My name is Leah Ann James. I’m 16, my birthday is today July 11TH. I live in Windsor, California. I’m a straight A student I will be a junior in the upcoming year. I have a 47 year old mother, and an 18 year old brother and my father would be 48 but he died of lung cancer two days before my 13th birthday. My brother lives on campus of California State University, So most of the time it’s just my mom and i. Our house is two floors, it has 4 bedrooms, and it has an attached two car garage where my mom and I keep our cars. Our house is white with dark blue shutters. We have a sparkly sliding glass door off the huge dining room which opens to a 10 person hot tub and a 3-8 foot in ground pool. We have a huge yard and a 100 square foot red barn where we keep most of our storage. Next to the barn is a giant guest house.

When I was 6 years old I started kindergarten. On my first day I met two girls who livde on my road they were both 6 as well, their names were Lucy and Rosie. We became inseparable we went everywhere together, if one family went on a vacation the other two girls went with them. We spent all of our birthdays together and almost every holiday. We’ve always been on a little bit on the crazy side much like sisters, a lot of people mistake us for sisters because of how close we are.
My family has a huge guest house, two floors 3 rooms. The guest house has a huge island kitchen surrounded by stools. A huge living room with a couch, a love seat, a recliner, and a little porch where we had a little seating area. On Lucy’s 11th birthday our parents talked and agreed that us girls were old enough to stay by ourselves for a night. We all claimed a bedroom which we use for every sleep over even now. We have sleep overs almost once a week or sometimes more. Every slumber party was great. We would have dance parties, food fights then have a blast cleaning it up.
I knew today was going to be remembered but I didn’t think it would be remembered the way it was. I woke up at 7:47 in the morning to my best friends jumping on my bed with a cake and telling me to hurry up. I got dressed and walked outside to a brand new car. My mom gave me the keys and the girls and I went get ice cream for breakfast and go shopping. We got back and had an actual breakfast which consisted of fruity pebbles and bacon around the island, just like any other sleep over. We then sat on the patio, and talked for hours. After we ate sloppy-Joes by the pool and then went swimming. After the swim my mom made us dinner then we sat in the hot tub for a little bit. After the hot tub we put our hair up in messy buns and the most comfortable pajamas we owned. Lucy popped 5 bags of popcorn, Rosie Put chips in a bowl and a bunch of candy in another. I melted a quart of butter and put chocolate syrup in every bag of popcorn as it was being put in the bowl. After we had all the food on the coffee table we started the movie. Tonight was my pick so we watched a comedy. Lucy’s favorite was romantic, Rosie’s was scary and I’ve always loved the comedies. We all squeezed on to the couch and watched the movie. After the movie we went to our rooms and went to bed. Tonight was perfect.
I woke up around 8:30 in the morning got in the shower put on my favorite tank top and shorts with my bathing suit under it knowing we were going to swim later, it is the heat of July. I walked downstairs as Rosie was finishing the bacon as I got out the milk, cereals, and bowls. We sat around the island catching up on all the gossip. Rosie said she woke up around 8 and she hadn’t seen Lucy even though usually she’s up an hour before we are. We walked to her bedroom knocked on her door and she didn’t answer. Rosie and I gave each other a strange look as we opened the door. She was gone. She never just leaves she normally tells us before she goes anywhere. We went in my house to see if my mom had seen her and when she said no we called Rosie and Lucy’s parents No one had seen her. Rosie and I got really worried about her we decided to go back to the guest house in case she came back. After an hour my hope faded, after another hour Rosie and I looked at each other and broke down into tears, our lives were shattered forever. We called the cops and they said we had to wait 24 hours before they could do anything. Lucy and Rosie’s parents stayed in our guest house while Rosie and I stayed in my room. Our parents wanted us together in case we got news, no one wanted to be alone anyways.
Rosie and I woke up to the cops knocking on my door and they didn’t have any good news. That morning everyone was asked many questions. I felt like I was in shock I couldn’t think straight. Our parents stayed home with Rosie and I for about a week then we had to get back to reality. Whenever we left the house, everyone stared at us and then they showed us the papers. Lucy was the headline over and over again. We all just wanted to know where she was.
