The sheriff sits at his desk, his elbows pressed against the top of it with his head in his hands. Empty bottles of alcohol scatter his desk as he groans in a hangover.

Suddenly the door to his office swings open and Bob bursts into the room. In his arms he carries a large stack of tightly packed loose papers.

"Sir! Sir!" He calls out to his boss that sits only a few feet away, his short stature is hidden by the pile of papers he carries.

"I'm right here." The sheriff groans, rubbing his forefingers against his temples. "What is it?" His eyes, tired from staying up all night, roll up to focus onto the stout man.

"Oh." Bob moves his head to the side of the stack to see how close he is to the sheriff and his desk. "Right." He places the papers down onto the corner of the desk before standing in front of the sheriff. "These are all the people lil Betty encountered the night she was beaten beyond recognition and their stories. The Richards believe they know who did it, sir!"

The sheriff's eyes look to the stack of papers before blinking and looking up at Bob. "Who?"

"Old man Tucker! They say he has always hated kids and was always mean to them and their kind, you know, the colour folk. And they say that he came home quite late after dark the night lil Betty was killed." Bob speaks quickly as a glint if curiosity sparks in the sheriff's eyes.

"Interesting." The Sheriff rubs his chin in a circular motion, his eyes fading out to nowhere as his mind begins his thought process.

Bob stands at attention, waiting for his next order from the sheriff.

"Alright." The sheriff sits up straight and looks at the man in front of him. "Can you get the officers ready to bring Mr. Tucker to the interrogation room, I'm gonna go see if Mary knows anything."

"Yes sir!" Bob salutes his boss, "tell your girlfriend I said hi." He snickers and runs out of the room before feeling the wrath of the sheriff.

The sheriff looks up in time to see Bob slip out of his office. He inhales slowly and shakes his head as he exhales at a slightly quicker pace. "What am I going to do with him." He sighs softly, rolling his eyes.

***

The sheriff walks out of his office and inhales deeply. His officers were out to bring in the man who supposedly killed the little coloured girl with her little coloured doll that had a pretty pink bow.

***

The sheriff walks into the bar and heads straight towards the counter.

"Mary?" The man leans against the bar's counter and then leans in a bit more to see if Mary was in the back.

"I'll be out in a minute." Mary calls from behind the door that leads to the back room. The sheriff leans back and slides onto a vacant bar stool.

"Alright, take your time." The sheriff looks down as he fiddles around with an object in his pocket.

"Do you like her?" The ghostly child appears upon the empty stool beside him, she spreads her legs out and places her hands onto the edge of the seat between her legs.

"What?" The sheriff looks up at the child and a light pink blush appears on his cheeks.

"Do you like her?" She leans in closer, her childish tone enhancing her cuteness.

"Oh, Mary? Um.... Of course I like her, as a friend...." The sheriff looks down to the dirtied floors and rubs the back of his neck with his left hand.

"Oh. Okies!" The child leans back with a light grin upon her face.

"Sheriff, is everything alright?" A voice from behind the sheriff makes him look up to the face the face to the voice.

"Uh, yeah, everything is alright." The sheriff raises the corners of his mouth to form a smile, "no need to worry." He speaks in an uplifting tone.

"Okay," Mary matches his smile as she forms one herself. "So, what can I get you today?" She speaks in a bright and cheery voice.

"Oh, um. Can I just have a glass of water, please?" The sheriff twists himself around to face the bar maiden.

"Would you like ice in your water?" Mary grabs a clean glass from the cupboard and holds it in her hand as she asks her question.

"Uh, sure." The sheriff responds, placing his hands onto the edge of the bar and interlocking his fingers.

"Alright," she would walk over to the place where they kept the ice and scoops up a few pieces of ice for the sheriff's water. After she gently places the ice pellets into the glass, she walks over to the sink and pulls the cold water tap towards her. The water soon spills out of the sink's head and fills up the glass that is intended for the sheriff. Mary turns off the tap before pulling the glass out from under the tap and turning towards the sheriff. "Here you go," she places the glass down in front of the sheriff and pulls out a cloth from a pocket on her apron.

"Thanks." The sheriff looks at the ice cubes in the water and then looks up at the woman. "Um, Mary?" He grips the side of the glass and gently jiggles it around.

"Yes, Sheriff?" Mary looks into the sheriff's eyes, as she speaks in a soft voice.

"Um, I was actually wondering if you knew any information about the beating of Miss Betty Richards." He lifts the glass to his mouth to take a sip, the cool water seeps through the small opening of his mouth and trickles in.

"Well," Mary picks up an empty glass and begins to wipe it down with the cloth. "I've heard rumours that Old Man Tucker was out late in that area the night Lil Betty was blundered." She leans back a bit as she places the newly cleaned glass into the cupboard.

"Hmm..." The sheriff rubs his hand against his chin and thinks about the information. "Anything else?"

"Nothing else about your case," Mary pauses for a brief few seconds, "but my brother is in town visiting. You remember Will, right?"

"Ah, Yes." The sheriff nods his head ever so slowly and places the water glass back down. "Great, he totally hates me." He thinks to himself as he looks down at the floating ice bits in his water.

"Well he's leaving in a few days and has invited you over to dinner tomorrow night, is that alright?"

"Yeah, sure." The sheriff looks up at the bar maiden and smiles lightly. "You'll be there, right?"

"Of course." She smiles brightly.

"Then I look forward to having dinner with you and your brother." His smile widens as the candlestick shaped phone rings loudly.

Mary cocks her head to the phone and then swiftly rushes over to it, she picks up the receiver and lifts it to her ear.

"Yes, he is." She speaks into the microphone bit, she pauses to listen to the person on the other side of the phone before replying to them. "Okay, I'll tell him. Bye."

"Who was that?" The sheriff asks as he lifts his glass to his mouth and takes another sip.

"It was Bob, apparently they have Mr. Tucker in at the station." Mary hangs the receiver back onto its stand and walks over to where the sheriff sits.

"Oh, alright." The sheriff lets out a light hum before taking another sip.

"You probably want to go now." Mary bends down to lean her elbows on the bar's counter top, her auburn red hair draping forwards against the sides of her face.

"Yeah..." The sheriff leans back as he stretches out his arms, "I probably should head over now." He groans a bit before he gets up off of the stool and stands up.

"Alright, take care, sheriff." Mary smiles and waves as the sheriff leaves her bar.

"Will do, thanks Mary!" He raises his hand and gives a slight wave before exiting the building.

"She seems nice." The ghostly child appears next to the man and casually floats next to him.

"Yeah, she is." The sheriff smiles warmly, a sparkle of love illuminating from his eyes.

"Do you love her?" The question makes the sheriff stop in his tracks and turn to face the ghost child.

"Um, well..." his cheeks begin to darken as he blushes more. "One, you're too young. And two, it's none of your business." He sticks out his pointer finger as if he's scolding her.

"One, I'm not getting any older. And two, I'll take that as a yes." She giggles and skips on ahead, floating just inches above the ground.

The sheriff crosses his arms, he hates to admit it, but the ghost was right. He is head over heels in love with Mary Roberts.