August 2006 

“Come swim with us, Sophie!” a friend of hers exclaimed.  Sophie, who was having a little too much fun at the last party of the summer, could not resist the offer.  She threw her red solo cup aside and staggered to the edge of the dock, where she slipped and hit her head as she fell into the water.  Unconscious, Sophie sank into the deep, dark depths of Pleasant Lake, never to be seen again, or at least that is what the kids at the party told the police. 
No one really knew for certain what happened that dreadful night, though.  It was too dark to make out any real details, but no one was going to admit that to the police.  Besides, that was really the only logical explanation that the kids could think of.  Everyone loved Sophie.  No one had any reason to do such a terrible thing to her, or at least no one thought.
   After several failed attempts at searching the lake floor for Sophie’s body, the police lost hope in ever finding it and presumed the tide had carried her body from the lake out to sea.  They called it a freak accident based on what the kids at the party were saying and closed the case.

September 2016

“Com’on, Anna! Hurry up!  Mom said we have to be back before dark,” Paige shouted to Anna, her sister, who was starting to lag behind.
“I’m coming,” Anna said huffing and puffing.  Knowing how much trouble the two of them would be in if they were not home before dark, she quickened her pace.  As she did, her foot got caught, and she stumbled and fell.  Not wanting to get home late, she quickly reached down to free her foot from what she assumed to be a root that was sticking out of the ground, but was uncertain due to the lack of light.  As she began to free her foot, her worries about getting home on time vanished as she soon realized it had not been a root from a tree that had caught her foot at all, but rather a rib cage.  She hastily freed her foot that had gotten caught between two of the ribs and began to examine it closely.
“Paige, come over here.  You have to see what I found!” Anna shouted with excitement.  Paige debated whether or not she had time to see what her sister was talking about and make it home before sun fall or not.  The sun was setting quickly, and she probably had just enough time to get home as it was, but her curiosity got the best of her.
“What is it, Anna?  It better be good, because we are going to be in big trouble when we get home after dark,” Paige said as she walked over to Anna, who was still thoroughly examining the mysterious rib cage.
“Look, I found a rib cage.  It looks like it’s from a deer or something.  What do you think happened?” questioned Anna.  As Paige drew closer to the rib cage, she noticed something very disturbing.
“Oh my gosh! Don’t touch that!” Paige shrieked at Anna.
“Why not?” Anna asked.
“Because that’s a human rib cage!  Anyone in their right mind that took sophomore biology could see that that is definitely not from a deer,” Paige said. 
As Anna began to comprehend what Paige had just told her, she felt something odd beneath her butt, where she was sitting.  She had noticed it before, but just figured it was a rock.  However, after finding the human rib cage, Anna was not so certain about anything anymore.  She began to pay a little more attention to the mysterious object she had been sitting on this whole time.  She set the rib cage aside, got up slowly, and began to brush off the dirt that was covering the mysterious white object and was shocked at what she saw next.
“AHHHHHHHHHHH!” Anna shrieked as she jumped up and ran a few paces in the opposite direction.
“What is it?” Paige asked worried.
“Well, you were right about it being a human rib cage.  There’s a human skull over there too, teeth and all, and I’m pretty sure I was sitting on it this whole time!  Like having to touch a human rib cage that got here who knows how wasn’t bad enough!” complained Anna.  “What do you think we should do?”
“Duh! Call the police,” Paige replied sarcastically.  “Let’s get home, though, before anything else weird happens.  We can call the police from there.”
“Agreed!” Anna answered.  The two of them ran back to the warm protection of their home, hoping to not run into anymore trouble that night.  Once home, they told their mom everything.  Luckily they were able to tell her before she had a chance to scold them for coming home late. 
“You girls need to call the police and inform them what happened,” Paige and Anna’s mom advised them. 
“Don’t worry.  We are already on it,”  Paige said as she dialed 911 into her phone.  A quiet lady picked up the other end and asked what the problem was.  The two girls each told her take on what had happened that night.
“Is that all?” the lady on the other end asked.
“Yes,” Paige answered softly.
“I know this can be a traumatic experience, and we at the police station really appreciate that you informed us of the situation.  I sent a couple officers over to your house.  They should be arriving soon.  Once they get there do you think you would be able to lead them back to the spot where you said you found and left the bones?” requested the lady.
“Of course,” Paige replied and politely hung up the phone.  As she did the doorbell rang.  Anna rushed to the front door where she was delighted to find two policemen waiting.
“Hello, I am Officer Thompson, and this is Officer Jones,” as he pointed at the other officer.  “Are you either Paige or Anna Harrison?” he inquired.
“Yes,” Anna answered full of relief, “I’m Anna, and that’s my sister, Paige, over there,” as she pointed in Paige’s general vicinity.
“Would you two be able to show us where you found the bones?” questioned the other police officer.