After the first week Rosie’s and Lucy’s family went home. A year passed we never heard anything about Lucy. Rosie and I didn’t have any slumber parties. School was boring, we had just started our senior year but it wasn’t right. We used to be the coolest girls in school but even though everyone wanted to replace Lucy or go out with us we just couldn’t. We both just wanted Lucy back. Life just wasn’t the same without her.
I woke up at 6 in the morning with a loud knocking on the door. It was the cops and Lucy’s parents. They found her body in a field behind her house. We were all questioned again and as we waited for the autopsy. She was murdered but how, why and by who?
When we got the autopsy it said she was killed with a knife. In other words she was stabbed to death. They knew the type of knife but wouldn’t tell any of us. They searched everything Rosie’s, Lucy’s and my family owned and didn’t find the murder weapon. Rosie and I were both sickened that they would ever think that one of us could have killed her. We still wanted the answers we weren’t getting, we wanted to know who killed Lucy and why.
For the first time in what felt like forever, Rosie and I went to a nearby city called Roseland California. We went to get a cup of coffee and just get away. When I got there I realized we hadn’t been there since we came with Lucy to buy Homecoming dresses our sophomore year. We all picked out a dress. Lucy’s was the prettiest but unless you had a nearly perfect figure you couldn’t pull it off. Her dress was kind of short, strapless and Bright red. Lucy had gorgeous curly blond hair the cascaded down her back and had silver dazzling shoes she was beautiful. Rosie’s phone started ringing which pulled me out of the memory. She told me it was Lucy’s mom we both started hoping for the best but in reality we just feared the worst. Once Rosie got off the phone she told me that tomorrow Lucy’s mom was cleaning out Lucy’s old room and she wanted Rosie and I to help her.
We arrived at Lucy’s house around 9 in the morning. Her parents opened the door and greeted us with pancakes and bacon. The breakfast we had at their house every time we ate breakfast there. The house looked just as it always had not one thing had been moved. Her father asked to talk to us alone for a minute her mom said ok she would meet us upstairs in Lucy’s room when we were finished. Her dad was telling us how hard it must be on us and how he and his wife are handling her death. The best thing about was he always told us truth straight forward. He told us that if his wife started getting to upset to ask her about something else go, do something else or just send her down stairs for a little while. We agreed and he told us to do the same for each other then we headed up stairs.
The room made it look like Lucy had never left. Her mom got boxes and said to start with the tons of clothes and she would go through all the drawers and little places in her room. She said if we saw any clothes we liked that we could take them. Rosie and I each took a dress not that we would ever wear them but it made her mom happy. It didn’t take long for us to all need a break I mean we all loved her so much, It was just so sad cleaning out her things.
We spent all day at their house then they treated us to dinner at a little town restaurant. Dinner was pretty quiet until the end when they told us that Lucy’s funeral would start Saturday for visitation and the service Sunday. They wanted us to pick out her outfit help them arrange pictures and then asked that we sat next to them in the service. We agreed then headed home.
Before we went home I asked Rosie if she might want to spend the night in the guest house sometime, she said that would be great. We both knew it would be weird without Lucy but we agreed we needed to at least try to move on with our lives. Not forget her but do fun things again. I knew I had to eventually so why not start now? We decided on tomorrow.
Rosie showed up at around 10 in the morning and we went to town and saw a movie then went out to lunch. We talked about school and our families. When we got to the guest house we just kind of sat there not knowing what to say. We decided to look at pictures of the 3 of us from when we were little to the night of what we now referred to as “The Incident.” We laughed at some of the crazy ones. It made us remember her and have fun doing it.
Leah, I need to tell you something. What is it Rosie? I think I know who killed Lucy she said with a very serious face. Rosie! Who? Well you know how she told us that we needed to lock the door she said the new officer scared her. At the ceremony she was acting really weird and I think it could be him. Rosie, how come you never told me?! I didn’t remembered any of it until we walked in the house she said sadly. We need to tell someone but I just don’t know who. If we told her parents they would go to the cops but he is on the force. Leah, lets tell your mom she’s willing to listen without action. I said Okay we will tell her tomorrow. My brother is in town until tomorrow and even though he’s really supportive he loved Lucy like a sister too. He may not go to the force but maybe the new cop’s house, we can wait until he leaves tomorrow.
