What Lies Within

"What's that?"

"Some box that showed up on the door."

"Did you see who dropped it off?"

"Yes, but it wasn't a who."

"Whaddya mean, Liza?"

"That's what I mean, Dolion."

"Do you mean it was a thing?"

"Yes."

"What kind of thing?"

"A thing. Just a thing."

"Oh, come on, Liza. What did it look like?"

"It looked like a thing. You know, one of those flying saucer things."

"Saucer? A dish?"

"No, Dolion. Those things. Things that aliens come out of."

"Jesus Christ, Liza. Say it what it is."

"I forget what it's called."

"It's an unidentified flying object."

"Yeah - a UFO."

"So an alien dropped it off?"

"No. It looked like a UFO, but smaller."

"Jesus, how small?"

"I don't know - the size of a toy."

"How am I supposed to know what the size of a toy looks like?"

"Maybe if you paid more attention instead of working so hard before..."

"Before what?"

"Nevermind. I'm gonna open the box."

"Don't, Liza. Could be a bomb."

"Who would bomb us, Dole? We're nothing to nobody."

"You never know, Liza. Could be the Catholics trying to convert us since science rules now."

"That's phooey, Dolion."

"Are you really opening that thing up?"

"It's a box. A heavy box, Dolion."

"Wait, before you do it. Listen if you hear ticking."

"I'm not hearing anything."

"Wait--"

"Shut up. I'm opening it."

"We might die."

"No, we won't. Besides, oh! That's the word! A drone. A drone dropped it off."

"Jeez, Louise."

"Don't go calling out your ex-girlfriend's name."

"I'm not - it's a euphemism. You should care to learn since we're losing our language."

"I don't care. We're all going to die, or something will die eventually..."

"Well?"

"Almost got it. It's heavy, but oof!"

"What is that shiny box?"

"There's a letter here too."

"Well, what's it say, Liza?"

"Hold on just a second. Yelling at me will do you no hurry."

"So?"

"It's uh, it's our daughter."

"Daughter?"

"Yes, Dolion! Our daughter."

"Wait a minute."

"Read it. I need to process this."

"Liza, let me get this right, says here--"

"I know what it says there, Dolion!"

"She's finally home, honey."

"What took them so long, Dolion? And no word except this!"

"Says here that we can contact them at this number."

"Thirty years! Thirty years it took them cops to find our baby girl, and this is. This is all I get."

"She's home."

"How do we know that it's her, Dolion?"

"They've got them technology. Probably identified to her tooth, blood record, or something."

"My baby... my baby. Kidnapped at 5 years old and no word until this."

"Let's put this heavy thing down. Let's call them tomorrow."

* * * * * *

"Boss, I told you. We should have called Mr. and Mrs. Domain."

"Why?"

"Boss, she's upset. She wasn't notified about her daughter's remains being sent to her."

"Didn't someone send a note in advance?"

"You said cold cases like this don't need calls except for a drop off by drones with a letter."

"Wasn't a good idea, huh, Bruno?"

"No, boss. Bad idea. Should I send them to your office?"

"Yeah, better to get the show over with than lead them on with no opening."

* * * * * *

"Mam, Sir. This is Commanding Officer Pellet."

"Pellet? As in a shit pellet?"

"Mam--"

"Liza, calm down."

"No, I won't calm down. You sent my daughter, to me, in an urn with no warning nor explanation of her case!"

"Mam, Sir - I am sorry. Please sit down. Bruno, grab some hot water and tea for us all."

"I don't want no tea. They're all fake like this stupid year."

"Uh, I'm sorry, mam. Bruno, please leave."

"Yes, boss."

"I'm genuinely sorry, mam. I really am. We are changing leadership here, and I took the liberty to hasten the work."

"Hasten? I waited 30 years for news of my baby girl, and this is how I am treated."

"Liza, let the man talk."

"Mam, I'm truly sorry. I did not mean to be insensitive. There was a reason why we chose not to contact you about your daughter's case."

"What about it, Mr. Pellet?"

"Now, forensics had some work done on her bones."

"Get to the point, Mr. Pellet."

"They found that it was blunt force trauma to her skull."

"Why would someone do that? Our baby..."

"Liza, it's okay, dear."

"We found a drawing with a unicorn and rainbows, but the strange thing was, only three names showed up."

"And?"

"Mr. Domain, we believe that you know this individual."

"The picture, Pellet."

"Your daughter drew herself on the unicorn. She wrote her name on top."

"She learned how to write her name early on at age 3. She was a smart girl."

"We know, my dear."

"Mr. Domain, she drew you on one corner and labeled it Daddy. On the other corner was a woman, which we first thought was your initials, Mrs. Domain. But we realized it wasn't."

"Tell me what the initials are, Mr. Pellet."

"They're LGR."

"LGR?"

"Yes, Mr. Domain. LGR."

"Dolion, you know those initials, as do I!"

"Now, wait a minute Liza."

"It all makes sense. You would always come home late that year... Because you were with her."

"Mr. Pellet---Liza, let me explain."

"Who is LGR, Mrs. Domain? It would help us to close this case."

"LGR is his ex-girlfriend. Louisa Grimy Rabbit."

"That's her name?"

"You killed our girl!"

"No, I did not!"

"Bruno!"

"Mam, if you continue to take things from my desk and throw it at your husband, I will have to ask you to leave."

"You don't need to. I'm leaving, and you can keep him! Murderer!"

"Liza, no!"

"Boss!"

"Please escort Mrs. Domain out."

"You asshole! How could you do this?"

"Mrs. Domain, let's go."

"Get your hands off me. Don't you dare come back, Dolion! Don't you dare!"

"Mr. Domain, I believe it would be in your interest to cooperate with us."