I felt frozen. What do I reveal, what do I hold back, and how much is too much information? I promised Ashley that I wouldn't say anything about the plan, but he needs to know that we knew a little bit about something. Lucy will forever be frozen in the picture of the missing person flyer. She will forever live on as "The Girl Who Went Missing" after a party with a friend named Karma. The news said that Karma was found guilty all because Lucy's jacket was found in her closet. But that's not where this story begins. No, that's how it ended a year and a half ago. But now, the story is changing, and my life is changing along with it.
"When Lucy's parents got divorced, her mom moved to North Carolina and her dad stayed here in Port Richey. So, they made a deal that Lucy will spend the summers with her mom until she graduated high school, and she would do the school year with her dad since she's already settled there and has lived here her whole life." Detective Cole nodded as if to say he already knew all of this. He was waiting for the part where I explain the gaps in his notes. The gaps that were never filled. The gaps that left officers, the media, and us wondering "Where was Lucy?"
"Our junior year was over the second week of May. And Lucy would stay until June, then she would go up to North Carolina. So, she was with us for two extra weeks. Then she would spend the next two and a half months in North Carolina. So, before she left, we had a camp out in my parents barn behind our house about two days before she left for her mom's. We stayed up almost all night, but there was some drinking.
Lucy seemed weird. You would think she was ecstatic because when she got back from her mom's, we would be spending our fall semester of our senior year in Europe for an exchange program. But she seemed really off that night. At one moment, Lucy was all giggly and happy and making jokes- some at our expense. But then her mood would shift to a really dark sense of humor, as if she was bipolar. I don't know if it was the alcohol Sam stole from her parent's liquor cabinet, or if this was the start of Lucy's spiral.
She wasn't acting like herself. At one point, she asked Sam, 'Will you miss me when I'm gone?' and Sam said something along the lines of 'you're coming back in a few months, you'll be fine.' and then Lucy got all serious, and looked at all of us deep in our eyes and said 'but what if... what if I don't? Come back I mean? What if you never see me again? Would you miss me then?' and we all looked at each other and we all agreed that we would miss her. She looked all serious, and it created so much tension in us all, until she completely changed her composure and laughed and said 'I'm just joking around, gees, lighten up will you?'
Looking back at it now, it felt like a warning. Like she knew she was going to be gone. I think she was planning to run away, but I don't think she was planning on getting killed along the way. There were a few things she said that night that hinted to us that she was going to leave. But that's the one I remember the most clearly."
Detective Cole just listened and wrote down the gist of my testimony. "So, you think that she was intending to run away? You don't think it was a spur of the moment? A fight with her mom or anyone else that prompted her to run?"
"Looking back on it now, no I don't think it was a spur of the moment decision. I think she planned it for a while. I think she knew that she would be able to stay away longer in North Carolina because she's run away from home before. She ran away her freshman and Sophomore year for about a week, maybe two at the most when she was up with her mom. And both times, it was with Karma. She would call me and ask 'have you heard anything from my mom?' and when I told her no, she felt like she was defeated. It was like her and her mom played chicken. Lucy would run to get a rise out of her mom, and her mom would just be like 'okay, you want to leave? Then, leave.' And I was the one they would call to see if I had heard from the other person. It was ridiculous." I tried to put myself in either of their shoes, but to no avail, I just could never understand their relationship.
"I knew that she had run away from home before, as you stated in your previous testimony as well. When you took the stand for Karma, the prosecution cross examined you and asked 'How would you describe Lucy and Karma's relationship?' And you responded, 'They were thick as thieves. Karma would do anything for Lucy, and Lucy loved Karma from what I've understood.' And that's when the prosecution cracked you, 'From what you've understood? Is there any reason that we shouldn't believe that these two were as close as you say they were?' To which you responded, 'Well, no, not exactly. I mean just from Lucy's mom's words, that Karma was toxic and put ideas in Lucy's head. And that Karma convinced Lucy to run away every summer that Lucy has been going up to visit with her mom. But Karma always went with her-' and that's when the prosecution rested her questions." He paused for a moment, looking at me expectantly, as if I should have a rebuttal statement prepared. "If you were in the prosecution's shoes, how would you handle that statement?"
I relented. I never understood why she rested her questions until now. "I guess I would have the same resolve. That maybe Karma got her to run away for good this time, and made sure she never came back." I thought about that for a long moment. "But... you don't think that Karma is responsible." It was a statement and a question all at the same time. I wasn't sure where he was going with this.
"No, I'm not saying that. I think Karma was involved, but I don't think she was the only one involved. I think that each of you took a turn with the knife. Especially since you're so much more transparent now. I think you were transparent then too, but no one was ever able to prove your involvement."
"My only involvement was when Lucy's mom called me to ask if I'd heard from Lucy. I said that I didn't, but that wasn't true." Detective Cole seemed shocked at this. He didn't know anything about this part. So I continued on, knowing that I may become a suspect. "Lucy had called me about an hour before I heard from her mom. Lucy told me that she found some things out and her parents weren't who she thought they were... So, she told me she needed to find the truth, and she needed my help. So, I called Ashley and Sam and told them about my conversation with Lucy, and we gave Lucy her favor. She asked if we could meet up somewhere to give her a stash of money she had in her room at her dad's house. That night, me, Sam, and Ashley drove up to Raleigh North Carolina to an old diner called 'Creedmoore Cafe' and gave Lucy almost 10 grand in cash."
"How did Lucy have that much money?"
"She did jobs for people. Relationship advice, breaking up relationships, and through all of her blackmail schemes she had on people. Like I said before, there isn't just a few people you should have on your suspect list. For every person that loved Lucy, there were two or three who hated her enough to want to see her dead." Detective Cole continued writing my statement. He was like a child on Christmas. Getting exactly what he asked for. Answers. Missing pieces.
"So, you're telling me that the four of you were together when Ms. Marshal was calling the police to report her daughter missing? You knew where she was, but didn't tell the police, didn't tell her parents, and you've managed to keep all of that a secret for this long?" I nodded at him. "Now I understand why you said I could arrest you when you were done."
"But I'm not done." Detective Cole looked up at me and raised an eyebrow. "We drove Lucy to a hotel in Charlotte. We stayed with her that night, and when we woke up, Lucy was gone. We didn't know where she went, and I never heard from her again. I drove Sam and Ashley back home, and we got in late that night so they stayed with me. But none of us slept really well. We all had questions that we never got the answers to. We just knew that Lucy was planning to be gone for a long time with all that money."
"And that's it? That's the whole story?" I nodded. "You're not leaving anything else out?" I shook my head no. "Okay then. I think I've got everything I needed from you. Thank you for helping us put more pieces together in this puzzle. And thank you for spending your weekend here. I appreciate your time and honesty." I rose up out of the couch to shake his hand. I was about out of the room when he called after me, "and Nicole?" I turned to look at him, "please do stay in town in case we have any more questions for you." I nodded, and left the room.
I went out in the lobby and called my dad to come pick me up. I waited for about 20 minutes and then my dad walked me to the car. We both sat in silence the whole way home, knowing that the silence would end once my mom started asking questions. I knew that her questions would be much harder to talk around than detective Cole's. But when I got home, she wasn't there.
I turned to my dad with a confused look. "She's at the church. I told her she can bother you tomorrow. Tonight, you need to sleep." I thanked him and walked up to my room. And I did sleep.
I slept soundly for the first time in two years. I think I even slept with a smile on my face. All because I know exactly who put those items there.