After talking to the detective, I got ready for bed and call my mother, who sure as hell was ready to talk to me. She was a naturally involved woman who enjoyed being part of my business. I’d come to sort of accepting it. But I still loathe that about her.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzurO8delr 維尼
Before I could call her, my phone vibrated, signalling that a call was coming in. Without checking who was calling me; I picked it up and answered the call; I regretted it immediately. I vowed to always check who was calling before I answered.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyhEEOXcpm 維尼
“OMG! Angie! I just saw!” Lauren exclaimed everything. I held in a groan. I should have checked.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡbRPyEvwaSg 維尼
“What?” I asked. She was the one usually sounding bored, but today, I was playing the role. And I thought I was doing well, but that could be because I was covering up my annoyance with boredom.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡfwhKpswLjF 維尼
“Oh! The news about the body.” She said, sounding offended I was so slow to catch on. “Did you recognise her immediately? They put out there that it was Celine Ramroth. The Celine Ramroth.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jlYmoRIqj 維尼
“They did?” I doubted it was a decision law enforcement had all agreed upon. Such a decision meant way too much media attention from other cities and countries too.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOyu8slIs9 維尼
“Yes!” She now sounded exasperated. “I wonder what she was wearing.” She clicked her tongue in a thoughtful way, like that was an important detail she should have known. “Anyway, why didn’t you call me immediately about this, Angela? Like, aren’t I your best friend or something?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4BOi5G4Wn 維尼
Wait, what? I wanted to laugh. This was hilarious. Was she out there thinking she was my best friend? My best friend was my mother. That thought alone had my face flushing. So… I was weird and had no friends. When I realised Lauren was still waiting for an answer, I said;8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMROBXGgdl 維尼
“Oh. It’s because… I didn’t have the time. And I don’t know much about it at all..” I don’t think I sounded convincing enough.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6OzVpuLVAd 維尼
“Whatever.” She said, annoyed. “Don’t tell me you haven’t been doing a little sleuthing of your own. Like, don’t you want to find out what happened to her?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡb6eyKD9Vzv 維尼
“I know what happened to her. She was strangled to death.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡRJUoDbqzwQ 維尼
“I mean, don’t you wanna know who did it to her? I thought that was the whole point of a murder?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡaxV40BlpEz 維尼
“The whole point of a murder investigation, Lauren. I’m sure this killer doesn’t want to be found, so it isn’t the point of the murder.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡawtOjunFXS 維尼
“Okay, okay. Don’t come for me. I only thought…”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZtezn6Chr 維尼
“Yeah. It was great talking to you, Lauren. I gotta go. I’ll call you after?” That was my pleasant way of telling her I didn’t want to talk to her anymore and wouldn’t be calling her at all after.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoGEL2TJ3m 維尼
After I hung up on Lauren, I went back to the kitchen and made myself a cup of tea. I knew I wouldn’t be going to sleep soon. The case gnawed on my mind the whole time I was making tea and would continue gnawing at me throughout the night.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡM4nn2JKrm7 維尼
When I’d told her they arrested Philip, her face had fallen. She’d looked saddened and depressed for him, almost sorry for him. But her eyes held no emotion. She had a blank face once you looked past her facade; from this reaction, I knew I had a lead. I knew who to look into. Tanya was a liar. A terrible one at that, but still a convincing liar if you looked at her as a victim of bullies in town. This line of thinking brought me back to the piece of paper I’d found in her bathroom.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡoGSJ9XTcrX 維尼
I’d changed out of my clothes by now so I made my tea and took it to my room where it rummaged through my pockets until I found it. It was in pretty terrible shape and crumpled up, luckily not torn. I opened it and smoothed it out. The message it contained left me confused. It wasn’t a straightforward note, not enough to incriminate anyone… yet.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡOv7sQmbQW8 維尼
Picking up my phone, I dialled the detective’s number; he would have been asleep if he were a normal person;8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2tn1AeoV2h 維尼
“Angela.” He said. “Another thought you’ve had?” At least he didn’t sound like he’d been asleep; a teeny-weeny bit annoyed with me, but I could take that.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpaEajDipj 維尼