We woke up had cereal, my brother Sean came in and told us goodbye gave us hugs and said he would talk to us soon. We heard his car pull out and knew it was time. My brother had been gone an hour when we decided to go in the house. We were both scared we were shaking we both knew the other one of us wanted to cry but we stayed strong. Mom, Rosie and I need to talk to you. She came in crying and screaming in pain. We finally got her settled down when she told us that my brother had been murdered. She told us that someone was waiting in the dorm when he got home and killed him the same way Lucy was killed. Rosie and I just started crying. Mom, I said through the tears. I think I know who did it.
What?! She screamed. Well if it’s the same person we think it’s the new cop, Officer Petty. Why would you think that mom said with some curiosity in her voice? Well at our last sleep over she said not to forget to lock the door because she was scared of the new officer. The ceremony when he was introduced she was acting weird and he kept shooting her glares. We need to go to the cops she said in a monotone voice. Mom, how do we go to the cops if he’s there?
Well Leah we will just sit back and wait a while and eventually we will have a plan. Ok, mom but if anyone else we care about gets hurt we are going to the cops. We can’t wait anymore. I know Leah we will don’t worry. I know it will be a risk but we can’t lose anyone else. How about we wait a week. We all agreed and I drove Rosie home. Good night Rosie try to sleep even though neither of us had slept since Lucy disappeared.
It’s our senior year I had a week to write an essay about an experience I’ve overcome or am still coping with. That subject was easy it was Lucy and Sean. In order to get into California State University. I had wanted to get into CSU since I was 10 years old. With all the Lucy stuff and Sean stuff I had been too distracted to even begin to start writing. It was a Saturday around 7 in the morning. I had my laptop and a bowl of cereal and started typing.
It had been about a month since anything happened. We just assumed that as long as we didn’t say anything he wouldn’t do anything. It had been about an hour since I started typing when I heard my phone ring. It was Rosie through her tears I heard her say, can you and your mom come over right away. I tried to put the worst thoughts too the back of my mind but that was hard.
Lucy was an only child but Rosie and I both had brothers. Rosie’s brother Tracy was three years younger than she was. Just like my brother was like Rosie’s brother, Rosie’s was mine. I was afraid of what I might be hearing when I walked into Rosie’s house.
As I walked into Rosie’s house I heard Rosie her mother and father all crying. Rosie asked my mom and I to follow her upstairs. When we got up the stairs she started telling us what happened. She said last night her brother went with his friend Luca to the movies. Luca’s mom was going to drop him off at around 10. It rolled around to about 11 and I got kind of worried so I texted Luca and asked where they were at. He told me the new cop picked him up at 9:30. When I finally woke up around 8 my mom and dad told me that they found Travis’s body. Travis was killed the same way Lucy and Sean were. I told her and my mom it was time to turn him in.
It was now 8:30, the sun started to show through the clouds, a little more than usual in the middle of the summer, Rosie said it was a sign from Sean, Lucy and Travis telling us it was time to turn him in and to not wait any longer. We decided we would go that afternoon.
My mom and I went back home, we told Rosie we would pick her up at one we would go out to lunch then to the station. We all thought that lunch would help us relax until we got “the call.” We were all in the car and my phone started ringing and I answered it in a weird robotic male voice I was told to put it on speaker. “You rat me out and it’ll be the last thing you do.” I was terrified, I felt my stomach twist into knots. We all just sat there we didn’t know what to do I mean we didn’t really have evidence, if they didn’t lock him up right away he would try to shut us up.
When we got to lunch we all just sat there. None of us talked because we didn’t know what to say. Finally I said we should do it anyways, if we did we may be hurt but the rest of Windsor would be safe. None of us had an appetite because of how scared we were so we all just decided to go get it over with.
We walked in and told the clerk we needed to talk to someone, she sent us to a room and told us someone would be in momentarily. To our dismay it was officer Dixon the one we were afraid of. He asked why we were there and I asked if we could talk to someone else. The officer told us we would have to wait for an hour. I said we would wait but we would wait right here, I didn’t tell him that it was because we were afraid to leave.
