#mysterydarcy

[mysterynpcs]

interview: missy watson

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 It was probably for the best that Darcy and Arabella had been paired up to question the cheer coach. Darcy sometimes struggled with first impressions, and what said legitimate inquiry more than showing up to the end of cheer practice with a local journalist? "Do you know Missy Watson?" Darcy asked as they waited for the little huddle that Missy was in to disperse. "Do you think she'll be receptive to questions, or have we been assigned an uphill battle?"

arabella carson Was it the best or worst case scenario to get assigned Missy Watson? They had never been on anything but good terms. Bella was always the darling in her eyes because, much like Dani, she was her favourite teacher! Except she wanted to believe that Bella was locked in some box somewhere and she wasn’t sure if Missy could ever look at her and see different. “I cheered in school,” Ara explained with a shrug. Darcy was one of the few people that didn’t know her for who she was before, and this threatened to ruin it. Her grip around the clipboard tightened as she watched Missy talking to the squad. “I think she wants the same thing we do. Dani home safe.” The question was if she agreed some twenty-something-year-olds conducting their investigation was the way to do that.

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 Darcy processed the news about Arabella cheering in school the same way she processed everything else - with only a brief pause to take in the news before nodding and continuing, business as usual. It was likely better for them that Arabella knew her. Maybe Missy would be more willing to open up.

"Well, considering how the Sheriff's Department has been very little help in that regard..." Darcy drifted off, her meaning clear enough. "Given your connection and your line of work, do you want to start the questioning, or should I? She's not yet acknowledged our presence, so I could try and get her attention?"

arabella carson “I got this,” Arabella flashed a confident smirk over her shoulder to Darcy. As the squad broke away to start running laps for their warmups, she approached the older woman. “I don’t miss that,” she joked, letting her eyes linger for a moment before she worked up the courage to turn and face Missy. “I did miss my favourite teacher.”

There was the urge to tie her hair back and try to hide all of the Manic Panic hair dye, but it was too late for that now. “How are you? How are you… holding up with everything?”

missy watson Missy had clocked the arrival of the two girls from the second they'd stepped foot on her track, but from a distance it had been difficult to figure out who they were. Hearing Bella's voice calling out to her at least helped to identify one, but as they moved closer, Missy still couldn't place the other. "Running is good for you at any age," she reminded Bella, offering a brief smile to acknowledge what had once been one of her favorite students. She did not, however, answer the girl's questions. "Who's your friend?"

arabella carson So this was going to be harder than she thought. Wasn’t the whole point of having connections supposed to make things easier? “This is Darcy,” she explained with a wave of her hand to signal the other girl over. “We were just in the area and thought we’d swing by.” That sounded way better than coming back to the school to question her unofficially, right? But she doesn’t shy away from the topic for too long. “I know she was on your squad and I remember how much you cared about us.” And how annoying it was to reorganise the routine when people dropped out. “I can’t imagine what it’s like for you and the squad.”

missy watson Watching the redhead approach, Missy tried to match the face to the name she was given and came up empty. Bella she was able to have at least some sort of conversation with, but what was the other girl's purpose? She had been hounded via phone and email by bigger newspapers and reporters from some of the closer Ohio stations, TikTok true crime enthusiasts blowing up her school email address. Was this a shitty manipulation to try and get a quote? Had "Darcy" manipulated Bella into this? "I do care," Missy agreed, figuring that she at least owed it to Bella to acknowledge some of her questions. But she had questions of her own too. "Cheerleaders are resilient, but we're all hoping for a positive outcome. Darcy, what do you do?"

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 "Oh," Darcy started, having assumed that Arabella's quick introduction would be enough to get the conversation actually flowing. But for some reason Missy seemed stuck on the fact that she was a stranger. Maybe with a little more information, she'd open up? "I'm a scientist. With Logancorp. Dr. Darcy Warren." Darcy wasn't sure if her next words would help or hurt things, but she was hoping they would finally break the ice. She wasn't great in social settings. "I'm a friend of the family's - the Logans. Dani's told me just how much she loves cheerleading." She looked to Arabella for guidance.

arabella carson “Yeah, we are.” It was almost strange to still lump herself in with the cheerleaders, but she was sure it would be better to Missy’s ears than trying to distance herself from it completely. “She’s someone we can trust.” Didn’t the title of doctor make her sound pretty professional? “We just wanted to talk it out, if you didn’t mind.” It was all too familiar treading lightly around Missy, but Darcy’s glance gave her the courage to speak up. To help her friend or save face? Who really knew. “We’re going to be asking a few questions about Dani.”

missy watson The pieces of the puzzle weren't adding up for Missy. Why would Bella Carson and this random doctor for Logancorp be asking around about Dani? What could they possibly think would be accomplished through a conversation with her? "I'm not saying yes," she warned. And she meant it. "But, what do you want to know, and why do you want to know it?"

