Letters From Cages

It was raining. And it was my birthday.

I felt the downpour hit the roof of our house, and sighed. I’m twenty. Twenty. I’m not a teen anymore. Most other people my age would be off in college, thinking about their futures and what it holds for them. Most other people my age would even be thinking of getting engaged within the next few years and then getting married. Starting their lives and moving on with them.

I glanced down at my empty ring finger on my empty left hand and sighed again. I had already been engaged. At the mere age of nineteen. And then that promise to marry turned empty as well. I felt as if I did everything I was supposed to do in my twenties in my teens. I fell in love, I moved in with my boyfriend, I got engaged. Wasn’t that what you were supposed to start thinking of when you weren’t a teen anymore? Why now, did it seem like everything was backwards? Why now did this birthday mean nothing to me at all.

“Gwenith, are you ready?” My dad asked me. I turned to see him leaning in my bedroom doorway, his black coat was already wet from the rain outside where I assumed he had been.

I looked out of my window and grimaced. I was so damn sick of the rain.

“Yes, I’m ready,” I replied and grabbed a red petticoat from my closet. I put it on over my blouse and skirt and tights and told myself that dressing up on your birthday was something that should be done. My father and grandmother were taking me out to brunch, and possibly some movie that I wasn't interested in seeing but I didn't tell them that. They wanted this day to be special for me, and I didn't want them to think that I wasn't appreciative, because I was. I just wasn't myself.

I needed to stop being so pessimistic but I just couldn’t. Piper was at home probably still upset over what happened to her. Adam was angry with the police and still hasn’t talked to me, and now it was just awkward between us because I had kissed him. And he had kissed back. I of course wasn’t going to tell Carter this, and I think that is what made me feel even worse. Not telling him that I had kissed the boy who tried to ask me out in high school didn't seem right, but it didn't seem wrong either. I was struggling with wondering if I even should feel guilty or not. It wasn’t as if Carter and I were together. He said so himself when he was basically trying to rid me out of his life over the telephone. I shouldn’t feel guilty. I shouldn't.

I walked out of my house and to my dad’s truck as he helped my grandmother out of the door. She was mumbling something that I didn’t care much to hear as I clutched the handle of my umbrella tighter. I looked up at the sky and closed my eyes for a second. Wondering why I was feeling so down, when it was my birthday for goodness sake.

What seemed like an hour was only fifteen minutes until we arrived downtown and to a small restaurant/bakery. As we walked in, the scent of baked bread filled my nostrils and I immediately felt at ease. But that moment had passed when I saw a few older women in the corner of the restaurant, looking at me and talking under hushed whispers. It’s been almost three months since the conviction, nine months since the murder, and people still felt the need to talk in hushed voices when I was around, they’d point or just stare at me, wondering what it was like to be the ex-fiancé of a convicted murderer. Sometimes people would be courteous and pay me no mind, but these moments were the moments when I felt like I should have stayed at home.

I sat down at the table with my father and grandmother and looked out at the storm outside. The bright lights in the inside of the restaurant made it almost seem like it wasn’t such a gloomy day. Our waiter came and took our orders, and my dad said some joke to her and she barked a laugh which made me want to plug my ears. Everything was in slow motion, nothing was right. It was like I wasn’t even here.

But then a person walked through the door of the restaurant, and that person made me snap back to reality. His dreadlocks were pulled back into a low pony-tail, and he wore a tailored suit that didn’t match the style of his face or his hair. He made eye contact with me and raised an eyebrow, and I almost choked on my breath. One of the hostesses sat him down at a table near us and I felt myself getting tense.

It was Nigel Crow. The man who I first saw in the alleyway handing Annabelle a folded piece of paper when I followed her. The man who handed Annabelle what I’m assuming was a bag of stolen jewelry when I took those pictures. And the same man who I believed had everything to do with Daniel Cody’s murder.

Nigel smiled at me and I glared at him, wondering why on earth he was here. He must have known I was going to be here. Why else would he show up to a restaurant by himself with a mischievous look on his thin face. Another waitress walked towards him and handed him a cup of coffee and he thanked her, looked back at me, and then took a sip. His stare gave me chills.

“Are you okay, Gwenith?” My dad asked me and I snapped back and looked at both of them, who were already eating their food and staring at me like I was insane. I looked down and realized my plate was in front of me. I didn’t even realize the waitress came over.

“Oh, I’m fine,” I reassured them. “Just a little tired is all, I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night because of the rain.”

“Oh, alright," My father said and turned back to my grandmother. I glanced back up to Nigel’s table, but to my surprise, he was already gone. I saw a small slip of paper on top of the table that obviously wasn’t the check and quickly excused myself, claiming that I had to go to the bathroom. I whisked by Nigel’s table and saw a folded piece of paper, along with a large diamond ring sitting right on top of it. My heart was pounding in my chest as I grabbed the ring and examined it. It looked expensive, and it definitely did not look like it was his.

I grabbed both items he left for me and walked towards the bathroom, and once I got inside I almost ripped open the letter, feeling anxious and nervous. I looked down to see one scribbled line:

“2467 Filmot Glen”



“Wake up… Gwenith Hewlett… wake up, right now!”

I could feel Carter’s breath against my ear and I put my elbow in front of my face and groaned. It was way too early to be awake. And that’s saying something when I am the usual morning person and Carter doesn’t get out of the bed until ten or eleven on a good day.

“No!” I shouted back and pulled a pillow over my face. The sun was shining through the window, it's warmth and brightness landing directly on my face.

“Wake.UP!” Carter yelled and I groaned even louder. Was this his idea of a fun birthday morning? Because it certainly wasn’t mine. But just as I was thinking that, Carter began to sing Happy Birthday to me in the loudest voice he could manage until he was basically yelling, and I couldn’t take it anymore and quickly jumped out of bed and into the bathroom.