Hi ladies I’m Officer Perry, how can we assist you today? Before I even thought about what I was doing, I started saying how we think we knew who killed Lucy, Sean and Travis. Who do you think did it? We think it was officer Dixon. Ladies that’s not possible, Officer I know you probably don’t believe us but we are prepared to tell you why you should. Ok, ladies tell me why you think this. The day of his ceremony Lucy acted really weird, the night of our first slumber party after he came she said to lock the doors because she was afraid of him, when we told my mom this theory my brother was killed and when Travis was killed his friend said he got in a car with officer Dixon. Ladies that is good reasoning but, there is no way it is him. Why is there no way I said with a hint of anger in my voice? I’m not supposed to tell anyone this but about 20 minutes ago officer Dixon was killed the same way as your friend and family members. We sat there in shock.
It was nearly one in the morning the day after, not that I had slept at all that night but I tried. My phone started to ring pulling me out of my attempt to sleep, it was Rosie. Rosie told me to meet her outside she had to tell me something, I said okay I would be there in a minute. I wrapped up in my blanket and walked outside. When I met her outside I told her we could talk in the guest house if she wanted and she said ok but I had to hear her out. Once we got inside she told me I had to hear her out and try to stalk calm. I said ok knowing she would do the same for me but I was a little worried. We sat down and she said, I did it.
I asked her what it is she did as the tears started trickling down her face. Leah, I had to she pleaded. In a stern voice I said you had to what? I killed her. The three words that scared me to my very core. I just kind of collapsed to the floor and started crying. After a couple of minutes I pulled myself together and I was a little afraid of her now. Rosie why would you do that I yelled and she started crying more. I had to she said as her voice was trembling, someone told me that if I didn’t they would kill all of our families, yours, mine, Lucy’s. I felt that I didn’t have a choice. Is that who killed Sean, Travis, and officer Dixon? Yes Leah and we are next.
Rosie! We have to tell someone I was terrified, and I was sure she could hear it in my voice. I want to she said but I just can’t, as she started crying over and over again shouting sorry. Who is it?! I was upset I didn’t know I mean we were best friends, how cold she not tell me. It as who Rosie?! Tell me or I call the cops. It was… Spit it out Rosie I snapped at her. It was Lucy’s dad. I was terrified, with all the trips we went with him and now he’s a murderer, he wanted his own daughter dead. I will tell the cops, that way you didn’t. Be ready to be asked questions. Okay she said with terror filled in her eyes.
I told my mom I was going for a drive and would be back soon, she was asleep so she didn’t really hear the terror in my voice. I got to the police station at about 2 am and told them everything Rosie told me. They sent two cop cars out to get the both of them and they told me to go home. When I got home I told mom to call Rosie’s parents and Lucy’s mom so I could explain everything. When they got there I told them everything I knew and what I thought. They were all crying by the end especially Lucy’s mom, her husband killed his own daughter.
After another two hours of tears and talking Rosie was dropped off at my house by a cop. When she came in she told us that the officer understood it was self-defense and had to do it. Lucy had to complete 100 hours of community service but other than that was free to go. She told us that Lucy’s dad was set to have a trial in three days. We all said we would attend and Rosie, Lucy’s mom and I would sit together with the rest of our families. It was a stressful three days, we all just thought about the trial and that was all that was on TV.
Rosie and I sat together as planned he was questioned for a while then they called me to the stand. It was terrifying they asked if I had ever seen him hit her or be really aggressive with her and I said not that I had ever seen. Rosie was asked far more questions than I was and they made her breakdown in tars and everything came out in a jumble. They also asked his wife some questions and she just looked off in the distance traumatized as she was talking. She finally went back to her seat and started to weep. The jury went back and talked so when they got back they asked Rosie, Lucy’s mom and I to stand and come forward. They told us that he was sentenced to life and we all started hugging and crying knowing we finally got justice.
The day after Rosie and I were checking the mail at the same time 4:17 like we had been since the 1st grade and we both started screaming. We had both got accepted into California State University. Our lives needed to move on and though it was hard it was time. The only thing we wanted to know is Why he did it.