An unknown amount of time has passed.
I'm locked in the precinct's interrogation room. There's nothing in the cold, gray room besides a security camera pointing at me, two metal chairs and a metal table. Opposite from where I'm sitting is a large black one way mirror. Whoever is watching me from the other side, I can't see them. "Whatever it was, I didn't do it" I shout, knowing full well that nobody probably heard me. I slouch on the chair and figure that I might as well take a nap. Nothing else I can do right now.
Suddenly, the door opens and Sophie's brother, Daniel Spencer, walks in, carrying a police file. He slams the file onto the table, in an attempt to intimidate me. It doesn't work. I've been at the other end of the table, I know all the tricks. Daniel sits down on the other chair and begins the interrogation.
Meanwhile, Sophie, Emily and Mark are sitting at Sophie's dining room table. Sophie is sitting nervously, thinking about the whole situation. Causing hundreds of thoughts to go through her head at once. Emily is sitting calmly, typing away at her laptop, only looking away from her screen to take a glance at Sophie. Emily would never admit it but she cares more about Sophie than she lets on. She sees her as her big sister and it causes her some unease to see Sophie in her current state. Mark is fidgeting with his wedding ring. He knows that Amanda is innocent and this whole situation has him a little overwhelmed. Sophie looks at a clock on the wall, as if she's waiting for a specific time for something to happen. Just then, there is a knock on the front door. Sophie gets up off her seat and heads to the door. She opens it and greets her guest. "Hey Tiffany. Thanks for coming"
"I can't think of anywhere else I'd rather be." Tiffany says as she walks into Sophie's apartment. "Hey everyone" Tiffany greets Emily and Mark and takes a seat at Sophie's table. Mark looks up at Tiffany and smiles. Emily remains focused on her laptop, but Tiffany doesn't mind.
Sophie returns and takes a seat at the table with the others. "Ok then. It looks like we are all here"
"Um, excuse me Sophie, but Chris isn't here yet" Mark points out. "Shouldn't we wait for him?"
"I did ask him and he said he'll keep our secret but, and I quote, he said I'm not risking my job for her"
"Asshole" Emily says, still looking at her
laptop.
"So, as I was saying. Now that we are all here, let's come up with a way to prove Mandy's innocence and put an end to this magpie business once and for all" Sophie looks over at Emily. "Is it done yet Emily?"
"Not yet. Just a few more minutes" Just then, there's another knock at the door. "You expecting anyone else Sophie?" Emily asks.
"No. I'm not" Sophie gets up and walks to her door. She opens it and her nerves suddenly skyrocket. There is a man standing there. He's black, bald and has two small gold earrings. "Captain. Wha..what are you doing here?" Sophie asks nervously.
"You forget, I was a detective once too. I know you and everyone else are here to
help Amanda and I want in" Captain Gage lifts his arms up "I brought pizza"
"Pizza?" Emily shouted "Let him in"
"Come on in Captain"
Gage walks into Sophie's apartment and Sophie shuts the door behind him. Gage walks to the table and is greeted by everyone. He places the pizzas on the table and before he sits down, Emily takes the pizza off the top of the pile. She opens the box and starts eating a slice as she types on her laptop with her other hand. "Sophie. I'm ready" Emily says with a serious tone.
"Alright then. OK everyone, listen up. What we are about to do is considered against the law, so if anyone wishes to leave, now is the time" Nobody moves. Even Gage
remains firmly on his seat. "Ok then. Emily, it's all yours"
"Ok everyone. What I just did was two things. Firstly, I hacked into the interrogation room's security camera. I have a video of Sophie's brother interrogating Mandy. Secondly, I have access to their files. I have all the evidence they have, I know everything they know"
"What evidence, Emily?" Tiffany asks.
"As if you didn't know Amanda" Daniel states. "The storage unit, the one with the box, is registered to you"
"What? I don't own any storage unit"
"Actually, Amanda. I have four files here
and they say you own four units at Maximum Storage"
"What?! Four? Are you serious? Dude, I'm broke as hell. I can hardly afford to live in my apartment. What makes you think I can afford something like four different storage units?"
