Zola Thakali
“A girl found dead in a forest, local police say she had probably been shot in the head, found in the autopsy,” chattered the news as Alisa began eating her breakfast. Alisa was a normal girl with long blonde hair and bangs, and hazel eyes, living with her parents in New York. She was only seven years old when this happened.
“Mom, what’s an autopsy?” asked curious little Alisa.
“You’re too young for that right now. Maybe when you’re older, I can explain,” said her mom, dismissing the question with a smile.
Alisa went to a regular school with a few close friends. When she went to school that day, rumors had already begun circulating about the girl. Some said the serial killer might be a parent of a student at the school, others said the girl had once been a part of the school. But no one knew for sure.
“Hey, did you hear the news about the girl?” asked her best friend, Jennifer.
“Yeah, I heard it on the news. They said she was found in a forest,” Alisa replied. Looking at Jennifer, who looked slightly paranoid, Alisa brushed it off. Jennifer Echoes of the Wonderful Mind 31 was known for getting nightmares over the smallest incidents.
“No talking, you two!” the teacher scolded. “Alright, talking about the incident this morning, since the principal requested that I go over how to stay safe if someone tries to shoot you. First, you need to duck down when you hear a bullet, whether it’s the sound of a bullet being loaded or one that has already been fired.”
Alisa thought about the shooting and who could possibly be the killer, but she knew her mother would say she was “too young” to understand. After school, she couldn’t help but ask her mom again.
“Mom, can girls be detectives when they grow up?” Alisa asked.
“Only if they have the intelligence, but honey, don’t become one. Most of them get underpaid, and the cases mostly go cold. Never think about it. Instead, become an artist or something like that–something that makes a lot of money. Are you even listening?” her mom shouted.
“Yes, Mom!” Alisa lied, relieved that her mother wasn’t a good listener.
Years went by, and Alisa moved from grade school to college. She started law school, secretly studying to become a detective–just like she always dreamed. Over the years, more and more people had been going missing, many of them women and girls, and Jennifer seemed to be taking it harder than anyone else. She was always the first to get paranoid, even though the disappearances weren’t personal to her. After graduating, Alisa moved out of her parents' house and settled into an apartment building called Mid NW Apartments. Alisa became a detective, working on cases for the local police department.
One day, her boss, Josh, the head of the department, approached her with a new case. “We’ve started reopening old cases after recent protests. People are threatening us, and this case is pretty big. Keep in mind that these murders have all been linked to wealthy families. You’ve got two months, minimum– maybe five months, at most. Here’s all the paperwork, go through it carefully.” He handed Alisa several folders filled with files.
“Alright, Chief, I’ll try my best,” Alisa replied with a nervous, but determined, tone.
“We trust you, Alisa. You’re the best detective in the state,” Josh said before walking off.
Alisa opened the folders and began sorting through them. The names were numerous, but she narrowed it down to a few main suspects. The next day, she started questioning them. But before she did, she studied their descriptions carefully.
The first suspect was James Carter. He was last seen with the girl on the day of the first murder. When he was questioned, James said he was just visiting the girl’s parents and dropping off some fruit because he had recently moved into the neighborhood. He suggested that the neighbor next door might be involved. James appeared nervous, and he admitted that he had been out drinking the night of the murder. In the years following, every time another murder occurred, James was always out drinking, returning home late and smelling of alcohol. He had a reputation for being unpredictable, and his wife confirmed that he had cracked under pressure many times. James had a history with wealthy families and had spent 16 years in prison for murdering a family of five, claiming that they had tortured him, though he provided no evidence to support it. Since then, he had gone to therapy for his alcoholism and had been "sober for five years.” He had even been the chef for the family who offered him a job when he first moved to the neighborhood.
The next suspect was Elijah Qwantle, who lived next door to the Carters. He was the one who called the police about the girl’s body. Elijah had told the police that he suspected James Carter might be the killer. Elijah had also been seen arguing with his wife about financial troubles. At around 4 AM, he was caught on security cameras leaving the house of the first murder. When questioned, he said he went to meet James for a drink. Elijah claimed that James had openly admitted to shooting the girl, though James denied it. He had no proof of this, and after the conversation, Elijah’s wife was found dead from antifreeze poisoning in her beer. Elijah, who was known for his jealousy of wealthy people, became a prime suspect. The pattern of the murders seemed to target only the wealthy. Police even suspected that Elijah was either an accomplice or the main leader for his wife’s murder. He both looked suspicious and innocent, however both sides of him had no proof.
Then there was Alisa’s own best friend’s father, Alexander Thompson. Alisa couldn’t understand how he could be a suspect, but she had to follow the evidence. Alex was a butler for wealthy families, always showering them with compliments. He was also known for his obsession with true crime novels and movies, and knew how to get away with murder. He would joke about shooting girls in the head in the forest, but his wife would always disagree with him, saying he could never be involved in murder. Jennifer had mentioned that sometimes her dad came home late at night with what looked like blood stains on his clothes, but when questioned, Alex always brushed it off as “ketchup.” Echoes of the Wonderful Mind 35 Jennifer’s parents refused to let her participate in the investigation, but Alisa couldn’t shake the suspicion that Alex was hiding something. He could have easily hidden bodies or burnt them since he used to paint with people’s ashes when he was unemployed for memorial to the victims.
The final suspect was Amelia Quenter, Alexander’s ex-wife. She had often reported Alexander for “abusing her,” but there was no concrete proof. Amelia was known for bullying younger children and suing various companies. She was also eccentric, acting strange whenever anyone spoke to her. She and Alexander had been involved in something shady, though neither of them ever admitted it. Amelia had been sober for almost a month after years of alcoholism.
All these suspects were really hard to look through transparently. Usually Alisa could read them like a book but she couldn’t, as if they all were involved in the murders. In one month she started to try and piece all the murders. Suspiciously, all the murders were only girls or women. In the span of 11 years, the serial killer had murdered over 50 girls/women. Each month she was given, she would question the individuals, and try and figure out why they were guilty and why they were not.
As Alisa questioned each suspect, she found that, for the most part, they didn’t fit the profile of the serial killer. Amelia, although suspicious, had no motive, and her claims about Alexander forcing her to marry him added a new layer to the case. Elijah, who 36 Imperial World School had been under pressure, turned out to be innocent. He had been sober for over 10 years and was actually a victim of domestic violence from his wife, who had been abusing him. When she died from antifreeze poisoning, it became clear that Elijah was not involved in the murders.
That left two suspects: James and Alexander. When Alisa questioned James again, he cracked under pressure and admitted that he had confessed to Elijah about shooting the girl. However, he quickly shifted the blame to Alexander, saying that Alexander was the mastermind behind the killings. James even claimed that Alex was responsible for the shootings in several schools around New York.
Alexander, when questioned, denied everything. He insisted that James was lying and claimed that James had actually admitted to being the mastermind of all the killings. Alisa’s investigation led her to evidence that James was indeed the one behind the murders, and Alexander was his accomplice. James had unwittingly given police footage of himself murdering several girls, but he also unknowingly implicated himself by confessing to the murders. Both James and Alexander were arrested and sentenced to 20 years in prison after a long trial.
Alisa, after 5 tiring months, and defending Elijah and Amelia in court, after everything, they had finally brought justice to the victims, and the victims family, and kids. Echoes of the Wonderful Mind 37 Alisa had yet to tell her mom about the case, but she had solved the mystery that had haunted her since childhood. Jennifer, who had been so deeply affected by the case, was now living with Alisa and her mom as her new stepsister. Alisa had solved the case of “the girl”–the first victim she had heard about as a child–and brought the killers to justice.
