The Untold Story

1. Once upon a time

"The Pinehive police are working tirelessly to find the murderer of media mogul, Henry Bandieer, who was shot dead in his home a week ago. No official news of any solid leads has been released to the public. Meanwhile, the citizens of Pinehive have to come to terms with the fact that a killer lives among us."

"The media should have a little consideration for the Bandieer family," said a brunette girl who was sitting on a couch watching the news.

"The journalists are doing their jobs, Natasha. You can't really hold it against them," an older woman replied. Apart from her hair, which was blonde, Lillian Evans and her daughter, Natasha, looked quite similar at first glance. They were the same height and build, although Natasha was slightly slimmer. Once you took a closer look, you'd start to see the little things that set them apart from each other. Like the warm, hazel hue of Natasha's eyes in contrast to Lily's brown.

"Still, they should wait until they have actual news rather than tell us there's nothing to tell every day," argued Natasha.

"If they didn't say anything, people would get worried at the lack of news," Lilian said, joining her on the couch and changing the channel.

"Haven't you heard that no news is good news?" Natasha said, sarcastically, "Besides, people are worried either way."

"Yes. Realizing that there's an actual killer in our quiet little town is definitely worrying," her mother said, biting her lip pensively.

"Anything interesting happen at work today?"

"I don't know about interesting...maybe weirdly sad?" Lilian said, cocking her head to the side.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, there was a woman who took her husband to court because he hasn't slept with her for the past 3 years, 2 weeks and 6 days. And she cried in court and begged that her husband be sentenced to "bed arrest" so he could fulfill his husband-ly duties," her mother told her.

Natasha's eyes widened and she burst out laughing. "So did you do that?"

"Oh Heavens no. Thank goodness it wasn't my case or I would have felt quite uncomfortable ordering a man to have sex with his wife! Judge Andros was on that case. I'm only taking criminal cases now and there aren't many of those in Pinehive, which is why I spend most of my time in the capital instead," her mother replied, wiping crumbs from her lips with her napkin.

"Stick around, I hear there's a serial killer in town." Natasha rolled her eyes and stood to clear the dishes. Before her mother could comment on her sarcastic remark, the doorbell rang.

"Expecting company?" she asked as she went over to see who was at the door.

"No, but it's Saturday. People tend to just drop in during the weekend," Lilian shrugged.

Three men stood at the door when Natasha opened it; a policeman and two men wearing suits, lawyers she assumed. It wasn't surprising, given her mum's position as state judge. Visits from lawyers and policemen were common.

"Good evening. Are you Natasha Evans?" one of the tall men in a suit asked her.

She studied his face, a look of seriousness etched on it, making his blue eyes appear sharper. He raised an eyebrow and the tendril of brown hair that had fallen over his forehead covered it, giving him a look that strangely reminded her of the lead singer of her favorite rock band. There was no way this man was a lawyer. He didn't look as stiff as most of the lawyers that had been at their house before, sporting sleek, well-tamed hair without a single thing out of place. Blue eyes' tie was crooked as if he had pulled at the knot tying it in place to loosen it. But if he wasn't a lawyer...

"Do you not understand English?" he asked, interrupting her wayward train of thought. She stared at him blankly, having momentarily forgotten what he asked her.

"Are you Natasha Evans?" he repeated slowly, staring at her curiously.

"Yes. I'm Natasha Evans," she finally replied and he nodded grimly.

"I'm Detective Henderson and this is Detective Carter and Officer Davidson," he said.

Yep, not a lawyer. She mentally high-fived herself for figuring that out, but then he spoke again, interrupting her internal victory.

"Natasha Evans, you're under arrest for the murder of Henry Bandieer."

***