Tiffany Swan's Story

"Another morning in paradise" Tiffany said sarcastically as she stood in front of her curtain-less floor length window and ran her fingers through her messy hair - all while wearing nothing but an over-sized Marines T-shirt that hit a few inches above mid-thigh.

Her apartment was on the third floor of the "The Observer" - the towns old newspaper - building. It once belonged to the original owner of the paper, but was offered to her at a discount when she was hired. Tiff of course jumped on the opportunity to not only have her own space but to be away from her mother, and even though the space was a bit small and old, to her it was a castle.
However the view of the local Sheriffs office directly across the street was probably the one thing she could do without.


"We're back yall!!" a voice suddenly crackled out form her bedroom as her clock-radio struck 8:00am on the dot. "It's your favorite southern belle here on 94.7QDR - the best and most continuous country!"

Tiff would roll her eyes at the womans song selection an after a final quick glace down at the Sheriffs office she'd turn around and stroll into the kitchen.
As usual the coffee maker had JUST finished making a full pot so she was able to pour herself a nice hot cup of coffee before taking a seat at her small in-kitchen dinning room set - which sat pressed against another curtain-less floor-length window that stared out towards the main street in town.
A few short moments after doing so however, her rainbow-striped cordless phone began to ring.

"Tiff at your service." she answered after a brief sigh.
"Tiffy dear, i just got word that-" The smirking young woman would quickly cut her boss - Michael "Mike" Hemsworth - off, and put on quite the sarcastic tone. "Tiffy? I know not of this Tiffy broad you speak about. What does she look like?"
Mike sigh, "Stop with the jokes"
"Who's joking? Never knew anyone by the name of Tiffy in our little small town Michael but apparently you have, so enlighten me hun."

There would be a brief moment of silence between the two of them before the older man sighed and began again. "Fine, Tiffany, I just heard from an inside source that the body of Julian is going to be autopsied any moment now"
"Tiff would do, but you want pictures of autopsies now!?" her morbid sense of humor let out.
"No, don't be smart. Go talk to the Lawson, his secretary, or hell - his janitor. Just get us an inside scoop before them folks from the city do! Gosh damn city slickers and their -"
"Yeah okay Mike, sounds like a plan, call ya later."

Tiffany quickly hung up the phone, being in no mood to hear one of her bosses famous rants about how reporters from nearby cities want to steal all his stories. Instead she heard the shower calling her name, and after finishing her cup of coffee she'd head straight for the bathroom.






By 9:15am Tiff was dressed in a fitted pair of peach colored jeans, a white flowing tank, and black combat boots that reached a few inches above her ankles with a short black jacket over top, as she headed out her front door.

The walk to the coroners office took a little over fifteen minutes, and she'd fiddle with her high-up pony tail for a few seconds before walking in.


"Good morning, what can i......" the young woman behind the desk suddenly stopped, and the sweet expression on her face morphed into a more annoyed one. "......oh, it's you. I'm sorry, Dr. Lawson isn't giving out any details right now about the autopsy, and besides, he's busy talking with someone else at the moment, so you might as well leave."

Every bone inside her body wanted to cuss out the woman she recognized as an old high school classmate, but instead Tiff put on quite the smile.
"Well of course not, Lawson is a highly regarded physician who would never tell me such things - i'd expect nothing less. I do however want to ask him a few general questions, not directly related to the autopsy.....ya know, some things he'd be able to say on the record. So if you don't mind, hun, i'll wait out here in the lobby mmkay?"

Without waiting for a response Tiffany rolled her eyes a bit and sat down and began to wait. However her wait wouldn't be long at all, for 30 seconds or so after she sat down the girl behind the desks phone began to ring, an instead of answering it at the desk she'd stand up and walk several feet away with her back towards the lobby - a bad move. Within an instant Tiff popped up from her seat, and ran through a couple short halls, before reaching a small staircase that lead down to the Autopsy room.


