Blue June Ch.2

Chapter 21

Mr. Wand angrily stepped out into the hallway “Will you stop that racket!” He shouted.2

“… I’m sorry, I’m looking for my friend, her name’s June Mars, she lives in this apartment.” Marie quickly approached Mr. Wand. “Perhaps you’ve seen her lately?” 3

“I haven’t seen nothin! I heard you though, bangin on that door like some mad man! There’s other people who live here you know!? So un thoughtful, people these days, can’t get um to come visit their dear old Dad but they’ll go bangin on strangers doors and walls and ceilings…” The strange old mans words trailed off as he slammed his door. Marie stood there for a moment then began knocking on June’s door again. Once more Mr. Wand swung his door open and began to shout.4

“Will you stop that racket!” He repeated.5

“Look, I’m sorry, I’m just trying to get a hold of my friend… remember, we spoke a moment ago, I asked about the girl who lives in this apartment?” 6

“Huh?” he shrugged and turned up his hearing aid. “That Mars girl? She never went around bangin on peoples doors!”7

“So you do remember her then?”8

“Remember who? What?” Marie saw that this would get her nowhere, she headed for the elevator. “People these days…” He muttered to himself, once more slamming the door.9


Marie hadn’t spoke to June for almost a week, at first she just thought June was screening her calls but she hadn’t been into work either, after a few days Marie began to worry. She left the apartment building and headed for the police station. “Excuse me? … My friend, she’s gone missing.” A very uninterested and dull woman sat behind a counter.10

“How long has she been missing?”11

“Um, I’m not sure really… the last time I saw her was nearly a week ago.” 12

“Please fill out this form and when you’re done I’ll see if there’s an officer available.” She hadn’t even bothered to make eye contact with Marie. She merely reached for a slip of paper and placed it on the counter in front of her. Marie took a seat and began to fill the form out. When she was finished she placed it in front of the secretary and took her seat again. What seemed like hours passed when a lean, muscular man passed by. By then Marie was half in tears thinking of the last conversation she’d had with June.13

“Do you need some help?” The man paused to ask. Marie slowly looked up, she broke out in sobs.14

“Detective Holt, this is…” the secretary looked down at the form in front of her. “Marie Piper, she claims that her friend had gone missing” The woman handed Detective Holt the form. “Do you wanna take this one?” She raised her brow. 15

Detective Holt took the slip of paper and guided Marie to a nearby interrogation room. “Can I get you something to drink, water…coffee…anything?” He handed her a box of tissues. 16

“No, thank you.” Marie dabbed her eyes and cleaned her nose.17

“Okay, I’m detective Michael Holt, can you tell me about your friend? It says here she’s been missing for 5 days now, is that correct?”18

“Yes, her name’s June Mars, she lives in the apartments on the corner of Westbrook and 3rd.” She sniffled and tried to compose herself.19

“Why didn’t you come in sooner?” Holt asked as he scribbled in a small notebook.20

“We had a fight, I thought she was angry, I was trying to give her space but then she didn’t come to work or answer my calls or answer when I practically beat down the door!” She spoke fast and upset.21

“Okay, calm down, we’re gonna work this out.” Just then another detective entered the room. “Miss Piper, this is my partner Detective Adam Monroe, he’s gonna help find your friend.” She shook Adam’s hand and introduced herself, then watched him take a seat at the end of the table. 22

“How old is…” Adam peaked over at Michael’s notebook. “… June?” 23

“She’s almost 21...um, next month is her birthday. April 10th.” 24

“And do you have a photo of her?”25

“Not with me. Uh, I tried to get the manager to open her apartment for me but he wouldn’t, she’s been having a lot of trouble lately, dealing with our friends recent death… just last month.”26

“I see, and has she ever hurt herself in the past?” Adam robotically asked, he’d done this sort of thing for so long the emotion had begun to pass. Marie glared at him, angered, she replied quickly.27

“Never! She’s not that sort of person, I think something happened to her.”28

“What do you mean?” Michael chimed in.29

“She kept going on about our friend Tom’s death, she didn’t believe he was dead, she was convinced of it… they never found the body… she couldn’t let it go.” 30

“Are you talking about Tom Cutler’s death?” Michael asked, turning his stare to Adam.31

“… Yeah, how’d you know?” 32

“I worked the case.” Adam replied. 33

“Well the last night I saw her she’d gotten this strange letter in the post. No return address, no stamp, just a strange envelope with her name on it.” 34

“Did you happen to see what was inside?” Michael retrieved a recording device from his jacket pocket and placed it on the table.35

“It was a note that said something like…uh, beware the shadows, things aren’t the way they seem. That’s all it said. She thought it was from Tom, she thought the guy who confessed was lying.” 36

“Mmhmm… and is that what you argued about?” Michael slid the recorder a little closer to Marie.37

“Sort of, I was trying to convince her that Tom was dead… that he wasn’t coming back. I told her that the letter was probably from some stalker and that she should go to the police.” 38

“Okay, we’re going to go check out her apartment and see if we can’t find anything. In the meantime you should just go home and get some rest.” The detectives got up from their chairs and waited for Marie. 39

“No, I want to come with you, we have a picture of each other there, I can get it for you and show you around… I mean, her place is always messy, if she hid the letter or if something didn’t seem right I’d know!” She struggled to convince them to take her along. “Please.” She begged. The detectives whispered among themselves for a moment.40

“Alright but you should be prepared, often after an incident like that of your friend Tom, some people attempt to hurt themselves or leave unexpectedly. There’s all sorts of possibilities, she could very well be fine, off on holiday.” Adam explained, though in his eyes he knew that was very unlikely. 41

Upon arriving at June’s apartment Adam spoke to the manager and had June’s door unlocked. He went to push open the door but it was caught, the chain was still in place. He shouted into the apartment for a moment. “Miss Mars, this is detective Adam Monroe, please open the door…” There was only silence. He then kicked the door, busting the chain, to the managers detest of course. Both detectives had their guns out as they entered the apartment. Marie was instructed to stay outside until it was cleared. They peeked into each room and then returned their guns to their holsters. Marie slowly entered, the apartment was just as it always was, smelling of pine and lemons and riddled with crumpled papers and the occasional article of clothing. Marie went straight for the table by the door, the letter was still there, untouched since she’d thrown it down. Michael placed it in a bag marked with the word ‘Evidence’ in large red letters as Adam leaned down to the curious little white box that still resided on the floor. He noticed traces of some sort of fine powder that had apparently come from the box.