Chapter 5: Revelations of the Truth
(Chamberlain, Maine; early December)
Since the notebook and letter Carrie had left in her locker were taken in by the police, every page had been thoroughly looked over to find out the truth. The police officers assigned to the case were horrified to read and re-read the truth of why Carrie had vanished, in particular what her private life had been under Margaret's iron thumb and religious domination, and not to mention all the bullying at school and elsewhere.
The charge sheet of abuse and other questionable activities against Margaret continued to pile up the more the copybook was read - over and over again, until a few days afterwards, the authorities were ready to start their next move in the case.
(December 3rd; late morning)
On the morning of Saturday December 3rd, there were a number of reporters outside the White residence on Carlin Street as there'd been since the news broke of Carrie's disappearance, and waiting for Margaret White to step out so they could get a quote or something from her. But so far, she'd kept quiet about what had happened, which everyone in Chamberlain had thought was a very strange thing to do, especially considering the fact that a teenage girl, and her own daughter nonetheless, had just gone missing. But Margaret, not seeming to care, would always declare her religious views of the press and how they'd be going to hell for annoying her.
At about 11am, Chris Hargensen, Sue Snell, Tina Blake and all the other girls in the group known as the Mortimer Snerds, all of whom were well-wrapped up to guard against the bitter winter cold, including some of the latest fur hats with ear flaps, warm coats and new winter boots and scarfs, were walking near to the house to see what the commotion was like this morning. They paused quite close by, on the same side of the street, to see about a dozen media people sitting or standing outside the front of the White bungalow, hoping Margaret would emerge. Standing out on the road running by the houses were two satellite vans, with their crews standing by to broadcast any new developments in the story to the world.
There was nothing yet to report, as nothing major had happened so far. But as there was no wind about on this very cold morning, a thin column of dark grey smoke could be clearly seen rising from the chimney on one side of the house, indicating there was life from the sole occupant inside the old building.
Suddenly, the girls heard the sounds of police sirens in the distance…and getting closer and closer as they got louder. Sure enough, some seconds later, a convoy of around half a dozen police cars and a few other vehicles, including three police vans and a large, very smart black luxury Mercedes, soon came roaring round the corner from behind the Mortimer Snerds and towards the White Residence, much to the surprise of all the media people present, before stopped in front of it.
Chris and a few other of the girls, a little surprised by this unexpected event, pulled out their cell phones, including some of the latest examples, from the inside pockets of their new winter coats and began to record what was happening before them.
"This seems to be a lot of police officers for getting the press away from that house." Chris said, as she began to record with her iPhone.
"Chris…I just have a feeling this isn't for getting rid of the press." Sue said, anxiously.
As the sirens and lights were turned off, the doors opened and a number of police officers in warm winter clothes stepped out from the police cars while other officers, including one very burly officer with a substantial hand-held battering ram in his hands, and all dressed in riot-control gear, stepped out from the police vans and took up positions around the house, much to the shock and consternation of everyone in the neighbourhood who was watching.
And stepping out from the luxury Mercedes was a tall grim-faced man with a slow receding hairline and dressed in a very smart business suit made of navy-blue material, a crisp white shirt, a bright red tie and black leather shoes, polished to a very high shine, and a heavy grey overcoat over that with black gloves on his hands. Strangely, despite the bitter winter cold, he wasn't wearing a warm hat.
"Hang on a second…who's that man?" Chris said, quietly.
"That's the D.A., the District Attorney, for the state of Maine, Chris." said Tina, in a low surprised tone as she and the other girls looked towards the scene before them. For the girls, things before them suddenly got a lot more serious; if the D.A. was here, then it must be for an extremely important reason, and thus fully justifying Sue's comment on the police not being here just to get rid of the press from in front of the White Residence.
Chris, Sue and the other girls in the group, as well as a number of passers-by and people who lived along the street, watched from a distance in quiet astonishment as did the members of the media outside the house, as the D.A., and several officers, including the one with the hand-held battering ram, made their way up the steps to the porch and the front door. A number of other officers, their guns drawn, went round to the back of the house to take positions there just in case Margaret tried to escape from the back.
