Arson Detective // Various x Reader

Glasses

Chapter 31

The car ride back to the city was awkward and unsettling. It was so unsettling that every time I tried to talk, I would lose control of the car, almost hitting the cars in the other lanes.

Eventually we made it back into the city's roads, which were narrower and harder to drive in compared to the highway.

"Jesus Christ, Nick," Wilbur grabs the handlebar. "What's wrong with you? Are you drunk? Was it the candy?"

I don't answer. If I did then we would crash. My hands were shivering but I'm not sure what from.

"When we get to where we need to be," Wilbur held in a breath as I swerved again. "Talk to me. As colleagues. Not friends."

I nod, disappointed that Wilbur still held a grudge against me. Who wouldn't?

click- beep beep

I pressed on the lock button on the car keys and stepped out onto the gravel ground. Wilbur does the same, but pauses to look at me. I immediately start climbing down the rocks leading down to the beach, wanting to avoid any sort of conformity.

The sand softened my rough landing. I fixed my posture and began to search for any proof that three people were here. Specifically, clues for George's whereabouts.

"Any luck?" I finally say, not finding anything useful.

Wilbur jogs towards me, a white plastic in hand. "I found this candy wrapper over there," He points to a dark area under the wooden planks. "It was buried in the sand."

I furrow my eyebrows. "This wrapper could be anyone's," We started walking back to where Wilbur found the plastic. "Look up, there are big enough holes to drop a handful of pebbles. I would guess that the spaces are a bottle cap wide." I look back at Wilbur. "How deep did you find the wrapper? Was it obvious that someone buried it?"

Wilbur nods. "It was obvious that someone dug a whole and just placed it in and covered it up again. I despise those kinds of people," He pauses, realizing who he was talking about. "No offence."

"None taken," I shake my head. "Let's keep looking around. Do you have a flashlight?"

Wilbur shakes his head. "No, sorry. But we have our phones, we can use our flashlights on those-" He pauses once more. "Oh-"

"I take full offence now. Fuck you." I flipped him off.

Wilbur chuckles. "S- Sorry. I'll look in here while you look around. Besides, it isn't that dark."

"We'll meet right here, under the wooden platform after we're done." I look up at the sky, squinting my eyes. "We'll meet back here in an hour or two."

Wilbur squints his eyes as he looks at the sky as well. "Can you tell the time exactly?"

"I haven't told time according to the sky in a little while," I look away from the sun to the dull clouds, slowly leaving to the North. "Obviously, it's still morning. But the time exactly would either be nine or ten."

Doubtful, Wilbur takes out his phone and widens his eyes in astonishment. "Dang, you're right. It's 9:30." He looks at me. "Impressive."

I shook off the prideful feeling as soon as it reached me and turned away. "Start searching. I want to go home."

"It was your idea to come here in the first place." Wilbur mumbled, just loud enough for me to hear. I chose to ignore him and continue to look around.

I look up at the sky. Thirty minutes have passed.

Nothing..

Nothing.

Fucking nothing!

Frustrated, I go back to the meeting spot. "Anything?"

To my surprise Wilbur came out of the shadows with a pair of familiar looking goggles on his head and a piece of paper. "I found these, but only these." He hands me everything he had found, which wasn't much.

"Just a candy wrapper, a receipt from The Keg and a pair of glasses," I look at Wilbur. "My guess is that George, if George was even here, dropped his receipt and out of boredom buried this candy wrapper. But what was he bored from?"

"You said that he was here with Clay and Zak, right?" I nod at Wilbur's assumption. "Then the obvious answer would be, George was bored because of those two. They could have been speaking to each other about some things that didn't include George."

A lightbulb in my head flickered on. "Yes! You have a point!" I calmed myself down and began to explain what Minx and I saw. "Last night, I overheard Clay speaking to Zak. If I remember correctly, I was standing right.." I walk into the darker area once more. "Here. You can see that that space there is slightly bigger than the others. That was where I was standing," Wilbur nods. "The thing is, I only saw two people. I never saw a third."

Wilbur bites his lip. "Was there any other car in the lot that night?"

"I'm not sure," I pinch the bridge of my nose. "I didn't have time to take in my surroundings. Mainly because I was too occupied with other things."

"That's a problem," Wilbur clicks his tongue. "If you did see a car then there could be a possibility that George was keeping watch. But," He pauses and takes the glasses from my open hand. "That doesn't explain why these are here. Doesn't George always wear these?"

My head started to pound with multiple questions with zero answers. "You're right." I pause. "Unless George kept watch and he left his glasses here on purpose."

Wilbur tilts his head, confused. "And why would he do that?"

"Because he wants to be in the action," I smile but soon shook it off, realizing how dumb my theory sounds. "Okay, that sounded stupid. It is a possibility though. I don't mean to put dirt on his name or anything, but George has always been calm and collected. I would even say, left out. It wouldn't be a surprise if this is how he snaps."

Wilbur puts the goggles back on his head. "We're really desperate for answers, aren't we?"

I shrug. "Maybe."

[ I'll give you George's hotel ]

He was joking when he said that, right? He didn't mean it, right?

I stopped wiping the front desk and placed both hands on top of my head.

If he does mean that then.. hopefully someone finds my glasses.

Sighing, I finished wiping the counter top and walked into the back room.

This place took years to build up. Does he think that he can simply give it away?

I slam the door behind me shut, and take long strides deeper into the dark room.

Does he think I don't know what he's hiding from me?

I started to slow down my walking speed as soon as my feet touched carpet. A few steps later, I pulled down a cloth and turned on a small lamp.

Behind the cloth cover was multiple papers with red strings connecting them to a bulletin board.

You're not innocent,

Dream.

—— [ E.1 ] ——