Beloved

Chapter 10: Detectives for Hire

As Rebecca rushed after Louise, I trailed behind her. Despite the fact that I wasn't scared of dead bodies, I could feel a shroud of timidness covering me.

As soon as we reached to Marie's room, Rebecca shrieked in horror. Her older sister's eyes were wide open. She laid on the floor in an awkward position. A huge blood wound seeped out of her red night gown, and her head was facing towards us. Her hair was tossled like a tumbleweed.

"Did you call the police?" I asked Louise. She looked at me with worried eyes then nodded. "They should be coming right away." Another girl with ash brown hair scrambled towards us.

"What's going on?" she asked. "I heard screaming-" As the girl stared at the dead Marie, she nearly fainted. "Louise called the police," I reassured, walking towards the body. "For now, we all need to calm down."

Rebecca's eyes widened as she saw me take out my phone and take pictures of her dead sister. "Does Marie have any friends or enemies?" I asked. "No enemies," Rebecca insisted. "She is a very popular girl, the only issues that Marie has is with the football league."

I snapped a picture of Marie's wound and searched for another injury. "What are the boys names?" I asked. "Why are taking photos of Marie?" Louise screeched. "Isn't it that the police's job-"

"Rebecca, I need the names of the boys." I insisted, cutting Louise off. "Why am I asking this, none of your business, but in order to find the murderer who killed your sister and Michael, you need to tell me these things."

Rebecca furiously shook her head. "I don't know their names, but I do have Marie's old yearbooks. I think some of them attend to her classes." "I want you to make a couple of copies of the pages then send them to me," I instructed. "Tell the Computer Tech teacher that it is for a yearbook project."

She gave me a firm nod then raced out of Marie's dorm room. Louise was wiping away her tears looking up at me as if I was an abusive mother.

"What can I do?" Louise asked. The girl with ash brown hair nodded along with her. I took a deep breath then let out a sigh. "You are going to tell no one what I am doing," I said, giving them a sincere stare.

"Not to your teachers, your roommates, and even the police. Just show the cops that you found the body and tell them what you saw and heard."

Both of the girls nodded. "Basically," I added. "Just tell them everything, except what I am doing." I quickly dialed Ben's phone number then walked out of the dorm room to get some peace and quiet.

As I reached to the showers, I turned one of them on then waited impatiently for Ben to pick up. "Hello?" Ben asked. "Hey," I answered. "It's me, Cole." "You do know it's like, midnight?" Ben asked in an annoyed tone.

"There's been another body," I explained. "But this time, it's Rebecca's older sister, Marie." "Rebecca has an older sister?" Ben asked in wonder. I rolled my eyes then told him to stay focus.

"Have you found anything unusual in Michael's body?" I asked suddenly. "Other than the glass shards behind his back," Ben explained. "I have found out that Party Boy has been beaten to a pulp. My guess is that it couldn't be done by a person, maybe two or more."

My bare feet became soaked in steaming, hot water. I took a couple of steps back then clutched the phone to my ear. "What about the ring?" I whispered in a hushed voice. "There are traces of dirt and blood," Ben said. "However, when I snuck into the autopsy room, the ring is gone."

"It's gone?" I hissed. Another pained sigh escaped into the speaker. "Some idiot must have came into the room before me," Ben added. "Do you have anymore photos of the body?" "Yeah," I answered. "I'll give them to you as soon as I can."

"Anything else?" Ben asked. "Rebecca says that the murderer might be some of the football players in Princeton," I added. "She's going to give me copies of the photos."

"I'll call you as soon as I find anything," Ben insisted. "You too," I agreed. "Goodbye." "I love you," Ben replied. I paused for a moment then brushed my hair away from my eyes. A smile appeared on my lips.

"I love you too," I whispered. "Goodbye." Ben whispered back. After I hang up the phone, I turned off the showers then stuffed my phone into my pocket. Water slapped on the hems of my pants as I walked out of the showers and walked back to my dorm.

Sliding the key card into the slot, I opened the door and sprang onto my bed. Two rooms ahead of me, I hear walkie-talkie noises and footsteps. About time, I grumbled to myself.

I threw my blanket over my body then stared at the wall. I waited until the police disappeared then pressed my body against the wall.

Rebecca opened the door, handed me the black and white photos, and fell on her bed. "Did they bought the story?" I asked directly. "Yeah," Rebecca answered. "What else?" I asked expectantly. "Did the girls-" "They followed your strategy," she interrupted. "The police is still investigating Marie's room, for now, they let us go to bed."

I placed the photos onto the desk drawer then turned off the lights. "Thank you," I said in the darkness. "For helping me." "No problem," she replied. "Are you really a detective?" "Technically, I am." I shrugged. "I am still learning the ropes."

"Would it be weird that I am hiring you?" Rebecca asked slowly. "Wait," I began, turning my head towards her. "You're hiring me to solve your sister's murder?"

"Don't play dramatic," she sighed. "Just because I am being nice to you, doesn't make you my best friend. I mean, the last time we became buddies, you used our relationship to interrogate me and my friends."

I blushed fiercely at that moment. "Sorry about that," I mumbled. "Starting tomorrow," Rebecca promised. "I want you to keep everything between us." I furrowed my eyebrow. "But what about Luke? He is the reason why I solve these cases."

The sound of crickets was interrupted with a sigh. "Fine," Rebecca insisted. "I'll give you more information in the morning." I nodded then went back to sleep.