CHAPTER 3
When we stepped into the building, we were met with ANOTHER set of police duct tapes. The sitting room was dark and empty in the most gothic way. I never remembered the sitting room looking so huge. The walls of the sitting room were lined with photographs of the important memories of their family. When we got to the middle of the sitting room, Vivienne screamed. There were bloodstains on the whitewashed rug (which was not white anymore).
“It’s Mr. smith`s bloodstains from the gunshot.” I pointed out using my flashlights to take a closer look. “it's kinda creepy that he didn’t know all those years when he sat on this chair that one day, his blood would be an embellishment on the hearthrug.”
“DON’T! We shouldn’t even be standing here. This is a crime scene.” She said petrified.
“Dude, I am pretty sure this whole house IS a crime scene. Just make sure you touch nothing. Kapish?” I answered.
“Kapish it is!” Vivienne agreed as we made our way to the stairs.
When we got upstairs, identifying the study which Mr. Smith spent all his time finalizing all his business transactions and activities was not difficult. It was like his office in his home. The study smelt of cigarettes and liquor.
“He must love his family members. Especially Adrian” I observed as I looked at the walls of the study. It was no different from the sitting room. The pictures of Adrian from when he was born till the present are arranged on the wall. And get this- he left some space for the future.
We went to work immediately. I fished out the small camcorder my dad got me for my birthday from the equipment bag while Vivienne dived behind the drawers, pulling every handle and taking out every file. I didn’t have time to read any of them though but I took pictures of each one of them-a a lot of pictures. As we were working, I secretly thanked myself that we wore gloves if not, well, the FBI would find four interesting sets of fingerprints around the house. That would mean we would spend our senior year in jail.
As we were arranging the files, my eye caught something. I sincerely don’t know why, but I decided to pick the paper up and read it, and thank God I did. It was a letter from Adrian’s uncle, who is Mr. Smith’s brother.
After reading the shocking letter, I stuffed it into my PJs pocket and I pulled Vivienne and we hurried out of there. We pushed our way through the house, careful enough not to accidentally ruin the FBI tapes. When we got to the spot we agreed to meet, we found Evelyn and Iris already worried.
“It’s about time!” she hissed as we walked towards her. She was trying not to sound scared as the tough one in the group. But the truth was that we were all terrified at what we were doing.
“Ten minutes just ended!” I replied rolling my eyes.
“So what did you guys find?” Vivienne asked, “any footprints anywhere or anything?”
“Nope!” Iris replied “the murderer was just too smart about it. He didn’t even leave a button.”
“Guys sorry to interrupt, but this is not the right place to have this conversation.” I reminded as the vision of the bloodstained hearthrug flooded into my memory bloodcurdling me for the very first time.
In the space of five minutes, we found ourselves in my bedroom again. I let out my breath in relief.
“That was a heck of a night,” I said as I hopped into my bed and lay on it staring at the ceiling.
“So what did you guys find?” Evelyn asked, “you guys sure were in there for a long time.”
“Not much, a few business files and all. We only checked the study remember?” Vivienne said.
She took out the camera from the equipment bag and we watched her load the pictures into her laptop. When she was done, we all crowded her at the study table and looked through them. Nothing suspicious was found among the files.
“Weeellll….. It turns out that Mr. Smith was not in any illegal business.” Evelyn said as she stared at the honey manufacturing company logo.
“So Adrian was right.” Iris said disappointedly “Ugh! This is a blind alley. I mean who would want poor Mr. Smith dead?”
“I think I know,” I answered the rhetorical question. “I saw a letter that was just too incriminating to be taken picture of.”
I took out the letter and placed it on the table. I watched them as they turned their attention to it and read it.
“Mr. Smith owed his brother $2000 which he borrowed from him to support his business. Mr. Smith was unable to pay back. Probably he was passing through some financial difficulties when his wife passed on. His brother sent this letter some months later threatening him to pay.” I stated.
“How do you know all this?” Iris asked turning her attention to me.
“I don’t know.” I shrugged “probably instincts.”
“So, Mr. Smith’s brother killed him?” Evelyn realized as she put down the letter stunned.
“We may not be so sure,” Vivienne said with fear. “What if it is just mere coincidence?”
“She is right.” Iris pointed out as she stared into nothingness. “We can’t go around reporting an innocent man to the FBI.”
“Then I can’t believe I am the person saying this,” I said as the whole crew looked at me “we will have to watch him for a few days, you know keep a close eye on him until we see him do something suspicious.”
“That means we have to speak to your father again tomorrow,” Evelyn stated.
We put away the masks, gloves, and any sign that would indicate that we went out, and tried to get some sleep. The room became very quiet and the only thing that was heard was the sounds of steady breathing. Four best friends with a whole lot of mystery ahead of them.
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