Wolf in sheep's clothing || There was a girl, and there was a wolf ~

10. Tristan

"Mine are already on it, Betty boy." Mason smiles and sits down, his hand with the wallet still extended towards me.
I take it, in the end, carefully placing it in my pocket and nodding.
"Thank you, but how come you had this?"
"I might be retired, but I'm not stupid. The man with the hat seemed innocent to me but those two blondes..." he points a finger at me as if I was a suspect.
"I'm telling you, those two blondes were up to something that night. They looked around too much before going down the stairs to the subway. They were suspicious."

"I'll do my best to see what I can get out of the wallet." I assure him and stand up, ready to leave.
"Betty boy, you never come see me anymore."
I look at him and guilt hits my heart.
"I'm really sorry, Mason. I-"
"Is it because of Betty?" His question hits a nerve and I feel my stomach tighten, it's inexplicable.
"I'm sorry, but she wouldn't like it if I came here..." I say as I glance towards the door.

"She still loves you, you know it."
I don't want to talk about it, not about Betty.
"I respect her because she's your niece, Mason." My tone is serious, I am looking at him and speaking with sincerity.
"But there will never be more than that, between us."
"She called yesterday, talked to me about you." He's smiling but I'm not sure if it's his lying smile or not.
"Why would she talk about me?" I ask confused.
"Because I was there from the beginning and she trusts me." He sounds proud and I'm glad to hear she still has a good relationship with her grandfather.

"Please, don't tell her I came here." I ask him to promise me, not wanting to make my life more of a mess than it already is.
"I won't." The old man nods once and then watches me go away.
Every time I meet Mason, it's like he purposely brings Betty up and it irritates me to an extent that I will avoid ever seeing him again.
He then questions me about why I never go see him.
Walking away I decide to check the subway and follow Caitleen's path on the night of her murder.
From the camera footage, we saw her going down these stairs and never even taking her metro ride.

There's less people down here at this time, the cameras cover up the area but none of them work. Maybe the killer knew about this and used their chance, maybe it was all premeditated.
From the forensics team we have been given a report with details and the victim had a metro ticket with her, as she was going to take the late ride for her boyfriend's city but never made it.
I walk up to one of the columns near the side seats attached to the wall and look at the blood spatter on its white paint.
As Caitleen was stabbed to the neck from behind, blood spilled on the column and she then collapsed and died almost immediately.

She couldn't have known who the attacker was, it all must have happened so fast that she didn't even realise it was her last ever moment of life.
"I'll find the killer," I promise to myself and to Caitleen's honour.
My phone rings, I see it's Simone and rapidly pick up. "Yes?"
"We have the man with the hat. We know who he is." Her words hit me like I just slammed against a brick wall, but in a good way.
"Where is he?" I ask while fastening my pace out of there.

"He is here, Tristan. He's at the station, come quick." She ends the call and I run to my car.
I have to find the girl's killer, I have to.
It's my duty.
Driving, I feel my hands tremble on the steering wheel.
My heart is racing in my chest, I can hear it beating at maximum speed.
I park awfully, not even caring anymore as long as it's in my spot and quickly get in the station.
"Simone!" I call my partner's name but she's nowhere to be found, until other colleagues point to the interrogation room and I rush over.
Steading my breath, taking a moment to calm myself, I see her with the suspect sat down and having a normal conversation.

I reach for the door handle but stop myself.
"Gaia!" I see the girl walking past and use the opportunity to take out the wallet from my pocket, wrap it around a paper sheet from one of the desks and hand it to her.
"Bring this to that ginger man from down there." I point out to my colleague just in the other section of the station, Gaia nods.
"Good luck." She tells me before I take a deep breath and walk in the interrogation room.
"-late." The suspect's sentence finishes just as I go in and glance at him coldly.
"Bernard, this is Detective Jolimont. He's my partner." Simone presents us and I shake the man's hand firmly.

"Bernard Javier, nice to meet you." He says tranquilly.
"Mr. Javier came here to report his lost wallet." Explains the woman in the room as I analyse our suspect with attention.
The wallet that Mason gave me must have been his, then.
"Where did you lose it, sir?" My question is an easy one to observe his reactions.
"I believe it was at the subway, two night ago."
"And what were you doing there, if you don't mind me asking?" I continue.
"I was supposed to take the metro and go home, but I remembered something and came back." His way of avoiding eye contact makes my eyes narrow.

"What did you remember?" Simone asks the question while writing down the man's responses on her notebook.
Bernard looks down, he looks ashamed of something and is considering whether to answer or avoid it.
"Did you tell him, yet?" I ask the strawberry blond woman and she nods.
I look back at Mr. Javier with severity.
"You do realise that you're a suspect for murder, right?"
His eyes shut tightly and then he breathes heavily, "I don't know how I got on your suspects list, Detective. It wasn't me."