🍒 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐑𝐘 𝐏𝐎𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 🍒 ( 𝐀 𝐁𝐖𝐖𝐌 𝐅𝐚𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐜 ) | 𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐃

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟐𝟔: 𝐈 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐆𝐨 𝐓𝐨 𝐉𝐚𝐢𝐥

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             ╚─━━━━━━░★░━━━━━━─╝

Around campus, rumors began to swirl about Dr. Thompson's sudden disappearance. It wasn't long before both the campus police and NYPD launched an investigation, determined to uncover what had happened. His absence couldn't go unnoticed, especially given his role as a respected professor. Posters of his face began appearing around NYU, along with pleas for information regarding his whereabouts.

Students and faculty whispered about potential foul play, some even mentioning how peculiar he'd acted around certain students—Jasmine being one of them. With Jasmine's history with Dr. Thompson, she quickly became one of the prime people of interest in the investigation.

One afternoon, as she sat in her virtual class, the familiar ringtone of her phone broke her focus. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the caller ID: NYPD. She swallowed hard, knowing this conversation would come sooner or later.

"Ms. Anderson, this is Detective Rivera from the NYPD," the officer's voice said calmly over the phone. "We'd like to ask you a few questions about Dr. Thompson's disappearance."

Jasmine felt a chill creep down her spine, but she kept her voice steady. "Of course, Detective. When would you like to meet?"

"Can you come down to the precinct tomorrow morning? We just want to get a better understanding of your past interactions with him. Standard procedure."

"Yes, I can do that," she agreed, though anxiety gripped her chest.

After hanging up, she told Francesco about the call. His expression darkened immediately, concern etching deep lines into his face. "They're going to try and pin this on you."

Jasmine shook her head, trying to push away the fear. "I didn't do anything. I've got nothing to hide."

"But we did," Francesco reminded her, his voice firm but protective. "And if they dig deep enough, they might suspect something."

The next morning, Jasmine found herself at the NYPD precinct, sitting in a cold, sterile interrogation room. Detective Rivera, a tall man with a serious but kind demeanor, sat across from her, flipping through his notepad.

"Ms. Anderson, we understand that you had some, uh, complications with Dr. Thompson in the past," he began, his tone neutral. "Can you walk us through your relationship with him?"

Jasmine nodded, her hands clasped in her lap. "Dr. Thompson was my professor for a few semesters. At first, he seemed normal—strict, but professional. Things changed when he started giving me unsolicited attention. It became uncomfortable. He made advances that I rejected, and eventually, I filed a complaint against him."

"And when was this complaint filed?" Rivera asked, jotting down her response.

"Several months ago," Jasmine replied. "But nothing came of it. The university swept it under the rug, and I did my best to stay away from him."