What: A phone call
Who: Robin and Nancy @nancydrewheeler
Robin chewed on the end of her pen, the plastic digging into her gums. It was a nervous habit, one sheβd picked up during particularly stressful band practices, and right now, stress was radiating off her in waves. Eddie had just stopped by, a whirlwind of energy as usual, but his visit had only amplified the unsettling feeling twisting in her gut. Now, alone with her thoughts, she felt uneasy. She needed to get ahold of Nancy to make sense of this mess. But getting ahold of her was proving to be more difficult than cracking a Russian code.
Karen Wheeler. A murderer. The words churned in Robin's mind, a bizarre headline ripped straight from a conspiracy tabloid. The idea of such a seemingly normal and calm woman being capable of such violence didnβt sit right with her. Not at all. Earlier, before Eddie showed up, she'd tried calling the Wheelers' residence, letting the phone ring until her neck ached from holding it against her shoulder, only to be met with the hollow drone of the dial tone, and the voice mail lady talking her ear off. Maybe Nancy was out, maybe she was avoiding the calls, maybe she was in custody too? Robin shoved the βmaybesβ aside, she needed answers, and she needed them quick.
Taking a deep breath, she picked up the phone again, her fingers twitching slightly as she punched in the familiar number. Each ring felt like a hammer blow to her chest. Please pick up, please pick up, please pick upβ¦
And then, the sound of the phone clicking off the receiver could be heard. βNancy? Is that you?β She asked immediately.
Life hadn't been so bleak around the Wheeler home in a long time. It was starting to get to Nancy, who'd been trying to avoid going into work as much as she could while the editors still found it funny to stick plastic spiders on her desk and deem her mother a black widow. She'd found nothing amongst Jonathan's photos to help her mother's case, leaving Nancy to have riddled the notebook she was supposed to be using for work with ideas for ground to cover as she began her own investigation. If the police weren't going to act quickly to clear Karen Wheeler's name, she was just going to have to do it herself.
It was now the fourth time today Nancy called her brother's name to get the phone, having only gotten Mike to the phone once successfully to answer a call from their father. The line had never been busier, and their mother had simply instructed that if it was so important, the caller would simply leave a voicemail. But, with the hope that someone might have information to give, Nancy couldn't let any call go unanswered. Time was ticking, and if she couldn't find another suspect soon, her mother would be in handcuffs before she knew it.
With a sigh, she rolled off her bed, shuffling down the stairs to pick up the phone on the kitchen wall. "Wheeler residence, this is--" she started, only to be cut off by a frantic voice on the other end. "Robin, is that you?" Nancy's voice turned in confusion, the call an unexpected one. "Yeah, it's me--it's Nancy. Are you okay? You sound β¦ panicked."
Robin's shoulders slumped downward with relief at the sound of Nancy's voice, but the brief moment of comfort was quickly overshadowed by the urgency of the situation. "Are you okay?" Robin asked, pacing the length of her little office space. "Why is the news trying to frame your mother as some horrible black widow murderer? Nancy, what's going on? I need the full story, like, yesterday. Because Iβve met your mom and thereβs no way she would ever kill someone, this has to be fake-" She stated on and on.
Maybe she was blabbing a bit too quickly, but she was clearly concerned. Robin had always been like this, her mouth moved before she could process the word waterfall flowing out. It was often a point of annoyance for her fellow class mates growing up, and Robin had always suspected that it annoyed Nancy as well in the few times they had interacted without Steve or Jonathan around, but she could never prove it.
While talking, Robinβs eyes had fixed on the screen, catching yet another news report about the incident at The Wheeler home. What had happened at that barbecue? The one Robin had worried about showing up to due to how little time her and the other woman in their little friend group spent together. She had never quite felt as close to Nancy as she did with Steve or Eddie, perhaps her not showing up had been a massive mistake.
