NO BODY, NO CRIME

Chapter 3

"He did it."

Eleanor almost jumped in fright as she heard a voice say it after entering her apartment. She hadn't noticed anybody when she just stepped in. She was just looking at the ground, smiling about her walk with Louis.

"I gave you a key for emergencies, Harry!" she scolded him but he didn't seem to care.

"Didn't you hear me? He did it, El."

"Harry," Eleanor's tone had softened, she always cared for Harry like her own little brother. Harry was her junior in college and also her friend's brother, they hung out almost all the time. Eleanor neared Harry in the couch he was sitting. She sat next to him and put a hand round his broad shoulder. 

"The police showed me all that proof of that mistress and all," his voice almost broke, he nestled his head on her shoulder.

"Did you tell them I had told you before?" she cradled his head in her arms, knowing very well that tears had started to roll down his eyes. 

"No," he said, "he killed my sister, Els."

"It's okay, Harry," she rubbed his shoulders, "we do not know for sure."

"Really?" he shot his head up and eyed her, "you were the one who thought he did it!"

"But I just can't prove it!" she defended herself. Eleanor hid her face in her palms in frustration.

"What about those new tires you saw the next day of Gem's..... Gem's disappearance... on his car?"

"That's not enough," Eleanor shook her head.

"We've to confront him," Harry announced and Eleanor slowly looked up. "I've to know what happened to Gem. He obviously won't tell the police and I don't know if they can ever catch him out."

"Okay," she whispered to his surprise. "But I'll come with you."

"I got the notice," Captain Higgins informed, "you can keep an eye on Payne."

"Thanks, Captain," Louis got up from his seat and Zayn followed suit. "But was this wait really necessary?"

"Liam Payne is a high profile person. If you act on any false alarm, he can't report you if you were authorized to do a suspect stakeout."

"Oh, that makes sense," Zayn agreed.

"Come Z," Louis said as Higgins started walking away, "let's keep an eye on a rich murderer."

"You don't know for sure!"

Louis rolled his eyes at that statement when his phone started ringing. He picked up and what he heard made his world turn upside down.

"Tommo, what?" Zayn asked as Louis hung up.

"They found her."

"Detectives," their forensic expert, Niall Horan welcomed them to the scene.

Gemma was found in some woods on the outskirts of New York City. Yes- dead and buried in a plastic bag. An archaeological team was scouting the woods and digging up some spots and in that process, the body was found. 

"Horan," Louis said.

"I'll cut it short for you," Niall said, "she died three months at around seven to eight p.m. Cause of death seems to be suffocation as there are no bullet-marks or signs of stabbing, there are no signs of poison either. The mark around the neck makes it seem like the cause of death but we need to go through autopsy to be sure."