October 12, 2012
Friday
5:02 p.m.
Dear Janet,
Well, I'm a part of the quiz team now, not exactly excited I'm only doing it to watch Paul. I'm your replacement on the team, though no one could ever replace you. Paul is so unreadable, I'm not sure how to get into his head, but I will.
I met this girl in class today, she's kind of cute, to be honest. Brunette hair, and round brown eyes that pull at your heartstrings. Perhaps you knew her? Her name is Amara and she's captain of the quiz team. I'd been watching Paul when she tried talking to me, trying my best to figure out his thought patterns, and his mannerisms and more importantly, look for any possible weak spots.
"JEREMY!" Amara screamed at me and snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Yes?" I asked her and she rolled her eyes which bespoke nothing but rage and disappointment.
"I've asked you the same question five times and you can't get enough of staring at Paul! You got this spot on the team because of your capability to win not because of your sister, remember that!"
I felt humiliated by her words, I won't lie. But brushing my thoughts aside, I realized that whatever she had just said had truth to it. I need to blend in, be one with the crowd, and not stick out of it. I need to show everyone that I am capable of being on this team. I need to be a worthy competitor.
I apologized for my mistake and answered the question she had asked. She then moved on to the next member.
I need to let go of my recklessness, which I will, starting now. I will avenge you, Janet. Don't lose hope in me.
I love you.
Your brother, Jeremy
***
AIDEN AND I GET OUT OF THE POLICE VAN and make our way over to Thomas' apartment complex on Pioneer Lane. We take the elevator, reach the seventh floor and approach his apartment. Aiden and I flash our badges as we duck under the yellow police tapes and meet Captain Hale on the other side. The door which would've separated us has broken off its hinges. All that remains is a doorless entrance/exit.
"You were quick. Come on, follow me," he says and leads us into Thomas's apartment, and we finally come across his dead body laying on the bedroom floor. Savannah is hunched over it as she examines the murder victim. A putrid and nasty smell lingers in the air, one that the corpse produces when it's quite far down the line of decomposition.
One interesting detail, however, are Thomas' missing hands. They've been chopped off from the bone. Normally, it won't be a surprising feature. Murderers may cut off their victim's hands to erase evidence that would've otherwise been found under their fingernails, but I noticed a pattern in this case with the missing body parts. First, Ethan's genitalia, and now, Thomas' hands.
"What happened?" I ask Captain Hale as I wear my forensic gloves.
He scratches the back of his head and answers, "Well, the neighbors heard his dog barking continuously inside this room and Thomas hadn't come out of his apartment for a few days. There was a rotting smell every time they passed the door and so, they decided to check up on Thomas."
"So, they broke down the door and found the body?" Aiden asks and Captain Hale nods.
"They called us right after," the Captain adds.
"Thomas's German shepherd has eaten parts of his torso," Savannah cuts in, pointing her scalpel at Thomas' chest. Bits of fabric are bitten off from his shirt at spots where his dog gnawed off the flesh of its dead owner. "That's not the cause of death though." Savannah continues, pointing at his neck this time. "You see this laceration around his neck? He was strangled to death, probably with that phone charger over there." We turn to the victim's left where said phone charger is lying before an officer picks it up and bags and tags the cable.
"When do you think he was killed?" I ask and Savannah takes a minute looking like she's calculating and crunching numbers in her head before responding.
"I'd say the night after Ethan was killed. I'll know more when I can do an autopsy. His hands were cut off, similar to our previous victim's genitals being well dismembered." Savannah says and we nod, having noticed that detail earlier.
As I stare at the dead body, something glints in the corner of my eye. I reach forward and remove the tarot card that's peeking from inside Thomas' shirt pocket.
It's a Justice card, which means fairness and law. However, it's reversed when I find it, and hence means dishonesty and an unwillingness to let the truth out.
"Look, another tarot card," I say and hold it up to Aiden.
"Well there may be a pattern here," he takes the card and analyzes it himself. "Justice? Wasn't Thomas a lawyer?" he asks Captain Hale, who nods.
"In fact, he was working in Patricia Covington's law firm," the Captain adds.
Ethan and Thomas were best friends even in high school, and I won't be surprised if Ethan helped him get that job. Janet knew them too. She hung out with them all the time. I wonder if Thomas knew more about Janet's death than he let on. He was trying to hide the truth which would explain the reversed Justice card.