The D.A. tried the front door and found it firmly locked up. He rattled the door handle before knocking on the door a few times to get the attention of the sole occupant inside.
"Margaret White…" the D.A. said in a voice that everyone could hear while knocking on the door, "…we've got a warrant for your arrest. Open up." And that bit of information caused every girl in the Mortimer Snerds to gasp a bit and look at each other in stunned disbelief. A warrant for her arrest? Hang on…it couldn't be.
Margaret didn't seem to hear them from somewhere inside the old building. She was upstairs praying before a crucifix mounted on the wall, and was praying for everyone gathered outside to go away as well as for Carrie to return to the house.
"Margaret!" the D.A. called impatiently, knocking on the door again. He sighed an annoyed sigh and shook his head while muttering something, and then he turned to face the burly officer with the battering ram as he stood aside a few steps. "Open the door."
"With pleasure, sir!" said the officer as he stepped forward, and raising the battering ram in his arms, he swung it back and then smashed at the door with all the force he could muster.
One…nothing happened...
Two…the door started to give way a little...
Three…bang!
With a loud splintering of timber, the old lock finally gave way and the wooden door, heavily deformed by the blows, swung inwards and, as the officer with the battering ram quickly stood aside shouting "Go! Go! Go!", between half a dozen and a dozen police officers, armed with their handguns and batons as well as wearing body armour, steel helmets, special protective gloves and protective face shields as a precautionary measure, quickly moved into the house.
Chris, Tina, Sue and all the other girls watched in stunned silence as for a minute or so, as did the photographers and media people and anyone else who was on the street, including some of the neighbours, unsure of what they'd see in the next few seconds.
Then Margaret White, wearing her usual black attire and with two grim-faced burly officers firmly restraining her on both sides as she tried to struggle free while yelling out religious sayings, was brought out from the house through the ruined front door and brought down the steps to the street, before being stood before the equally grim-faced D.A. as all the news photographers and other news-people started snapping pictures and recording images for the newspapers and the evening news.
"Margaret White?" the D.A. asked, and Margaret nodded. "You're under arrest for numerous instances of child abuse, domestic violence and physical assault on your daughter, Carrie, over the years." the D.A. said, as the Mortimer Snerds and any other people who were standing close by and overheard that unexpected revelation gasped in shock and horror.
"You have the right to remain silent. If you give up the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be held against you in a court of law. You have the right to be represented during questioning and in court by an attorney, but if you cannot afford an attorney, then one will be provided for you." and as the D.A. finished giving the Miranda Rights, Margaret was securely handcuffed by one of the other officers and, with her struggling a bit while screaming religious quotes of mercy on their souls, was brought down by the two officers who were firmly restraining her over to one of the waiting police vans.
Once at the van, which had the rear doors opened, she was placed inside the back, as photographers crowded round and took as many photos as they could in a bright sea of white flashes before the inner door was closed and then the outer door was shut, sealing Margaret off from further view from the press and anyone else who was watching, before she was then driven away from the house and off to the police station in the centre of the older part of Chamberlain for processing and then for further questioning.
As the media people then turned back to the officers to ask for a comment about what was going to happen next just after the police van left the scene, one of the more senior police officers, with a megaphone in his hand, stood on the front porch of the White Residence and waved his hands to quieten them down so he could speak to them more clearly. When the press had quietened down, he raised the megaphone to his mouth.
"Ladies and gentlemen! There's nothing more for you all to see here! Please go on home or carry on with what you were all doing beforehand. A statement about this will be issued to the press in due course. Thank you very much." the officer said, as he lowered the megaphone. In the meantime, his colleagues, including some of the other police officers who were wearing the helmets and body armour, ushered the media back from the front garden and back onto the sidewalk.
After the media were ushered off the property, other officers then quickly set up yellow police tape and barriers round the White residence to keep people away, as the investigators who were looking into the case of Carrie's disappearance were due to arrive very soon to have a thorough look through the house.
