Free The Key by Sarah May Palmer

ONE
     
    “News just in; police have confirmed that they have found the remains of Tracey Dawn Jackson who went missing back in 1979. Tracey vanished after leaving her local library in Harvest Spring Junction and was never seen again. No witnesses came forward and the case has remained open ever since.”
    Carly stared at the screen, as she watched the newscaster fiddling with his earpiece. He continued. “I’ve just been told that the police are trying to trace the owner of a key found close to the body. Viewers can find an image of the key on the Crime Stoppers website. Police are also appealing for locksmith’s to contact them if they know where the key might have been used.”
    Carly was eager to learn everything she could about the girl she had just seen in the news broadcast.
    Tracey Dawn Jackson was dead ; that was a fact that Carly could not change. Ian Bradley had told her , in no uncertain terms, that she could never prevent someone from dying when she time-traveled . However, she could perhaps find a way to bring Tracey’s killer to justice.
    Carly hurried into her bedroom and opened the closet door.
    Where did I put those old note pads , Carly puzzled as she rummaged through the large cardboard box on the floor of the closet. The box had been there for ages. She never had found the time to put things where they belonged, even though she had moved into her flat over 5 years ago.
    Lifting the sagging box onto her bed, she prized open the lid, blew the dust from the mounds of files and papers, then coughed and sneezed violently as the dust penetrated deeply into her mouth and nose .
    “I really must clean out this closet,” she berated herself out loud as she sneezed once again. Carly was the first to admit that she was no domestic goddess ; it was her mess and thankfully no one got to see it except her. N evertheless, she knew that a good clean out was long overdue , but for now there were more important things that needed to be done .
    Retrieving two thick note pads from the cardboard box, Carly headed back to the living room, curled up on to the sofa and began making notes.
    It was important to get down as many details as possible before anything could distract her. The n she could watch future bulletins for updates on the story. She also need ed to work out a plan of action .
    “Name… Tracey Dawn Jackson. Place… Harvest Spring Junction . ” Carly began recalling out loud everything she could remember from the broadcast as she jotted it down .
    Then she made a note about the key that had been found near the body.
    CHECK CRIME STOPPERS WEBSITE, she wrote in capital letters. She’d find a picture of the key there and probably a good deal more information too.
    There was a kind of excite ment tinged with guilt building up in Carly as she began on her first real project of solving a crime. She’d always loved those fictional murder mysteries and here she was embarking on a real life murder case with a real victim.
    If I’m going to venture into this , she thought, I’m going to be meticulous and do the best that I can … a s long as I don’ t have to start wearing tweed twin- sets, brogues and a silly hat like Miss Marple of course .
    As she vividly pictured the elderly sleuth, an inane grin spread across Carly’s face . It didn’t last long, though. T hat vacuous look soon turned to one of a drooling child as she looked across the room and saw her favorite commercial on the TV . She never could resist the sight of bacon cooking in a hot frying pan. Sizzling fat and grease spraying everywhere. She could even smell it cooking!
    “ That’s it! Can’t solve a crime on an empty stomach,” Carly told herself as she steered herself towards the refrigerator , salivating like one of Pavlov’s dogs . Thirty five year old women should n’t act like this , she giggled to herself.
    Carly’s heart sank! The refrigerator yielded nothing but a past-its-sell-by-date tomato, a n empty jar of mayonnaise and a