arabella carson “We’re helping her brother,” Ara stated. “We’re trying to gather all the necessary information and bring her home.” It wasn’t an ‘if’ anymore. No more ‘trying’. They were figuring this out and bringing Dani Logan home safe. Not saying no was pretty much the best case scenario she could have asked for right now. “You know, parents can kind of suck sometimes and they’re hard to talk to. Sometimes you really need an adult, but they’re so unavailable to you. I… always came to you.” The lamest part was that it wasn’t even manipulation. “Was there anything that she said to you that caused concern?”

missy watson "Bella..." Missy sighed, more out of pity than anything else. She completely understood the girls' desire to get some answers - she wanted them too. But there was really nothing to report. The police had asked the same question, and it hadn't helped them in their search. If the police couldn't figure it out, Missy didn't have much faith in the attempt at vigilante justice playing out in front of her eyes. "I completely understand wanting to help, but I already gave a statement to the Sheriff. And honestly? It wasn't very helpful. Because no, there was nothing."

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 "But had she been acting oddly prior to her disappearance?" Darcy interjected before they could be dismissed, determined to keep the questions coming even if the result was going to be a string of similar answers. "Even if it was something small, like just being on her phone more than usual."

arabella carson Bad talking the police was probably not smart, but the roll of her eyes was a knee-jerk reaction. “I’m sure the Sheriff is doing their best, but they’re also doing things their own way. Maybe a different set of eyes looking at the same clues could find something else.” Were they better than the police? Hell no. Were they going to try? Of course.

missy watson "Should that different set of eyes not be a higher power, like the FBI?" Missy questioned, turning to the redhead specifically to clue her in on how cheerleading worked at Coolsville High. "I have a no phones at practice rule and a zero tolerance policy for nonsense. I'm especially harsh on that during cheer camp to set expectations," she explained. "Dani Logan was a star student and a great cheerleader. She knew the rules and followed them to the letter. The only annoying thing that she did that week was making the squad wait 2 minutes for her to finish a chapter of a book after lunch. She's never given me any trouble, nor has she ever indicated to me that she was in trouble."

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 The answer she received to her question wasn't terribly surprising, given the bits of information she'd been given that had already hinted as much, but at the mention of a book, Darcy's interest was piqued. "A book?" she asked, more towards Arabella than to the cheer coach who had just uttered the word. Did that sound like a possible clue to her too?

arabella carson Arabella’s attention turned to Darcy at the mention of the book, just to be met by the other girl’s eyes already on her. “What was the book?” Worst case scenario, it was a dead end. Best case scenario, a lead. “What about gossip? You remember when Sofia Jackson got dumped by her boyfriend. The entire squad knew about it and talked about it before it was social media official. Have you heard the girls saying anything about her?”

missy watson "Gone Girl," Missy answered, fully aware of the conclusions that could be drawn from such a title. But she knew Dani Logan. Dani Logan would never pull a stunt like that. No, that girl (wherever she was) was in real danger.

"Don't get any crazy theories from that, though. That book has been in one pair of hands or another on the squad all year. It's just unfortunate timing."

And as for the gossip? Missy glanced over her shoulder to take stock of where the squad was in their warmup running, noting who was at the back of the pack because they'd burned out too early before she turned back. It was time to wrap things up.

"Sofia Jackson wasn't the incoming cheer captain. The squad talks, but some positions are immune. If there's something out there being whispered and it hasn't hit social media yet, it's not going to. Now, I appreciate your concern for Dani, but I have to start practice."

arabella carson “Who has the book now?” Writing secret notes in the book was probably unbelievable fiction, but who’s to say it wasn’t worth a shot? “Did Dani finish it and pass it along, or is it still with her things?” Was there any way the could get their hands on it for clues.

Arabella ripped off the bottom corner of her note pad, writing her number down for Missy. Cringing at the way she wrote Bella. “If you hear anything, or remember anything else, please let me know,” she requested, holding paper out to her with the best pageant she could muster. “We, and the Logan’s, would really appreciate it.”

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 Darcy watched as Missy Watson slipped away before their eyes, Arabella's questions going unanswered in favor of the woman blowing a whistle and shouting at the group of kids in front of her. At the very least, she'd taken Arabella's slip of paper and offered a nod. But how promising was that? "Thank you for your time!" Darcy made sure to add before she was out of earshot completely.

Already beginning to think through next steps, she turned to Arabella to offer a nod of her own. "Well," she started. "I guess that's... that. Gone Girl feels like something, at least."

arabella carson “Gone Girl is definitely something,” Arabella stated with a nod. “Passed from girl to girl or not, it’s something. Keeping everyone waiting two minutes to finish a book before cheer is something.”

𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧 Darcy didn't find it so odd to make others wait for you to finish a chapter, especially if the book was good, but just a few minutes at the edge of practice had her understanding Arabella's words to a certain extent. Things seemed... intense. "Let's report back," she suggested, beginning to lead them away without even a glance back. "And add this to the conspiracy board that I agreed to host in my thi-uh, spare room. Maybe this is the key."

#mysterydarcy #mysteryarabella #* feat. darcy #* feat. arabella #* missy