~
Josh sat down in his room with his eyes closed. Since the recent murders in Sleepy Hollow and the funeral of the priest, the town had been in a frenzy. People no longer stayed out late till even seven at night. Even convenience stores no longer worked overnight. The whole thing was getting out of hands. He wondered why Riya suddenly packed up and left.
"Did she find out that I already know who she is?" He thought.
"I should go check on Mr Cooks tomorrow morning." He thought again before getting up and going to lie down on his bed.
He sighed and continued to look up at the ceiling as sleep continued to run from him. He hadn't been able to sleep since the recent happenings. He closed his eyes anyway and tried to sleep in the few hours left before dawn.
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Far away in a house, Mrs Jackson sat in the darkness shivering and crying as vivid pictures of the priest's battered body flashed in her mind. She curled up in the corner of her room and continued to drag her hair violently as she shivered.
She immediately got up and went to the door in the room that opened to a balcony, she stood there for awhile and continued to shiver and cry.
"Stop please, make it stop." She whispered, still sobbing silently.
"Just make it stop!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She screamed and jumped off the balcony with her body twisting as it landed.
Morning came with neighbors noticing the body and gathering with reasonable distance around it as they called the Cops.
Josh drove there and called Kol on his way. He parked opposite the house and walked towards the house. He asked some of the officers that came on call, and they told him it seemed like suicide and the neighbors had heard her scream and one even saw her jump.
Josh shook his head and went inside the house to her room upstairs where the forensics were looking through her personal items. He picked up her journal on the table and read the last entries from two days ago. He sighed and dropped the journal.
The woman was obviously traumatized, she continued to write how she got sleepless nights since the murder and how she saw the priest everywhere in his mauled body.
Josh immediately felt pity for the woman. He looked down from the window and saw them putting the bagged body in an ambulance. He noticed she wasn't quite alright when he had interviewed her later after the priest's burial and had advised her to see a therapist, she had agreed and said she'd see one. Josh sighed and went downstairs as he saw Kol parking behind his car.
He went out and met with Kol as they watched the ambulance finally leave.
"Seems like suicide." Josh said to Kol.
"She's been writing all about it on her journal, and the neighbors heard her scream early this morning, begging someone to make it stop before she jumped." He added.
"We should see the neighbors and talk to them." Kol said.
"Yeah, let's go." Josh said.
They crossed to the other side of the street and approached the house opposite Mrs Jackson's house. Josh knocked the door and a woman came out to open for them.
"Good morning." Josh greeted the woman.
"Good morning officers." The woman greeted back.
"Mrs.......?"
"Mrs McCall." The woman said smiling.
"Alright Mrs McCall, we would love to ask you some questions if you don't mind." Josh said.
"Okay." She said and stepped aside for them to come in.
She ushered them to a small living room and asked them to sit while she went in to make some instant coffee. After awhile, she came back with the coffee in a tray and gave them before sitting down. Josh and Kol thanked her and started to drink the coffee before Josh put down his cup and started the interrogation.
"Were you and Mrs Jackson very close?" He asked the woman.
"Not really, but she had a very beautiful soul, she was very nice so we talked from time to time but not too often, just morning greetings or if we came across each other in town". The woman replied.
"Okay, can you tell me how she has been since the priest's death?" Josh asked.
"No one has really seen her, she stopped talking much and stayed more indoors, she even stopped going out completely these days." Mrs McCall said.
"Alright." Josh said
"So what happened early this morning, the officers said you testified seeing her jump down the balcony." Josh asked.
"Yes I did, I woke up to come drink water when I heard her talking out loud to herself, I opened my curtains to see carefully if she was conversing with someone but didn't see anyone beside her or a phone in her hands, so I stood there and watched out of curiosity." She stopped to take a deep breath and started to sob silently.
Josh came to sit close to her and patted her back lightly till she gained composure.
"She continued to cry until she jumped." Mrs McCall whispered.
Her daughter came out from a door and came to hug her. The teenager hugged her and patted her back while Josh stood up and thanked her for her time and the coffee before leaving.
Josh and Kol stood outside the house in silence.
"Murders and a related suicide in one town, in less than a week." Josh said and sighed.
"Still have plans to go see the psycho guy?" Kol asked.
"No, I called him on my way here, he's not in town." Josh said and sighed in frustration.
"Call the coroner's office and have them move the body to a funeral home, she doesn't have any family." Josh said and bowed his head as he walked to his car.
"Alright." Kol said and walked to his car, got in and drove off.
Josh continued to sit in his car, tapping his steering wheel repeatedly in frustration.
"What the f**k is going on here?." He thought.
He started his car and slammed his steering in anger before driving off.