The five minutes it took Dewey to arrive back at the house were definitely a contender for the longest five minutes known to man. Every creak and groan from the house as it settled back into the routine of having another person within it set Sidney on edge. Even though she had turned the picture frame back down, she could still feel the empty trenchant stare of her mother's scratched out eyes staring at her.
After a thorough search of the house, it was confirmed for definite that there was nobody in there. Nor was there any sign of forced entry or anything suspicious on the premises. During that time, Gale had also driven down to the house after receiving a brief message from her husband.
The trio sat at the table, nursing cups of lukewarm coffee that had once been scalding hot, yet were now cooling and remained undrunk from.
"Sid, there's only two ways that someone could have been in the house. If you'd left the door unlocked a-"
"I think after the events over the past eighteen years I'd have remembered to lock the door." Sidney admonished, cutting Dewey off mid-sentence.
"Or someone magically condensed themselves through the crack of that window." Gale finished, raising her eyebrow at Sidney. She knew what they were both hinting at, the possibility of anyone being in the house was slim to none.
"Alright, so if nobody was in the house what about the picture?" Sidney questioned persistently.
"Well the picture could've blown over from the open window." Dewey explained carefully, causing even Gale to roll her eyes at that obvious statement.
"I know that Dewey- but what happened to the picture? You're not telling me that the shards of glass that came from the picture frame magically scratched both mine and my mom's eyes out, are you?"
There was an awkward silence exchanged between the three as Sidney stood up, walking towards the sink and emptying her coffee down it. It was frustrating. She knew that it wasn't Dewey's fault and didn't mean to snap, but the constant overwhelming fear that took hold of her whenever something sinister happened ricocheted the idea back that this wasn't quite over.
"Is there anyone else with a set of keys?" Gale asked to nobody in particular. Anyone who could give her an answer would do.
"No, Burke only collected two sets yesterday. A set for us and a set for Sid." Dewey told her, his thumb grazing along the right side of his moustache as he considered any other possibilities, his brow furrowed.
"Sid, was there anyone who had a set of keys to your dad's house? Before they were changed." Gale asked.
Sidney turned around to face her, leaning back as she tried to recall who could possibly have access.
"Nobody. Well, nobody alive anyway. Kate had a copy of the keys after my dad passed- just in case there were any issues with the groundskeeper." Sidney told her, not quite making the link.
Gale's face flashed triumphantly as Sidney said this, as if the answer she had given was something she had been banking on the whole time.
"Right, so it wouldn't be a stretch to assume that Jill could have had access to the house at some point?" She glanced at the two of them before continuing. "Sid, you hadn't set foot in this house since Neil died. If Kate had the keys all this time, it's more than likely Jill would've done her research here."
Dewey nodded, then glanced at his wife. "Research?"
Gale paused for a moment before continuing. "Jill's goal wasn't to destroy you. It was to become you. That's what she told you, wasn't it?" Sidney nodded, starting to put the pieces together. "So, in order to become you, she would have to know pretty much every detail about your life. You unknowingly gave it to her on a silver platter. Did she know that you were coming to stay with her?"
"Uh, no. I don't think so." Sidney shook her head. "I was originally supposed to come back here. But it was too far out, and Kate's was right in the centre…she insisted, and I gave in a couple of days before."
It was then Dewey clicked as well.
"So… if Jill thought that you were coming here until the very last minute- she could've done that to unsettle you." Dewey finished, causing Gale to nod.
"It might have been a build up to something bigger. It could have been something to just set you on edge…"
"Well she wasn't wrong, was she?" Sidney had to acknowledge that what they were saying made sense; it was entirely plausible that this had been an early set-up from Jill that been done with intent to frighten her. It almost filled her with a sense of relief. Almost.
"But Gale… you took the dust covers off everything and you cleaned up, surely you would've noticed a smashed photo." Dewey butted in.
"Not necessarily." Sidney slowly trailed off, taking a seat again at the table as she considered everything. "Jill could've left the frame intact. The only reason I noticed the picture had been disfigured like that was because the frame had smashed- which still could've been down to the breeze coming in from the window. Unless you really looked at the picture it's likely you'd have missed it."
"To be honest, Dewey, this house gives me the creeps out here. I didn't pay attention to much. I just wanted to leave as quickly as I could- no offence, Sid."
Dewey was still mulling over everything, and even as he nodded, Sidney could still see the tension present on his face.
"Okay, it isn't a stretch to imagine that Jill could've been behind this. And with nobody in the house, that just points towards the same outcome." He drummed his fingers on the table. "But even so, I'm not comfortable with you being all the way out here by yourself."
"Look, Dewey…I'm absolutely fine. I must admit that the picture thing unnerved me. But this is my home, I know it better than anyone else." Sidney excused. "Besides, I'm not going to be on my own. You've still got police monitoring the place for the next few days, right?" she asked him.
