Seven Innocent Photographs

Photograph taken at 4.30pm on March 28th 2010

A young girl stands behind a cake. The eight candles shine but not as brightly as her smile.  The message on the cake seems redundant. She is holding Pinkie Pie up to the camera. This was never going to be anything but a happy birthday. 

On one side of the girl is her mom and on the other her best friend.  In the background other assorted girls crowd around, along with a few boys from school and her older brother.

The porch itself is decorated with balloons and streamers. You can see the letterbox with three different colour balloons clustered together like a bunch of oversized grapes.

It is too early for flowers.  Some snow still lays in patches on the lawn, the last remnants of the winter just gone. There is the weak glow of sun, enough to remind you of the flourish of spring just around the corner.

In the driveway there is a sensible family SUV.  

Photograph taken at approximately 6pm on March 28th 2010

The Bedroom can not be mistaken.  It has an abundance of pink and purple. The bed is covered with a My Little Pony quilt.

The young girl is sitting on the floor with her best friend. Pinky Pie, Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack complete the circle of friends just like they should at any young girls tea party. Naturally Pinky Pie has pride of place. 

A book called "Exploring Your Garden at Night" rests against the pink lamp on the white sideboard. There is also crumpled gift wrapping lying on the floor. 

Through the window you can just make out a car that was not familiar to anyone at the party. Police would later identify it by its partially visible number plate and the distinctive custom mags.  It belonged to one John Drake, a person who was known by the local police. 

Photograph taken at approximately 10.30am on March 29th 2010

It is the same bedroom as in the previous photo with a few minor differences. It is those differences that are of most interest.  

The book and the wrapping paper are gone from the side table. The bed is unmade and the quilt lies crumpled to one side. Some clothes are neatly laid out on the sideboard which is also occupied by her collection of my little ponies, all except Pinky Pie.  She is conspicuous by her absence.

The window is open and the curtains are billowing. There is snow on the window sill.  There is also some snow on the bedroom floor. 

Various numbers identify the picture and across the top is scrawled the word EVIDENCE. 

Photograph taken at approximately 9.45am on August 16th 2010

The enormous crowd is gathered on the formal steps in front of the red brick and cream facade. The centre of attention is a man hidden by his own jacket hitched over his head.  One man is clearly clenching his fist and another is scuffling with a policeman. Many others are holding assorted placards. 

On the outskirts of the crowd, pristine men and women in suits and holding microphones are facing television cameras with earnest expressions on their faces. Vans with large satellite dishes can be seen out the front along with a police wagon with its rear doors open. 

Between the crowd and the vans you can make out a vintage light post which stands on a large granite slab. On this slab a formal sign proudly declares the building's status, "Supreme Court 207 W. High Street." 

You can also just make out a lady in black at a distance from the rest of the crowd, sitting on the stairs with her face buried in her hands. 

Photograph taken at approximately 8.15pm on January 14th 2012

A small crowd of people are sitting in rows in a dimly lit room.  The focus of their attention is another much brighter room with large glass windows. In this room is something resembling a rather strange shaped hospital bed.  

A man who looks like John Drake is lying on the bed. Two intravenous cannulas hang from his lifeless body, one in each arm. Rather official looking men in white coats surround him.  One of them seems to be signing some kind of document. 

No one seems happy, least of all a lady in the front seat wearing a black dress. 

Photograph taken at approximately 1.45pm on March 28th 2014

The river seems to be flowing quite quickly, despite the tell-tale glint of light reflecting on ice. Some fresh snow still sits lazily on the ground. In other places there is only slush. Between the snow and the slush there is a small tinge of occasional green. The trees on the banks are without leaves and they mourn over the river with their heads bowed. 

An unusual pile of indistinguishable debris is sticking out from under the snow on the bank of the river. Someone has written 'found here' on the photograph and drawn an arrow to the anomaly. 

Just up from the river is a house surrounded by a porch with a letterbox out front. There are no ribbons or balloons decorating the house but there is a sensible family SUV in the driveway. 

Photograph taken at approximately 2pm on March 28th 2014

This is a close up photo of a river bank not unlike the one in the previous photo.  The water is crisp and clean and the remaining snow is a dirty white. 

Sticks and rocks have collected over time on the bank. The bend in the river has exposed several tree roots, a perfect net to catch almost anything that drifts past. As well as debris, snow has gathered here as a refuge from the spring sun. 

In this photo, surrounded by the unmelted snow, you can make out what looks like a frozen pile of pink clothes tangled in the roots. Someone has neatly laid out on the bank various other objects no doubt found in the debris. Closest to the pile of clothes is a weathered lump of plastic, shaped roughly like a horse. Next to that is a torch.

The biggest clue, however, is the last object in the line-up. It is a book bearing a striking resemblance to the one that was resting against the lamp in the second photo. Despite its tattered appearance, if you examined the object in the photograph through a magnifying glass and used a bit of imagination you could just make out the title - "Exploring Your Garden at Night".