[ 4 ] 1963

-

"Do you see the way she's crying? I think the last thing she needs right now is an interrogation."

-

The police arrived on the scene three days after the murders took place in the upper class neighborhood in Sydney. By insistence from his wife Anne-Sophie, Con had called them to let them know Ashton was missing, and hadn't been heard from in days. Con already knew exactly what had happened to the Irwin family, but he had to comply to Anne-Sophie's request so as not to seem suspicious. The police went to Con's house first, where they interviewed Anne, who later made a formal missing persons report with them. 

Anne was worried because Ashton had forgotten his wallet at her house when he went to have dinner with her, just three days prior. For those three days, she had called his house to return his wallet with no luck. No one was answering the phone and the French heiress was worried something was wrong.

Since it was known that Ashton was married by law to Claire Feeney, the daughter of a rich man who lived on the same street, the police went to her next. Claire pretended she was not aware Ashton was missing and she was very convincing.

She explained to the police that she hadn't seen Ashton in three days, when they got into an argument at Iggy's Diner. She told them that Ashton took her back home and she didn't hear from him again. And since she was mad at him for choosing his friends over her, she hadn't thought to call him until she thought he was ready to apologize.

The last place the police went after questioning a few more people (Joy, Lucas, and Hayley) was Ashton's house. 

When they arrived at the gated property, they found that the gates were unlocked and there was no sign of forced entry. That meant they hadn't locked the gates yet, which hinted they were waiting for someone from the family to arrive. They also thought it meant that the family was fine and just spending  a lot of time inside their house.

The two police officers who were on the scene saw various sets of footprints on the dirt road that led to the house and called in for back up when they thought it as suspicious. They wanted to be prepared in case there was still someone there. The team arrived a half our later and they made their way up the path to the front door. 

Like the front gates, the front door was unlocked.

And when they entered the house, they saw it had been entirely ransacked. There were things littering the marble floors, furniture was moved like a tornado had gone through the place, and there were shards of broken glass. But what was more terrifying about the whole scene were the trails of crimson blood all over the floor. Trails of blood all over. It looked like images from a horror movie set. From there it was evident that they weren't just dealing with a missing person, but more likely a homicide. 

While the rest of the team searched the entire house, the leader of the group went to the kitchen area to find a phone. 

It was looking like they had one of the most gruesome murders of Sydney in their hands.

-

The police searched the entire house, from top to bottom, several times and came up with nothing. All they found were blood stains of the victims; two adults, two children, and one teenager. The killer had left no evidence that they were even there. They had been very careful to hide any evidence. 

What also puzzled the authorities was that the bodies were nowhere to be found.

It was like they had disappeared into thin air. But they knew better. The killer had hidden the bodies and made it their personal game to have the police try to find them.

Bystanders gathered outside the front gates of the Irwin family's house. They had all met the new family in town and didn't know what reasons any one would have to kill them. They were all very nice people, and great neighbors.

Claire changed into a nice outfit for the day and decided to go see what the commotion in front of Ashton's house was. She also already knew what had happened but she knew she would need to pull off the grieving wife act, or else she would seem suspicious. She walked the small distance to Ashton's house and walked to the front where Con was standing, observing everything. Nearby were police officers who were talking about their findings, which weren't many.

"Its the most violent crime I have seen in my life..." said one of the officers.

Ready to play her best performance yet, Claire approached one of the police officers and forced a look of concern onto her face. "Excuse me," She said politely to get their attention. They both ceased in their conversation and turned towards her. That was when she continued, "This is my husband's house, and I've been trying to contact him for days with no luck. Is everything okay?" Her bright blue eyes glittered with tears.

One of the officer's looked at her with a look of pity. He thought she would be devastated by the news. "It looks like someone broke into the house...everyone inside was killed. I'm very sorry, ma'am."

Claire was an expert. In an instant, there were tears pouring down her face, and sobs escaping her lips. To anyone who didn't know the way she truly was, she looked like she was genuinely suffering the loss. Con, who was nearby, hurried over to her side and pulled her into his arms. He too was pretending to be upset over what happened to the boy who was his best friend. 

"Since you two knew the victims..." One of the officers started, a bit hesitantly. "Would you happen to know if there was something unusual happening with the family? Did people in the neighborhood generally like them?"

Con shook his head. "Do you see the way she's crying? I think the last thing she needs right now is an interrogation." He said to them his eyebrows furrowed in annoyance. It was like he was appalled that the police would attempt to ask the victim's grieving friends any questions. Con was more interested in avoiding talking to the police for as long as he could.

The officers excused themselves and returned to the house to look for more clues while Con and Claire pretended to be absolutely devastated. 

