Follow the Breadcrumbs

Morning has risen and I barely slept. There was a murder incident in my town. It’s on the news and in the newspaper, it’s everywhere. You cannot miss it. I live in a small town. The story is about a young woman named Holly Shelton who I went to school with. Everyone was confused and there seemed to be no clues as to why she was murdered. She was the prettiest girl in school, the captain of cheerleader team, daughter of the chief of police, the best waitress in the local diner, and her boyfriend Alex was the captain of the football team. She is simply someone who had no enemies. Her father, as the chief of the police, had sent a lot of people to prison. There were a lot of people who were his enemies. I knew Holly, but I was the biggest nerd, so I ran in a different crowd.

Holly was walking back home from her shift in the diner 4 nights ago, which she always does, and she disappeared. Her father, Chief Huck Shelton, filed a missing person report after the allotted 24 hours, and he arranged the search party for Holly. They didn’t find her until 2 days later when a local man found her while he was fishing. Her body was floating on the surface of the water. Now there is caution yellow tapes everywhere around the site. They said she drowned as they found water in her lungs, but the way she died was fishy. She had bruises on her neck as if she was choked or strangled. They did a lot of interviews and questioned everyone who may have seen her after leaving the diner, or known anything that could shed light on where she was for those 4 days. No one they interviewed could give any clues as to what may have happened to her. It was just as if she went for a swim and drowned, if it weren’t for the bruises on her neck. It’s doesn’t make sense to me. Holly was an excellent swimmer, and she wouldn’t drown unless she was held underwater. But again, I’m nobody and no one will believe me. I simply read a lot of crime/mystery books.

It was so sad that Holly was dead. She was a nice girl and I liked her. Even if we didn’t hang out in the same crowd, she was never mean to anyone. She didn’t deserve to die. No human being deserves that. The investigation was still ongoing, although there aren’t any leads, because Holly’s father is the chief of police, and he wants to keep the case open. The deputy captain, which is Holly’s father’s boss, was pressuring him to close the case since the evidence is no existent. There wasn’t enough evidence to even create a suspect list. There were different opinions of how it may have happened.

I sighed and tried to refocus. I need to focus on my job, but the news about Holly is distracting me. I can’t think about it anymore. I got on my laptop. My desk was piled of papers filled with passwords and codes for the hardware system. I don’t really have a career, but I manage to find enough freelance work to get by. I just hacked into the biggest company whose it’s net worth is over ten million dollars. I like to refer myself as Robin Hood but in a female version, of course. I have been doing this for few years so far, but no one caught me yet. I don’t use the same company twice since it can leave a trail for the police. I set up an amount and wire the money unanimously to different charities.

Time passed and days became weeks. Suddenly, there was a loud bang on my door, and I jumped. I got spooked and closed everything on my laptop. I cleaned up myself and went to the door. I opened the door and its Captain Shelton with other gentlemen, both in suits. “Hello, Amy. I’m here with the FEDS. You are under arrest for multiples count of hacking under different aliases.” The gentlemen cuffed me and dragged me out of my apartment.

Later, downtown at the police station, I was dragged into the interrogation room with the FEDS and Chief Shelton. “Why am I arrested? What did I do?”

Chief Shelton said, “Amy, you can drop the innocent act! I know you were hacking and stealing money.”

I wanted to deny it, saying “I’ve been framed!” but knew that he’d never buy that. Besides, I had never been very good at lying. So, I decided to go with the truth. “I did it for the poor, Huck. I wasn’t stealing money for myself. You can look into my bank account, I ain’t lying.” No one knew the reason she got into hacking in the first place, and she wasn’t about to let the FEDS in on that story.

One of the FEDS named Agent Nathaniel Castle opened a folder and pulled out a paper. “Can you break this code? Can you hack into this?” I looked at the paper and there looking back at me is Holly. Below is a list of account numbers and other information, but most is blacked out (probably for my benefit). Her account must be locked, and they couldn’t open it. But why come to me? They had more resources at their disposal than little old me.

I needed to play this smart if I was ever going to get out of this. “Yeah, but what is it in for me?”

I heard the rumors that the case might be cold, and I could use that to perhaps broker my freedom. The FEDS looked at Chief Shelton, who looked at me with a stony expression, and after what seemed forever, his gaze returned to the FEDS and nodded curtly. “Help us solve the case or you will be sent to prison for hacking. Your choice. I, myself don’t care much either way.”

They gave me ultimatum: help with the case or go to prison. Well, I wasn’t an idiot! “Okay, you promise?” I squinted, disbelieving. They nodded.

They wouldn’t have come to me unless they were out of options, so I said noncommittal-like, “Deal, where do I start?”

Agent Castle said, “Start with this. Try to get in and open Holly’s account and see what is there. We’re going to follow the breadcrumbs.” That’s how I started my life with the law enforcement.