"Oh lookie, Eli beat me here....go figure." she muttered as she dug through the camouflage messenger bag slung across her body and pulled out a notepad....but it would quickly be shoved back into her bag when the doctor began to speak and mentioned turning on a recorder. Tiff knew then she had just stumbled upon the actual start of the autopsy, an instead of walking away like any normal individual would of, she pulled out her own recorder, placed it up against the crack in the middle of the double doors, and pressed "Record".
She could only bare a few quick glances at the boy on the table via the two small round windows in the door, before turning away.

It would be nearly half an hour before the procedure came to a stop, and the two men began to talk again.


“Do you think you’ll find her?” Tiff heard the Doc. ask Eli. “Oh I’ll find her.” the Sherrif would respond, before heading towards the doors, which was Tiffs signal to shove the recorder in her bag, jog up the stairs, round a few corners, and then head out through one of the back doors to avoid the secretary at the front desk.


"Oh gees that was too close. I wonder if i got all that to come through on this old piece of junk though!" she whispered to herself while patting the recorder from the outside of her bag.

By the time Tiffany walked from around back she spotted Eli getting into his jeep and taking off in the direction of the Sherrifs station and her place of work/home.





Not too long later she was reviewing the recording at her kitchen table as she stared out the window at a fancy vehicle pulling up across the way.
She'd watch and wait to see who got out the car before pressing stop on her recorder. The audio quality was slightly grainy and far from her best capture, but it was good enough to be a reference for her article.....however she wasn't quite sure she wanted to use it as one.

"I know it would make for quite the epic article, i swear, but i guess it could also tip off the killer to just what the coroner and Sheriff have figured out already." she'd muttered to herself, before kicking her legs up onto the table and again staring out the window at the strange car. "And what if he's one of those killers who feed on media attention, and after he gets his fill of it, kills his victim......i could then be the cause of that girls-"
Tiff would stop herself before the worlds slipped out of her mouth, look up towards the ceiling, and sigh.


"Maybe i should just go pay my favorite little back-woods Sherrifs station a visit, see if they'll give me anything else i can use on my article.....preferably something a little less, i don't know, epic....." she'd muttered, before heading out her front door.

However five minutes later, instead of walking inside the Sherriffs office, Tiffany found herself in the ever-popular cafe directly next door to it ordering a pricey French-Vanilla Cappuccino.....a sweet craving she got every now and again.

Tiff had every intention of sitting in the cafe as she sipped down her Cappuccino, however when Eli pulled up and made his way over towards one of the men she had seen exiting the unfamiliar car earlier, the amateur P.I. bug inside of her began to squirm, and she couldn't help but quietly slip through the front door and take a seat on a bench underneath the cafe's front window - where she could JUST hear the conversation between the two men;

"Sheriff Carter, I presume?" the stranger began "My name is Special Agent Simon Temple. I'm with the FBI. My partner and I are here on orders to investigate the recent case that happened here in town involving one Julian Bishop. I was wondering if you could answer a few questions."


The two wouldn't stay outside for much longer before Eli made mention of a conference room and the two would walk inside the Sheriffs office.
Tiffany, not quite keen on snooping on Carters territory, cussed under her breath and quickly downed the rest of her drink, before leaving the empty cup on the bench and sulking over towards the Sheriff stations front door to peek through its windows.

"That must be the other fed..." she muttered to herself, as she watched the three men and a young woman she recognized as Hayden Montgomery - one of the many deputies she has bugged over the last few years - all walk to a room in the back.
On a normal day this would be were she'd cut ties, and refuse to snoop any further. However, since most the other deputies where out in the field helping with the search parties, she felt a lot more at ease with the idea of QUICKLY snooping inside the big-house, and after fiddling with her hair for a few brief seconds, Tiff opened the door and went inside.



"Tiffany dear, how are you this morning!??" the older secretary asked with a warm welcoming smile.
Justine was one of the few people in town who actually gave Tiff the benefit of the doubt, and was happy to see her turn her life around.
"Oh, hey Justine, i'm um, totally fine. Just a little chilly but what else is new!?"
She knew she might as well turn around after smiling towards the old woman, because there was no way she could snoop effectively now. Whether she was caught or not she'd feel guilty for essentially "letting a sweet old lady down". So instead of being sneaky, she tried simply being blunt;
"So Justine, any tidbits you can tell me about those two fedarales in there? I mean, i'm dying here for something good!"