"You're the Magpie. You can easily steal money and use that to rent out the units"
"Damn it. I don't have the money for that. Check my bank account, search my home. I'm poor as fuck"
"Oh we did check your home. How can someone who claims to be poor, afford a grand piano for their bedroom? Care to explain?"
"I saved up for that piano for a year. I play
it in honor of my sister"
"Your sister? What does she have to do with this?"
"Nothing at all. She overdosed many years ago and has been in rehab ever since. Her adoptive family taught her how to play piano. I play for her. Though I'm not as good as she was"
"Mandy" Sophie gets a little sad. Mandy used to play the piano back when they were together. She remembers the mornings when she would wake up to the sounds of the piano throughout their home.
"What other fake evidence do you have
that implicates me as the Magpie?"
"The four units. Each contained one item. The first, you know. The box with the feather inside. The other three contained a car, registered to one Mr. Trent. The second, contained a painting of no significant value. The same one was stolen from Clayton Art Gallery a few days ago. And the third..."
"Let me guess. Some dumbass...
"Lawn gnome." Tiffany says. "I've heard enough. Clearly Mandy is being framed. We all know that. But the question remains, why? What could the Magpie possibly get from all this? And why Mandy? The Magpie seems to have some kind of vendetta against her but I can't figure out why"
"Alright everyone, let's gather the facts" Captain Gage suggests. "What do we know?"
"We know the Magpie has a connection to Mandy's dad. He said so himself" Sophie says as she writes on a large whiteboard.
"We know that Sophie is a weirdo for having her own mobile whiteboard" Emily jokes.
"I use it to work on cases when I'm not at the office"
"May I add something?" Mark asks.
"Of course Mark. Go ahead"
"We know that Mandy's dad knows who the Magpie is, but he's being very
defensive when it comes to their identity. Why is that?"
"He's protecting them" Sophie replies.
"I understand that, but why exactly? What does he gain from all this?"
"You know, the Magpie stole from London. Mandy has never left the country. Shouldn't that be evidence enough to prove she's innocent?" Tiffany adds.
"Actually, they never proved that it was actually the Magpie" Gage responds. "They assumed it was some copy cat"
"No fucking way. It was the Magpie, not some damn copy cat" I'm starting to get annoyed. Everything I say just gets shot
down. "What about my dad? Have you spoken to him yet?"
"I was going to after we are done here. Let's say then, hypothetically, if you really are innocent, then why would the Magpie frame you? What do they gain from it? And why you, specifically? What is your connection to them? You must have one besides your father" Daniel's interrogation continues.
"I don't have any answers for you. I'm just as in the dark as you are. Though what I can say is this whole thing, framing me, the raid at Maximum Storage, it's all just a distraction, I'm sure of it"
"If Mandy is right, that this whole thing is just one big elaborate distraction, then
why?" Sophie ponders aloud. "This Magpie clearly has an end game, unlike Mandy's dad who just did it for fun. But what could it be?"
Everyone sits in silence for a moment as they contemplate the Magpie's motives. Tiffany was the one to break the silence. "Emily? Could you look up what the Magpie stole in London?"
"I wish I could. They kept it a secret and I can't safely hack into their system to find out. Their security is beyond me"
"So we don't know what it was that was stolen?"
"No. Damn it! I don't know what was stolen because I didn't steal it"
"Come on Amanda, work with me here"
"Ok Danny boy, when was this mystery thing stolen?"
"Last year. August eighth to be precise"
"Yeah. That's what I thought. I was busy then, but I remember that day well, unfortunately. I had a massive argument with Sophie that morning because I drunk texted her. You don't need to know the details. Just look at my phone records. I was at home that day. All day"
"She's telling the truth. I remember that argument. She texted me pictures of a girl she was sleeping with. Pissed me off so much" Sophie then notices Captain Gage
with a distracted expression on his face. "Captain? You OK?"
"Amanda's dad"
"What about him?" Tiffany asks.