Chris, Sue, Tina and all the other girls in the Mortimer Snerds, who were still standing relatively close by, were all completely stunned, not only by what they'd just seen, but to hear the fact that Carrie had been badly abused by her own mother. This was something they'd never expected to see or expected to happen and gave all of them a major indication that this maybe one of the reasons Carrie had suddenly disappeared form Chamberlain.
As the crowd of other onlookers who watched the arrest dispersed and went back to what they were doing beforehand, and some of the media people loaded up their things into their vehicles and prepared to head away as the officer had said, the group of girls stood in some shock and discussed with each other what they'd seen as they turned and walked away.
(Two days later; Monday December 5th: 12:30pm)
All the students and staff were assembled together in the school auditorium for some announcement, which many of the students and teachers thought would be the latest information about Carrie's disappearance. As they all waited while wondered what was going on, they could see Principal Morton on the stage at one end of the auditorium, as well as two police officers who were in quiet conversation with each other. A screen had been setup over the stage, so everyone could see what was going to be shown, as well as a projector was connected to a laptop on one side of the stage.
"What do you think we'll hear?" Sue Snell asked, as she looked at Heather.
"No idea, but I'm guessing in the next few minutes…we'll find out." said Heather, with more than a hint of anxiousness in her voice. Sue then looked at her boyfriend, top school athlete and baseball player Tommy Ross, who was also looking a bit nervous too.
Sue then looked at the other girls in the Mortimer Snerds, and many of them all looked just as anxious or as nervous as she and Tommy were feeling, particularly deep inside, where Sue could feel her stomach churning a bit.
Although, unlike everyone else within the room, Chris had an annoyed looked on her face, which didn't surprise Sue one little bit, considering her personality. It was quite obvious that Chris would rather be anywhere else than in here.
Then everyone, students and teachers alike, all quietened down as Principal Morton appeared on the stage and stepped up to the microphone.
"Okay everyone, I guess I don't need to tell you the reason of why we're all here right now…it's about Carrie." Principal Morton said with a heavy sigh, as nearly everyone nodded their heads or murmured in agreement.
"The two police officers here have information to give you with regard to how she disappeared. Before she vanished, Carrie left a large notepad, as well as a letter, in her locker with all the information about why she left town, and the officers here will give you more information about that." Principal Morton said, as he then turned to nod at the officers and the female officer stood and went up to the microphone, clearing her throat.
"Ladies…gentlemen…I have here in my hand the letter Carrie White left in her locker just before she disappeared, and I am going to read it out to you. And it makes for quite sombre reading…" the female officer said, and she brought up the letter and, clearing her throat, read it out loud to the audience.
To Whom it may concern,
I really don't know what I should say, except to say that this'll probably be the very last that you'll ever hear of me. Things have just been getting really hard for me recently, and it seems to be getting worse for me all the time. Everyone in this town seems to be against me for no reason, and every day I'm being harassed and bullied by almost everybody in school and no one in higher authority seems interested in helping me.
At home, things aren't that much better either to be honest. Momma always seems to be against me too; she always finds fault with even the slightest things not worth fussing over or even beyond my control and slaps me for committing non-existent sins and locks me in the closet under the stairs for hours at a time.
I feel like I'm in danger and I feel it's time for me to leave Chamberlain and move on into the world and make my own way in life. Contained within the brown envelope is the information as to why I'm leaving, and it has within it almost every single incident of bullying at school or by other people outside of school, with the names of all those involved mentioned, as well as many of the worst incidents I can remember where momma abused or hurt me at home.
I'm tired of being the school's outcast and scapegoat for things other people have done. I'm also tired of being made fun of by people for things beyond my control and I'm tired of being afraid all the time. Now I think it's time for someone else to take over.
I don't know where I plan to go to start my new life, but all I do know is it'll be a very long way away from Chamberlain in a place where no one knows me or minds who I am. I really don't expect that I'll ever return home again, or if I do it won't be for a very long time to come.
I wish everybody in Chamberlain and all my fellow classmates in Ewen High School all the very best for the future and I hope that you'll manage well without me.
