“We would like you to testify in court against both of these women.”
“What? Really? Oh, I don’t know. It depends on when. I’ve been feeling under the weather lately. Besides, I don’t know how much I could tell you. I only know what I found.”
“I suppose that’s true. We need witnesses, though. Nobody saw the murder so it’s difficult.”
“Well, if you really need me to, I will. I’ll be as helpful as I can.”
“Thank you.”
He hung up. That was a relief. Why am I being selected to testify? I can’t do that. I already broke one law. Why would I want to lie on the witness stand? I couldn’t do it. On the other hand, though, there was no evidence linking me to the case. I could lie easily and get away with it. Some of this had major holes, and I was so happy about that. There were some holes that would link me to the case, but I wasn’t about to argue. The police force was obviously doing a terrible job.
The next day, there was yet another Skype conference. I was able to attend this one, thankfully. “Hey, guys.”
“Hey, you’re back! We missed you yesterday!”
“Yeah we did! Things were worse than usual!”
“Yeah, well, I’m back now. I’m still a bit under the weather, but I had to tell you guys something.”
“Yeah? What is that?”
“I’ve been asked to testify in court against Jenny and Margaret.
There was an outrage met with that comment.
“Seriously? Why are you testifying?
“I don’t understand! They were in it together?
“They were the last two people I suspected!”
“Yeah, they seem to be in it together. I don’t understand it all. I think the sheriff had more evidence than he told me, but either he forgot or didn’t give it to me. I don’t know, there seems to be some major holes in the case, but I think all the holes would link to them as well.”
“Wow, I can’t believe it’s them… I don’t even know what to think about this.”
“Well, we can’t worry about that, now, can we? When is the court date?”
“I don’t think there’s been a date set yet. I’m dreading it, though, honestly. If you ask me, it’s probably going to be just as bad as jury duty.”
Everyone groaned. We all knew how bad jury duty was. I had been called several times in just the twelve years that I had been registered to vote. I hadn’t been able to get out of it, unfortunately, but I had hoped that would change soon.”
“Well, I hate to cut Skype short, but I really need to go. I have a date tonight.”
“Oh, a date? Awesome.”
“Have a good time!”
“Bye!”
We all got off. I didn’t know why we all had to hang up just because one person had a date. It was disgusting. Somebody gets a date and everyone turns into a bunch of teenagers. I always hated that growing up. Luckily, I had a date when I got back to Texas. I assumed this person was still interested in continuing the relationship when I got there, anyway. I hadn’t talked to this person much. If I could this person to move back with me to Oregon, I would be in good hands. I wouldn’t be worrying about when I was going to see this person again.
I got an email from the Sheriff. The court date was set for June second. Perfect. I had just enough time to get everything ready that I was going to say. I knew exactly how I was going to make the framing final. I was definitely going to have fun with this testimony.
I spent the rest of the days in just total monotony. We decided not to have any more Skype conferences since the killer was supposedly caught. I basically didn’t talk to anyone and decided to get ready for court. Finally, the big day arrived.
I got up early. Back to waking up to an alarm again. I hated it. I got dressed, and got breakfast ready. I didn’t want to eat much, though I wasn’t enough to be able to tide me over to a possibly late lunch.
I finished eating and finished getting ready to go. I was about fifteen minutes early and decided to go ahead and go. Traffic was always bad downtown. I had lived here long enough to know that. It was as bad as downtown Dallas. I shuddered at the thought. I remembered downtown Dallas and always avoided it like the plague. I just hoped I wouldn’t have to go there unless someone else was driving.
I got to the sub-courthouse about five minutes before I needed to be. I saw the sheriff almost right away.
“Oh, good, you’re here. I was hoping you would be a little early.”
“I decided to leave early in case I ran into bad traffic. I’m glad I did. If I hadn’t, I would have been late.”
“Yeah, I know how bad traffic can be. Come on, you need to meet the judge.”
I followed the sheriff down a long hallway. Soon enough, we saw a tall, bald elderly man who was getting ready.
“Your honor, the witness.”
“Oh, good, I’m glad you could make it. Feeling better, I assume?”
“Oh, yes. How did you know…?
“The sheriff told me that you weren’t sure. I never heard for sure if you were coming or not.”
“Oh, yeah. Well, I’m still a little weak, but feeling better than I was.”
“Good. I guess we should get going. It’s heartbreaking to have a case about a child that was killed. I just want to get this over with.”
He wasn’t the only one. I was ready to get out of there. I wanted nothing more than to be done and out of there. The guilt had gone away, which I was glad of. I just hoped that it wouldn’t come back while I was testifying against two of the people I had worked with the entire year.
“Order in the court!” The hammer slammed against the pedestal. I was sitting up front waiting for the judge to call me up. I glanced at both Jenny and Margaret. They were there with their lawyers and looked incredibly nervous. I smirked a little bit but then quickly made a straight face. I had to make sure I didn’t get anything away with my facial expressions.
“I would like to call up the witness.” The judge called me up. I took my seat and the bailiff came up to me.
“Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?”
“I swear.” I hated this. I didn’t believe in God, so why would I want him to help me? I guess I shouldn’t worry about that. I just had to focus on what I was going to say.