“Well, yes. So today, I did a little snooping in Tanya’s bathroom.” I realised how idiotic that sounded as soon out loud. Lucas gave a low chuckle that did nothing in the form of boosting my ego and confidence; sprained it. “I don’t know what I was looking for in her bathroom, but I had to, you see?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡ14jbftykbB 維尼
“No, I see nothing.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡiloEQz3KIb 維尼
“Yeah, whatever. Point is, while I was doing this; I found this piece of paper in her bathroom. It’s a note. Do you wanna hear it?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡIw1d6M8F8N 維尼
“No, I want to hear it.” His sarcasm made my head spin. The exhaustion was finally kicking in, and I could feel it. “Is it typed or handwritten?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡRiCDYAI4aL 維尼
“Handwritten.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡcZvbflYuZs 維尼
“Well, that’s good. I can ask someone to compare the handwriting or something.” He let out a shaky breath. “Did you touch it?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0v1gVYoGoO 維尼
“Of course, I didn’t. I mean, how else would I have picked it up, pocketed it, and been reading it?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡkdI9g77gjF 維尼
“Angela.” Something I’d said irritated him. What could it be? “That means you ruined evidence.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡzka3anaKu5 維尼
“I’m not sure I follow,” I said. I didn’t get it at all. I had destroyed no evidence, the paper was still intact and I, I had found it. And he had the audacity to blame me for what? “Destroying what evidence exactly?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbm4arj1kj 維尼
“There could have been fingerprints on it, and now yours are on it too.” He intoned as if trying to explain geometry to a three-year-old. Which he must have felt like he was doing because I still didn’t follow him at all. I could be intelligent, then again, I could be an utter disappointment mentally.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡkN01Q5LDBi 維尼
“And? Do the fingerprint thing and then ignore my fingerprints…” I said. That sounded smart to me. If the problem was that my fingerprints were on the piece of paper, then he could do subtraction and ignore them.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡzgrDGESVqO 維尼
“Yeah. It may sound simple, but it isn’t. Your touching the note would have destroyed some fingerprints. Which means the best we can do now could be a bunch of partial fingerprints… and yours.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡoVApvvuH8c 維尼
Then I realized, so this was a big deal. I could almost see how big the mess I’d made was. I had made a bigger mess of this than I’d intended. “I’m sorry, Lucas, I didn’t know.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡQhrgLgVJuo 維尼
“And besides, how will I explain under what circumstances you found the note?” He was back to his irritated self. “That could jeopardize my job, Angie.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡGULpTtcLaO 維尼
“Don’t explain then. Like, why do you have to?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡqVC6HawOqp 維尼
“Because of records.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡih542MbvXJ 維尼
“Oh.” I was speechless now. “Well, say you found it. Or I was consulting, or it was an accident that I found it.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcZdB7Yq2k 維尼
He said nothing for a few seconds to give himself cool off time. “Thanks, Angela. I’ll see you tomorrow. And please, don’t call me tonight anymore.” He chuckled to show he wasn’t mad. “I’m going to sleep now.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡYiC9kh1ynt 維尼
“Oh, okay. That’s only if I go to sleep and I don’t remember something that happened during the day.” I said. I was rambling and stopped. “Good night.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡbeRub4wFYb 維尼
“Does it say anything on the back?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡRk0HtTMKyI 維尼
“I didn’t look.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡUlLRyrlh8F 維尼
" Wait! Can you read it out for me?”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡIbtKXTl14Z 維尼
“Uh…” I stammered and fumbled around my bed for the stupid note. I’d placed it down for a second, and now it was gone. I mumbled something incoherent as I looked around some more. “Success! Finally! It says; The beach, tonight.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡlnb76DKceU 維尼
“Sounds suspicious, doesn’t it?” His unconvinced voice annoyed me. How could he downplay all my efforts like that? I’d risked a ‘friend’ for this.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPO09rD1Ma 維尼
“At least pretend to be interested. I went to great pains to find this thing, and your being sarcastic about it isn’t making my day feel any less bad.” I ranted.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡFqX61xGJty 維尼
“Good night, Angela.” I could hear him shake his head and chuckle.8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡlFZcAuF7I7 維尼
“Yeah, whatever.”8964 copyright protection21ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSBoOZUDpf 維尼
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