Murder

“Dear Aislen, if you receive this, it is because I have been murdered. I know too much, and the people here are ruthless and powerful,” the letter went on and Aislen could almost hear her father’s voice behind the words. “A man makes mistakes. We all make mistakes. I made a mistake with you, and I am sorry for it.

“My mother, your grandmother, always said that people hide their secrets very well. Havermouth’s founding families are the same. They hide their secrets and protect their own. After you left, I was approached by a family whose daughter had had the same sort of troubles that you had. There are a lot of families in town, and a lot of families that have had to leave town, because of boys like the three that you fell in with.

“Some of the girls were raped or blackmailed into having sex, and when their families took the matter to the police, they were told that there was nothing that the police could do for them. They just swept it under the carpet and if the family fought for ju