Page 18 of Five

No. That’s not exactly it, if I’m being fair. I don’t dislike the police…it’s just that my experiences with them—every interaction and interview I was required to be present for after my brother went missing—left me with an ugly sense of dissatisfaction. They never found my brother. It’s difficult to forgive the institution as a whole for that.

“Ms. Murray?” They approach, one with a hand outstretched, and I nod as I stand to take it.

“That’s me.”

“Why don’t you take us through what happened?”

I show them the door. “When I got here this morning—”

“At your usual time, I assume?” The blond officer breaks in, pen poised over his notepad.

“Yes. Six-thirty A.M.”

“That’s pretty early.”

When I don’t reply, he nods for me to continue.

“As I was saying, when I arrived, I unlocked the door as usual—”

“The door was locked?”

The officer with darker hair sends his partner an annoyed look. “Let’s allow her to tell us what happened before we start asking a bunch of questions, okay?” The other one grunts.

I smile briefly at the dark-haired cop. “Thank you, Officer. The door was locked, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary until I got the door open and stepped inside. It was a mess, as you’ll see. At first I thought maybe an animal had somehow gotten in the building, but when I walked further in and went to unlock my office, I knew that wasn’t the case.”

“How so?” It’s the dark-haired officer who asks.

“My office door was ajar. I always lock it, and before you ask, yes, I remember locking it last night.”

He nods. “Continue.”

“I pushed the door fully open with my toe—no hands—and glanced in. No one was there, and so I went all the way in. I almost stepped on my petty cash envelope, and I’m sorry—I did pick that up to check it.”

“Was the cash missing?” He quirks an eyebrow at me.

“No. That’s the weird thing… It’s a huge mess in there—furniture tossed about, everything half-destroyed—but I didn’t see that anything had been taken.”

“Mm. What did you do after that?”

“I called 9-1-1 and left the building. I have no idea how the person who did this got in, or what the other rooms look like. I need to get it cleared, though, so I can get things cleaned up before the kids start arriving.”

“Let’s cross one bridge before the next, ma’am. Please come with us while we check things out.”

“Sure.” I follow as they enter the building and stop when the blond one barks an order to “stay.”

They move further inside, I guess to make sure the intruder is truly gone. My suspicions are confirmed when they return a few moments later.

“All clear. It actually looks pretty good back there, but we’ll get you to go with us and check for anything out of place.”

I nod and walk with them through the remainder of the building. They were right…everything appears to be untouched, except for the mudroom where the children hang their coats and backpacks up in lockers each morning. Every locker door hangs open.

“It’s like they were looking for something,” I muse.

“I would say money and valuables, but A—you’re a daycare, and B—they didn’t take your petty cash.”

“How did they get in?”

“The lock on the back door is busted.” Dark Hair shifts his weight. “Listen, I’d like to get a team in here to fingerprint a few things and take photos, and we’ll need you to come down to the precinct and provide a statement. Think you can do that today?”