Murdered!?

I didn't know why that old librarian was here this evening. But one thing I do know is that I want to see who murdered this poor old lady.

"Oh that poor old woman, her poor family." Sydney spoke up at last.

"Do you know who she is Syd? I would like to know, this case has interested me quite a bit already and I would like to help in any way I can." I asked my best friend.

"Why yes I do. Her name is Ms. Sophia Marsh, she was the librarian of this school for the last seven years" Syd said to me.

"Why haven't I heard of her until now Syd?" I asked.

"That's because you never stayed in touch with the school. I on the other hand, have volunteered here once a week for the last nine years." She bragged. I understand now that I should have kept in touch with more people and places in my own town.

"Was she a good person?" I asked her.

"Yes, she was a very caring woman who loved her books. Most of the books here were from her own personal library." Sydney told me. Yes, I thought. This was the kind of info I need. If I want to help catch the murderer I needed to know what type of person the victim was.

This is exactly the type of inspiration I needed, once this case is closed I'll write about it. I'll change a few things but maybe writing again will be good for me. It's what I would like to think but in all reality what I need to focus on is helping in any way I can to catch who did this to the poor librarian. That's when I recalled something about the scene that struck me as odd. Why was Ms. Marsh lying like she was praying in the fetal position? Then I noticed that there were signs of what seemed like an old tattoo of a rose losing its petals. That's what I didn't get, why the tattoo looked so faded.

"Syd did you notice if Ms. Marsh had a tattoo when you met her?'' I ask.

"Why, how did you know that Maybelle?" She asked back.

Now it's making sense. I know who murdered this poor woman and they almost got away with it. But one thing still puzzles me, why remove the tattoo? Ms. Marsh seemed to love it since it was near a very intimate area. What does the tattoo mean exactly and what was murderer's motive behind it all? Why? I kept thinking but now with a little help from Ms. Marsh, I now know what the motive was and why the murderer wanted to kill Ms. Marsh tonight of all nights.

At the end of the day, all truths will be revealed. I went to the officers and told them I may know who did it and why. They looked confused, but kept listening. Just waiting to know how I figured it all out without anything more than the message the victim left behind.

"My dear officers, if I may," I asked indicating towards the message. They handed it to me.

"With a little luck and help from my dear friend, Sydney, I will now tell everyone who murdered poor Ms. Marsh and why they did it." Everyone stared at me like I was crazy, but one person looked more afraid than puzzled.

"My friend Sydney can you hold this message for me for a minute?" I asked. She looked worried but did as I asked.

"Now now it's alright the message won't bite you, however it will prove that you're the murderer." I blurted.

"What!?" Sydney exclaimed. Everyone else stood in silence, mouths making perfect O's.

"I'm sorry Syd, but I know it was you who killed Ms. Marsh and not only do I know how but why you did it." I explained. She seemed even more distraught but I continued with my speech.

"Sydney, you didn't just come here tonight because of the reunion and to finally see me, but you came here to murder that poor woman." I exclaimed.

"Oh come on Maybelle. Why on earth would I do a thing like that?" she asked nervously.

"Because Sydney, she's old now, but she's your birth mother who gave you up for adoption at birth."

"And what makes you think she was my mother?" She asked. It was very simple to tell they were mother and daughter, I wonder how I hadn't noticed the resemblance before. The same shape of face, the eyes set in their heads the same. The remains of the tattoo wasn't actually a tattoo at all, it was a birth mark. A very unusual one at that but a birth mark all the same.

"Both you and Ms. Marsh have the same birthmark. Yes, it's a very unusual one, but the same. If you look very carefully officer you can tell they have the same mark on their bodies just in different spots."

"She's right inspector." An officer pointed out.

"Yes it's true she was my birth mother. But how could I have murdered her when I was in here talking you Maybelle?" Sydney asked innocently.

"Very simple indeed, and very complicated at the same time. I had thought it was odd that the mark seemed not only faded but badly burned. Sydney, you tried to burn off her birthmark with a heart defibrillator, even though that still wouldn't change the fact that she was your mother. But you were so filled with rage that you hadn't noticed how her body was convulsing as you overloaded her heart with electricity as you were burning off her birthmark. You made the biggest mistake of them all, you didn't make sure that she was actually dead."

"That scream we heard was her biting her own finger so hard it bled. She was then able to leave a dying message before she finally died.. You hated her for giving you up, for never reaching out to you. You told me you volunteered here to help, but what you were really doing was getting close to her so you can kill her." I continued.

" Fine, yes I killed her, I left her to die after I thought I burned enough of that god awful mark and came back to the party. I saw you and figured you'd be my best bet on an alibi. I hated that woman from the very beginning, ever since I found out I was adopted. But I hated her all the more with this damn mark and now my own child bears the exact same birthmark. I never wanted it to end like this. Did you know that awful woman wanted to see my child? She said she never wanted to give me up but had to, that she loved me and kept track of all my achievements. I just lost it then when she asked if she could be in my and my daughter's life, after all of these years. God that woman was unbelievable." she cried with tears in her eyes. The police arrested Sydney and took her child to Child Services. I never saw her again. I realized that I needed to get out of this town, find a change of scenery. Maybe I'll move to Whitchurch like Sydney suggested.