IV.

He didn't need to be an expert to find Lindsay's house. He had browsed through the telephone book in a phone booth at the nearest corner from Lucy's place. This town was so small, there was only one Lindsay Connors mentioned in the book. Her apartment was on the other side of the town. He parked the Impala opposite of her house. He didn't get out right away but watched her front door and the windows pointing towards the street. She didn't seem to be home. Was she home already? It was only 3.30 pm. A normal person with a regular job would still be at work at that time.

He kept sitting in the car and waited. And he had been right. 30 minutes later, Lindsay walked down the street towards her house. Sam waited another 10 minutes after she had disappeared inside, then he got out of the car, slammed the door shut, locked it and walked across the street.

Sam knocked on the door. It took a few moments until it opened a little, the chain still in place.

"Yes? Who is this?" came a female voice from the inside.

"Hey…Lindsay? Remember me? It's Sam. I was in the library earlier today."

Sam saw a shadow move in the space between frame and door.

"Oh, yes! Sam!" The chain was unlocked and the door opened. Lindsay smiled at him. "How nice of you to drop by!"

Sam smiled as well. Did he hear sarcasm in her voice? Her smile didn't give it away but he was sure that she was hiding something from him, even now.

"Come on in! Would you like a coffee?" Lindsay nearly pulled him in and closed the door behind him. She kept walking until they reached the living room. Lindsay offered him a seat and then sat down next to him. "Why did you come?" Suddenly there was no smile on her face anymore.

"I need some answers!" Sam said bluntly.

Lindsay's mouth twisted. "Honestly, I knew you'd come. You were so curious about the Hawking's and the Stevenson's, I knew you wouldn't give up easily."

Sam smiled sheepishly.

"But it's probably not good for you to know all these things. You know, the people here are nice and friendly as long as you stay out of things that are not your business. I had to learn that myself."

"What does that mean, Lindsay?"

She was quiet for a moment. But then she smiled at him. "Listen, don't take this the wrong way but I really like you. You seem like a nice boy."

'Boy?' Sam frowned a little. Lindsay didn't seem to be much older than he was himself. But he kept quiet and smiled at her.

"Oh, I forgot the coffee…" Lindsay excused herself and got back up. She quickly left the room and Sam noticed that she didn't go into the kitchen but went back to the door.

Sam got up as well and followed her silently. He spotted her by the window, peering out.

"Is everything alright?" he asked in a low voice.

Lindsay jumped. She turned around with both hands across her chest. "God, you startled me!"

"What is going on here?" He tried to cast a glance through the window which was partially blocked by Lindsay.

"Nothing!" Lindsay said quickly and approached him. Sam still looked out of the window and thought he saw the three men that he had also seen in front of Lucy's house. He looked at Lindsay questioningly.

"It's nothing. Come with me! I'll make you some coffee." The young woman said and turned to go into the kitchen. Sam followed her quietly.

When he saw her take the kettle and pour water into it, he spoke up. "Listen, are you afraid of these men?"

Lindsay flashed him a smile and shook her head. "No, no! No!" she said laughing. "No! I've never seen them before."

Now Sam was definitely sure that Lindsay was hiding something.

"Why don't you go back to the living room and relax. I'll be with you in just a moment." She smiled again.

Carefully, always listening to what was happening in the kitchen, Sam returned to the living room and sat down. But all he heard was Lindsay placing the water kettle on the pad and getting cups from a cupboard. He heard her put them down and open the coffee box. Then he heard a click, indicating that the water had boiled. Lindsay poured the water into the cups and then returned to the living room, a cup in each hand.

She put one cup down in front of him and sighed. When Sam wanted to say something, she quickly put one finger to her lips.

"Shhh…" she whispered. "If you want to talk about Lauren, then you'd better be quiet."

Sam looked around and then back at Lindsay. He frowned but she seemed to mean what she said.

"What is going on here?"

"Like I said, it's not good to get involved. I don't know much but I'll share it with you as long as you promise me that you try to protect the child…"

Sam watched Lindsay's face turn pale and he nodded.

She sighed and tried a lopsided smile. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything!"

And she told him everything she knew. It wasn't much but it helped to explain a lot of things to Sam.

With a shy smile, Lindsay took her purse out of her pocket and handed him a neatly folded piece of paper, a newspaper report. The page was dirty and the edges were torn, but it was still readable. Sam watched Lindsay sit down opposite of him.

'Local police's sergeant Graham Adams who investigated on the murders of the Stevenson family and the disappearance of the four children found dead by the lake.' the caption said.

"What is that?" Sam asked.

"Just read it…maybe you'll understand then…" Lindsay fell quiet. Sam gave her a worried look but read through the whole article. This policeman, Graham Adams, had investigated the murders and couldn't find anything that indicated that Lauren Hawking had anything to do with these murders. He had found traces of footsteps the size of a grown man, and had also mentioned that in his official report. But after his sudden and violent death, the people in Richmond believed that it was the doing of the possessed child. His report was made confidential and his death was added to the murders of the Stevenson's. This definitely peaked Sam's interest. Why would a police report be made confidential when it showed that there was no evidence of Lauren committing the murders? The evidence he had found, the footsteps and a few other things which were mentioned only shortly, still did not help him piece this all together. He still couldn't see the bigger picture.

"Why would you keep something like that?" Sam asked then but Lindsay didn't answer. "Please, I need to know!"

"I have not lived all my life here in Richmond. I moved here a year or two after the Stevenson's were killed. The people here are strange, Sam. Nice but strange. I've never understood why they were blaming everything that happened on the child but it is better not to ask questions around here. So I didn't but I found this newspaper article and kept it. I never believed that Lauren did it…" Lindsay explained. "Why would she?" she asked naively.

"Who lives in the Stevenson's house now?" Sam quickly changed the subject.

Lindsay thought for a moment. "The funny thing is that Dr. Stevenson had sold the house the day before he and his family was murdered. Three men moved in there then, brothers as far as I know…but well, I don't know for sure."

"Three men?" Sam dimly remembered the men outside of Lucy's house, the ones he had also seen outside Lindsay's house.

Lindsay nodded. "Yeah, but I've never seen them. I just wondered about the fact that they bought it even before anyone knew it was being sold. But like always, no one talked about it, so I didn't think about it. I guess that I've grown accustomed to their way."

Sam was quiet for a moment. He considered everything Lindsay had said but it still didn't make much sense. His head began to hurt. Sam reached out for the cup of caffeine and drank a bit. It didn't make him feel better, though.

"Lindsay, why does everybody think that Lauren's possessed? I mean, there was nothing about that in any of the books or newspapers. What I don't get here is why everyone blamed it on her? The murders, the strange incidents…the murders of the Stevenson family were committed even before she was born." Sam scratched his forehead.

The young woman looked down. "You know, the people here are very religious and superstitious. They believe in things…They believe that Lauren's guilty."

"No, they want to believe that she's guilty!" Sam snapped but immediately regretted his words. "Sorry…"

"I understand…but there's nothing I can do about it."

Sam nodded and smiled politely. "I better get going…it's late already."

"Are you going back to the Hawking's place?"

"Ah…I don't know…" Sam tried to avoid her questions because it started to feel really strange. He stood up. "Can I keep that?" he asked and waved the newspaper report.