Several hours passed and after multiple threats of what would happen should I back out of my deal; I was released from the police station. I wasn’t sure if the town was aware that the case is ongoing, and they are doing what they could within the deadline. There had been more than a month’s time since Holly was found and the case had grown cold.

My first assignment was to meet Agent Castle were he gave me a folder that was filled with all kinds of information on Holly’s accounts. There’s a list with her accounts such social media, email, bank account and such. I started to go through them by one. At first glance, they seemed to be the normal things any teenage girl posts, such as pictures of herself, with her friends and boyfriend. Looking at her bank account on the surface, it seemed normal and there wasn’t a huge charge or purchase, just normal expenses. I got to last account on the list which was a chat platform. There was a lot of hardware and systems I had to go through. That in and of itself raised red flags to me. No one had this level of encryption unless they had something big to protect. A big secret they didn’t want anyone to know about. Hours later, I finally got in. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at!

I’m looking at my iMac screen and my mind went blank. I couldn’t believe what I’m seeing right now. Holly, perfect cheerleader, perfect daughter, had a secret life. There’s NO way her father was aware of the other life she was leading. Most of the pictures and messages were from this guy named Harold. No idea who he was, but by the pictures and messages, it sounded like he was a lover. They shared affectionate messages and there’s selfies of them together such as hugging, kissing, and such. I can’t believe what I’m seeing. This guy was older that Holly, defiantly not anyone that we knew from school!

I called Agent Castle into the room where I was working and told him what I had found so far. He said he needed to discuss this further with Chief Shelton and the team. I printed out all the information that I found from Holly’s account. A few hours later, Chief Shelton arrived at the office where Agent Castle and the team were working. Agent Castle gave him the folder and explained what I had found. As they were looking through the evidence, Chief Shelton got up and paced the room while scanning the file’s contents. I can tell that he is upset.

“She wouldn’t do this. This is not Holly.”

Agent Castle softly said, “Howard, I know you are upset but you know that you have to set the emotion part aside. Sometimes those closest to us are the last to know some things about us. But I can promise you, we are going to find out what happened to your daughter. Ok, Howard?”

Chief Shelton cooled down and told his assistant police officer to look up the man Harold from the pictures in Holly’s account. The search came up back with the name Harold Winston, aged 26 who graduated from Harvard a year ago. Resident in Cape Cod, Massachusetts which is about an hour from us. From his pictures on his online accounts, he looks kind of nice and his record is clean. Not even have a speeding ticket.

They found his home address and proceeded to his home to get him to come for questioning. When Harold came into the interrogation room, I was in the next room with one-way mirror to see the interrogation room. Agent Castle came in few minutes later, he smirked. “We don’t normally allow visitors in this room, but I will let this one slide since you are helping with the case. Don’t get used to this,” he smiled. Harold was fashionably dressed with the latest Harry Winston watch and Gucci suit. He had the look of a man that came from money, the unaffected ease of a life born of privilege.

Chief Shelton sat down and start questioning Harold. “Hello, my name is Chief Shelton. What is your relationship with Holly Shelton?” Harold’s face registered a brief flash of panic as his eyes widened, and then he covered and said, “So you are Holly’s father? It’s nice to meet you, finally. Holly didn’t want me to meet you. Holly is my girlfriend. Why am I’m here? Something happen to her?!”

“Harold, I’m sorry to inform you but Holly is dead. That’s why you are here. I’m questioning you as a possible suspect.”

“What?! No, it wasn’t me. In fact, Holly is planning on running away with me soon. She is supposed to meet me last month at the end of her shift. When she didn’t show up, I thought she changed her mind. I’ve called and left messages but she didn’t call me back. Now I know why. I just figured somehow maybe you found out, like she always feared, and told her she wasn’t to see me anymore.”

Chief Shelton looked behind Harold to the 2-way mirror, which was directly to where Agent Castle and I were, I can see that he is trying to calm down and try to be professional.

“What do you mean Holly was running away? She’s got a nice life, everything going for her!” said Chief Shelton, his voice rising. Harold leans over and said, “Not what you think. Have you seen Holly’s texts or her bruises? Her oh so wonderful “boyfriend” was a control freak, and he is not who you think he is.”

“What bruises are you talking about? I didn’t see any on her.”

“I have some screenshots of her text with her boyfriend, she didn’t want to tell on him. He is scary when he is angry. I didn’t kill her, but if it was a murder, talk to her boyfriend. I bet it was him.”

Chief Shelton stood up and said, “Thank you for the information. Don’t leave town, I will track you down.”

He left the room and made his way to the bathroom. There, he finally let go his anger, punching the mirror and shattering the glass. His ragged breaths came short as he leaned over the sink, ignoring his bloody knuckles. How had he not known? Why didn’t she feel she could come to him? If she had trusted him, maybe she would still be alive. That thought brought a groan from deep in his chest as he let out a sob. But he couldn’t afford to let his emotions go now. Not when his Holly needed him to find her killer. He had work to do. With that, he splashed water on his face, washed his bloodied knuckles and dried them, and exited the bathroom.

