chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO

We drove in silence for about 15 minutes, then he said 'so why don't you tell me about this case'

'I gave you the file so you can read it' I answered

'Look it would take me about 20 minutes for me to read this file, why don't you just tell me about it. I'm guessing you can do that in just 5' he said, I could feel his eyes gazing at me probably wondering what my deal is.

'okay, about 2 weeks ago Ashley was reported missing by her parents, she went to school but never returned home, we got a tip 3 days ago from someone that saw a suspicious individual dump something into the river and called us, we dragged it out and found the poor girl's body, her parents identified her and the autopsy results will be out tomorrow but for now we are going to speak with her parents' I explained

'That wasn't so hard now was it?' he asked with a grin on his face 'you know you don't have to be so defensive' he continued 'I am a pretty cool guy if you would allow yourselves to get to know me'

'We are here' I announced

We walked down the lawn to the front door, the atmosphere gloomy, you could tell just by the outlook that sadness had visited. He knocked and a man emerged with swollen red eyes, who knows how long he had cried. I showed him my badge and introduced myself and Gabriel, he ushered us in and called out to his wife to join us.

'I am sorry for your loss but we would like to ask you guys a few questions just to tie the bits and pieces together' I said

'You can take your time to answer each questions, no rush', Gabriel chipped in.

The mother burst into tears with the father consoling her, putting his arms around her and gently rocking her. 'You need to find who did this to our baby girl' the mother said in between sniffs.

'We would do our absolute best' Gabriel said looking at me to continue

"Tell me what happened the day she disappeared', I asked.

'Well, it was a normal day in our household, her friend Jaycee came to pick her up and when she didn't get home, we called the police around 10pm, her phone was switched off and none of her friends knew where she was, Jaycee said she dropped her off in school as usual but they separated after getting to school because they had different classes' the father answered

'Did she have a boyfriend, or do you know of any friend or any person she had altercations with', I asked.

"No, my baby girl was the sweetest person ever, she was loved and cherished by all' the mother answered with tears in her eyes.

'Her phone hasn't been found, did she leave it at home that day?', I asked.

'No', they answered in unison. 'Ashley was a social media influencer she never goes anywhere without her phone' her father continued.

'That would be all for now, we would call you when we have more information, again I am really sorry for your loss' I said and stood up and walked away, my heart breaking that parents have to go through this, I hate loss, why does death have to be so cruel, taking away those we love the most. Gabriel sensed my mood change and asked 'are you good?' ´I am, it's just a really sad thing to happen to any family' I explained. 'Yeah, I know' he started 'you know…., never mind' he stopped halfway

'What were you going to say' I asked, for a minute I could sense a bit of vulnerability

'Oh, it's nothing, so what's our next move, I'm guessing we are going to meet her friend Jaycee?' 'Yeah, the high school is just around the corner' I answered

We got to the car, and I drove to the high school, the drive was so silent I could hear myself think. There was just something about Gabriel that intrigued me, his looks were good but his mysterious gentle man vibe was what was more attractive to me. I shook my head, this is not the time to be thinking of attraction Ariadne, I thought to myself, I had promised myself not to fall for any guy for now not after what happened with my ex.

We got to the school and went to the head teacher's office requesting to see Jaycee, he called her to his office, she came into the office with a huge smile on her face, almost like she was happy to see us, for someone who had just lost her friend I thought that to be weird.

'My office will be used for the interview and as you know I have to be present' the head teacher said

'Of course, that's not a problem' I answered 'can you tell me what happened the day Ashley went missing', I asked. The smile on her face fell so fast as tears gathered in her eyes 'well, I had picked her up from school as usual, we stopped on the way to pick up Josh our friend, then I drove us to school and then we went our separate ways, that was it I swear' she answered so easily, almost like she had rehearsed what to say. Daniel turned to the head teacher and asked ' is there a way we can confirm she actually got to school that day, maybe by an attendance register or something?'

'Yeah I have already checked and it shows on her class register that she was in fact in school that day, I can show you if you would like, you see in this school, we take our students safety seriously. We are absolutely devastated with what happened and would do anything to help with the investigation' the head teacher said

'So Jaycee do you normally pick her after from school too?'

'Yes but that day i didn't pick her up' she answered

'Why not?' I asked

'Well, we sought of agreed not to go together after school' she said, her head hanging

'Why?' I inquired

'I ..I …we had different plans after school so I just' she stuttered

'You know what, we would like to speak to Josh' I said facing the principal, Jaycee stood up in such a rush, the chair almost lost its balance' I will go get him', she said rushing out. I stopped her just before she got to the door 'thank you, but I would prefer is someone else went to get him' I said, her eyes showed panic, Daniel looked at me and I looked back I'm pretty sure the same thought flashed through our minds, Jaycee was definitely not telling us the truth.