-

The news of the murders was on television for several days. Even after several search parties scouring the area, none could find the bodies. The police was about ready to give up and close the case, since they were getting nowhere. The murders had been so violent and mysterious that they had earned the title of 'The Biggest Crime in Sydney'. People all over the world were talking about the killings of the Irwin family.

Claire was being sought out by news stations all over Australia to talk about the family, since she seemed to have known them well. That was something Claire thoroughly enjoyed, being in the spotlight, even if she had to pretend she was a grieving widow. It was the attention she adored getting. 

Con, on the other hand, was not very happy seeing her on television.

He thought she could give something away and they would be in trouble. He didn't trust that Claire would be able to keep her mouth shut.

At the marine academy, Bobby had seen the news about Ashton while watching television with his friends in the rec room of the dorm building. He was very upset about the murders, particularly because he and Ashton were very close friends and he knew Ashton was a nice guy who didn't look like he had any enemies. Bobby had learned a lot during his forensics class at the academy, since he was studying to become an investigation police officer. He knew that most murders had a motive, and that more than likely, a victim knew their attacker. 

Though he was only seventeen, and it wasn't his place to do so, he would try to do some investigating on the case. Ashton was one of his best friends, and he deserved some justice.

Bobby was in class when the Sydney PD chief walked into the room. He was accompanied by the principal of Sydney Marine Academy and the professor paused in his lecture when he saw them. "May I help you, Principal Johnson?"

The middle aged man dressed in a military uniform nodded. 

"Yes," He said, "Police Chief Morrison is here to see one of your students. Robert Jared Vega." 

At the mention of his name, all of his class mates' eyes fell on him. Bobby didn't know what it was about, but he figured it was something that had to do with Ashton.

The boy dressed in his marine academy uniform grabbed his backpack off his chair and slung it over his shoulder. He walked toward the door, passing the front of the class. It was completely silent and he could feel the burn of twenty plus stares at his back. 

He followed the two men out the door and down the hallway until they reached the principal's office.

Bobby was instructed to sit across the desk from them.

"Am I in trouble?" was the first thin he could think to ask.

"Have you heard anything about the murders?" The police chief put special emphasis on 'the murders'. Anyone who lived in Sydney had to know about the murders. They were all over the news. A murdered family of five who were fairly new in Sydney. The eldest son was married to a rich heiress, who Bobby knew well, and she was plastered all over television and newspapers. But the police seemed to be getting nowhere with the case.

Bobby nodded his head. "I saw the news on TV. Ashton was a good friend of mine."

"Your girlfriend told us that." The principal informed him. "Which is why we knew you would make a good addition to the case."

The seventeen year old raised an eyebrow at them. "What do you mean?"

"You know this case better than any officer on my team. You knew the victims, you know the area, and you could probably help us find a suspect." Police Chief Morrison explained bluntly. "And since I know the marine academy requires each of its students to participate in a one year program with the police department, I thought you could help with this case. But you need to be very professional."

"Robert is very smart." The principal assured the police chief.

Bobby was speechless for a moment, before finally saying, "This is a great opportunity for me. And I promise I will be very professional during this case." More importantly, it was an opportunity to make justice for his friend.

But he also promised himself he would find the killer, and throw them in jail, even if it took him the rest of his life.

And with the memorial service for the family coming up, Bobby knew just where to start.

-

a kind of filler chapter for you all. if i have to be honest with you all, im not feeling so great right now. im sick and im very upset (that's not even an accurate word, i feel more like...devastated, crushed, etc.) about it. i kind of just want to lay down in bed and maybe cry for the rest of my life. i believe in god and i love god, and i genuinely believe that he loves me too, but at times like these i honestly cant see the light at the end of the tunnel. and idk, im just scared and maybe over thinking. i have anemia, and im not dying or anything, but all my hair is falling out. this is a big deal for me. i used to have thick and shiny black hair. it just hurts to see it fall out like this because it was the one thing i genuinely loved about myself.

i know that there are other people who have it worse. my problems can seem small (and probably fucking shallow) compared to those of people who maybe lost their homes in mexico bc of hurricane patricia. weird comparison but whatever.

and this is just probably a very long explanation as to why this chapter is complete shit. i really really tried to write a good chapter. but i honestly dont like this one. maybe bc i dont like anything in my life rn. like today i seriously considered just going on hiatus or deleting my acc. so please bare with me. you have all been so sweet, and caring, and amazing. 

no question of the day today bc i dont have the energy to continue typing.

im very sad.

but i love you all, and i truly hope you all have a very blessed day.

-clary xx