Neon Street: Red Herring

🎭12: Pictures

"Triche..." Colin stood frozen after using the restroom, seeing Triche panting by the door. She's holding a few photos in her hand a little too tightly. Judging from her wide eyes, Colin predicts that she must've done it again. "Don't tell me--"

"Yes. I went into Ace's room again. Before you get mad at me, take a look at this." Triche walks over to the couch and lays the three pictures for Colin to see. "It was totally unexpected. I have no idea why Ace has stolen photos of Kane. What do you think about it? Suspicious, right?"

Colin moved closer and took the photo of Kane, picking clothes from a rack. "Very. Did he take photos of other people? What if it's not just Kane? He could be a photographer."

"Can't you get the hint?" Triche stood beside him, pointing at Kane's figure. "Look. From this perspective, it's like Ace took it secretly." She trailed her index finger to the left edge of the picture. "This is a wall, Colin," she said, pointing at the white wall in the picture. "Ace was hiding when he took this. My guess is it was zoomed in before capturing, looking at the poor quality. He was also far from Kane."

"Let's say your theory is true. How do we know it was Ace who took this picture? What if he obtained this from someone?"

Triche rolled her eyes and pulled the picture from him. "I don't think so. I can feel it in my bones! Ace was definitely stalking Kane. What if..." She gulped, looking at the rest of the photos. "What if he was really the one who killed her?"

"Triche, we don't know that. I honestly don't think it's him." Colin gathered the photos, including the one in Triche's hand. "Don't go into his room again. He will go after you once he finds these pictures missing."

"Why should I take a step back? Colin, we're seeing progress here. Do you remember the old times? The second we make progress, we don't think of stopping. We'll find Kane's killer like how we solved every mystery in town. It's what we're good at!"

"Kane got in trouble because of it, remember?!" Colin's sudden outburst made Triche step back in surprise. "Can't you recall what happened anymore? If we just stopped when she asked us to stop, we won't be this apart from her!"  

Triche tried to grab his hand to calm him down. "Colin--"

"I won't allow it. I already lost Kane, and I can't..." Colin stopped with his eyes on her, bursting with fear and worry. "Please stay out of this, Triche. The detective will take care of everything." He walked to his bedroom, leaving Triche conflicted.  

"W-Why would he bring that up?" She awkwardly scratched the back of her head. "I just wanted to help," she quietly said before leaving.

Next morning.

Winnie was enjoying her peace in the indoor garden when suddenly, France also came with a cup of tea in his hand. He recognized Winnie and decided to sit on the chair next to her. "Winnie Park?" He asked, getting her attention.

Winnie quickly stood up and moved away from him. "What are you doing? Can't you see that I own the spot already? Find another chair or leave!" She screamed at France, who was not expecting her to act like that.

"Why should I? I just sat over here. I didn't do anything to you." He carefully placed the cup on the marble table then stood in front of her. "I honestly want to know why you're always acting like this when I'm around. The last time I tried talking to you, you slammed the door on me. What have I done?"

He doesn't remember? It was so trivial that he can't remember what he did anymore? "Stay away from me. That's all I'm asking." Winnie attempted to leave, but France grabbed her hand to keep talking.

With that one gesture, Winnie started to feel everything from that day coming back to her. Her head filled with their laughs and murmurs. She felt that humiliation again in her whole body. What she went through that day is still vivid in her memories. It was how much she dreaded that every second. She let out a terrified shriek and fell on her knees.

France immediately let go of her hand and looked around. "W-What's wrong? Did I grab you too tightly? I didn't mean to hurt you. I swear!" He nervously said and knelt on one knee to match her eyes. He could see that Winnie was starting to cry, which alarmed him. 

He wanted to do something about it. But before France could lay his hand on her arm, Winnie pushed him away and slowly stood up. "Don't... Don't come near me," she said with her voice trembling. "Please. I won't bother you anymore. I p-promise. I won't talk to you. I'll stay away from you. I-I'll do as you say." 

Winnie looked extremely frightened of France. The guy was just confused with how Winnie was talking. It's like she thinks he was going to hurt her. "I didn't tell you that. I really didn't. Did someone tell you that I want you to stay away from me? Is that why you always ran--" Just when he said the word 'ran,' Winnie sprinted away from him, leaving the garden. "Winnie!" France called, but Winnie didn't look back. 

On her way to her room, Winnie accidentally bumped into Ace on the stairs causing his phone to slip from his hands. Winnie quickly picked it up and handed it back to him. "I'm sorry," she said without facing him to hide her tears.

"Why were you running?" Ace asks. "Was someone chasing you?"

"Don't mind me," she answered. Before she climbed, she noticed the picture at the back of the phone and furrowed her brows. Isn't that Kane? She thought.

"Winnie?" France arrived, and it seemed like he wanted to know what was happening to her. Knowing that, Winnie continued running, taking the stairs back to her floor. 

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Adding more clues to the story🙉 Are we going too slow? Hehe.. It's because I didn't want to squeeze a lot of things in one chapter to make it less confusing. I hope you guys aren't bored yet😭 I'll try to keep it interesting as I could💖