"He knows exactly who the Magpie is. And yet he's going through many lengths to hide that information. Why? Who are they? What's so special about this person that would make a man like him go through all this trouble? I can't put my finger on it"
"You're telling us" Emily interjects. "He isn't even putting any effort into being a dad. And yet he's doing all this for some thief. It doesn't add up"
Suddenly, a theory appears in the captain's head. His face changes to an expression of shocking realization. "No way!"
"Captain?" Sophie asks, startled by the captain's outburst.
"I think I just figured it out. I think I know who the Magpie is"
"What? Who? Who is it?" Sophie asks, eager to hear the captain's theory.
However, "Hold on Sophie. Somethings happening" Emily points to her laptop. Another F.B.I. agent has entered the interrogation room.
"Sir. Come quick. Something has happened" The man says in a panic. Daniel and the agent leave the room.
"What's going on Emily?" Mark asks, worried. "Did they find out we are watching
them?"
"No they can't have" Emily answers.
"Then what is it?" Tiffany asks. Also a little anxious.
Just then, the captain's phone rings. "Captain Gage speaking...WHAT!?" Everyone's attention is now completely focused on the captain. "When did this happen?...But what about the F.B.I.?...OK commissioner, I'll get the team on it immediately" Captain Gage hangs up his phone. "Amanda's dad has escaped from prison"
"Damn it Mandy! Where is he? Where did your dad go?" Daniel came back into the room in a foul mood. He immediately
started yelling at me about a prison break my dad just achieved.
"I swear I don't know. I had nothing to do with this. I'm just as surprised as you are" Honestly, I was shocked to find out dad escaped prison. He must have had help and I can only assume it was the Magpie. And now it's starting to make sense. The Magpie distracted the only people capable of figuring out their plan. Just long enough to break out my dad. The original magpie. This new magpie must have stolen things to use to successfully break dad out of prison. This was their goal all along. But, if that's so, then why do I feel like I'm missing something important?
Daniel stops yelling as another agent walks in. "Sir. The helicopter is ready".
"Finally. Come on. Let's go" Daniel uncuffs
me and leaves. "You're free to go Amanda. But don't leave town" He says as he walks away. It's no surprise he uncuffed me, after all, all his evidence is circumstantial at best. There's also the chance he's using me to find my dad. I'm not concerned about Daniel or his intentions right now. I've got more important matters to attend to.
Meanwhile, at Sophie's apartment, everyone is rushing around, getting themselves ready to leave.
"Ok everyone, here's the plan" Captain Gage begins to give orders. "Sophie. I want you, Emily and Mark to head straight to the prison. Mark, you drove here so you take your car ok?"
"Yes sir" Mark says firmly.
"Tiffany, you and I are going back to the precinct. We're getting Amanda out of there"
"Thank you captain"
"Alright everyone. Let's get going"
"But what about my brother? This is his case now isn't it?" Sophie asks.
"The commissioner said he'll take care of it. He'll be at the prison when you arrive. Oh, I almost forgot. Could you call Chris and tell him to go to the prison?"
"Alright then. Let's go everyone" Sophie walked everyone out of her apartment and locked her door behind her.
Tiffany's phone then started to ring. "Hey everyone! Mandy is calling me"
Everyone immediately walked back to Tiffany as she answered her phone.
"Hey boss. What's going on? Are you OK?"
"Yeah I'm fine. Look Tiff, my dad broke out of jail"
"Yeah I know"
"What do you mean you know?"
"Captain Gage got a call"
"Hold on, Captain Gage? Tiffany, what's going on?"
"Tiffany, put your phone on speaker" Captain Gage asked. Tiffany pressed the speaker button and Gage starts talking. "Amanda. This is Captain Gage speaking. Me and Tiffany are heading to the precinct
to pick you up"
"Thanks cap, but don't bother. I'm already in a taxi heading straight for the prison"
"No Amanda. Don't go there. There's nothing you can do. Besides, I need you to investigate a new suspect. If you do, then you'll likely find your dad and all the answers you've been looking for"
"You seem confident captain. Ok then, I'll head back to the precinct, but you better tell me right now, who is this new suspect?"
"I believe the Magpie is your sister"