Goodbye forever.
Carrie White.
When the officer finished reading it, there was just a stunned silence from everyone with many jaws having dropped and students glancing at each other anxiously. Sue and Tommy looked at each other, just stunned to hear words like that.
"Oh…my goodness…" Tommy said quietly. He was just speechless, like everyone else. The silent, appalled look on Sue's face said it all too.
"As mentioned from this letter, she left a large notepad, with 400 pages in it, detailing everything that happened to her in them. We've scanned each page in that notepad, which eventually totalled exactly 398 pages of information, as well as this letter, and then put both of them up together in single document in a PDF form on the website, the address of which you can all see up there…" the officer said, indicating to the website address being shown on the screen above thanks to the projector.
Many of those who brought their school bags with them into the hall, as well as quite a few of the teachers present, wrote down the link of the website page on the backs of copybooks so they could have a look at it later on.
"One more thing with regard to this…" the female officer said after a moment, as she sighed heavily while everyone looked anxiously at her, "…I'd strongly recommend that you all have plenty of tissues with you when you read this document. What's in it will break your heart." she said, as everyone before her looked anxiously at each other.
Then the female officer stepped aside and sat down as the male officer sitting on his own chair stood up and went over to the microphone.
"Another piece of news I'm sure you've all heard by now, from having seen it in the news and on the TV, is that Carrie's mother, Margaret, was arrested at her home along Carlin Street a few days ago." he said. And he was correct; everybody in Chamberlain was by now fully aware of Margaret's arrest, having heard about it on the news and seeing Margaret's mugshots on the evening news on the TV, as well as on the front cover of the local newspapers, such as the Chamberlain Daily Bugle.
The news had caused considerable shock throughout everyone in town when it became known that Margaret had been arrested for severely abusing Carrie. Neighbours who'd been living very near to the White residence on Carlin Street for a long time were appalled to hear the news that Margaret had been abusing her own daughter right under their noses, and they hadn't put all the facts together earlier.
One anonymous woman who lived near one end of Carlin Street was quoted to have said to one of the reporters, "We knew Margaret had strong religious beliefs, but we didn't know she was such a fanatical, unpredictable psychopath. We knew she preached religion every day and had weird, unorthodox views about the world, but we'd no idea she was abusing her own daughter in that place or that she was mentally insane."
"And I've got some more news about Margaret to give you all. Within the last hour, she was formally charged with numerous acts of abuse and assault she inflicted on her daughter over the years." the officer said, and everyone in the room gasped in total shock or horror, even Chris Hargensen and most of the Mortimer Snerds, including Tina, Donna, Heather, Sue and the Watson Twins, Nikki and Lizzy.
"Oh, my goodness…" Sue said in quiet horror, as the realisation of why Carrie had left town suddenly hit her and everyone else like a ton of bricks going 100mph.
"And not only that…" the officer said, as everyone quietened down, "…Margaret not only confessed to badly abusing Carrie many times over these last years, but she also confessed to assaulting her late husband Ralph White on more than a few other occasions as well whenever he disagreed with her views about things." the male officer said. That unexpected statement brought more gasps from everyone; this was news they hadn't expected to hear.
"Oh, my god, there was a madwoman living amongst us all." Rita Desjardin said quietly, as she brought her hand up to her mouth in shock. Sue glanced over to her gym teacher, and then turned to look up at the other girls in the Mortimer Snerds; they appeared just as appalled by what Margaret had done.
"However, before the case goes to court…or excuse me, IF it goes to court, Margaret's going to be undergoing an extensive series of psychiatric tests soon, to determine whether or not she's fit enough to stand trial. There's something seriously mentally wrong with her, and we think her religious fanaticism and her erratic, highly unstable mental behaviour to Carrie…not to mention the abuse and countless acts of domestic violence, could easily be one of the main reasons why Carrie suddenly disappeared the way she did. And to be quite honest with you all...after reading through the notebook Carrie left behind…I really don't blame her in the slightest for doing that. I'm quite sure that I would've done so as well if I'd been in her situation." said the officer.
