JORDYN PETIT: She was holding her arm. I didn’t mean to push her so hard but she yanked on my book bag first. Then we heard a noise off in the grass. At first I thought it was Gabe but then I wasn’t sure. It was dark and scary so we ran off.

OFFICER WILSON: Did you run away together? In the same direction?

JORDYN PETIT: No. We all went a different way. I ran toward the depot building and hid behind a boxcar. I’m not sure where Cora and Violet went. I never saw Gabe.

OFFICER WILSON: Then what happened?

JORDYN PETIT: I watched from behind the boxcar for a few minutes.

OFFICER WILSON: What did you see?

JORDYN PETIT: (inaudible)

OFFICER WILSON: Jordyn, what did you see?

JORDYN PETIT: I’m afraid to tell.

ROBERT PEALE: It’s okay, Jordyn. No one can hurt you here. Go ahead and tell Officer Wilson what you told me.

OFFICER WILSON: Jordyn?

JORDYN PETIT: I saw Violet run off toward the tall grass—not to the spot where we heard the noise, the opposite direction—and she disappeared. She hid in there. Cora started to run along the tracks but she was going slow because of her arm, I think. She was holding it.

OFFICER WILSON: Which way on the tracks was Cora going? East or west?

JORDYN PETIT: Um, I don’t know. But she went away from the depot building.

OFFICER WILSON: You were hiding behind a boxcar and saw Cora and Violet running away, too. Then what did you see?

JORDYN PETIT: I saw someone coming out of the grass.

OFFICER WILSON: Did you recognize the person? Did you know who it was?

JORDYN PETIT: I think so.

ROBERT PEALE: Remember, Jordyn, you have to be sure. If you’re not, you need to tell us. It’s very, very important that you get this right.

OFFICER WILSON: Jordyn, do you know who it was coming out of the grass?

JORDYN PETIT: It was my teacher. It was Mr. Dover.

Beth Crow Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Beth Crow

Wednesday, April 18, 2018

I sit alone in the waiting room staring down at my hands, images of the video running over and over in my mind. The girls happy one moment, taking selfies in front of the boxcars, then everything went to hell. I wonder why Gabe Shannon was there. Violet never mentioned him being there. Then there was the bloody knife Violet dropped when she came out of the tall grass. I wish I could watch the video again to see if Violet was the one holding the knife just before the girls ran off.

“Ms. Crow?” comes a voice from the doorway. I look up to find Dr. Gideon in the doorway.

I jump to my feet. “Is Violet okay?” I ask.

“I was hoping we could go somewhere a little more private and have a chat,” she says.