Face of Murder

By the way Zoe was looking at her, Shelley had a feeling that she hadn’t looked at a clock in a while. “Zoe, it’s late. We need to leave this for the night and get Dr. Applewhite to a holding cell. In the morning, we can start fresh.”

“We cannot leave!” Zoe gaped, seemingly horrified. “She is stuck in there until we clear her name.”

“I know, Z. But we aren’t going to get her cleared tonight. Besides, there’s proper procedure to follow. You can’t just leave her in for questioning all night long and pop in and out whenever something occurs to you.”

Zoe was deflating, her sense of purpose beginning to drain away. This was what Shelley had been afraid of. Though someone else might not have seen it, she could. Guilt was eating away at Zoe—and fear. Fear that she wouldn’t be able to do anything to get Dr. Applewhite cleared. For someone like Zoe, those heavy emotions could end up being dangerous, particularly since she had no real support network to catch her.

Shelley had to do something about that—and she wasn’t about to let Zoe go home and wallow in it. Zoe could be intense at times. There was really no telling what she would do with that kind of emotion rolling around in her head, given that she didn’t seem to have developed appropriate outlets for negative feelings. They just swum around, bottled up inside her. Maybe she was seeing a therapist now, but she had only been seeing them for a short while, and that wasn’t enough yet to make a real difference.

“Why don’t you come back and have dinner with me and my family, after we’ve finished up here?” Shelley asked, on instinct. That would get Zoe under her watchful eye, and might even cheer her up a little. There wasn’t a lot that could stop a unicorn-obsessed toddler from putting a smile on someone’s face, in Shelley’s experience. She would call her husband from the car and let him know to put on a bigger meal. He never minded having company.

“Have dinner?” Zoe repeated. “While Dr. Applewhite sits in there, alone?”

Shelley tilted her head. It was funny how Zoe could be so disconnected at times. When she cared about someone, though, she cared about them deeply. To the bone. She had a loyalty that could not be questioned. It was one of the factors that made her endearing, even if other people didn’t often see it. “Dr. Applewhite will sit in there, alone, whether you eat with me or not. Look, just come back with me, okay? I don’t want you going home on your own tonight. You need some company.”

“I do not wish to intrude on your family time.”

The response was stiff, and most people might have taken it as rude. They might have thought that Zoe didn’t care for, or want to meet, Shelley’s family. But Shelley was seeing through that exterior, and she saw someone who was confused, tired, and carrying a heavy emotional burden. Someone who felt so guilty, she was starting to think she was bad for anyone to be around.

Shelley couldn’t let her think that.

“You won’t be intruding,” Shelley said, smiling to prove it. She was going to look after Zoe, whether she wanted it or not. She needed looking after. She needed protecting from all the bad that was out there in the world, so much of which she had had to deal with already. It wasn’t right for her to go home on her own. “I insist. Come on, Z, seriously. I’m not taking no for an answer. Get your things together. You can drive there behind me and go home after. I’ll take care of the booking process.”

Zoe sighed, and Shelley danced a victory dance inside her head. “Fine,” Zoe said, her voice heavy with both reluctance and defeat. “I will meet you in the parking lot.”

***

Zoe pulled up on the road outside a two-story home in a suburban neighborhood, noting the presence of sixteen miniature fence posts around a small front yard and the four windows, each fitted with white blinds. She also took in the two cars on the drive—no doubt necessary for Shelley and her husband to keep their respective careers, with Shelley’s schedule being so unpredictable.

Zoe noted all of this and continued to look, because for as long as she was making observations, she wasn’t getting out of the car. And the longer she could stay before getting out of the car, the longer it would be before small talk and socializing and the chaos of a household with a young child.

She sighed to herself and disengaged her seatbelt, knowing that she was being childish. She just didn’t much feel like talking and laughing with a stranger when all she could think about was Dr. Applewhite, spending the night in a cell.

Shelley was waiting for her on a neatly manicured path that cut through the grass of the front lawn, her back to her own house. Zoe joined her, doing up the middle button on her suit jacket, trying to mentally steel herself for what was about to come.

“Don’t look so worried,” Shelley said, elbowing her gently in the ribs as they paused at the front door. “I’m not married to a dragon, and we aren’t raising a werewolf. Just normal folks.”