I pulled my car to a stop in front of Holly's house and looked over at it, police tape blocked the front door.

"Ready?" Millie asked.

I just nodded before following her out of the car.

"Who's first?"

Millie looked over the witness list. "Rick Meyers."

I followed her to the front door of the house next to Holly's.

Millie knocked and, after a minute, the door opened, revealing a younger man.

"Who are you?" He asked.

I stuck my hand towards him. "Valerie Cross, I'm defending Dakota Flynn and I was wondering if I could ask-"

"No." He interrupted before closing the door in our faces.

I dropped my hand to my side and faced Millie. "Off to a great start."

"Don't worry, we still have four more to go."

As I followed her to the next house, I asked, "Is there a miss McCall on that list?"

She looked over it and shook her head.

I nodded as we approached the next house...

"I can't believe not a single person would talk to us." I said as we approached my car.

She shrugged. "Maybe they didn't see anything."

I shook my head. "They didn't even let us get that far. It's almost like they were afraid to talk."

Then, I glanced over at the house across the street.

Millie followed my glance. "What?"

I just started walking, Millie following close behind.

I stopped at the front door and knocked.

"This house isn't on the list." Millie said.

"Just trust me."

Then, we heard a few locks click before the door opened, revealing a little old woman.

"Who are you? And, what're you doing here?" She asked.

I stuck my hand out. "My name's Valerie Cross, I'm defending Dakota Flynn and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"

The woman looked between Millie and I before nodding and letting us in.

   "Would you girls like some tea?" The woman asked.

   "No thank you." I replied.

   "I'd love some." Millie added.

   The woman nodded and wandered off to the kitchen. "Take a seat anywhere you'd like." She called out.

   Millie and I shared a glance before sitting down on the old, plastic covered couch.

   After a few more minutes, the woman joined us once again, two cups of tea in her hands.

   Millie took hers. "Thank you."

   The woman nodded before sitting in the chair across from us. "Alright, what'd you wanna know?"

   Millie looked to me.

   "Well, first, your name is miss McCall, correct?"

   She nodded.

   "Ok, great, um, well, like I said, I'm defending Dakota Flynn and I was just-"

   "Cmon, spit it out, I don't have all day." Miss McCall interrupted.

   Millie chuckled slightly next to me.

   "Did you see anything the night of the murder?"

   Miss McCall set her mug down and leaned forward. "You bet your sweet little ass I did, I'm the one who called the cops, but when they arrived, they took that poor young thing away in handcuffs."

   "Dakota?"

   Miss McCall nodded. "She is such a nice girl. She'd wave to me every time she came to visit Holly, she'd help with groceries and even walked my dog before he died. She isn't capable of what happened to Holly."

   "Did the cops interview you?" Millie asked.

   Miss McCall leaned back in her seat. "Of course, they were here for quite awhile."

   "If that's true, then how come you weren't on the witness list? Why is there no statement from you in the files?" I asked.

   "Because, Chief Atwood didn't like what I had to say." She replied.

   "What did you have to say?" Millie asked.

   "That I saw his son, Trevor, leaving the house, bloody shirt and all."

   I sat back, processing this new information.

   'Someone else was there.'

   "Where can we find chief Atwood?" Millie asked.

   "Try the police station first, he never strays far from his work." She replied.

   I stood up. "Thank you, miss McCall, just one last question?"

   She stood up as well. "Ask away."

   "Would you be willing to testify to everything you've just said in court?"

   She nodded. "Absolutely, I never much cared for that Atwood boy or his father. Damn hooligans are running this town into the dirt."

   "Well, we'll see what we can do about that." Millie replied.

   Miss McCall nodded and shook our hands before leading us to the front door.

   We waved her off as we headed back to my car.

   "No wonder nobody would talk, the chief probably put the fear in all of them, maybe even threatened them." Millie said.

   "Well, let's go squeeze that bastard for everything he's worth." I replied before getting into my car...

   After a short drive, we found the police station and pulled into the parking lot.

   I walked through the front doors, Millie following close behind.

   As I approached the front desk, a younger deputy looked up and smiled. "What can I do you for, ma'am?" He asked.

   "I'm looking for chief Atwood, I work for the state court system and I need to ask him a few questions about a case I'm working."

   The deputy nodded. "Of course, right this way."

   Millie and I followed him to a closed door, "Chief Atwood" was painted on it.

   The deputy knocked before opening the door. "Uh, chief, you got a couple lady lawyers here to talk to you."

   "Let them in."

The deputy held the door for us, walking back to his desk after we were inside the chiefs office.

"Please, sit down." He said, gesturing towards the two chairs in front of his desk.

We sat down and I started. "My name's Valerie Cross, I'm defending Dakota Flynn and I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions?"

He leaned back in his chair, kicking his legs up on his desk. "Sure."

I nodded. "Alright, were you there the night of the murder?"

He nodded back. "Yes ma'am, I was the first to arrive on scene."

"Ok, do you know who called in?"

"A concerned neighbor, said she heard screaming, saw two girls fighting through the window and that one of them had a knife."

Millie and I glanced at each other.

"That would explain why you kicked the door in." I said.

He nodded. "Of course, we take these things very seriously. It was just a shame we couldn't get there quick enough to save poor Holly Peterson."

"What about your son, was he... involved with Holly?"

Chief Atwood sat up straight, a nervous look flashing through his features, it disappeared just as quickly as it came. "Yes, as far as I know."

"Was he there that night?" Millie asked.

Chief Atwood looked between the two of us. "What're you insinuating exactly?"

"We have a witness claiming they saw your son leaving the house that night, wearing a bloody shirt." Millie said.

Chief Atwood got to his feet. "Bullshit! My son would never do something like that. It was that Flynn girl, check the evidence, her prints were on the knife. Hell, her prints were the only ones we could find in the house aside from the late miss Peterson's."

I got to my feet. "Here's what I think happened, I think you found your son on the side of the road all covered in blood, but the thought of having to send your own flesh and blood to prison for the rest of his life tore you apart on the inside. So, you covered it up, doctored the evidence, maybe even threatened a few witnesses. Wiping away anything that involved you or your son. Am I in the right ballpark?"

He leaned forward on his desk, staring deep into my eyes. "I think it's time you leave."

I just stared him down, silently waging my own little war against him.

Then, I felt Millie's hand on my shoulder. "Cmon, Val, time to go."

I finally pulled my gaze from his. "We'll be seeing more of you later, chief."

"Don't count on it." He said before slamming the door closed behind us.

"What the hell was that about?" Millie asked as we approached my car.

I sighed. "I was trying to make him crack. Did you see the look on his face when we mentioned his son?"

She stopped at the passenger door. "Yeah, something's definitely off about this whole thing."

"And we're gonna get to the bottom of it." I replied.