Chapter Three

The night was far from over when the three of them: Emily, Marcus, and Liam found themselves in the police station. They were waiting for their interrogation, separately. The first one to go in was Marcus, who only stayed for not longer than 20 minutes. Meanwhile, Emily and Liam were waiting impatiently for him. Liam who kept on tapping his foot to the floor, driving Emily mad in the process.

"Liam, cut it out. You're driving me mad" she exclaimed with frustration clear over her voice.

"Why are they taking so long? He has been in there since forever" He was nervously fidgeting in his place.

A more important question is what is making you so nervous? She thought impatiently, suspiciously. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, while Liam messed his already messed hair. She remembered this one time when she had last seen Liam that nervous. It was at his birthday, a magnificent party held by his parents and her family was invited, of course they were, especially with how both her parents had business with them. They were in the garden and she was standing as far away as she could from Liam and his friends. She wasn't sure what had happened exactly, but she recalled Liam walking away from all of them and fidgeted in that same way, messing his hair, and snapping at whoever talked to him. She recalled how Mr. Corrigan, Liam's father, showed up from behind him with the most expressionless face she had ever seen, but his eyes spoke volume. It was something Liam shared with his father, how his eyes showed his emotions; she considered them a gateway to his soul. She dismissed the memory for the sake of the current events that were taking place. "Calm down Liam, they will be done soon. You know Marcus did nothing wrong, actually neither of us did. We were all together when we found her" She tried to use the softest voice she got to ease his nerves. Perhaps his worried about his reputation. She justified.

The Corrigans were a big family, they had influence and power over the whole state, not just the town.

"But he found the body first" He noted accusingly, his eyes narrowing as he turned with his body to her. "Think about it. Did we even notice him leaving?"

"Liam, how could you?" she shook her head, turning down the thought. "He's your friend, and why would he do such a thing to begin with?" she shook her head once more, "I know him, he has nothing to do with the whole thing"

Liam was tetchy the whole time he waited and Emily sat next to him but her mind wondered to the image of Bianca lying in the alley soaking wet with the drizzles of rain falling on her pale face. She was pulled back to reality when the figure of Marcus appeared in front of her with his head tilted down and his hair stuck in different places. She immediately stood up touching his forearm slightly, "Marcus what happened?" Liam was still sitting in his uncomfortable wooden chair, his eyes looking Marcus up and down quizzically.

"They asked me questions, some of them I didn't even know how to answer" He threw himself on the chair next to Emily and with a shake of his head he continued, "Bianca left at the end of her sift around six, so what brought her back? They kept asking me if I knew anything about her whereabouts and I explained over millions of times that I had no idea"

"Ms. Olsen, Sheriff Flockhart is ready for you" a young officer called from a close distance. Emily glanced at both Marcus and Liam. Marcus nodded at her absently, while Liam's eyes widened at the call. She followed behind the officer to the sheriff's office, where he questioned her. The officer opened the door with a click announcing her arrival.

Sheriff Flockhart stood up from his chair behind his desk, "Ms. Olsen" he extended a hand to shake hers. "I had hoped to meet you earlier under better circumstances of course"

She shook his hand with a nod of her head, "Of course Sheriff"

He gestured for one of the chairs in front of his desk for her to sit down then he followed suit, sitting down. "Ms. Olsen, I'm sure it is such a tough night for you"

"Please just Emily" she stated, "And indeed it has been, such a horrible thing that has happened. I mean…What actually happened?"

"That's what we are trying to figure out Emily. You know I knew your parents quite well. The whole town knew them for that matter"

Emily nodded her head, well aware of how 'well-known' her parents are around this town. It was not only their strong connection with the Corrigan that made them that well known, but also their business and work. Emily didn't know much about her family business that was something she left for her older sister, Julia. The sheriff's words were left hanging in the air, without a proper reply from Emily.

"I need you tell me exactly what happened tonight. Don't leave any detail out, no matter how small it seems" he instructed and she started telling her tale of the night, from the time she entered Othello up until the moment she saw Bianca's dead body.

"So, neither you nor Mr. Corrigan noticed Marcus Baker leaving the diner?"

Emily shook her head, but then remembered the man. The one who was sitting alone and just disappeared through the whole thing. "There was a man in the diner with us, he wore a black coat, and a black hat. I don't know where he went though. I know he was there when Marcus called, but nothing much afterwards"

"You have never seen this man before?" Emily shook her head as an answer, "And if you saw him again would you be able to recognize him?"

Emily hesitated for a second, "I am not sure, the thing is his face was turned away from me and he was wearing a hat, so I don't know"

The sheriff nodded his head, "Alright, and how would you describe your relationship with the deceased?"

"I only saw her when I went for coffee or a quick lunch. I own the antique shop across from Othello, so I went there in my breaks and I would usually see her when I was there. I usually go in the afternoons; tonight, it was really an exception and look what happened…" she gave a heavy sigh at the end of her words. "We, Bianca and I, barely talked. She didn't give off the friendliest aura to be honest"

The sheriff nodded once more, "Emily" he leaned forward on his desk as if he was about to tell her a secret, "Were you aware of the affair taking place between Mr. Baker and Ms. Davis?"