Nora sat in her office, still looking over the papers, getting ready to go down to the police station herself as there came a knock on her door. "Come on in!" she called and the door swung open.
In walked an average sized, slightly muscular man with dark brown hair. Nora would have immediately been able to pick the man out in a crowd. "Nora Buchanan?" he asked. "I'm... Jerry Walsh."
"Come in, have a seat... please," Nora said.
"What did you need to speak with me about?" he asked. "How much trouble has Ron gotten himself into?"
"Mr. Walsh..."
"Jerry. Please." he said. She nodded.
"Jerry, we've tried to keep the news out of the papers, so you not hearing about this back in New Jersey... doesn't surprise me. What I called you here for today is... to provide your brother with an alibi for September 20th."
"An alibi?" Jerry sat forward in his seat. "What's going on? What kind of trouble is he in?"
"With your help, no trouble at all." Nora said. "All you have to do is come with me to the station and tell the detectives where your brother was on the 20th."
"Nothing's wrong," Marcie said, slowly walking ahead of Jen. "All of this money stuff, and everything with Ronnie, I just... I'm on overdrive."
"You know... the offer still stands if you want to come back and stay with me and Joey a little longer."
Marcie smiled. "Thanks Jen, but... I think I need to get back to living here. At least try to... for a little while."
Jen nodded. "OK," she said. "But at least promise you'll call if you need anything."
"I promise," Marcie said. Jen raised her eyebrows. "Honest," Marcie smiled. "I promise. You'd better... you'd better get to class before Professor Stevens locks you out."
"You're right" Jen rolled her eyes. "I think the man likes to torture us. Are you gonna be free after I get out of class? We could grab a burger at Rodi's?"
"Sure."
"I'll meet you in the quad then," Jen said. "Gotta go. History awaits."
Marcie laughed, watching Jen disappear across the campus. She herself gathered her belongings and headed towards the dorms. She walked in, making her way to her room, but stopping suddenly at the sight of a figure standing at her door. Marcie was frozen and a bit nervous, but approached slowly.
"Can I help you?" she asked.
"Marcie Walsh?"
"Yes."
"My name is Kelly Buchanan... I'm glad I could catch you." Marcie was still unsure what the meeting was about. "I found...your purse in Angel Square."
"Oh my God," Marcie smiled. "Oh my God you found it?" Kelly handed Marcie the small bag. "Thank you so much, oh my... thank you."
"I know that if it was me, I'd hope that someone would return it to me. Besides... I saw the pictures in there and knew they had to be special to you."
"They are," Marcie's voice dropped. "They really mean a lot."
"I didn't know Al Holden," she said. "Only through Joey...but I read about what happened and... I'm really sorry."
Tears welled up in Marcie's eyes. "Thanks you." she choked "And for... bringing this back to me. I was so sure that I'd never see it again." Marcie wiped her eyes. Everything was hitting her at one time. She had to sit.
Kelly crouched down before her. "It's OK" she told Marcie. "It's OK, just take a few deep breaths... nice and... nice and slow." Marcie allowed her breathing to steady. "You OK?"
"Yeah," Marcie nodded "Sorry... we hardly know eachother and here I am... flipping out... sorry."
"Hey, no," Kelly said. "No, it's OK." She paused for a moment, going into her own purse, pulling out a pen and a piece of paper. "Here..." She jotted down two numbers. "This is me... at home and my cell phone. If you need... somebody to talk to, OK?"
"OK," Marcie smiled, taking the paper. "Thank you... for everything. All of this... it really mean a lot to me. Thank you."