The woman just smiled and shook her head - something Tiff completely expected.
"Sorry hunny, even if i wanted to tell ya it all i don't know much, they just arrived...."
Tiffany sighed softly before pushing herself up and sitting on the counter-top, something most of the deputies hated but Justine didn't mind. The two would engage in idle chit-chat for a short while before Elis voice crackled through on the intercom system.


Her ears would perk up at the mention of a file, and as Justine walked away from her with it she'd simply stare. However when the woman walked into the conference room Tiff couldn't resist the urge to hop down from the counter and jog over to the now partially open door. But before she could even hear anything Justine popped back outside it and the two nearly ran into one another.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry for running into you like that, you okay!?" the shocked woman would ask, and Tiff would shake her head "yes".
"I just wanted to um, see what was going on in there, ya know....my fault."
The secretary would roll her eyes playfully before grabbing Tiffs hand and attempting to pull her away. "Come on dear, there's nothing either one of us are aloud to hear in there."

Acting quick on her feet Tiffany pulled out her smaller notepad and slid it over towards the conference room door, which was now several feet away thanks to the secretary.
"Oh wait, hold up, i dropped my notepad!" she'd let out, before pulling her hand out of Justines grasp and walking over to retrieve her trusty pad. But instead of picking it up and leaving, Tiffany stayed knelt down on the ground - acting as if she was fiddling through the pages for something, but in reality she was trying to hear what was going on through the still cracked door.


She'd hear Eli mention a bar she was quite familiar with before Justine would whisper for her to "come on". After a deep sigh she'd begin to stand, but without thinking she'd go to use the door, which wasn't fully closed, as support....and stumbled inside the conference room - landing on one knee.

"Shit!" she thought, before swiping her ponytail out of her face and quickly hopping to her feet.
"So um, hey yall! Don't mind me, just um dropped my pad here out my bag and that's all, promise!" she'd ramble, before doing a quick little wave and then running out of the room - shutting the door behind her.

"Damn, damn, damn!" she muttered, as she walked past Justine and towards the front desk.
"Are you okay hun? That fall looked-"
"Oh it was nothing, trust me, i've had worse growing up. I hate to be short but im gonna get out of here hun, just um, thought of somewhere i should be!"
And with that the slightly flustered young woman would fly out the Sheriffs office and across the street into The Observers building.


"Oh hey look who it is, get anything good in those nice little hot pats!?" one of her fellow journalist - the ever piggish Joshua Potter - spat out with a cocky smile. Tiff would simply smile while flipping him off, as she made her way towards Mikes office in the back of the first floor.


"I already know that! I'm sick of hearing the same ol' shit about this-" her boss would suddenly break from yelling into his receiver when she walked in, and would end his call in a much more pleasant tone; "-let me call you back in five minutes okay?"


It wouldn't even take two minutes to go over what she had so far; a self-rundown of the recording, and the small tidbit she had heard from the conference. Tiff would purposely leave out a lot of what she heard on the tape - claiming it to not be as clear as she'd like it to be - since she knew it wouldn't be wise to post the entire report in the local paper, however she gave enough to pacify Mikes frustration - for now.

"Well, i expect a rough draft before i leave this afternoon. Would prefer you get something more juicy to throw in there before you submit it though. Perhaps head over to that bar you heard everyone's favorite sheriff mention? Of course be safe and all.....k?"
Michael wouldn't even wait for a response before picking up his phone again and dialing furiously.

"Yeah okay, sure, i'll be safe." TIff mumbled as she rolled her eyes and strolled out of the crammed office, knowing full well Mikes little safety comment was completely disingenuous, and he cared much more about her just getting him a decent story.








A few minutes and a brisk jog up a flight of stairs later Tiffany was back inside her apartment, and as soon as she hit her door she heard whines coming from inside her place.
"Oh no!" she said, before running inside and making her way towards her bedroom, where alone in the corner, all cooped up in her kennel, was her 5 month old German Sheppard/Rottweiler mixed puppy - Tequila....who she had forgotten to let out before she left.
"Oh im so sorry girl! I have no idea where my head was this morning! I've been a bad mommy haven't I!!"
But as any other puppy, Tequila didn't show any kind of ill-will, she was just happy to be free to act like her normal cheerful over-excited self.