“Gwen, get out of the bathroom,” Carter said outside my door. I looked in the mirror and pulled my dark blonde hair out of its pony tail and grabbed a brush and ran it through it. My makeup-less face stared back at me while I grabbed my toothbrush and squeezed toothpaste on it.

“I’m not coming out until you promise to never wake me up like that again and never sing like that again,” I yelled back and stifled a small laugh. Carter banged on the door even louder as I finished brushing my teeth and placed the toothbrush back into it’s holder. I sighed and open the door and Carter almost fell in.

“Oh well hey, it’s your birthday!” He said in a sing-song voice. I shot him a look and he instantly put his hand over his mouth as I rolled my eyes. He walked forward and pulled me into a hug, kissed me on the neck and let his head rest there. “You’re nineteen,” He said. “I’m almost twenty and you’re just turning nineteen. Youngling.”

“Thanks,” I replied and he pulled me closer.

“So what should we do today?” I asked as we stepped away from each other. I walked out of our bathroom in our small yet compatible one bedroom apartment towards the living room. The whole place made me smile. It was as if I finally knew I was where I belonged. I still hadn't talked to my dad, he didn't call and probably didn't even try to. I couldn't even think of what he was thinking about me. They were probably full of disappointment.

I walked into our kitche to see a large bouquet of flowers and two plates set up across from one another with cups of orange juice next to them. Our newly adopted fat cat, Kyle, was laying in his bed we bought him next to it, closing his eyes and purring. I grinned and turned around.

“Well,” Carter said while walking towards me. I bit my lip and smiled the widest I think I ever have as the boy I loved stood in front of me, rubbing the back of his neck. I was so lucky. “After I attempt to make you breakfast which might result in this whole kitchen setting on fire, we can do anything you want.”

“Anything I want?” I asked back. Carter nodded and tugged on his shirt. I stepped closer to him and placed my hands on his neck. “Let’s go to the beach," I whispered. "Like we always wanted to but never did.”



It was hard to sit still knowing that later on in the evening when I was finished celebrating my birthday with my father and grandmother, I would be knocking on the strange house on Filmot Glen and would possibly be getting some answers. The more logical side of me told me that I probably should be scared. They were capable of murdering Daniel Cody who was in the way of their goal of stealing his parent’s jewelry, what made me think they weren’t going tp kill me as well because I was in the way of their well-kept secret?

But the more illogical side of me dominated, and I knew that I’d regret not going and seeing for myself. I needed to go. I had to.

“Where are you going?” My dad asked me as I grabbed my sitll wet coat off the hander and my car keys from the hook. I pulled the coat over my shoulders and slipped my arms through.

“I’m just going to see some friends, they have a surprise for me for my birthday,” I told him and he nodded while walking towards me. He uncharacteristically pulled me into a hug. An odd, awkward, yet nice hug.

“Happy Birthday, Gwenith,” He said and I smiled back at him before opening the door and walking towards my car. I reached into my pocket and felt the diamond ring almost poke against my finger, and I knew exactly what I was going to do with it.

I pulled up in front of the police station, determined. The rain was pouring harder now and I heard thunder in the distance, but I paid no mind to it and got out of my car. I don’t know why Nigel would provide me with that diamond ring, but I knew one thing for sure, and that would be that it could have been Mrs. Cody’s ring. It could have been a ring stolen from that safe. And I was going to show Kreankali that I wasn’t fooling around. That this was actually happening, and that he wasn’t helping.

I opened the double doors and ignored the woman at the front desk completely and walked straight towards the back where Kreankali’s office was. He was looking at different papers at his desk, reading glasses hung down at the tip of his chubby nose. I swung open the door and his head jolted upward to look at me. He was about to say something but I interrupted.

“Before you say anything,” I said and reached into my pocket. I grabbed the ring and placed it on his desk. “Nigel Crow, the man I told you about, who was accused of jewelry theft and fraud in the past, who I believe was involved in Daniel Cody’s murder and not Carter Wright- left this for me today. I don’t know if he’s trying to play a game or what, but all I know is that this could be a ring that was stolen from the Cody’s safe the night Daniel was murdered. This could be evidence that you guys put the wrong man in jail.”

Kreankali took off his glasses and grabbed the ring and surveyed it closely.

“Or... Ms. Hewlett, this could mean that Carter Wright, who stole this from the safe, told you where the missing jewelry was hidden and you brought this to me with some absurd story about how the real murderer just left it for you as a present.”

I stood there, completely livid, not even knowing how to react or what to say. Is he seriously still not listening to me? Is he still convinced that I am making this all up? Who is this man?

“Are you kidding me?" I replied, my voice low and angry. I leaned over the desk and Kreankali raised his eyebrows, as if to warn me that he was indeed a cop, and if I tried one thing, anything, I could get in big trouble. “Listen to me. You can sit here all you want and try to convince yourself that Carter did this. That Carter was the killer, and the perfect evidence lined up with the perfect murder case and that Carter killed Daniel. You can convince yourself that the case is closed and there’s nothing more to be done and that I’m just his psycho ex who is making up lies to get him out of jail. Or you can get off your high horse, and be a police officer and realize that what I’m telling you is the truth. Nigel, Jerry, Marco, Charlie and Annabelle are a group of people that know what they’re doing, and have covered their steps quite expertly. But if someone else gets murdered, if another child gets murdered, it’s on your hands, because then you’ll realize that you have had the wrong person in jail all along.”

And with those words, I angrily walked out of Kreankali’s office, and hastily out of the police station and back into the storm outside. I pulled my car keys from my pocket and walked to my car. I didn't even think twice as I turned it on and pulled out of the station, knowing exactly where my next destination was going to be.

Filmot Glen.