Slaughter of the Next Degree

The counsler didn't help Cassidy at all. She still cried. She still had nightmares at night. She still wondered if someone was going to take her too. The police were still out looking for possible suspects but Mrs. Collins said they stie at a dead end. Detective Crull stopped by at the house earlier to interview Cassidy.

"Cassidy, did you know of anyone who might want to hurt Billy in anyway?"

She replied, "No. Billy was nice to everyone. Even the kids in our class he said he didn't like. Billy would never want to make someone mad."

Crull looked at the ceiling a moment before asking his next question. "Who are some of the kids Billy didn't like? Do you think that they knew Billy didn't like them?"

After thinking for a second, Cassidy responded, "Well, I know for sure that he really didn't like a boy in my class named Tyler Donaldson. He said he was really annoying and that he had liked me. I didn't believe him but I don't think Tyler ever knew because he still talked to Billy all the time."

"Have you ever heard the phrase, keep your friends close but your enemies closer?" asked Crull, wondering if Tyler had the mental compacity to kidnap his own classmate.

"Yeah, I have and I don't understand it. Why would you want to keep someone you don't like close? If you don't like them, then why do you hang out with them?"

Crull started to wonder for a second himself and realized that there si no way a second grader would want to hang out with someone they didn't like. He still had no leads. "Well, Cassidy, I think that will be it for now but I will probably stop by again in the near future with some more questions. In the meantime, I want you to be my little detective and keep your eyes and ears open to everything. Can you do that for me?"

Cassidy nodded her head and Detectice Crull was on his way.

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Cassidy's mom had just dropped her off at school when Mrs. Williams came up to her with tears in her eyes.

"Cassidy, I need you to go to the front office now and call your mom to come and get you. School has been canceled for today."

She looked around and noticed nobody there but her and Mrs. Williams. "Why is school canceled?"

Mrs. Williams let the tears roll down her cheeks when she answered. "Someone has kidnapped Tyler."

Cassidy's eyes grew big and before she even realized what she was doing, she ran down to the office, sobbing. The secretary heard and ran outside and Cassidy ran into her. "Oh, Cassidy! Don't worry everything will be ok," the secretary said with a tone of disbelief in her voice.

"No it won't! Someone is taking my friends and I am scared! What if I am next?" she said, still sobbing into the secretary's arm.

"Lets go call your parents ok?" said the secretary leading Cassidy into the office. As soon as she got a hold of Cassidy's parents and sat her down. she did some of her own work. After someone called in about tyler that morning, they asked her to see what teachers were missing. There was only one. She dialed the number for Detectice Crull and he answered on the first ring. "Yes, this is Sunnyside Elementary. We do have a teacher that wasn't here. Johnathon Case."