Still feeling bad however, Tiff would sit on the floor and play with her puppy for nearly half an hour before filling up the pups food and water bowl and again leaving.



Unlike most, she was too broke to afford a car, so instead she'd pull her red & white vintage electric-bike outside the Observers front doors along side her, and make sure her messenger bag was tightly secured over her chest before hopping up on the seat and taking off for the edge of town - where Choppers sat on alone in an empty lot.

Going full speed, which on average is about thirty miles per hour, it took Tiff and her little bike 15 minutes to reach the bar.
As usual their were trucks parked in the back of the lot, and bikes parked up front, but seeing as how it was so early there were only a few - compared the usual numbers. Still, this wasn't the best place to write an article, but for some silly reason she was hoping as she wrote a nice addition to her article would just walk in and flop into her lap.





Inside she was able to find a table to herself in the corner, and hoped it was dark enough that the few folks inside would leave her be. However within a minute of her taking off her jacket and getting her notepad and other materials out a pair of bikers would take a seat at her table without even asking.

"Um, Morning boys....is there something i can do for you two?" she'd ask, doing her best to hide her annoyance under a nice tone and a semi-warm smile.
"Well little lady wanna get up there on that bar and do a little dance? That's something you could definitely do for us that we'd be sure to like, right man!?"
The two would share laugh as Tiffany rolled her eyes and began to write despite the two, after muttering out; "You wish"

She knew she was in for a long afternoon in such a place, but she couldn't shake the feeling she might get a lead, so smug comments and utterly rude advances aside, she was gonna sit right there as she wrote her article - despite how much she might wanna leave.
"I refuse to settle on another boring article about search parties! That's something all the state papers are doing. I want something more, something meaningful, and perhaps i'll get it here." Tiff would think to herself as she wrote. "If not, there was always the family of the boy.......i could try to visit them tonight! Sure, they don't appear to be talking much to the state press, but perhaps they'd give a fellow small town girl the time of day...."

After an hours time passed Tiff was more than ready to ditch this hole in the wall. The only thing she's gotten since she arrived was crude remarks, dance requests, and creepy date offers.....all from dudes who looked twice or triple her senior.

"What an utter waste of time!" she snapped under her breath, as she slipped her writing materials back inside her bag.
She had finished two rough drafts for Mark - one including all the Autopsy information ,and the other including only snipits - knowing the latter would likely be the one she presented to him in a short while.

"Hey baby doll, lemme show you the world from my betty sue." one man called out from the corner, before another sitting across from him dimissed his "Betty Sue" as an old rusty dump truck while claiming his much better. It was all the same to Tiffany however, and she quickly pushed her way out of the bar.

Once outside she'd slowly make her way towards the bike rack, sit on a bench in front of it, and simply stare off into the woods at either side of the Bar.
She wasn't quite sure, but she suddenly felt out of it for some reason.....

"Maybe I need to write about happy puppies or kittens......or better yet, go home and play with my own happy puppy."

As soon as the words left Tiffs mouth a loud roar of thunder rung out above her head and a few drops of rain fell on her dejected face.
"Better hurry home before the sky opens up......"

Funny enough her words seemed to be a trigger, for no sooner did she speak them did the sky actually open up.



"Looks like i'm stuck here now....." she whispered after a deep sigh, before flouncing back down on the bench - which was under a covered outside area in the front of bar. However when she spotted a payphone beside her she stood up, put in a quarter, and dialed her boss.

"Hey, Mark.....i'm stuck at Choppers thanks to the rain, but i have your rough drafts finished, so if you can manage to stay in the office until i get there to read 'em, you won't regret it - kay? Bye."



All there was to do now was either go back inside the bar, or stay outside under the roof until the rain stops.........and seeing as how the temperature was cool, and the breeze was actually comforting, Tiff decided to linger outside with a few others, staring out at trees.