Adrian lay with his eyes close on the reclined car seat as I drove us away from the hotel. Derek had confessed immediately after Adrian had finished talking. Last thing I saw before leaving the bathroom was Cuth putting handcuffs on Derek’s wrists.
“I can’t believe you figured all that out so easily,” I said.
“Wasn’t exactly easy,” he replied. “But it wasn’t difficult either. There was one more thing that helped confirm my suspicion that I didn’t talk about back there.”
“There is?” I asked.
Adrian, eyes still closed, smiled. “Derek said he checked out Carrie McGuire from the hotel last night. Had that been the case, it would have been impossible for her to return to the hotel without Derek noticing who was at the reception desk the entire night. It was obvious he was making that story up. Either that or Carrie had somehow developed spider powers, climbed up the perfectly plain wall with no ledge for support and entered her room via the window after which she had been murdered by someone who had somehow acquired the keys to her room.”
“That’s a lot of somehow on the second theory,” I said with a chuckle.
“Not to mention it’s completely absurd. That’s why I went with the first one.” He chuckled as well.
“Why do you think he murdered her?” I asked.
“Who knows? Money problem? Relationship problem? We’ll find out through Cuth soon enough. For now, all that matters is that we caught him.” He adjusted himself to a more comfortable position just as he had when we had first arrived at the hotel. “By the way, send a message to Rachel and tell her it’s all over.”
“I’m driving, you do it,” I said.
“My mobile’s battery is dead and I don’t feeling like using yours. It’s in the compartment underneath the dashboard and I don’t feel like getting up and taking it out.”
“Oh you lazy bastard,” I muttered. Then I said out loud, “Alright, I’ll do it once we get home. By the way, when are you leaving for the States?”
“Two weeks after new year. The same day Serena is due to arrive here. I won’t get to meet her. Say hi to her from me will you?”
“Sure thing. We’ll be trekking together in February. Just her, Cynthia and me. It’s been a long time since we last did it.”
“I wish I could go with you guys.”
“Don’t worry. We can go after you return.”
“I’ll be returning after seven months. No way am I going to trek in July’s heat. I don’t want to get a heatstroke.” He paused. “Oh yeah, why don’t you ask Antei to go with you?”
“I already did. He told me he already has plans with his college friends for the entire month. So, it’s just going to be us three.”
We drove in silence for a while before finally approaching Adrian’s home.
“I just hope you don’t get in trouble on your trek,” Adrian said, exiting the car.
“Oh don’t say that. Even if we did, I’m sure we could handle it ourselves.”
Adrian closed the door and leaned down to talk to me through the open window. “So, when are we meeting again?”
“On New Year’s eve at the Black Swan. The pub is going to be full so you better get there early,” I said. “Alright, I have to get going. The presentation is still waiting to be finished at home.” I backed my car out of his driveway.
“See you later Peter,” he called.
“See you later Adrian.”
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