The shuttering of an old press camera was heard repeatedly throughout the room, detectives and journalists crowded the scene, and civilians shouted from outside.
The library was usually known for being a place of silence. But after the librarian disappeared, it had become the loudest place in town.
It had been exactly four thousand three hundred and seventy-five days since the last resident had disappeared, attracting attention from all over Beechwood.
The detectives could find nothing but a silhouette on the ground and other useless information. "It looks like she tried to crawl away" One claimed, pointing out the hand prints and what looked like half of the woman's legs.
"Signs of struggle can be found here..." One pointed to a handprint on the side of a bookshelf. "Here..." Another on the top of one of the tables. "And here" The last one was on the doorframe of the basement.
"It's like she left her own prints of some sort" One of the journalists chimed in. "Like permanent shadows..." The first detective ran his finger across the surface of the table, collecting some of the print. "Yet... Non existent" He added, raising his finger to show that none of the black stuff had stuck to it whilst the handprint on the table now had a streak cutting through it.
The second detective looked through his notes "No sign of breaking and entering. Other than Eloise's, no recent fingerprints or tracks. We couldn't even find the damn body. This is obviously another-" "Doris, clear the civilians!" The first detective snapped his finger at the young boy carrying his suitcase. "Yes, sir!" The case was dropped as Doris ran off. This earned an unpleasant stare from the second detective.
"You! Draft a report to the chief" The same man pointed to one of the other policemen, starting his way to the library doors. "Yes, sir. Proceed" The policeman replied, taking out a notepad and following close behind.
"Name: Eloise Scott. Beechwood local library. Time and date of death: October 25th, 11:45pm. Cause: tripped and fell down the basement stairs. Evi-" "Sir?!" The policeman interrupted, causing the detective to stop in his tracks and turn around.
"F-fell?! Sir, are you suggesting that we cover up Ms. Scott's incident?" "Charles, we haven't had an incident like this in twelve years! The town has finally come to peace. If we tell them the truth, it'll be chaos." The detective explained sternly.
"Sir, if we lie to the public, it'll be worse for us" "I don't care! If none of this is taken care of by supper, I will have you out of this town by dawn!" "Yes, sir" Charles gulped before looking around the room at all the people who were all paying attention to the two men.
"But how about all this?" Charles gestured to the scene. "We cover it up! I'm counting on you to do that for me. And that report better be on the chief's desk by sundown!" The detective snapped, storming out of the building, leaving the poor man to deal with the situation.