Dewey sighed and nodded. "I'd much prefer it if you came to stay with Gale and I-"
Sidney took a glance at Gale and watched her face tighten slightly. Even after everything that they had been through together, the two women had completely different personalities and they would never be the best of friends. There was a level of respect there that Sidney would always have for her. Even towards the beginning where the two had been at their worst after Gale had slandered her name over the case with Cotton. Now she'd had time to reflect, Sidney did have some sort of admiration that she had stuck to her instincts. The problem was that Gale was ruthless and cut-throat, and even when her heart was in the right place, the way she went around it was somehow always wrong. She wasn't sure if she could live with Gale, even if it were only to be a temporary measure. And she was pretty sure that Gale felt the exact same way.
"Honestly, Dewey…I'm fine. I appreciate the offer, but I just need a little bit of time." She explained. "I feel a lot better now."
After that appreciative, yet firm, declination there was nothing much more to say. There was a throwaway comment about dinner the next night and what she would like, but Sidney knew that it was all filler just to get to the door.
That night when she was ready for sleep, Sidney had stood herself up from the couch and walked towards the hallway, pausing as she glanced at the photo frame, still face down on the wooden table. Chewing her bottom lip, she took a shaky breath and walked over to it. Without turning it back over, she opened the nearest set of drawers, avoiding eye contact with the offending item and placed the frame in there before closing the drawer and switching off the light.
"I thought you were supposed to look better once you'd left hospital. You look like you should be switching places with me." Kirby commented, her focus on the small plastic tub of chocolate mousse in her hand.
Sidney watched as Kirby carefully scraped layer after layer of the mousse onto her spoon. Circling the outer edge before scraping and skimming the very thinnest amount she could in a rhythmic pattern. It reminded her of her first date with Billy all those years ago.
Sitting in the booth of the diner, Sidney watched as Billy's eyes circled at the same pace of his spoon, shedding yet another layer of strawberry ice-cream from his side of the glass dish. The way he did it was almost hypnotising, and even though Sidney was a slow eater by nature, she settled that he was something else.
"My mom would throw a fit if she caught me doing that." Sidney pointed out playfully, causing Billy to jump and ruin his perfectly layered spoon of ice-cream. It wasn't like it would have lasted, the metal of the spoon was warmed by his grip and was causing the ice-cream to go from its solid state to a multi-coloured, liquidy mass.
For a moment, she saw Billy's eyes darken and a slight crease appear between his brows, and she was concerned that she had upset him by disturbing him. However, as soon as his darkened expression had appeared it had quickly vanished, replaced by a boyish smile and a slouch as he dipped his spoon in with a much more relaxed nature.
"Good job she's not here then because she'd really flip if she knew I was about to do this..."
And before she could even react, he had reached forward with the spoon in his hand and gently tapped her nose, leaving the ice-cream residue on it.
She laughed and quickly lifted her arm, using the sleeve of her denim jacket to wipe her nose that had wrinkled in the process of his act.
"I'll get you back for that." She warned him, raising her brow in a challenging manner.
"See, my dad taught me that if you want something enough…" He leant in a little closer, using his hand to now brush a strand of her chestnut brown hair into place. "When you get it, you need to take as much pleasure in it as you possibly can."
"Sidney? Are you okay?"
Sidney jumped as she was pulled back into the present. Kirby had finished her pudding and was now focused on her.
Clearing her throat, Sidney forced a smile and nodded her head. "Yeah, I'm fine. It was just being back at the house for the first time since…" She trailed off.
Kirby pulled a face and offered a weak smile herself.
"Sorry, my bad. I didn't really put it together that you'd be going back to your house." She told her. Her hands had been previously occupied by the eating of her mousse, but now they were free, they were bunching up the cotton sheets on the bed.
"It's okay. You've had a lot to think about yourself."
Kirby nodded and glanced at her phone on the side, picking it up and swiping upwards. A sigh left her lips and she placed it back down again.
"Has Dewey heard from my dad at all?"
"He hasn't mentioned anything, why?"
"Well… he texted me yesterday morning and told me that his business meetings were going to be extended for another two weeks. I tried to ask him why it was extended for so long and he hasn't even read it."
Sidney could see that the young woman was worried.
"When is he supposed to be back?"
"Tomorrow."
The two were silent for a few moments as Sidney considered the possibilities.
"I know you're worried about how he's going to react with all this, Kirby, and I know you wanted to tell him in person…but keeping it away from him for another two weeks will be near impossible; it's all over the news."
"I know." Kirby agreed, leaning back into her pillow. "I tried to call him last night, but it went straight through to answer phone."
"Well if I were you, I'd just keep trying to reach him. One way or another, he's going to hear about the news. I'm sure you'll get a phone call by the end of today." She reached out and squeezed her hand sympathetically.
Kirby sniffed, glancing from Sidney to the bedsheets. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
