We told everyone to return to their rooms for the rest of the night and to try to get some shut-eye. I highly doubt anybody could even think about going to sleep with the horrific tragedy that had taken place. For there was a murderer on the loose in the hotel and what could be more terrifying than the idea of your life being able to be taken in a matter of minutes.
Of course, we both instructed to lock and barricade the room doors with anything they could find just in case somehow the locks could be obstructed from the outside. I wouldn't trust those old-fashioned latches since they were god knows how old. I will say even though the hotel was a beautiful building, you could tell it wasn't newly constructed; it showed its age. I'm not saying it was dilapidated or anything, just a smidge outdated.
I lied restless in bed, in a perpetual cycle of tossing and turning. I would settle in one position for a minute, then decide I was uncomfortable and reposition yet again. It wasn't the aged box spring mattress that was causing so much unpleasantness, but the situation at hand looming over my slightly shaken body.
I had been on countless crime scenes in my fourteen years on the job, but this one felt different. There was just something that was off about the whole thing that caused a sense of confused uneasiness in my mind. This person was so brazen to murder someone in a hotel with no escape. There was no way to flee their fate now that the snow had set in, so this kill radiated a cocky attitude. The only way to leave was on foot which was only straight doom. The near thirty miles into the closest town trekking in this raw cold would kill you from hypothermia. Whilst I was still wide awake, I analyzed the known facts about the case in my mind. I came to the conclusion that this was definitely not their first murder.
Morning arrived excruciatingly slow. Even though there was no change in how fast the clock ticked to the next number, it felt exponentially slow compared to usual. I stretched my arms out and with a heave-ho, I was on my feet and heading to my suitcase for suitable clothes.
"Frank wake up we have to get ready and fast," I called as I dug through my suitcase, eventually finding an outfit.
"Ugh fine," he groaned rubbing his eyes and looking at the clock. Six forty sharp it read. "I have you know that I hate getting up this early," He commented as he rolled out of bed.
"Well I'm sorry somebody died so you have to wake up early," I said with a fake sympathetic tone.
I rushed Frank to speed up getting ready. We first went to review the crime scene to refresh our minds before taking people's statements. One thing that stood out to me that I hadn't noticed before was the type of knife that was left at the scene. This was no ordinary dinky knife, but a pretty high-quality chef's knife that looked as though it could only come from the kitchen. The victim had a fairly deep stab wound on her neck accounting for the substantial amount of pooled blood encircling her body. Her blood-spattered nametag had 'Evelyn' written on it. We started with Ray to get some basic information about the hotel and how things worked around there.
All his responses were pretty unnoteworthy, to say the least. Just the usual that checked out. I had him off the suspect list in my mind since he was managing the front desk during the time the incident occurred. He gave some information about Evelyn, the normal how long she's been employed there, and all of the personal information he could muster.
Moving on, we talked to a couple of guests that heard the scream or were in close proximity to the murder when it happened. Finally, we began an interview with the head chef of the hotel.
"Please state your first and last name," I started, looking at the man in front of me with a straight face vacant of any emotion.
"Peter Wentz but I prefer Pete," He answered with a shaky voice, him tapping his foot nervously against the floor.
"Where were you during the time of the incident?" I continued, Frank ready with his pen and paper to scribble down Pete's answers.
"I w-was in the kitchen cleaning up after yesterday's dinner service," his voice wavered.
"Were you the only person in the kitchen or was there another party accompanying you?" Frank jumped in with another question.
"No, I said to my staff that they should go on and that I'd finish up."
"Don't you think eleven o'clock is a bit late to be cleaning up after the dinner service that took place at seven?" I questioned, with a stern gaze upon his anxious self.
"Why no, that's ho-how long it usually takes. You see, that's a massive kitchen and it has to be spotless."
"Mhm," Frank seemed to agree. "Do you perhaps know a person by the name of Evelyn?" He asked, looking up from his notepad.
"Oh, Eve? She's my girlfriend. Why?" He seemed to gain slight confidence in his answer, taking on a bit of interest in the subject.
"Well, that was the name of the victim, Mr. Wentz. I'm sorry for your loss." I said apologetically.
Pete looked like nothing had happened. He acted like the sentence I had just uttered was nothing but small talk which was highly suspicious, yet I knew I couldn't accuse the man unless I had evidence.
"Now did you and your girlfriend have a happy relationship? Or was there maybe a kerfuffle that led to changes in your feelings for one another?" Frank broke the brief silence that occurred after my last statement.
"Well, to be frank with you, I was about to break up with her. She was cheating on me with one of the bellhops, so of course, I wouldn't want to be with someone unfaithful." He finished.
I could see Frank's eyebrows raise as scenarios ran through both of our minds. This man had just given us not just a possible motive, but a plausible one. There was plenty of time to get from the kitchen to find Evelyn and carry out the crime. The only thing we needed was evidence for his actions. Hopefully, some sort of fingerprint or something would turn up once the other investigators arrived.
"That'll do Pete, you may go," I said with a taken aback tone, trying to process the words he just uttered.
He scampered off to who knows where and I turned to Frank. "I think we got our guy," He said.
"Hold on," I said in thought. "We shouldn't put our eggs on one basket. What if that's exactly what the murderer wants us to think; This whole case just seems too good to be true." I thought aloud.
"Think about it, multiple possible motives from different people. They could just want us to think we found our person, yet they're still out there. This could be the perfect murder situation for them."
He nodded his head in thought as he took in my words. "Okay, we'll take a break and keep interviewing then," with that comment, we parted. I made a beeline for the coffee machine where the breakfast buffet was being served.
I scurried over, standing near the station. I didn't pay much attention as my hand reached for the styrofoam cup, but it was met with the feeling of another frigid hand bumping into mine instead. I turned to see who the owner of the hand was when my eyes opened wide and my cheeks instantly flushed red. It was none other than the infamous boy that I'd been fawning over since my arrival at the hotel.
"Oh I'm sorry, you go ahead," I said nervousness and slight embarrassment setting in as I retracted my hand. Y/n you better not make an idiot out of yourself in front of him
He took two cups instead and proceeded to fill them both. "Here you go," he said handing me a plain black coffee.
"Wow, can you read minds or something?" I joked as I anxiously rocked back and forth on my heels.
"I wish man, that would be sick." He replied with a Jersey accent thick in his tone. "I didn't catch your name, Sugar." He said taking a sip.
"It's Y/n. Yours?"
"Y/n, that's a pretty name." He said as if testing it out. "Mines Gerard, Gerard Way."
Gerard, that was his name. I could already tell that he had captivated me with his smooth accent and perfect features. His hazel eyes with almost flakes of gold in them, casting a spell of want on me.
"Well, Y/n, I'll see you around sometime," He said with a slight smirk.
"I look forward to it," I said still in a kind of dazed state.
Snapping myself out of my trance, I refound Frank and we continued taking people's statements. Eventually, it was time for Gerard's interview. Frank had to lead the questions as I was busy goggling over him.
Gerard gave answers that would also clear his name off my list of possible suspects. Still, after talking to many, many people, Pete was the most likely to have committed this crime.
It was about dinner when we finished the day's work. We decided to eat and hit the hay early since tomorrow would be the day our work became more in-depth. We figured the only way to catch a killer, is to get inside their head.
A/n: I'm sorry these past two weeks of updates have been slower coming out. Don't think I'm not hyped about writing this, school and life, in general, has been a bitch lately. But, now I'm on winter break so I have more time to work on this. Have a lovely day rats- Sav