Instinctively she reached for the towel and ran out of the room. She found herself in the dark lobby, the towel already wrapped around her. She ran for the door, the cool breeze of the night hitting her.
Her body seemed to move automatically, her mind blank as she went for the town's hall. Looking around the buildings for the big sign, it didn't take her long to find. It was a relatively small, brick building with a double door and above it the writing "Town Hall". The girl stopped in her tracks. How could this possibly help? Should she go in? Not knowing what else to do, she entered the building.
In front of her, spread out was one single room, everything parted with ropes. The walls were white and so were the lights, making it all overly bright. Only at the back was there a half wall separating from the rest of the space what appeared to be an office. Sitting at something likely to be a desk, was Mayor Jackson. He looked much caught up in his work and also very tired, which made Mika wonder if she should bother him about the body. In fact, she wondered if she should mention it to anyone at all. He had attempted to hit on her at the saloon, hadn't he been so drunk, and people must have seen them, Kaylen did for sure. It would be kinda suspicious for him to be found dead in Mika's shower on the same night. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea…
-How may I help you…Mika? Is everything alright?
Mr. Jackson brought her out of her thoughts. He looked very confused to see the newcomer in the town hall at that time, wearing only a towel.
-What's wrong?
The girl stumbled on her words, struggling just to sound coherent.
-Um, you see… uh, I… don't know…
The mayor got even more confused.
-I… I have a…a crime ….. to report…
The man's expression changed, seemed to soften slightly.
-Oh sure. So, what crime would this be?
For the first time that night Mika felt her eyes welling up.
-M….Murder!
She could have sworn she saw the mayor's jaw drop slightly. His eyes widened and shock was all she could come up with to describe his expression.
None of them spoke for a while. Mr. Jackson still trying to take in the news, Mika staring at the tiled floor.
-So… so what happened? The mayor decided to break the silence.
Mika never took her eyes of the floor.
-I was out. I came back to the hotel. I went to have a shower, and there it was.
The man lowered his eyes slightly.
-The body?
-Yes.
A moment passed before he asked again.
-So, then?
-I ran.
-Um, do you have any further information? Anything helpful to tell the sheriff?
The girl looked up, surprised.
-You have a sheriff?
The mayor was taken aback by her surprise.
-Of course. Every town that wants to be considered one has a sheriff. Shall we go? Oh, and while we're here, have this, he said as he handed her a long coat.
-Oh right… said Mika blushing, I didn't really have a chance to get dressed.
She wore the coat and followed the mayor out of the building. The sun had started to appear.
Together they walked down the only road there was and into the next building. From the outside it resembled a jail.
Going inside, it also resembled a jail. The space was very cramped and dirty. Most of the room was taken over by steel bars that separated it, creating a small cell. The only light was coming in from a sealed window, very high on the wall. Outside the cell, the space reminded of a barn, rotting wooden floors covered in dirt, broken furniture and discoloured posters on the walls. The only piece of furniture that was in a somewhat decent state was a dark, wooden desk, at which a man wearing a ten-gallon hat sat. His head was tilted forward so that the hat covered his face. Loud snoring could be heard in the room.
The mayor didn't hesitate and coughed loudly. The sleeping man flinched, now woken up by the noise. Mika then saw his face as his hat fell on the floor. He was old with deep wrinkles on his face, hair that resembled gray straw and all around chubby. At first he looked surprised after being woken up abruptly but then got rather angry.
-Mayor Jackson! What do you want again?
-Well I am deeply sorry for disturbing your nap and making you actually do your job for once but there's been a murder!
The man chuckled.
-A murder? In our area? Shocker! he said as he got up from his chair.
-Where about?
-In the hotel, answered the mayor.
The sheriff grabbed his keys of the desk and headed for the door. Mika was concerned by his previous comments and his cool attitude towards the whole thing, kinda like he wasn't taking it seriously.
-What did he mean by "shocker"? she whispered to the mayor.
-There've been a lot of murders in the town, most of them unsolved. To be honest, it was only a matter of time, it's been long since we had one.
-Come on, don't doddle, then you call me lazy! called the sheriff from the doorway.
The girl and the mayor followed him outside. The sun had risen but was still low, it could be seen from behind the rocks of the desert, which for the first time, Mika realized just how big it was. She couldn't even see where it ended, it was an endless area of sand and rock.
As they were standing outside waiting for the sheriff to lock the door, the cold hit her. She then remembered what she was wearing or not wearing as a matter of fact. She started shaking and rubbing her arms to get warmer and pleaded inwardly for him to lock up faster. When he was done, they all headed for the hotel. Mika was walking ahead of them rushing to get there as fast as possible in order to escape from the cold. The last thing she wanted to deal with was pneumonia.
They were in front of the hotel which Mika was hesitant to enter for some reason, despite the cold. After the other two had gone in, she followed and was overwhelmed by the warmth inside. It was so nice!
She closed her eyes and relished in it for a few seconds.
-Oh Miss Mika, thankfully you're here, Trishtan was saying there's a problem with the hote… Mayor Jackson? Sheriff?