“I can’t say I know much, but there was one thing in the case that left me wondering about something. I had noticed Jenny wearing these gloves with an M on them. I wondered about this. I know that whoever had strangled Timmy was wearing gloves, because there were no fingerprints on his neck. I didn’t understand why Jenny was wearing gloves that were obviously not hers. Then, one day, when I had to go to the principal’s office, I noticed gloves in her drawer. She looked down and nodded like she knew she was there. I couldn’t understand this. I didn’t know why she still knowingly had gloves in her drawer when she obviously didn’t need them anymore. It was still a bit chilly out, sure, but there was no reason to have gloves still. I think Jenny killed Toby and Margaret knew about it and decided to help her because of this.”
My witness went on and on. I had questions that I acted like I didn’t know the answer to, and questions that I answered without missing a beat. The jury was completely wrapped up in the testimony. I didn’t know why. It was just answering questions about a kid that was killed. It wasn’t like it was a big loss to the school or anything.
My testimony finally ended. The suspects had their say but they were too shaken to make sense. They acted like they couldn’t believe that I set them up. Maybe that was true, but hey, I was just trying to keep myself out of jail. I didn’t care about anyone else.
The jury was let out to talk. I was hoping that I would be able to be let go, but no, of course not. Oh well, maybe it would be worth it to have to stay behind when the jury found them guilty. I had set this up perfectly. There was no way that I could lose.
“Okay, what did the jury decide?” There was a pause. Then, the verdict came.
“We believe these two suspects, Jennifer Laisa and Margaret Welsh, are guilty.”
Yes! There was a party going on in my head. I couldn’t celebrate just yet, but I was going to celebrate big time in the privacy of my own home. I had to get packing. I would have to call my parents and tell them that I would be able to come home. I would finally be able to have a long drive by myself. I was so excited.
I was driving back home while thinking about the case. I couldn’t believe I got so lucky with all of this. I had always thought that I would get away with murdering Toby, but I never imagined it would be this easy. It was almost too easy. There were still so many holes in the case that nobody bothered to check. Nobody bothered to search the rooms. Nobody bothered to search anybody’s house. So many holes. I wasn’t complaining, though.
I couldn’t believe I actually got away with just one white lie. I had seen Jenny with Margaret’s gloves. I hadn’t figured out why. I figured she was just cold, although it was May. Sure, she was cold-natured, but surely nobody was that cold-natured. Gloves in May… The only reason I had worn mine was to kill the kid and not get my fingerprints on the so-called evidence.
I got home and immediately called my mom’s cell phone. No answer. “Hey Mom, it’s me. Call me back. The case is closed. The killer was caught! I’ll be driving down in a couple days. See you soon!”
I couldn’t stop shaking with excitement. I was actually going back to Texas. I was thinking about all the other murders I could commit. Wait. Why was I thinking about this? I had just gotten done with getting away with one murder. Why would I already be thinking of another one? This is insane. It’s like I was becoming addicted to crime, even though I had only committed one crime. Why was I already thinking about another one? I decided to take a walk and take my mind off of it. Now that Jenny and Margaret were framed, I would be less likely to accidentally spill anything in case any nosy neighbors were around.
I went outside, and there was nobody around. I had actually almost hoped there would be, since I was ready to brag about how I had helped solve the case. I was feeling so snobbish right now. I had framed them. I got away with it easily. I had never imagined that it would be this easy.
I got back to the house after a short walk, and the phone rang. It was my mom. “Hey, Mom.”
“Hey, it’s good to hear from you! It’s been a while, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. Sorry. I’ve been really busy with trying to deal with the case, and all.”
“Oh, yeah, that makes sense. I can understand. It must be so stressful being a murder suspect.”
Try being the murderer and possibly being caught. “It actually wasn’t being the suspect that was stressful. It was just the fact that it happened in the school. Turns out it was Jenny, like we thought.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry. I know she’s a good friend of yours.”
“Anyone that kills a kid is no friend of mine. I’m not really bothered by it. I’m just ready to be back in Texas.”
“Oh, yeah, I bet. Everyone is really excited to see you. Especially William.”
“He’s still around? Seriously? I haven’t talked to him in forever.”
“Yes he is! You’re all he talks about, you know.”
“Gag.”
“I know. It will be less once you get home, though.”
“Yeah. I’ll just have to deal with being with him the entire time. “I’m thinking about asking him to move here with me, though. I was sick for a few days and it was difficult to get around.”
“Oh, yeah, it will be good to have someone to be with you when you’re sick. Plus, it will give you someone to spend the day with.”
“That’s definitely true. It gets boring being alone.”
“I can understand. Well, do you know what day you’re going to get here?”
“I’m not sure yet. Probably not for another three or four days. I’m not going leaving until the day after tomorrow so I can tie up any loose ends. I have to confirm the house sitter. I’ll probably have to stop on the way back. It’s a long drive from Oregon to Texas.”
“It’s a twenty-six hour drive so you had better stop somewhere. I don’t want you getting overly tired.”
“Yeah, okay, Mom. I’ll make sure to book a room.”
“Good. I’ll see you in a few days.”
“Okay, bye, Mom. See you in a few days.”
When I hung up, I was thinking about William. I couldn’t believe I was all he talked about. The more I thought about it, the more I was dreading being around him. I hated him. I was going to be ready to be rid of him. The only downside was that I was planning on asking him to move in with me.
That’s when I got the idea. I knew what I was going to do. I had to get rid of him, but how? Suddenly, I knew. I knew who my next victim would be. I knew that Texas would have one less person. Was I leaving Oregon a little too early after the case? Maybe, but I was determined to put my new plan into action.