20 Stoneybrook: The Questioning

 I would like to thank Julie Demers for helping me with the development of the Dawn storyline and the Humphrey storyline in this chapter. I could not have done this without you! I appreciate all you do for this story and our friendship. 

The Questioning

Dawn, Mary Anne, Shannon, and Mona stayed up late that night. Dawn could not wait to tell them about Jaimie Anderson showing up at the recycling center. 

"I couldn't believe it. And he has done a really good job expanding the recycling center. There are sorters and lots of trucks. They even do field trips to the recycling center so kids can understand how important it is. They gave us an up-close look at everything. And they gave us these cool recycled t-shirts they are going to give out at the Rainforest marathon. Jamie is working on distributing more bins to businesses in Stoneybrook and informing them about recycling."

"Nevermind the recycling! Tell us what he is like," said Shannon.

"Well, he is tall with dark longish hair. He is kind of muscular. And sweet. He got my number while we were at the center. I doubt he will ever call though."

"Oh, course he will! Look at how much you have in common. Plus, I always felt like if I hadn't butted in back in 8th grade you would have hit it off better." Said Mary Anne. That sparked a trip down memory lane of them telling the story about Dawn having a crush on Jamie and how he had tried to ask Mary Anne to dance in middle school. "But what about Bart and Pete?"

"Well Bart is really cute and I like him. We have a lot in common too. He is really into improving the park and is involved with the kids. I like Pete too. It's fun to be involved in politics and getting things done. It's also fun to be seen with an up-and-coming politician. But we are just friends. Remember I'm going back to California in the fall. I can't just fall for someone here and completely uproot my life."

"Why not?" Asked Mary Anne.

"Well I don't know," said Dawn. She wasn't sure she liked Stoneybrook that much. Although this time she liked it more than before, what if it was just a summer novelty and it wore off?

She couldn't help but think about Jaimie though. Even if he called her just about the campaign and recycling stuff she would love to be around him. But she just saw him for a few hours and what did that tell you about a person?

Dawn decided to take a long hot bath and mull it over before bed with a nice cup of soup and ice tea. She put her nightshirt on and fuzzy slippers and went out on the balcony. She turned her playlist to some melancholy music. She decided to just let things naturally develop. She wouldn't feed into things but take dates if they were offered. That way she could see who liked her and go from there. 

She slept a long sleep all night long.

The next morning Dawn woke up early with a clear head and a fresh start on looking at things. She quietly sipped her coffee and looked out on the day ahead of her. Suddenly the doorbell rang. Mona was tied up in the kitchen and Dawn reached the door before Mary Anne or Logan could get to it. 

It was Nicky Pike, in his police uniform (he is a detective in Stanford). Dawn answered the door.

"Well, Nicky! Come on in!" Dawn said.

"Dawn Schafer this isn't a social call. I am here on official business and I am afraid I am here to take you down to the police station for questioning."

"Is this for the uranium case?" Dawn asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry Dawn but they insist."

"Can I bring my lawyer with me?" She asked referring to Logan. 

"He can follow the police car."

"I'll get my car and meet you around the front," said Logan.

Dawn compliantly got into the back of the police car. She felt like a criminal. But she knew she hadn't done anything wrong. 

Mallory was busy researching Stoneybrook's history. She felt she was tapping into something. She discovered that during prohibition some citizens in Stoneybrook hid alcohol in secret passages. She also found out that Humphrey Porter used to be a very prominent doctor in the area. She had looked through all the books she had to find out more information. She had a few articles from the paper that seemed that Humphrey was a doctor at the hospital at one time that treated patients that varied from paralyzation at mental illness, diseased, and other wide variety of physical and mental disorders. Mallory wondered if he was a doctor why did he donate land for the school? Why not a medical facility or something to do with his field?

She decided to try to look through the boxes and boxes of stuff they had from the hospital. Mallory dug for hours. She started making piles of information she could use for other people for her project. Finally, she came to an old newspaper and took it out.

"Pay dirt!" She yelled! She had found something. On the top, it read that Humphrey Porter had been fired for malpractice at Stoneybrook hospital. It seemed he had been trying out some holistic healing methods on the patients and a group of churchgoers that didn't like the methods. Finally, there had been an accident with one of the children that Mallory thought sounded like an autistic patient. The child had escaped the facility multiple times and either ran home or ran to the playground at Stoneybrook Elementary School. One day the child had gone to elementary school and Humphrey had tried to coax him to come back when he got spooked and ran into the street. With all the cars honking it spooked him even more and he ran right down the middle of the road to an intersection where an unsuspecting car hit and killed him. 

Mallory felt sad. The poor child must have been so scared. Mallory looked for any follow-up articles. She found out Humphrey was arrested and taken to jail awaiting trial. Then Mallory looked closer at the address of the home where Humphrey Porter was arrested. And she couldn't believe what she saw. The address was the same as Morbidda Destiny's house!