Chapter 37: Lydia

Lydia couldn’t hide the grimace on her face as she read through the report, pushing the papers back towards Drake.

“This doesn’t look good for Amelia.” Lydia finally responds after she gets a minute to gather her thoughts.

“Marvin has gone to find more evidence. It wasn’t until he was discussing your name change making it easier to hide your identity that I remembered that Amelia had also changed her name. She use to go by Amelia Kirkpatrick. Marvin is following that lead in hopes we can either find where Amelia has been finding out, or find more information on her disappearance.” Drake responds looking down at the papers before him, shuffling through them until he gets to the father’s interview.

“Do you believe Amelia killed her mother and possibly her sister?” Lydia asks staring at Drake who’d taken the seat opposite her at his desk.

“I…I’m not sure what I believe anymore. I’ve only read the Aunt’s interview. She said the father had more information on Amelia’s sister’s death, but I’m not sure if I want to read his interview.” Drake responds admitting his worries, “I don’t want my memories of Amelia to be tainted, but I also don’t want to let murderer go free because I was too selfish to dive deeper into the case.”

Lydia reaches across the desk and takes Drake’s hand into hers. “You won’t havre to go through this alone anymore Drake. I am here with you. I can read the transcript of the interview out loud if it’s too difficult for you to read.”

Drake smiled up at Lydia wondering how he’d gotten so lucky, aside from Samuel, she had quickly become his reason for living, her light shined so bright, it showed him the goodness that still lived in this world.

Drake inhaled deeply, before letting out a slow breath, “Okay, lets do this.”

***INTERVIEW WITH BRYAN CHESTERFIELD***

*Bryan, thank you for meeting with me, I’m Miles Apec of Apec Consulting. I know this topic may be hard for you but I am a private investigator looking into the mysterious death of your daughter Julia Chesterfield.*

*There’s nothing mysterious about Julia’s death. As I’ve told the police multiple times. My baby’s death wasn’t an accident, her psychotic psychopath of a sister killed her.*

*Do you have evidence of this Mr. Chesterfield.*

*If I had the damned evidence I would have given it to the officers so they could arrest that bitch!*

*Could you explain to me why you believe Amelia killed her sister?*

**Mr. Chesterfield shivers, he appears to be frightened or perhaps disturbed by his memories**

*When Amelia was first born, she was such a sweet baby. She hardly ever cried and she slept through the night from the moment she was born. As she got older we started to notice strange quirks about her behavior. When anyone around her would get hurt she laughed.*

*That doesn’t sound to odd Mr. Chesterfield, sometimes when nervous or worried people will laugh.*

*Mr. Apec. It wasn’t a nervous laugh. She would get a gleam of joy in her eye like she was enjoying the pain that was inflicted on the other party. Once my mother slipped and fell on some ice outside while she was playing with Amelia. My mother pleaded for Amelia to go inside and get help, but Amelia just stared at her while kicking snow ontop of her. By the time we finally went outside to call the two of them in for some hot soup, my mother was almost completely covered in snow. My mother was admitted into the hospital with a severe case of hypothermia. The doctors told us we were lucky we went out there and checked on her when we did, if we had gone out there thirty minutes later my mother would have died. When my mother retold us the events my wife laughed and said my mom was just a senile old lady with a flare for dramatics. She said it was likely that Amelia thought she was burying Grandma under the snow like she saw people being buried under the sand at the oceans. Martha never could accept the fact that there was something wrong with her daughter.*

*And was your mother senile Mr. Chesterfield.*

*My mother was in great health until that sociopath got a hold of her.*

*According to you or her doctors?*

*Would you like to see her medical records Mr. Apec?*

*Actually yes, that would help solidify your testament*

*I will have my lawyer send it over tonight.*

*Thank you Mr. Chesterfield. Were there any other strange occurrences before Julia drowned?*

*Before Julia was born my wife wanted Amelia to get accustomed to the idea of having a little sibling around. She bought Amelia a bunch of baby dolls and also a pet fish. The very next day the fish was dead and all the babies heads were torn off. My wife said it was typical child like behavior. She went to the store a bought Amelia a pet hamster and another set of dolls. The next morning we woke up and each of the babies had steak knives shoved into their stomaches, and there was a god awful smelling coming from the kitchen. Tell me Mr. Apex, have you ever smelt an animal who was still very much alive and coated with fur cooking before?*

*No I can’t say that I have.*

*Amelia, that sweet innocent little girl who her mother was so fond of microwaved her pet hamster and when we asked her why, she said that she wanted to know what it looked like when it died. She watched that fucking hamster cook in the damn microwave.*

**I felt my stomach start to get queasy, at the beginning of this interview I hadn’t expected to hear such gruesome stories, especially those dealing with a young child**

*What happened after that?*

*I finally convinced Martha that something was wrong with Amelia. She agreed to have her committed. Amelia was institutionalized for two years. When she came back home Julia was just barely one and a half. Amelia seemed enthralled by her little sister. Mr. Apec my family finally felt complete. I had my sweet Amelia back and Julia was an absolutely blessing.*

