Sentry of the Arcane

Chapter 17: Sophie

When I return to my room, Audrey and Laurel have the pleasure of watching me pace back and forth in my room. "His corpse was found in an alleyway, separated from Michelle's corpse. Judging from the 'final positioning' of the corpses, David was dealt with by most likely the killer after Michelle was murdered." I suddenly pause in my constant pacing and recite, "And we know this because they both had footprints that could only be obtained from someone else." Satisfied with clearing that up, I continue pacing. "And David's blood seemed less dried up when the photos were taken, and it seems as if the photos were taken near the same time."

Audrey blinks, slightly confused as she takes all of my words in. Then she scoffs and rolls her eyes. "What if it's the other way around? Maybe David was killed first, and then it was Michelle."

My mind goes blank as I scramble enough evidence for a solid rebuttal. Frowning when I realize that her possibility is a legitimate one, I shake my head and resume my pacing. "That would make sense, but the thing is-" I pause, my expression lighting up with an idea. I turn my head around towards my computer, only to realize that David's photos aren't on my computer.

Audrey seems to come to the same conclusion as me, as she quickly jumps up and says, "I'll get it. You two can stay put." When she closed the door behind her, I can't help put let the smirk on my face grow on my face. I remind myself to maybe tease her about that later.

When I turn around, I find myself staring at Laurel. Dread pools within me as she takes one step, then another, her sly smirk becoming more visible by the second. "So-" she begins, her sly smirk growing along with my dread. "You want to explain what we saw down there?"

I shake my head, wishing desperately to be anywhere but here.

Apparently, I said that out loud because she says, "Aww- does Sophie want to be with her 'Fitzie'? You know, like how you two were earlier..?" She stretches the last word out and raises up eyebrows.

Mentally cursing myself and Laurel, I sit down at my desk, trying so hard to not let my blush show. It's be worse if they had taken a photo, but I won't give them any ideas. Instead, I groan, putting my head in my hands. Sighing in exasperation, I complain, "The thing is, Audrey makes a good point..! But I just have the feeling that David was killed later...!" I hear Laurel sigh at the sight of me, but brush it off. More pressing issues are at hand.

As if the sound of knocking was coincidentally simultaneous, I finally get an idea. Quickly jumping up, I rush to the door and practically rip the door open to find Audrey and Fitz standing in front of me. Although my eyes widen at the sight of Fitz, I shake my head as I rush down the hall without a word.

...

Once I arrive back at my room again, I almost knock on my bedroom door until I realize that it's my room. Struggling to maintain a good grip on the stack of photos in my arm, I reach into my pocket for my room key. Unlocking my door, I push the door open further as I walk in, using my foot to softly close it behind me.

When I glance up, I find Audrey, Laurel, and Fitz staring back at me. While Audrey and Laurel just stare at me for a moment, Fitz actually walks over to me. Gently prying the pictures out of my tight grip, he then proceeds to look through them, his eyebrows furrowing more with every photo. After a few moments, I decide to open my mouth to explain, but Fitz beats me to it. "These are pictures of the crime scene without her body, aren't they?" he whispers in my ear.

My eyes widen, but I nod silently. "Yes, but-"

He shakes his head. "You also think that David was a witness gone victim. You just needed proof, and the blood stains gave you it." Fitz then gestures to the two females standing in front of us with confused expressions. "Might want to explain it to them as well, shouldn't we?"

Audrey and Laurel's confused expressions falter once I explain my sudden disappearance, Fitz helping me as well. Since Audrey's doubt was still evident, I give the photos and say, "Look at those. They're pictures of the crime scene, but without the body of Michelle. This was in the museum, where she was found." I add. "And if she was killed second, there would be additional blood in a different area that isn't hers. Or there'd be evidence of someone cleaning up a line of blood if she was dragged or carried."

She nods, satisfied with my explanation. "Alright," Audrey admits, shrugging her shoulders at me. "She was killed first, and in the museum for that matter. What now?"

I furrow my eyebrows. "The only question relevant to this right now is the motive. Why would the wife be killed before her husband?"

"Because he was a witness?" Laurel pipes up.

Fitz dismisses the suggestion with his hand. "We know that, though. But there's a lot of possibilities that could be the motive. The wife could've been the target, most likely because of an affair of some sort." He begins pacing across the room like I did earlier. "Or the husband was the target for any reason really, from gambling or for revenge. And his wife was caught in the middle unfortunately, or she was killed to show that the killer was serious."

Taking his possibilities into context, I start pacing from the opposing side of my room. "But the only problem is that anyone could think of those possibilities. There must be something more to it."

Suddenly, Fitz stops and I bump into his shoulder. "Sorry, Sophie," he apologizes. He then says, "I was looking at the photos of the marriage. But get this, their hair was like a light chestnut-brown instead of blond." My eyes widen at this. One possibility forms in my mind, but is confirmed when he adds, "So that proves that either those two have a history that just caught up to them, or that something happened that made them dye their hair."

I frown at this. "If that's the case, then wouldn't have they taken more precautions to make sure that no one would recognize them?"

Fitz nods. "And if that's the case, then we wouldn't have a married couple as our victims." He sighs. "Yet here we are."