Both girls nodded as to show their cooperation and began to lead the officers out of the house and into the dark wooded-area that surrounded their house.  After a few minutes of walking, they arrived at the place where the girls had left the bones, but oddly enough the bones were nowhere to be found.
The police searched for hours trying to find the bones, but had no luck.  That was until Anna discovered a mysterious off-white, rock-like object protruding from the ground.
“I think I found something!” Anna exclaimed.  “It looks almost like a tooth.  That’s good isn’t?  Like you can use dental records or something to figure out whose bones we found right?”
“Something like that,” one police officer said cracking a smile.  “We’ll bring this back to forensics to be tested and will get back to you on any progress we make in the investigation.” 
Both girls, relieved that they had the police on their side, thanked them and began to walk back to their house, where they relaxed in the safety of their own home for the next couple of days.  That was at least the case until the police called.  The police told them that the bones belonged to a young girl named Sophie Johnson, who they thought had accidently drowned about a decade earlier, but now had reason to believe that that was not the case.
A few hours after word had gotten out about the new findings the police had made, Paige received a mysterious phone call from an unknown number.
“Is this Paige Harrison,” a young man asked.
“Yes, and who is this?” she questioned.
“That’s not of importance right now, but I think I maybe able to help you,” he said.  There was a short pause before he continued again.  “I know who killed Sophie, and I need your and your sister’s help to prove it.”
“Why don’t you just tell the police,” Paige asked concerned.
“The police aren’t going to be much help in this case, and you will see that soon enough.  Anyways there’s a large oak tree with the initials SJ and ST carved in a heart located on the shoreline of Pleasant Lake, near where Sophie was killed.  If you dig deep enough you will find the poison that her drink was laced with, along with the killer’s phone, which has a digital receipt of the poison’s purchase on it.”
“Wait, how do you know all of this, and why can’t you-” 
The other end went silent, leaving Paige with so many unanswered questions.  Who was he, and why couldn’t he be the one to do everything?  Should she go to the police?  Should she even listen to this mysterious man?  Was he telling the truth?
The last question probably haunted Paige the most.  What if he wasn’t lying, and I could actually do something to help, she thought to herself.  She knew that if there was any truth in what that guy was saying, she had to at least try to do something, so she did.
After everyone had fallen asleep, Paige crept into Anna’s room, where she gently rocked Anna till she quietly woke up.
“Get some warm clothes on.  You’ll need them,” Paige whispered to Anna.
“What’s going on?” Anna asked confused.
“I’ll explain later.  Just follow me,” Paige commanded.
Paige was confused, but followed her sister’s orders anyways.  She quickly slipped on a sweatshirt, sweatpants, and an old pair of tennis shoes and followed her sister out the door and into the car.  Paige started the car and drove off in the direct of Pleasant Lake, as she began to explain to Anna everything that had happened that day.  That conversation continued until the two girls reached their destination: Pleasant Lake.
Curious, Paige quickly jumped out of the car in search of the oak tree the mysterious man had mentioned.  Anna cautiously followed her around the lake for about a half an hour until Paige finally found the tree with the initials SJ and ST inscribed into it.  Paige began to dig and instructed Anna to do the same.  Both dug and dug and dug for several hours.  After nearly losing hope,  Anna’s hand felt something metal.
“I think I found something!” Anna exclaimed as she pulled a metal box from the dirt.
“Let me see it,” instructed Paige.
Intrigued, Paige slowly began to open the rusty latches that appeared to have not been touched for a decade.  As she did a small bottle rolled out, half filled with what looked like some type of drug.  The box also contained a phone, just like the strange man had said it would.  The girls began to examine the phone closely, trying to figure out who it belonged to.  It was a miracle that the phone still worked after all this time, but thankfully it did, which allowed the girls to figure out that the phone belonged to a man named Scott Thompson.
“Wasn’t one of the police officer’s last name Thompson?” Anna asked.
“Yeah I think so,” Paige replied and realized something vital.   “That explains why the police wouldn’t help and what happened to Sophie’s bones.  One of them was the killer!”
“Why would a police officer kill Sophie?” Anna questioned.
“Well I don’t know if this is right, but my guess is that he wasn’t a police officer when he killed her.  I think he actually was her boyfriend, based on these initials in the tree.  He must have lost it for some reason and killed her.  Maybe they had a fight?” Paige guessed.
The girls were uncertain about what to do with the new information they had found.  They figured that it would be safe to go to the police as long as Officer Thompson did not find out before they were able to tell several other officers, so that is what they did.  Both piled back into the car and drove straight to the police station.  The girls handed over the evidence they had found and told the police how they believed Officer Thompson was responsible.
After having a chance to look over the evidence, the police arrested Officer Thompson the next day with charges of murder.  He was later found guilty of the murder of Sophie Johnson and sentenced to life in prison.  The girls were looked at as heros and were named honorary members of the Pleasant Lake Police Department.