It was true; the doctors at the place where Margaret was being currently being securely held for examination before she could stand trial were able to confirm that Margaret's mental illness and mental instability were amongst some of the most serious that they'd ever seen in their years of service. Possibly even THE worst they'd ever seen. Among her mental illnesses they discovered were severe undiagnosed schizophrenia, bipolar and a narcissistic personality disorder, which helped explain her odd behaviour, constant mood swings and religious ramblings.
There was a low murmur among everyone, staff and students alike, before the officer cleared his throat again to get their attention.
"And not to mention all the bullying by most of the students sitting here before me here in this school who over time also played a major part of driving Carrie away." the officer said, his voice now sounding much sterner than before. And quite a few of the students turned their heads away a little as their cheeks turned red a little. Others held their heads in their hands in shame for what they did.
"That's just…utterly disgusting what you all did to bully and harass someone who did nothing to you to start with and who was very vulnerable, considering the circumstances in which she was put in. People like you who bully vulnerable people like Carrie are just…just the lowest of the low. Just disgraceful! You all should be ashamed of yourselves! In fact, ladies and gentlemen…that book Carrie left behind contains enough information about numerous incidents of bullying…and some of those incidents are serious enough that we could possibly press some serious charges on Carrie's behalf against quite a few of the students in this room. I won't name any names…for now…but you all know who you are." the officer said, as stern as ever, his voice being carried into clearly into the ears of everyone.
Most of the girls in the Mortimer Snerds, barring Chris, Tina and one or two others, as well as many of the other students, lowered their heads in shame for their actions. Sue took a glance over towards where Chris was sitting; she still had on her face a seemingly annoyed look that, as usual, didn't seem to care. If Chris was in anyway worried about being charged with acts of unnecessary bullying, she was certainly very good at not showing it.
"And it's not only the students…some of the teachers in the school were just as bad in their actions. Bullying a student themselves when they should've helped them!" the male officer said, his voice now raised a bit and taken to all corners of the room. Some of the teachers, among them Mr Ullman, the English teacher, hung their heads in shame as well.
The officer took a moment or so to calm down from his near-outburst and took in a few deep, calming breaths before he spoke again.
"We've…launched an investigation to find out what happened to Carrie and where she may have disappeared to. When we find her…or excuse me, IF we find her…I think you ALL owe her an apology for your actions." he said, and many of those in the hall all murmured in a quiet agreement.
"While we were making our initial investigations about Carrie's disappearance, we managed to uncover some information about her father, Ralph White, and some of the rumours that ran through town about him, particularly the main ones being him taking a bible and a .38 calibre revolver to his place of work. There's NO evidence at all of him having ever owned a revolver or a firearm of any calibre in his life, or that he ever carried a bible with him to work. But we DID find information that one of the leading foremen at Ralph's place of work back then did carry such a firearm in his office on the site. And, from what we understand, it may have a contributing factor to that serious accident that apparently took Ralph's life and that of quite a few of his work colleagues not long too before Carrie was born." the male officer said.
"Where do you suppose Carrie may have gone to? Have you found any evidence about that?" one of the teachers asked.
"Well, we're not exactly sure of that. However though…we did recently question a bus driver who said that on the very day Carrie disappeared he mentioned that one of the passengers who boarded his bus looked very similar to Carrie White. That bus left the bus station in Chamberlain early in the morning of November 19th, just as dawn was breaking, and headed on a non-stop run all the way down to Portland, Maine." the officer said. Everyone in the hall looked at each other and murmured to each other.
"Portland, Maine? That's only about 80 miles or so due south of here." Sue whispered to Tommy, as her boyfriend rubbed his chin in thought. Then everyone quietened down as the officer asked for silence.
"So, do you think there's a strong chance that she could be somewhere within Portland?" Principal Morton asked.
"There's…a strong possibility of that. But then again…between November 19th and now, she could've gone anywhere." the officer said.
