Walking the Gallows ✔️

Chapter 6

His hand had reached up to grasp the phone. He was ready to finally make the call. The anonymous tip would more than likely have Earl investigated, as Charlotte had said the night before. A part of him wondered if he really deserved it. Maybe he had said something bad about one of the victims, but what did that prove? A double homicide would need more evidence than to convict a man. If he did do something to those girls, he would be found out. If he wasn't involved, he would have nothing to hide. Even still, a new feeling of guilt crept up his spine and started to eat away at his insides.

Reluctantly, he asked the operator for the local police station. He paused waiting to be transferred with a knot in his stomach. His mindset his body into autopilot while waiting for a response. It couldn't have been more than five seconds that he waited, but it was enough time to cement the idea as a good plan in his mind. A man answered the call.

"This is Detective Brian Miller, what can I do for you?" Andy's voice hitched in hithroat in a moment of extreme panic. With a loud cough, he got over it and managed to speak.

"H-hi, um I have information about the two murders recently."

"Could you be more specific?"

"A right, of course. The deaths of Clare Anderson and Ashley Parker." The line stayed dead silent for about two seconds.

"Could you hold on a minute, please?" With that, the sound of static rumbled from the phone. Andy stared down at it in confusion. The detective had more than likely pushed the phone up against his chest to talk to someone else. The guilt crept back into him as the magnitude of his decision became clearer. He closed his eyes and pressed his lips into an extremely thin line, awaiting when Detective Miller would be available again to speak. The static shifted and he was back soon after.

"Okay, tell us what you know," he demanded.

"Well, we were discussing-"

"Wait, who is 'we'?"

"Oh, me and a friend of mine. Anyways, we were discussing the latest murder a few days ago and he seemed to really hate Ashley for whatever reason. Apparently, he had heard that she was having an affair with someone's husband. It wasn't a secret that she was that type of person and I think everyone knew about the affair. The only problem was that he knew who had died before her name was even released." The detective was most likely taking notes as there was a long pause after Andy had given his statement.

"Alright then, is there anything you can tell me about the murder of Miss Anderson? Was anything said? Anything that may have slipped your mind?" he thought back to one of the first times he had met Earl and came up with a very blank memory.

"He hadn't said much about it at the time, but I would assume the crimes are somehow related, right?"

"And where does this friend of yours live?" The detective said, ignoring his question. He gave the address to him but only gave Earl's first name as he had never actually found out his surname. He asked a few more questions that he only partially knew the answers to like: 'when did you first meet' or 'had he ever displayed signs of violent behavior prior to our last interaction'. There wasn't a whole lot of useful information he could give. Hell, he couldn't even give him a description of his appearance.

"Also, he might have a wife. He mentioned her once." He said recalling the times he had asked for a mango to be left on the fence for her. He had never mentioned her name either. When he really got a chance to think about the situation, he realized how little he knew of the man's life.

"Okay, and what did you say your name was?" He stayed quiet, forgetting the fact that he had never given away his identity to the police. In a rushed panic, he hung up the phone.