy and she never told me anything about it either."

I sighed. "So you truly don't know anything, do you?"

She shrugged. "I'm sorry, I don't. Sometimes I wish I could have helped more, cause I really miss her. Is the case back open?"

"No, Zuri. I'm just trying to make sure we didn't miss anything before finally closing it up. So uh--" I fished around in my pocket for my card, handing it over to her. "Call me if anything ever pops up. No information is useless."

She smiled. "Sure, I'll do that. Am I free to go now?"

"Of course."

Quickly, she dashed down the hallway, my eyes following her trail as my brows pulled down in a frown.

I was right... Something was definitely amiss in the Dottie Palmwater case... In fact, a lot of things.

Two different stories about what happened on the 31st. Both stories aren't exactly false...

It's also not possible to have two truths in a complicated issue like this... One person had to be lying...

But who? What am I missing here?