11.02.2018: And the plot thickens...

I can’t believe that it was just last month when I had thought that I was running out of things to talk about in the newsletter because that couldn’t be further away from the truth now. I have so much to write because the past week has been nothing short of a whirlwind.

To begin with, there was the meeting that Antonio held to discuss the autopsy report of the ferryman’s body. This meeting was much like the last one (and to be honest, every other meeting before that)- filled with the townsfolk giving me death stares, turn by turn. Except this time, I wasn’t alone in having to bear the disdain of the townsfolk, Drew Smith was right there with me, sharing half of my burden. In fact, I would go as far as to say that she had managed to make herself the very object of the townsfolk’s annoyance and I respect that. I have always felt sort of connected to Drew in a way, though we don’t talk much. It is probably because I know that she is the only one who understands what it is like to be dismissed and hated by everyone, and what it is like to be an outsider in your own hometown. So when Harry Mathews opened his obnoxious mouth and spewed the most baseless arguments and when the public agreed with him, I could very well empathise with Drew. Besides, I think that her conclusions are very sound too. Given the location and nature of the wounds, I do agree that they cannot have been a result of some scuffle. But since the town (and sadly, Antonio) did not believe this to be true, I decided that it was time that I investigated this matter for myself.

This was a big decision for me to make, which you must understand, dear reader, since I do not walk out of the Manor unless necessary and I definitely do not like it when I take a step outside. So, me spending the entirety of last week roaming in the town and getting to know the people was a true achievement for me. On the first day, it took me a while to get acquainted with the streets and the town planning of the island. I figured that the place to get intel on the topic would be the restaurant so I went there for lunch the next day. I didn’t gather anything here, the chatter was consistently and unchangingly superficial. And then of course, my dear sister, who was sitting in the far right corner of the restaurant with some lunch, came over just to tell me that I should ‘stay in bed where I am safe instead of exposing myself to the turbulent environment of the island’. I think I flipped her off at that point. She left me alone after that but I knew not to return to this part of town because I knew that she wasn’t the person who I wanted to run into again. So on the next day, I decided to go to the garage because I know that Akira works here. I figured that it was time I conversed with people who are around my age. Akira is a nice person. She is pretty chatty but that adds to her personality. While we were talking, she mentioned that Drew often goes to the library during late evenings. My ears had perked at that. I had always wanted to hang out with Drew, so I decided to take the opportunity and meet Drew at the library the next day. As expected, Drew and I really got along and I think that this friendship will only go upward from here. The actually interesting things started happening the next day. The next day, I decided to go examine the crime scene and when I reached there, in the evening around 6 pm, I realised that I wasn’t the only one there. Standing there in the driveway, staring pensively at the main door of the ferryman’s house was Sariah Jacques. I stood afar, observing her. She didn’t do anything except continue staring. She did turn around sometime later and we locked eyes. Something about the look that she gave me told me that it would be best if I walked away that very moment, so I did. And then today happened. The murder. I might have given a little shout of glee when I read about it. I knew better this time and knew that the crowd and the buzz would be at Mocair’s and not at The Ant’s Nest, so I waited all day and went to the pub some time back. Though I had prepared myself for the din of the pub, I was taken aback by the amount of noise, music and buzz there. The most raucous laughter came from the table occupied by Antonio, José and Yusuf (who was begrudgingly trapped in a bear hug by José, who in turn was spilling the drink in his hand everywhere, much to my annoyance). I rolled my eyes and turned to see that Drew was sitting in a booth alone. I started heading over to her but then Yusuf, who had evidently managed to escape José, quite literally slithered onto the seat in front of her. So I stood at the bar, not knowing what to do when I heard Antonio drunkenly bellow something about Mocair being out and about getting action since his boots were still muddy from the other side of the room. That immediately struck out to me and I looked over to see that yes, Mocair’s boots indeed had dried mud covering them. It was all curious because the last time it rained was the day that the ferryman died. I got up immediately and looked around. Mocair has a room at the back of the pub where he goes to spend some time alone. When everyone was tired and drunk enough to not notice me and José was creating enough ruckus for Mocair to be fully invested in trying to control him, I slipped into the back room to do some snooping of my own. What I found fully stunned me. Peeking out of a tattered envelope on the desk Mocair has by the window, were pictures of June. I was so shocked and horrified by the fact that Mocair somehow had acquired high quality pictures of June. I always knew that Mocair was creepy but I didn’t realise it was this much. Just then, I heard Mocair approaching and I had to quickly leave. So that’s that. All I can gather from this is, that there is much more to the people of the island than meets the eye and that the only thing that we can do right now is wait and watch.

-by Klaudia Kabot on February 11, 2018