"After Ginger Snaps"

53. Stonewall

"Hello, Brigitte." Rowlands smiles, "How are you?"

"That's not a question I can answer without my lawyer present."

Rowlands chuckled and shrugged, "You know, some might take that as an admission of guilt."

"And some might take it as invoking the law, you know, that thing you swore to uphold?"

"So, they tell me that you're staying here at the greenhouse?"

"I have nowhere else to go."

"You have your house."

"My house is a crime scene. My room is a crime scene. It's been two weeks and they won't even let me in to collect my clothes!"

"I can arrange that, you know," Rowlands says, "It's very doable."

"What do you want in return?"

"You not stonewalling me."

"Me without a lawyer, you mean?"

"No. You not stonewalling me, even with a lawyer."

Brigitte considers the offer. The reason isn't really that the police wouldn't let her. They actually did let her through after some coaxing and some drama, but she didn't find it in herself to go down there. Not to the room she'd shared with Ginger. Not to the room she knew she'd die in, not to the room they buried themselves in.

"What do you want to know?" Brigitte asks.

"Nothing in particular right now, but there are few unsolved cases still pending – your guidance counselor's death, the death of that janitor, which I'm still shaking my head at..."

"I don't know about that."

"Well, what his name, uhh... a Jason McCardy, I think his name was, came in yesterday and insisted that you knew something about all that."

Brigitte strains to hide her relief.

"You think I do?"

"I'm not willing to take that to heart on just his word. But I can't exactly rule it out. Will you be here if I need to know anything?"

"I'll be here."

"See that you are. G'day."

Rowlands turns to leave, but then stops.

"Oh, by the way. The coroner's office is releasing your sister's body. I can make funeral arrangements for you, if you want..."

Brigitte considers it.

"If you can have them give me a call here, I'll talk to the coroner's office. Sure."

"Okay then. I'll be in touch."

Rowlands and Brigitte stays outside. She finds a suitable tree stump and sits down on it and watches the early morning shuffle of Bailey Downs.