"So did you go to the Whitlock ranch?" David asked.
He knew were the Whitlock's lived because Roxanne had already sent him a file with information on the family. They were relatively wealthy and owned a large cattle ranch. In the last three years, at least thirteen cattle had gone missing.
Arica was quick to notice that David was already aware about of Whitlock family residence and she wondered how but she did not ask, she needed to finish her story.
"I did, Mr. Whitlock personally drove to ranch on the edge of the city near Coracora falls. As soon as in entered the house, i looked at pictures of the family first. You learn a lot about a family or a person from the pictures they choose to display."
She briefly glanced at Phoebe and continued. " At first glance, the family appeared to be normal and they looked happy in the pictures. The Whitlock's are a small family of five, Humphrey has two sisters, one older than him and the other younger. She is around five years old, the one he cut with that knife when he wanted to see blood." Arica wiped a tear that ca out of the corner of her right eye. She sniveled which only only increased the listener's fear and worry.
"It started off well, I would go there twice a week,Tuesdays and Fridays. We would talk and i made Humphrey keep a journal of his feelings and thoughts which I would read and make assessnts on our progress.
He continued to lie in all of our sessions and even in the journal but once in a while he would let sothing slip and when he did, he would lose it. In those monts I would catch a glimpse of the monster beneath the surface.
One day I went to the ranch earlier than usual and I found out what i was not supposed to." Arica's dry lips trembled.
The listeners faces were a group of kaleidoscope expressions. Wide eyes brimming with wonder, furrowed brows hungry for answers, lips slightly parted as though on the verge of asking questions they dared not to voice.
"What did you find out?" Shark perched on the edge of his sit, his body angled forward.
"I want to know that too, we all do." Grandma Mayfair nervously tapped her feet, her curiosity palpable.
Arica cleared her hoarse throat. "From the ti I saw the timid Whitlock daughters, I always wanted to interact with them. If anyone knew about Humphrey's true face and would be willing to open up, it was his sisters.
I believed that they had to know sothing but their parents never let get close to them, it was almost as if they were intentionally hiding the girls from but that day I found them feeding so cows in one the bullpens by themselves.
I grabbed the opportunity and spoke to them. The older girl whose na is Diana went pale the mont I ntioned Humphrey's na, the vibrant color drained from their faces. The younger child run away screaming like she had seen a predator.
Diana on the other hand began to cry, she told that her brother was the scariest person she had ever t. He had taken her cat to his play house and killed it, she also confessed that it was her brother that pushed Kendall Smith at the play ground at the ti i didn't think much of that at the mont.
i just let her talk so more she went on to tell that he liked to torture them and when they cried he laughed. Even when they reported to the parents, they only told them to reconcile and forgive their brother because he had a bad temper." Arica paused and took a deep breath.
Claire banged the table loudly. "Kendall? Kendall Smith?
That's the na of the kid whose bones had been found! All the dical examiners had received the notice because it was a child, so all hands were on deck to ensure that nothing was missed. Was it a coincidence that a child with the sa na that had been pushed by this Humphrey had died?"
Arica nodded once, she had already seen the na of the victim.
Shark hurriedly checked through the docunts and confird it. "It's him, she's the victim. So that ans Diana is a witness!"
"Not necessarily, we must depend on science to examine evidence. Did Kendall die on the sa day he was pushed?" Claire asked.
Grandma Mayfair smacked her lips. "Those poor Whitlock kids are they safe? Safe from that monstrous kid I an, if he knows that she witnessed him murdering soone then...."
Claire wanted to repeat her words but she let it be, the evidence would do the talking later.
Shaking her head, Arica wiped another tear. " I am afraid not, both Diana and i never realized that Humphrey had already returned from school. As we walked out of the bull pen, he saw us from the a library window when I went to see him he asked what Diana and I were talking about.
Of course i answered his question with a lie but the frost in his eyes let know that he did not believe and he was pissed off as hell. I was worried about the girls so I didn't leave early, I decided to wait until the Whitlock's were back.
I inford them about what had happened, they were furious and berated for interrogating their daughter in their absence. They asked to leave their ho and never return, I apologized but warned them that their girls needed to be removed from that ranch. I told them their daughters needed counseling for they were traumatized, I also advised that they should never allow Humphrey to mingle with his sisters, ever."
"I hope they listened." Shark interrupted.
"Unfortunately not." Answered Arica.
David stamped his foot. "God damn it! They never easily do."
"To an extent you cannot bla them, no parent wants to admit that there is sothing wrong with their children, until it's too late." Grandma Mayfair spoke softly, putting herself in the Whitlock's position.
She also recalled the many tis they made excuses and offered apologies for Ruth. In the end, it was parents that often made monsters out of their children.
Arica nodded. "When I went back ho, I called a friend in child protective services and reported the bruises I had seen on Diana's arm. I spoke to a lawyer and I was warned that I would lose my license if I over stepped my boundaries or shared confidential client information.
Diana's words kept ringing in the back of my mind however, she had ntioned a play house, I wanted to check and see what was inside. Most kids keep their most treasured belongs in play houses or tree houses.
So the next day when the Whitlock's weren't expecting , I went back to the ranch under the guise of wanting to apologize to them. They were not ho, the house keeper told that Diana had been rushed to the hospital, she fell and rolled down the stairs in the night."
"Sa M.O, he did the sa thing to the both of you." Shark arched an eye brow.
"Luckily Diana had survived the fall, I took my chance then and searched Humphrey's play house. There was nothing suspicious until I checked the dium sized box that was stowed under the extra large bean bag. I opened it without a second thought, guys i wish I could unsee what I saw in there." She broke down and cried
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