Charlotte groaned as she made her way to the car. To say she was annoyed was an understatement. She was irritated. The woman, Lily Plugger's mother was such an infuriating woman, Charlotte had tried to understand that she was grieving but after a while, she agreed with herself that the woman's bitchiness was just natural for her.

She hadn't even been able to get anything out. The woman had just been moving between crying, which she understood and telling her how to do her job after she had told her condescendingly not to stain her vintage expensive rug with her dirty-cheap shoes. She did not like the woman. That visit had been fruitless, to say the least.

She sincerely hoped the next place she was going to wasn't going to be a repeat of what she had just faced. Apparently, Lily Plugger's parents separated when she clocked 30, which had been three years ago. She was not surprised, though, what kind of man would like to deal with that. She was now on her way to Mr Plugger's house and she hoped that she would at least get somewhere today, she was not sure she would be able to handle anything like what Mrs Plugger had thrown at her today.

She checked her diary to see where next she was going today, she was glad she had told Arielle, Lily's best friend and cousin that she would meet her at 2 o'clock considering the recent turn of events. She still couldn't believe that Newt had not told her that Lily's parents were not together anymore. How could he have missed something so important.

She would have to speak to him about that, she thought as she pulled her car into reverse and pulled out of Mrs Plugger's driveway. The bitch hadn't even offered her tea, she thought pettily as she drove off.

           *******
As she sat in Mr Plugger's living room waiting for him while she watched the maid pour her a glass of orange juice which she needed, Charlotte kept hoping that this was a case of opposites attract and that Mr Plugger was a reasonable man unlike the bitch he had for a wife.

"Hello, Miss. Hutchinson", a voice said as a man in his early fifties came into view.

"You must be Mr Plugger", Charlotte said.

"That's correct. I understand you're a detective here to talk to me about my daughter's murder", he said.

"Woah, this man is straightforward and good looking too for a man in his fifties", Charlotte thought.

"Yes, I am", she replied to which he nodded, "I'm here to talk to you about Lily, I understand it may be a bit early and you're still grieving but I truly need your help if I'm going to be starting this investigation soon"

"I understand", he said and gave her a weak smile, "what do you want to know?"

"These last few months, how had Lily been? Had she been showing any signs of depression? Had she had any rows with anyone recently?"

He sighed and said, "Ever since her mom and I separated, she hadn't been happy. She tried to fix it but she didn't understand that the only reason we were together for that long was because of her and since she was already grown up, we thought she could handle it but we were wrong. She was very sad and wouldn't speak to us until we fixed whatever was happening with us but of course it wasn't as simple as that. She finally came around but old Lily was gone. She became sad and depressed and whatever hopes she had about happy families were squashed. It is all our fault."

He finally looked up at Charlotte and said, "Lily lost all hope of a happy life being true because of us. We brought on the new Lily that got mixed up in some shit and got murdered. If only her mother and I had persevered a little longer, maybe, just maybe she'd still be alive."

Charlotte felt the need to console the grieving man in front of her and so she said, "It's not your fault, Mr Plugger, a parent does what he or she thinks is best for his or her child but we are all human, aren't we? We can't always get it. That's why you should know that it wasn't your fault. Most parents would have separated a long time ago not caring about their child's feelings but you persevered because of Lily and if Lily didn't understand that while she was here, I'm sure looking at you now from above, she does already."

He smiled at Charlotte again but this time, she could see that it was a heartfelt one. She felt her heart squeeze for this man. How did he get involved with such a bitch in the first place?

"You mentioned that Lily got mixed up in some...", she hesitated, "stuff, what did you mean ?"

"Well you see, when you raise someone, you know everything about the person and I knew that this was not my Lily, I knew she was different in some way. She wasn't all bubbly and happy, she stopped talking to everyone even Arielle. She became a shadow of herself. At first, I thought it was depression but as time went on, I realized it was deeper. I tried to talk to her about it but after a while, she stopped picking my calls and limited it to once a month. One day, I decided I would go pay her a surprise visit and when I got to her house, I met the door open and heard sounds coming from upstairs. When I entered, I met her arguing with a man upstairs in her room."

"Can you remember the date?", Charlotte said feeling thirsty, this was a lead.

"It was on the first of this month, July"

"If I asked you to describe him, would you be able to?", Charlotte said.

"Yes"

"Can I come to visit you tomorrow, will you be around?"

"No, but I'll be next tomorrow"

"Okay, I'll be here to see you again"

"No problem Detective. I hope you find who killed Lily and get justice for her"

"I hope so too", she replied softly as she stood up and shook his hand.

As Charlotte sat in the car, she felt an even stronger resolve to catch Lily Plugger's murderer. It felt more, daresay, personal after she spoke to Lily's father. For Lily's old man, she would put more effort into the case.

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