Page 84 of Little Buried Secrets

Sitting right in front of me was Sebastian, alongside his parents. As soon as the pastor began talking he’d leaned forward, facing the floor, his hands flattened on both sides of his face like blinders. Given how much of a private person he was, I imagined he was trying to shield everyone from seeing his emotions.

I craned my head back to get a look at the people in the rows behind me, and was met with an elbow jab to my side.

“I know what you’re doing, Georgiana,” my mother whispered. “Now is not the time.”

“Now is the perfect time,” I said.

She shook her head, huffing a sigh loud enough for those around us to hear. Meredith glanced back, glaring at me like we needed to keep quiet. As much as I didn’t appreciate her disdainful expression, she was right. We shouldn’t have been chitchatting while the service was taking place.

The pastor finished his opening remarks and invited Rae to say a few words. She spoke with eloquence, her words so powerful, most in attendance were moved to tears. Next to speak was Bronte who recalled some of her favorite moments she’d had with her sister over the years. Her words were soft and heartfelt at first, but before she finished, they changed to words of anger, as she proclaimed her sister would not die in vain. She closed with a promise, a vow to never to stop looking for her sister’s killer until he was found.

As Bronte returned to her seat, the congregation went quiet, a feeling of awkwardness spreading throughout the chapel. The pastor returned to the pulpit, saying anyone who wanted to speak could now do so. I expected a line to form, but it seemed no one wanted to go first.

My mother leaned over, whispering, “You’re working on the case. A few words, perhaps?”

“I don’t think it’s my place.”

“It’s everyone’s place if you have something to say. Since when are you at a loss for words?”

She’d said it like she’d meant it as a compliment, but it wasn’t one, and though speaking at Margot’s funeral wasn’t on my agenda, I didn’t want the service to end like this—with no other family or friends stepping up to speak on her behalf. To add to the tension I was feeling, I’d never been good at enduring long moments of silence. Every second that passed felt like a minute, and with it a sense of pressure mounting, like it was up to me to do something, even though it wasn’t.

I was about to stand when something unexpected happened. Sebastian got up—the last person I expected to speak on Margot’s behalf. For a moment, I thought his intention had been to exit the chapel without offering any remarks, but I was wrong. He approached the pulpit, standing there for a time, his head bowed, tears flowing. His parents exchanged a worried glance like they were trying to decide if one of them should come to his rescue.

Keeping his head down, Sebastian began speaking.

“I’ve known Margot since we were kids,” he said. “Back then, I always thought she was … well, I didn’t notice her much, to be honest. And even though we had a lot of the same teachers at school, I didn’t say a lot to her over the years. Last year we were assigned to do a science project together. She came over to my house, and as we sat there, and talked, and laughed, I realized I should have gotten to know her a lot earlier. She was a beautiful person, on the inside and out. She loved animals. She loved helping people. She loved making people happy. And for a while, I’d like to believe … to believe … she loved … me.”

He choked out those last words and went quiet. It seemed like he was finished until he didn’t return to his seat. He just stood there. After some time passed, the pastor approached Sebastian. He leaned over, whispered in his ear, and Sebastian whispered back. The pastor nodded and sat back down again.

More silence followed, and then Sebastian looked up for the first time, but he didn’t look into the crowd. He looked at me.

“What happened to Margot should have never happened,” he said. “And I want to say … I need to say that what happened to her was wrong. How could a person hurt her the way they did? How could someone leave her out there, cold, and alone, and scared, because she must have been scared. I’m just so … I’m so angry, and I want to kill the person who did this, because they killed her.”

His eyes closed, and he sagged to the ground. Rae shot up, rushing to his side. Sean, was next, sprinting toward his son. He knelt, cradling Sebastian’s head in his hands as he spoke to him, trying to get him to open his eyes. Soon, others joined in, creating a circle around him.

Gasps and chatter were heard from onlookers wondering what had happened to Sebastian. A few minutes later, Rae told everyone that Sebastian had fainted. He was going to be fine.

From behind, I heard laughter, followed by, “He’s trying hard to make himself look innocent, isn’t he?”

I turned around, glaring at Isaac, who had spoken loud enough for most of the attendees sitting in our section to overhear.

Everything in me told me to remain quiet.

I did not.

“Shut your mouth,” I said. “Show some respect for the family.”

“Oh, hey, Detective,” he said. “Bet you’re shocked to see me here. Bet you hoped they’d lock me up so you could tell all your buddies you solved the case. Get a nice pat on the back. I got three words for ya: Not. Enough. Evidence. Or maybe I should say, no evidence.”

I pictured myself jumping over the pews and tackling him. Harvey noticed the look in my eye, and he reached out, giving my leg a gentle pat.

I took a breath.

And then another.

“If you cared about Margot at all, grow up and don’t disgrace her funeral service any further, Isaac,” I said.

In that moment, my mother realized the Isaac I was talking to was the same Isaac we’d told her about at Sunday dinner. She turned, eyes narrowed as she said, “Young man, you are out of order. If you do not shut your trap this moment, I will have you removed from the building.”

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