The three of them were sitting on sofas in Aunt Leona's living room. Abdullah kept staring at the floor pressing his hands together. He was sitting on a two-seater sofa with his sister. Oscar sat on the couch across from them.
"So what's the bad news?" Oscar asked breaking the silence.
More silence followed his query.
"Salim's…Salim's dead!" Amna cried. She sobbed into the front of her pink sweater.
Oscar's eyes opened in disbelief. "How did this happen?"
Amna didn’t reply. She was too busy crying.
"His body was found lying on our front yard this morning." Abdullah said with his eyes still transfixed on the carpeted floor.
"He was killed!?" Oscar exclaimed.
Abdullah nodded his head. "There was a huge bite mark on his neck. The police say some kind of animal is killing people both inside and outside Martyr Town."
"Oh, Amna. I'm so sorry." Oscar told her.
"Thanks." She wiped away her tears.
Oscar stood up and handed her a tissue from the box on the small table in the center of the sofas.
Suddenly, there was another ring of the doorbell.
Who could that be? Oscar thought.
"I'll be back." Oscar told the shaken siblings and proceeded to the front door.
He opened the door and found two policeman standing outside.
One of them raised his badge. "Good morning. I'm Chief Jeremy and this is Officer Frederick. May we please come in for a moment."
Oscar nodded moving aside to let the policemen inside.
"What's the matter, Officers?" Aunt Leona asked coming out of the kitchen.
"Ms. Leona Kidman I presume." Chief Jeremy greeted.
"Yes?"
"Is this your nephew, Oscar Grant?"
Aunt Leone gave Oscar a worried look. "Yes. Did he do something wrong?"
Abdullah and Amna also came out of the dining room to see what was going on.
"Do you know Mrs. Hayes?" Officer Frederick questioned.
"She owns a flowershop on Fourth Avenue. Lives a couple of blocks from here." Aunt Leona replied.
"She's our neighbor." Amna said.
The officers stared at the two twins.
"We interviewed you two this morning." Chief Jeremy said then shifted his attention back to Aunt Leona. "Mrs. Hayes reported that she had seen Salim Ali with Oscar Grant last night."
Abdullah, Amna, and Aunt Leona gave Oscar bewildered glances. Oscar was speechless.
"Where did she see them together?" Aunt Leona asked.
"Near the front yard of Masood Residence."
Now everyone in the hall was staring at Oscar.
"Salim was murdered!?" Aunt Leona gasped.
"Yes and your nephew is a suspect." Frederick told her.
Chief Jeremy placed a hand on Oscar's shoulder. "Kid, you're coming with us."
"Oscar would never do such a thing!" Aunt Leona exclaimed.
"We were just arguing about something." Oscar said.
"You can tell your side of the story at the police station." The Chief told him.
"Oscar, did you kill Salim?" Amna asked in a low voice.
"No way!"
She marched off to the living room. Oscar turned to his best friend who staring blankly at him.
Officer Frederick opened the front door. A tall, handsome man stood outside wearing a black suit and carrying a suitcase.
"Mr. Gregory." Officer Frederick smiled.
The Chief left Oscar's side and shook Mr. Gregory's hand.
Mr. Gregory was one of the best lawyers in Martyr Town. He also happened to be Aunt Leona's boyfriend. She rushed to his side and embraced him.
"Oh, Gregory. Thank goodness you're here." She told him. "These officers were about to take Oscar to the police station."
Gregory stared at Chief Jeremy. "And why is that?"
"A high school senior was murdered last night."
"Yes, Salim Ali." Mr. Gregory said.
"So-"
"So it was an animal attack. This boy has nothing to do with it."
The Chief turned to Frederick. "Let him go, Fred. We're done here."
The two police officers said goodbye to Mr. Gregory and Aunt Leona then left the house.
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