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Chapter 3: Discovery
"Headmaster Figgs, I'm going to need to speak to all of the students Barlette came into contact on a daily basis." Flack said and flipped open his notebook, ready to take notes if necessary.
"Detective, you can just call me Harry. And that may be a little tough. Angelina was, she got herself out there. She was popular, even in the teacher's lounge." Figgs replied vaguely, obviously feeling awkward with the situation.
"What are you suggesting? That a sixteen year old student was sleeping with teachers?" Flack asked flabbergasted.
"Well, there were rumors," Figgs trailed off awkwardly and shuffling his feet as he looked down at the marble floor.
"Alright, well, I'm gonna need a list of names then, Harry." Flack said and stood with the man as Jo and Adam exited the bathroom together.
"I'm going to go back to the lab and start processing the evidence we collected. Need me to grab anything?" Adam asked and held the door for his superior.
"Go around and check if anyone else needs anything to go back to the lab. If you're going back, it'd be best to make sure everything gets back to the lab."
"Got it," Adam said and headed down the hallway.
"That was a bust," Danny mumbled irritated as he and Lindsay exited Brown's classroom.
"Brown wouldn't give you anything?" Flack asked and caught up with the duo.
"It wasn't that. He couldn't give us enough. He wasn't paying attention to her. One minute she was there, and the next, gone. Just disappeared."
"What kind of a teacher doesn't pay attention to his students?" Flack asked irritated as they turned the corner to the hallway leading to the grounds.
"Don't know." Lindsay responded with a tiny shrug. Talking with Brown had helped a little bit, but she still felt the lingering sadness resounding in the back of her mind. Taking notice, Danny squeezed her shoulder encouragingly as they walked, Flack ignoring the entire scene like he was supposed to. Normally, the by the book detective would be against relationships between coworkers, but he had done the same thing with Jess. Plus, it was Danny and Lindsay, anyway. They were married. Happily. With Lucy.
The trio walked out of the main building into center campus, Flack twisting around to walk towards the dorm the victim had lived in. Danny and Lindsay split to talk with the students the victim was friends with, each going to their respective dorms. Lindsay climbed the steep marble steps up to a gray stone house with a black sign with Rose House painted on the sign in silver script. She knocked on the door and cried out "NYPD, please open up!" Only a few moments later, a student came scuttling to the door, first peeking through the curtain by the window to glance at the caller, then unlocked the door and allowed the visitor inside.
"Hi, my name is Lindsay, I'm with the NYPD crime lab. I'm going to need to speak with everyone Angelina spoke with on a daily basis." Lindsay informed the girl, recognizing the obvious look of distress, sorrow and fear. The girl nodded and waved her further into the house, after taking a glance at Lindsay's badge.
"My dad has one of those," the girl said as they walked further into the house to the living room.
"He works for the NYPD?" Lindsay asked, swinging her kit at her side.
"Nah, he works up in Seattle. He wanted to get a job in the NYPD, but they said that they had overstaffed and couldn't hire anymore detectives. So he just stayed in Seattle and sent me here," the girl explained, a hint of sadness peaking in her voice. They entered the living room and the girl offered her water before bolting up the stairs to find her housemates. A few moments later, the girl came back down with a group of girls trailing behind her.
"Hello, I'm Lindsay, I work for the New York Crime Lab. I'm going to need to speak with everyone who spoke, interacted, came into contact with , whatever it is, with Angelina today. Who would like to go first?" Lindsay asked, glancing around at the room of confused, scared and upset girls. It had been a rough day for them, as Lindsay knew all too well. No. Not now. Remember what Danny said.
One girl raised her hand and Lindsay smiled, relieved that the girls wouldn't just stand there and stare at her like a monkey. She waved the girl over to a chair and told the girls to return to their other activities, as long as they stayed in the house until the pair spoke.
"Could I have your full name, please?"
"Catherine Lightman," the girl said quietly.
"Alright, Catherine, let's start then. How long did you know Angelina?"
"Only since September. I mean, she's from California and I'm from Montana, so there really wasn't a huge chance for us to meet otherwise." Lindsay smiled to herself. Catherine's from Montana, just like her.
"Hope you don't mind me asking, but what part of Montana?"
"Billings," Catherine responded quickly.
"Oh yeah, I've been to Billings a handful of times. Pretty place. I was raised in Bozeman, so I just figured I'd ask." Lindsay smiled.
"Oh, cool," Catherine smiled and tucked her right leg under her body.
"Do you know if Angelina had any enemies, or anyone who didn't seem to like her?"
"Everyone called her Angie. For the most part, Angie was that stereotypical popular girl you'd see in all of the movies. Sort of like in Mean Girls. She was okay for the most part, I guess, but occasionally, she'd, um…" Catherine trailed off and looked down, realizing what she was saying. Lindsay nodded knowingly.
"She'd push you around." Lindsay filled in and Catherine nodded, still looking down and making a you got it gesture with her fingers.
"But I wouldn't kill her. I couldn't do that. That's… that's not me." After a few questions, Adam found himself to an open door with the distinctive footprint of Lindsay's shoes imprinted in the layers of dust on the wooden floors.
"Hey, Linds, do you need me to take anything back to the lab?" Adam asked and wandered into the room where Lindsay sat with a student. Not just any student.
The realization hit Adam like a tidal wave so hard he could barely stand. There she sat, the same auburn haired, thin framed, coffee colored eyes girl from the blog earlier that morning. She sat hunched over, her wrists distinctly hidden from sight from her school blazer and probably a uniform long sleeve button down. Knowing her secret, Adam could see the sadness and emotion in her eyes that Lindsay probably misunderstood for grief because of the case.
"Adam? Adam!" Lindsay said loudly for the sixth time, finally breaking him out of the riptide of his wave.
"Uh, yeah, sorry Lindsay." Adam stuttered to apologize, still staring at the girl. She looked down at the ground awkwardly, feeling exposed. She needed more layers.
"No, I don't need anything to go back to the lab yet. I'll see you back there, though." Lindsay said pointedly, trying to tell the younger and more inexperienced CSI to leave.
"Yeah, alright. Need anything, call me." Adam said and continued to look at the girl. She finally looked up and met eyes with Adam. Adam could've sworn she mouthed help me, but it could've also been from a serious lack of sleep.
"Adam!" Lindsay snapped and glared at him. "Go!"
"Right," Adam said and scuttled out, stopping to take one last glance at the girl before leaving.
I found her. She's alive.