Chapter 4
It was only 5:32 PM when Mac and Stella made it into the pharmacy. There were many people in the store, more than they expected. Stella made her way to the front counter and asked for Victoria.
"Hi, welcome to Smith's pharmacy! How can I help you?" a woman said, whose name tag said Sally. "Would you like to pick up a prescription?" Sally said; with a big smile and showing off her overly white teeth.
"Oh no, I am Stella Bonasera and that is Mac Taylor, we are from the New York Crime Lab. We are here to talk to Victoria Adams. Is she here right now?" Stella said, while Mac handed a note to the woman on why they had to talk to Victoria. They didn't want to make a big deal out of it, not in front of all of these people.
"Oh, ok, she's right back here. Vicky! There is a man and woman here to talk to you", Sally said, as she directed her finger towards the doorway in the back, letting Mac and Stella know to follow her. "Ok, take as many minutes as you need to discuss what you must." Sally said, holding the door open for Mac and Stella, and then she walked back up to the front desk.
"Hi, you must be Stella. It's nice to meet you. You must be here to talk about to Cassie." Victoria Adams, a sweet-looking, brown-haired girl, dressed up in her work uniform. Stella could tell Victoria was uncomfortable, twirling her hair around her fingers, but still keeping eye contact.
"Hi, it's nice to meet you too! This is Mac Taylor. He is going to help me ask questions so we can get closer to finding the person who killed Cassie." Stella said, pointing to Mac. Mac gave a friendly smile to Vicky and Vicky nodded back.
Mac walked over and leaned against a wall, nearest to Vicky and Stella took a seat right next to her. With only one chair, you know Mac would let Stella sit down, he is such a gentleman.
"Vicky, can you tell us anything that seemed strange or different for the last couple of weeks that involved Cassie?" Mac said, watching Vicky's eyes. Her eyes were full of fear and started to look glossy; she was probably going to cry.
"Well, not really. She was coming to school and talked on the phone with me and never missed anything, but I think she was getting tutored by someone, I don't know his name." Vicky said, looking around the room, still very uncomfortable.
Stella knew that description from somewhere.
"Do you mean Josh Lee?" she asked, hoping it was Josh and not someone else.
"Yeah, that's his name, Josh. She was having trouble in her work and she asked him. I'm surprised she asked him, he's a jock. Usually jocks are dumb. At least that's what I think" Vicky said, getting a little giggle from her remark.
"Did anyone have a problem with Josh a friend or anyone that was jealous?" Mac asked looking at a blue bruise on Vicky's arm.
"Not anyone that I knew of. Cassie was a very friendly girl. She got along with everyone, except people that messed with her or her friends. Hmm, maybe her boyfriend, but I don't think he had a problem with it. He's a very supportive boyfriend. He loved her very much." Cassie said who started to get very nervous when Stella stood up and walked toward her.
"What's her boyfriend's name? And you're positive that he wouldn't have a problem with another guy hanging around Cassie? Usually other men have this issue." Stella said, who also noticed the uncovered bruise on Vicky's right arm.
"His name is Leonardo Melchiona. And of course I'm positive; I'm not going to lie about my dead best friend. Do you know how it feels to lose someone so close to your heart? And even if Leo had a problem, he didn't show it in front of me or anyone close to Cassie, and I would've known if he had a problem. Things fly fast in this school." Vicky said, releasing her anger at Stella and quickly put her hands over her eyes and a tear rolled down her face.
"I know how it feels. I lost my wife. That's the biggest loss I've even known", Mac said, addressing Vicky's question and then attracted Stella's attention from what he had said.
"Oh, I'm sorry to here that sir, I'm sorry I blew up on you guys, I'm sorry." Vicky said, while she shook her head, feeling very ashamed.
"It's ok Vicky; we know this is hard for you. It's hard for everyone when this happens. You just have to bear with us. Ok?" Stella said, noticing that Mac was looking out the window, toward the sky, thinking about something.
"But why?" Vicky said, jumping out of her seat. She couldn't control her anger anymore. "Why did this happen to Cassie? She's the sweetest girl you could ever meet. Thinking who would want to kill is beyond me. Oh, when I find out who did this to her…ooh I can't imagine what I would do.
Mac headed away from the window and walked toward Vicky.
"It's ok, Vicky, calm down, we will get the person who killed her, and don't you worry. Just have some hope. Sit down, please?" Mac asked, with a very shocked expression on his face. Who knew that this sweet-looking girl had so much anger inside of her?
"Wait", Vicky said, grabbing Stella and Mac's attention, which drew him away from the window. "Come to think of it, I think she had one fight with a girl, her name is Brittany I think, Brittany George. Maybe she did it, I'm not sure though." Vicky said, with a very mean look in her eyes, trying to control her anger.
"Did she have something against you and Cassie?" Mac asked, still examining that bruise on Vicky's arm.
"Yeah, she picked on Cassie and I since we were kids, but we stuck together through it all…oh all the good times we had." Vicky said who seemed to be dwelling on her past moments with Cassie.
"Who gave you that bruise on your arm", Stella asked, walking even closer to Vicky.
"It's nothing really; a box fell when I was lifting boxes the other day." Vicky said, and Stella knew she was lying and her hands were also shaking.
"Are you sure, was it Cassie, Josh or Leo…" Mac said, before getting cut off by Vicky.
"Ok, ok, I tried to talk to Cassie three days before she was killed and I noticed her mood and her attitude changed, she wasn't the same person anymore." Cassie said, instantly putting her hand over her bruise.
"And you weren't happy about that, were you?", Stella said, staring back at Mac, still thinking of something, but looked up when he saw Stella staring at him. Stella wanted to know what he was thinking about, but what was it?
"Of course not, this…jock, was taking my friend away. He was also changing her. She wasn't respectful anymore. She never called me. We talked everyday. God, I hated him. Why the heck did she have to talk to him in the first place?" Cassie said, taking a deep breath, calming herself down a bit.
"Ok, I think you told us quite enough. We will find the person who did this, don't you worry. Do you have the addresses or know any place where we can find Leonardo or Brittany?" Mac said, already heading toward the door.
"Well, I know there's a big game at school today, I know Brittany plays soccer. And Leo plays the drums. The band usually plays. You should find them both there." Vicky said, getting out of her seat.
"Thank you, Vicky. When does the game start?" Stella said, pushing the chair under the table.
"At 6:30." Vicky said, walking out of the room.
"Well then, we better hurry Stella, we don't want to miss the beginning", Mac said, who was last out of the room.