Soon Hazel became obsessed with finding anyone who would have a motive to kill Rin. She began searching every pixel of Rin's social media over and over to find even the slightest bad comment or even thumbs down, to give her a hint.
Suddenly there was a knock on her door. She answered to find Camilla and Sebastian.
"I knew we'd find you here," Camilla said as she entered.
"Come on, Hazel, we're going to the library." Sebastian piped up behind her.
"No guys, I think I'm going to stay in tonight."
"Don't tell us you're going to be combing through Rin's feeds again?" Camilla ask, exasperated. "You need to back off, Haz. You haven't been yourself. You're barely sleeping, skipping class and ballet. It isn't like you."
"And what? Let the Detectives drag their feet while Rin's murderer runs free?," Hazel snarled. "I'm not sorry for being the only one who still cares that Rin's gone."
Camilla froze, looking deeply hurt. "That's not fair...you know Rin was like a sister to me."
Hazel sniffed, holding back tears as she said, "You're right, I'm sorry, Cam. I didn't mean it. I'm just frustrated."
"We all are," Sebastian spoke up. "We miss Rin too. But she wouldn't want us to sacrifice all that we've worked for to be here. Think about what Rin would want for you, Hazel."
He was right, Rin would be pissed at her if she knew she was skipping ballet because of her. She'd scold her as the responsible one of the group and make her pinky promise never to do it again. She teared up as she hugged Sebastian.
"Thanks, Seb, you always know what to say."
He smiled as he pulled away, "No problem. Now I think you should get out of this room, lets go."
They all moved to the library and as Hazel browsed the shelves, she couldn't help but stop on the newest edition of the Academy's yearbook. Pulling it from the shelf she sat down next to Sebastian and opened it to the Art department's section. Then began scrolling through the names trying to think of anyone who would want to kill Rin. It obviously had to be someone in the Art department because of the painted roses on the body. All that was left to do was narrow down who it could be. She jumped slightly as Camilla looked over her shoulder and ask, "What are you looking for?"
"I wanted to think of anyone who had a motive to hurt Rin."
"Let me see, as a fellow painter, I know everyone in the Art department personally. " Sebastian replied, moving closer and moving his finger down the names list. "You know, Alexander Goth has been acting weird lately. He's been sneaking out of the dorms at night a lot. I hear him walk past my door almost every night now."
"And I heard he was taken in as a suspect yesterday," Camilla added. "But they couldn't hold him because his parents lawyered up. He's back on campus right now."
Hazel gave them both a irritated look. "And why am I just being told this now?"
"Well, when you actually come to class, you can learn things like this, Hazel." Cam said condescendingly.
"Well lets go question him right now then guys."
Hazel bolted out the door, Camilla and Sebastian struggling to keep up.
They found him leaving his dorm room and Sebastian got to him before Hazel could.
"Hey, Goth!" He shouted from down the hall causing Alex to turn and sigh.
"What do you want?"
"I got some questions for you. Like where were you the morning Rin was killed?"
"In my dorm like everyone else."
"Can anyone vouch for you on that?"
Alex's expression turned from depressed to angry really quickly.
"What the hell you suggesting, Pemblebrooke?"
"I'll give it to you straight, Goth. I think you killed Rin because you knew she was a better artist than you. You were pissed she beat you out for the gallery opening so you did her in."
Alex looked pissed but turned to leave. "I don't have time for your shit, man."
To spite his mood, Sebastian followed him. "Hey, I'm not done with you."
"Fuck off." Alex growled and walked away.
Hazel rushed over. "Why'd you have to piss him off? Now he won't tell us anything."
"He wasn't going to anyway." He snapped and stormed off.
Camilla finally caught up to Hazel as she spoke. "I think we need to follow Goth and find out what he's doing at night, he might be trying to hide evidence."
"You're right, let's follow him tonight."
Hazel and Camilla met up outside the boys dorm rooms around midnight bracing themselves for what they might discover. Right on time, Alex emerged an hour after curfew and they followed, careful to stay far enough behind him not to cause attention. When he entered the main campus, they were confused. Would he really be stupid enough to return to the scene of the crime? He finally turned down the hall to the Art studio and Camilla pulled Hazel back whispering sadly. "This might be a waste of time, Hazel. He's probably just working on his piece for the art show."
"No, I don't think so. Lets go inside and look."
Camilla shrugged and followed. But when they came close to the studio door, Hazel stopped, turning to Camilla. "Do you hear crying?" She ask, quietly cracking the door open. Inside, they were shocked to see Alexander Goth sobbing deeply in front of a painting that had flowers and lantern candles around the base. At that moment, Camilla accidentally hit the door with her toe, causing it to creak and Alex to jump and look over at them.
"What the fuck are you two doing here?"
"We...we...um..." Camilla stammered.
"Are you okay, Alex?" Hazel ask, stepping into the room.
"To be honest? No..," He said sadly, turning back to the beautiful painting in front of him. "This was Rin's final painting...she was...so talented."
"You're crying for Rin?"
Alex mopped his tears with his sleave as he answered. "Yeah...I...um...I was in love with her. We had just set a time for our first date on the phone that morning before she left and then...yeah."
Rin hadn't even gotten the chance to tell her best friends about it. She must have been so excited because she had always wanted to date Alex...and now she never would.
"So to spite what that idiot Sebastian Pemblebrooke might think, no, I didn't kill her. I was excited for her that she got the spot in the gallery and when she died they offered me the spot but I turned it down in order for Rin's final piece to be displayed," He turned back to the painting, a depressed look in his eyes. "Who could ever hurt such a treasure like Rin?"
"What are you kids doing up after curfew?"
Everyone turned in shock towards the door to find a tall very studious looking man glaring at them.
"Headmaster Dupree, we're sorry we just wanted to see Rin's last painting."
His expression softened. "Listen, I know you girls miss Rin, but you can't be breaking rules and investigating campus on your own. Now head back to your dorms."
They rushed off before he changed his mind and gave them detention.
No comments:
Post a Comment