Once we are done inspecting the body, Aiden and I head next door to talk to the neighbors who found the body. They gave us the same information that Captain Hale did. The dog wouldn't stop barking. The apartment smelled bad. No one would respond to the knocks and so they broke down the door and discovered the body. Nothing suspicious.
"Thanks for your help," Aiden says once the light questioning is over and we take our cue to leave.
"What now?" I ask him and he sighs and rubs his temples.
"I'll ask an officer to give you a ride back home. It's pretty late and I'm very sure you've missed your last bus?"
I lift my sleeve and look at the time on my wristwatch. He is right. The bus would've left half an hour ago.
When I lift my head, I see Aiden already talking to a female officer. Once he's done, he approaches me again.
"Venessa will give you a lift, alright?" I nod, expecting a sassy remark. "You can't be missing buses, rookie. Don't expect me to be your knight in shining armor all the time."
And there it is, his signature move, of course.
"I came here with you, dingus," I snarl and he chuckles under his breath.
"Goodnight, rookie," he mutters, mocking me.
I refuse to reciprocate and without a word, walk over to the elevator. Officer Venessa enters the elevator soon after and as the doors shut, I watch as Aiden goes back into Thomas' apartment. I'm not the only workaholic member of our duo, I guess.
***
I hop into the shower as soon as I reach my apartment. I'm smelling of rot and death and I don't have any intentions of freaking Sadie out. She likes her murders fictional. I don't prefer them at all but they are what help me keep my Netflix subscription alive.
After freshening up, I sit at my desk and open up my laptop. Sacredmore High, the boarding school I attended and the one that all the murders and events lead back to, used to upload their yearbook pictures on their website.
With that knowledge, I look up said website and the yearbook pictures, though updated with new ones, are still there. Ethan would have graduated in 2013 so I scroll a bit but eventually find the photos. He has a picture with Thomas and two other boys—Archie Gardner and Paul Zhou. These four were the ruling class of Sacremore in those days, inseparable and terribly influential.
Janet used to be best friends with them before she committed suicide. She was a shining star when she joined the school. She was so full of life. Her smile never left her...until the end of the semester when she began to dull.
In the days leading up to her suicide, she would show up to class with bruises on her face and arms. She applied a ridiculous amount of makeup to cover them up, but they would still show. Whenever someone asked her about the marks, she gave the same explanation every time.
"I bruise easily."
No one ever questioned her after that and I think that's where the problem was.
She was dating Ethan at that time and everyone was afraid of him and his four friends. He didn't like it when someone talked with his girlfriend for a minute longer than what he considered was needed. As a result of that very fear, everyone started ignoring Janet altogether, even her brother, Jeremy.
However, after her death, things changed. Jeremy was onto something. I could sense it. He would often hang out with them. Ethan's gang wasn't a four-member gang after Janet's death. It was five-membered now.
I warned him to stay away from them, thinking they were responsible for his sister's death. He didn't listen to me though. Perhaps that's why what happened, happened.
Nonetheless, if Janet is back, she's the perfect suspect. However, there was never any proof that the boys were responsible for her death. Therefore, her motive behind going on a "murder spree", as Sadie had mentioned, is blurred. There is no proof that she is even really alive.
All the clues and hints start convoluting inside my head and I feel a migraine start to form.
That's when my phone rings, breaking me from my daze. I peer at the caller ID and see that it's Sadie calling.
"Why is she calling me from the living room?" I murmur under my breath and answer the call. "Hey what's up?" I ask her and close my laptop.
"It's movie night, Amara!" Sadie says and I sigh. I nearly forgot about our roomie ritual, thanks to the murders at hand.
"Sadie, can I just bail—"
"Don't even think about it!" she yells from the other end of the call.
I exhale. When Sadie wants something, she gets that something.
"Alright what are we watching?" I ask and I hear her sinister giggle.
"The Notebook!" she replies and I die a bit on the inside.
"This has to be the fifth time we've watched The Notebook!" I groan into the phone and hear the opening credits play on Sadie's side of the call.
"I'm not listening. Shut up and get your ass up here," she says and ends the call.
With much effort, I manage to get myself out of my chair, knowing if I'm not next to her in the next minute, she will drag me out by my feet if required.
Well, if The Notebook can free me of my twisted thoughts about the case, I'm willing to give it a try.
***
AUTHOR'S NOTE
What are your thoughts on this chapter? Let us know in the comments section down below!
Hey Arcana's thank you for reading! We've decided to name our fans Arcana's based on an Instagram poll where you the readers chose the name!
Anyways I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I looked forward to hearing your thoughts in the comments!
-Emily