A moment later, the projector showed on the screen a slide showing a map of the entire New England area, consisting of the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island and Vermont, "However, ladies and gentlemen, it's the best plan if we concentrate our search within the New England area, and all police departments within the area will be alerted, and every piece of information, however unimportant it is, will be sent in to the Chamberlain Police Department. We feel there's a strong possibility of her being there somewhere. It's…very unlikely she'll be anywhere else, though we will have to keep in mind the possibility she could've gone to somewhere else within the country." the officer said. At that moment, the very idea that Carrie could have gone abroad to ANOTHER COUNTRY to escape her life of bullying and abuse never occurred to him, or to anyone else for that matter.
"How long do you suppose it may take?" someone asked, though they all knew the question was a rhetorical one.
"We don't know exactly about that, but until we find evidence that says otherwise…Carrie White is officially listed as a missing person." the officer said.
(That evening: 6:25pm)
Sue and Tommy sat together at a booth upstairs at the Kelly Fruit Company, slowly sipping their drinks while deep in thought of what might have happened to Carrie since she disappeared. The place was fairly quiet now, as most of the other teens who would usually frequent the place at this time of the day were at home on this freezing cold winter evening. Both Tommy and Sue lived very near to it, their homes were less than five minutes' walk away, so they could both enjoy each other's company while the place was still quiet.
The only other people who were around in the diner on this freezing cold evening were three people behind the counter serving out drinks, those working away in the kitchen at the back and half a dozen other teens sitting together at another booth at the other end of the floor.
"Hey, are you feeling all right, Sue?" Tommy asked with some concern after a while, noticing the gloomy and depressed look on his girlfriend's face. Sue slowly looked at him and sighed heavily.
"It's just…the thought of what happened to Carrie, and everything that she's gone through all these years…both at school and in her own house under the iron fist of that madwoman." Sue said, as she sighed again, this time a sad sigh.
At lunch break earlier that day, after they'd finished up in the gym hall – where they played water volleyball in the swimming pool, she'd had a look at the website link and read through some of the notebook Carrie had left behind. After only five or six pages, she had tears running down her face when she realised just how bad Carrie had been treated by nearly everyone for most of her life. That female officer was certainly right about needing to have plenty of tissues at hand if anyone was going to read the story Carrie had left behind.
And it wasn't only Sue who was shocked and saddened to hear about it; a lot of the other students, including a few of those who bullied Carrie or had made fun of her, including many of the other Mortimer Snerds, were all utterly horrified to hear the truth about Carrie's life and just how badly she'd been abused in her private life…by her OWN mother. She'd had a very bad private life to say the least, and the bullying she'd been subjected to over the years, whether in school or out of it, had only made a bad situation even worse.
Nearly every single one of the students who read the PDF version of the notebook Carrie left behind, and quite a few of the teachers, felt horrible for what they'd done to her. They just hoped that it wasn't too late to apologize to her…if she could be found, that is.
"Are you…hoping to apologize to Carrie face to face if she ever comes back or if we ever see her again?" Tommy asked, as he reached forward to comfort Sue. After a moment, Sue looked at him through sad eyes.
"I hope so, Tommy…I really do hope to." Sue said, as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I was just…so shocked to hear what had happened to her, and to finally understand what she went through. No wonder she ran away, with everything her mother and almost everyone else at school did to her. I just can't believe she was being abused in private all this time and no one noticed anything about it until after she left." Sue said, with genuine sorrow and guilt.
Tommy was silent for a long moment; though he had never bullied Carrie or did anything bad to her, being one of the very few people in Ewen High who hadn't – a very honourable thing - he felt a tinge of sadness come over him as well.
"Where do you suppose she may have gone?" Tommy asked, as he comforted his girlfriend, even though he knew the question was rhetorical as Carrie could be anywhere.
"I don't know to be honest, but wherever she's gone…I hope she's doing okay and making new friends." said Sue with a heavy sigh, as she looked outside the window where she could see the very first snow of this year's winter season beginning to come down at last.
Then, the thoughts and worries of both Sue and Tommy were interrupted as the waitress arrived at the table from the kitchen with their dinner.
