The Psycho Is Innocent | ꪜ

Chapter 17: Lewis Chandler

Present

"THIS JUST DOESN'T make sense!" Lewis exclaimed loudly, her head falling back in exasperation as a groan escaped her lips. "To you, it doesn't, but to us it does." Larson rolled his eyes as he filled a glass of water and placed it on the counter. "You need it," he stated stoically as he slid the glass towards Lewis, who quietly thanked him.

"It makes sense, Lewis. This all started the moment Larson and I broke up. He was blackmailed into ending things with me and when he didn't comply his sister got ran over which is a clear indication that whoever was blackmailing him isn't afraid to kill someone and take that risk. Then Tobias gets framed for murder and is sent to prison. Problem solved right? But now that I'm investigating things myself, I start getting blackmailed."

          "But what's the point of killing two random girls? That's the part I don't understand. Maria and Kayla have no connection to us whatsoever. They don't go to our school, they don't live in this neighbourhood. None of us really knew who they were prior to the murder."

"That's true, but it's not a matter of who they were, it's why they were murdered. If this isn't Barry Roosevelt himself then it's a copycat killer. Regardless of who it was, Tobias ended up taking the fall for it and I don't think that was a coincidence. Someone is purposely targeting Tobias and maybe they killed Maria and Kayla and saw the opportunity to frame him because I can't think of any person who is sick enough to murder two girls just to frame one person.

That leaves me with three conclusions. Mine and Larson's blackmailer are the same person. They blackmailed him into breaking up with me and ran his sister over. Now just for the sake of this theory overlook the fact that Tobias was never blackmailed when we dated. Yes, Larson I know you still think it was Tobias who did this but I don't. Whoever is blackmailing me is calculative. Their attacks aren't random and now that they realize I'm not gonna let Tobias go they're coming for me.

The second theory is the blackmailer is also the murderer or linked to the murderer. If my first theory is right then this person must have realized Tobias isn't easy to scare so blackmailing him wouldn't work. They killed two random girls and framed him somehow which got him thrown in jail with no escape. Realizing that I'm trying to free him, they're trying to scare me. The last theory is Barry Roosevelt was released or escaped from prison and Tobias' involvement was just a simple misunderstanding. The last theory makes no sense at all."

"And the rest does?" Lewis spat. Larson's eyes met hers, "it makes more sense when you connect the dots, Lewis. This all started with Ariel, whether we like it or not we can't just rule all of this out as coincidences. We have to assume the blackmailer is the killer or the two are working together." Lewis lowered her head down onto the table and sighed, "even so, guys we still have to take up our lead with Jack Morison. It's better safe than sorry."

"No one ever said we're ruling out Barry. We're following the lead but we have to take the first two theories into consideration too. I just–I just want this to end. What did I ever do to deserve all of this? W–what did Tobias do!? What did you do, Larson? This just doesn't make any sense." Ariel lowered her face in her hands and sucked in a harsh breath. "Hey, it's okay. You're not alone in this, Ariel, okay? You know that." Larson comforted as he lowered his hand down onto her head, brushing back her red hair.

Her eyes met his and she smiled softly, receiving the same reaction from Larson, both of them unaware of Lewis' smouldering gaze penetrating through them. After a few excruciating seconds, Lewis stood up abruptly, tearing Ariel and Larson's attention away from one another. "Anyways, you never told me what the note said." Sensing Lewis' uneasiness, Larson retracted his hand from Ariel's head and sat down on the stool. He didn't want to be anywhere near her, but for the sake of Ariel he decided to swallow his pride