His next stop was the IT department. Harold handed them the screenshots of Holly’s conversation with her boyfriend Alex that Harold had provided. The technician zoomed in on the pictures. There were some nasty conversations. Holly constantly apologizing to Alex. Alex checking on her every minutes even in middle of the night. Checking who she is with and where she is. Angry when she doesn’t answer or text back right away. He seems so different when he is at school, and even when he had visited their house. Everyone in town loves him. He is handsome and the best athlete in the whole school, his father a doctor, and his mother a lawyer. Both successful and seemed to have it all. Chief Shelton put his hand to his eyes, pinched the bridge of his nose, and sighed. He never realized how Holly’s life was, she hide a lot from him, but then he never bothered to probe or ask more, did he.

Chief Shelton sighed and said, “I guess I have to bring Alex in for questioning again but as a suspect.” An hour later, Alex showed up with his mother. Chief Shelton welcomed them into the interrogation room and sat down.

“Hello, Alex. Are you having your mother here as your support or as a lawyer?” Alex smiled, “Both, depending on what the verdict.”

The snide little pipsqueak! He’d love to reach across the table and wipe that smirk off his face! Chief Shelton opened the file with screenshots and photos of Holly’s bruises. “Know anything about this, Alex?”

Alex barely look at the pictures and then shoved them back across the table. “Nope, and I don’t have to answer that,” Alex chuckled.

“Okay, Alex. I can submit this evidence to the court along with the video of you arguing with Holly and murdering her. I will see you in court,” said Chief Shelton. He got up and headed to the door to exit.

“Wait!? What video? Can I get a deal? I didn’t mean to kill her. She was going to leave me for a momma’s boy. ME! There was no way anyone was leaving me until I was done with them. That’s just not the way it works. But I never meant to kill her. It was an accident. Surely that means something?”

Alex’s mother yelled, “Alex, don’t say anything.”

Too late, thought Chief Shelton, as he paused and went back to the chair. “Okay, Alex. What’s happen at that night?”

Alex starts to talk slowly, “I followed her from her work to the park near the lake. She had been acting weird few days before. She would lash out at me, and I didn’t like that. She was always so meek and agreeable and then she started to change. Challenging me, and I didn’t like it. She stopped at the lake and then I noticed she had a bag and backpack. It’s looked like she was going somewhere. She kept glancing at her phone. I got out of the car, and I approached her. She got mad that I followed her. We argued and she told me it was over. Our relationship was over. I didn’t want that.” “She turned her back on me and started to walk away, and I tried to talk to her. She told me she had found someone else and that she is leaving me for him. Nobody leaves Alex. Me! Nobody leaves me! I grabbed her and she screamed. She tripped and fell into the water. I tried to tell her to be quiet and the next thing I remember was that my hands was on her neck. Moment later, she stops breathing. I panicked and left. I brought her bags with me since there’s a little blood on it. They are in the trunk of my car still. I didn’t know what to do with them. I didn’t mean to do it,” cried Alex.

Chief Shelton sighed, “Alex, I’m sorry but I have to arrest you for the murder of Holly Shelton. We didn’t have any video, I kind of lied. But thank you for your confession.”

“Outrageous, I can sue you for falsifying evidence,” said Alex’s mother.

Chief Shelton sighed, “Save it for the courtroom, Alice. Escort him out, Officer Higgins.”

Alex got up and he was crying then laughing. He looked like a mad man. In that moment the Chief saw what his daughter must have seen many times in Alex’s face. Pure evil. Alex was handcuffed and went away with a police officer to lockup.

Time passed and it wasn’t long before Alex was convicted for murdering Holly. He was sentenced to psychiatric hospital for 10 years since he suffered mild depression along with mild emotional damage due to his home life. Who knew his father was abusive to him and his mother, and Alex was letting the cycle repeat itself in his own relationships? We all wished Holly was here to see justice served. We had a funeral for Holly, and Harold showed up. He went to Chief Shelton and said, “Holly would want you to have this. I’m glad I got to meet you. Take care, Chief Shelton.” It was scrapbook along with Holly’s good memories with her father and Harold along with her friends. At the end, there was a note for him. It’s said, “Hello, Daddy. I know I’m growing up and I’m not your princess anymore, but I still love you. See you soon, Daddy! Love you.” She had put the scrapbook together in her spare time with Harold and planned to leave it at her home before heading out of town that night. Harold had kept it at his home had brought it the night they were to meet, but Holly died.

Chief Shelton held it closely and cried. If I must tell you what I learned, anybody can be a murderer even a handsome jock in your school. You can’t really trust anybody. Your enemy could be in the same room as you. But most importantly, spend your time making memories not dreams. I have amended my life goals and am making more memories instead of just sitting home hacking and wishing. Thank you Holly.