*What happened afterwards to make you believe that Amelia killed Julia?*

**Mr.Chesterfield sighs heavily tears glistening in his eyes**

*Over the years Julia kept getting small cuts and bruises all over her body. Martha wasn’t worried, she said it was typical toddler and small child crap. As they learned to maneuver their bodies they’d fall and hurt themselves. I had no reason to think otherwise so I believed Martha. That was until Julia’s wrist got broke. When it happened Julia got hurt she said Amelia had pushed her down the stairs, Amelia said Julia had fallen, but she had that same demonic look in her eyes that she had that day my mother had almost died. I made Martha stay home with Amelia while I took Julia to the hospital. When the doctor asked Julia what happened, Julia said she tripped over a toy car and fell down the stairs. When I asked her why she said Amelia did it earlier, Julia said she was mad because she’d gotten hurt. I went home that night and apologized to Amelia but I made sure to keep a close eye on the girls after that. About a month later Julia’s dance team won their state championship. Martha and I were so proud of Julia, we took the girls out that night to get sister pictures done and then celebrated Julia’s victory by going out to dinner and catching a movie. The very next morning Amelia and Julia went to the creek behind the house. They loved to splash and play there for hours a day so it didn’t surprise me nor Martha when the girls didn’t come home for lunch. Around dinner time we started to get worried. The girls new to come home before the streetlights came on. Martha and I take off running towards the creek and thats when I see it. Amelia is standing there alone, Julia is no where to be seen. When I ask her where her sister is, she just points towards the creek. The next thing I know I hear splashing and the heartbreaking wails of my wife. It’s the worst sound you’ll ever hear. The noise a mother makes when she finds her child has left this world before her.*

*What did Amelia say happened at the creek?*

*She said they were getting ready to head home and Julia slipped on a rock and tumbled into the water. Amelia said she attempted to pull Julia up out of the water but that she wasn’t strong enough and Julia kept slipping out of her arms.*

*And did she tell you why she didn’t run for help?*

*She said she didn’t want to leave Julia by herself. That she was paralyzed with fear.*

*What did the police think when they arrived on seen?*

*They said Amelia’s story fit with the crime scene. They declared Julia’s death an accident.*

*Why do you doubt Amelia’s story?*

*Amelia’s clothes*

***At this point Mr. Chesterfield’s words are almost incoherent, I can barely hear him through the tears that are falling from his face***

*What about Amelia’s clothes Mr. Chesterfield?*

*They weren’t wet. There wasn’t a single drop of water on them. And her eyes, they weren’t wet from crying. I tried to get the officers to investigate further. I begged them to look more closely into Lydia’s death. I even gave them Amelia’s medical records, but they wouldn’t go any further with their investigation. They told me that I was a grieving parent and I was trying to grasp for answers that just weren’t there. They also wouldn’t take Amelia’s psychiatric records into consideration because her psychiatrist had declared her mentally stable.*

*What happened after Julia’s death?*

*About a month after Julia died we received the coroners report. Julia had been dead for twelve hours before the police arrived on scene and she had some markings that didn’t corroborate with a slip, but could have also been caused by the flowing water so they were dismissed. When I asked the officers about Julia’s time of death, they responded that it was normal for young teenagers to lose track of time. They said what would have been hours could have felt like minutes to Amelia. They closed her case and refused to reopen it. Eventually Martha became fed up with me blaming Amelia for Julia’s death. She took Amelia with her and went to live with her sister Julia Greene. The news released a story about tragedy striking the chesterfield family once again, the spun a tale about how Martha couldn’t forgive me for Julia’s death because I was the parent in charge that evening. The story was nonsense and couldn’t be further from the truth.*

*Did you ask the paper to recant the story?*

*No* **Mr. Chesterfield runs his hands through his hair** *at that point in time I was distraught. Not only had I lost my baby girl, but I lost my wife too and my eldest daughter was a deranged killer. I wanted to give up, I wanted to kill myself so I could be reunited with my sweet Julia, but I knew I had to live on for her sake. I had to find a way to get Amelia convicted for her crimes.*

*Martha died shortly after Amelia turned sixteen. Did Julia Greene talk to you about her sister’s death at all?*

**Mr. Chesterfield looks uneasy at the mention of his ex sister-in-law.**

*She called me once, she wanted me to come get Amelia. I refused. I didn’t want to be anywhere near that girl ever again. Julia started to say something about Martha’s wishes but I hung up the phone, disconnected the line, and changed my number.*

*Ah I see.*

*Listen, Mr. Apec it’s been a long day, is there any other information I can give you?*

*Do you know anyone who Amelia might still be close with?*

*The last I heard, Amelia was chumming it up with the Whittenbergs. They might have more information on her.*

*I see. Well thank you for your time Mr. Chesterfield. The information you provided me was truly enlightening, if I am able to discover anymore on your daughter’s death, I’ll keep you informed.*

Drake and Lydia stared at each other with shock in their eyes. Could Amelia really have been that person? From the memories and the stories Drake and Samuel had shared of their time with Amelia she was one of the kindest most caring person they knew. Could she really be a cold blooded killer?

***AUTHORS NOTE: Extra long chapter tonight. Hope you enjoy. XOXO-Marriah.***