Nevermore

Chapter 20

N I C H O L A S

Despite the growing curiosity and fear among them, the five boys soon got ready and went to the Dining Hall for breakfast, and attended their classes afterward.

    It hadn't gone unnoticed by Nicholas that Luca didn't even touch a toast over breakfast, or that he hadn't spoken a single word since they had left Arthur and Isaac's room.

    Luca never really talked about his mother, and all Nicholas knew was that Luca's father barely spent any time with him as he was always away for work. In these past two years, John Carter had been more than a music teacher and a mentor to Luca; he had been like a father to him. Even thinking about the possibility that John Carter had committed murder must have been reckoning to Luca.

    Nicholas had his own worries as well, troubling his mind. In one of the letters, Nancy had mentioned Eve.

     She's an odd girl... I feel like she's always watching me, following me around... I can hear her whisper horrible things about me...

    Had Shawn been right? Was Nicholas too quick to trust Eve?

    "The rugby practice will come to an end in fifteen minutes," Shawn said as they were walking out of their last class of the day, checking his watch.

    "So?" said Nicholas.

    "David Wilson, of course." Shawn rolled his eyes, as though it should have been obvious. "Arthur and Isaac didn't find the red envelopes in his locker, but that doesn't mean he's innocent. I think we should ask him about Nancy."

    "Shawn, isn't there a chance that you're being biased?" Nicholas said reproachfully, giving him a knowing look. "I know you two don't get along and that Wilson is a terrible person, but that doesn't make him a murderer. You saw the letters Nancy had written to John Carter. The letters matched everything perfectly; the Latin notes she had written in Eve's book about a secret she had to keep and something she was forced to do, or asking Carter to meet her in her dorm on the night of the convocation. They all made sense. Besides, there's a chance that the red envelopes Wilson was receiving wasn't even from Nancy. She wasn't the only one in the whole world who was using that specific color for her letters."

    "I agree with Shawn," Luca interjected. He had stopped walking, though he was looking down at the floor with a troubled frown. "I think we should go and talk to Wilson"

    Nicholas looked over at him, but he said nothing. He knew that Luca was looking for a reason to prove John Carter's innocence. He didn't want to break the glass of his denial.

    Nicholas sighed at last. "Fine. But we need to get Arthur and Isaac first. We need a bigger army if we're planning on breaking another fight between Shawn and Wilson. And something tells me this time the fight is going to be more violent than ever."

***

After Arthur and Isaac joined them, the five boys made their way down to the rugby field, by which time the team players were leaving the locker room one by one.

    "There he is," Shawn said in a growl, pointing at the distance where Wilson was walking out of the field with two other boys.

    With that, the five of them approached Wilson, catching his attention. His eyebrows furrowed over his sharp blue eyes at the sight of Shawn.

    "Here to beg your way back into the team, Anderson?" Wilson said with a smirk, and Nicholas felt Shawn tense up beside him, but thankfully he ignored that remark.

    "We need to talk, Wilson," Shawn told him vehemently, with great severity. "In private."

    "I'm sure if there's anything you'd like to say, you can say it here," said Wilson, his eyes locked with Shawn's. "You see, I'm not very fond of being beaten up as your petty revenge."

    Shawn looked at him for a moment longer in silence, before saying, "It's about Nancy Green."

    Nicholas wasn't sure if he had imagined it, but he could've sworn that at the mention of her name, all color had drained from Wilson's face. Wilson shared a glance with the boy to his right, who had dark auburn hair.

     Wilson said nothing else and didn't argue, as if to keep whatever was left of his dignity. Instead, he gave one nod of his head before leaving his friends and walking away with the five boys.

    When they were in a safe distance from any other human and way out of anyone's earshot, Wilson turned to face them with a sharp glare. "Now what's this all about?"

    "We wanted to know if you ever had any relations with Nancy Green," said Nicholas, not ungently. The weather outside was cold, but the anticipation was keeping him warm.

    "And how is that any of your bloody business?" Wilson snapped at him.

    "We'll take that as a yes," said Arthur wittily.

    "How well did you know her?" It was Nicholas who questioned him again.

    "I didn't know her at all," Wilson said through gritted teeth.

    "Oh, is that so?" Shawn raised a brow at him. Nicholas recognized that expression on Shawn's face; he was about to pull a trick on him. "So you're denying the fact that she had been sending you letters in red envelopes before she died?"

    It was a bluff, and Nicholas was almost sure that it wasn't going to work. But he was proven wrong when the next moment Wilson's face fell in horror, gaping at Shawn in disbelief.

    "H-how do you know about that?" Wilson whispered, his voice hollow in shock.

    A little smirk grew at the edge of Shawn's lips, but he was growing too arrogant in his victory, his eyes glinting. Their triumph was here and then gone the next moment when Shawn said gravely, "Where were you on the night Nancy died?"

    Wilson's eyes narrowed dangerously. "What?"

    Nicholas wanted to prevent Shawn from going on, but he was unstoppable now.

    "I know for a fact that you weren't at the convocation ceremony," said Shawn. "I was looking for you that night, but you didn't even show up for dinner; that was when a girl ran inside the hall to say that she had found Nancy's dead body outside the residency building, fallen from her room's window. What we don't know is whether she had fallen, or pushed. So I ask you again," Shawn went on, his voice darkening, "Where were you on the night Nancy died?"

    All the other boys took a small step toward Shawn and Wilson, ready to hold them apart in case one of them pounced. Wilson's whole body had started shaking in fury, blood covering his eyes as he breathed heavily through his nostrils. Even if he hadn't killed Nancy Green, he looked like he was about to commit murder now.

    "How dare you?" Wilson bellowed, pointing a trembling finger up at Shawn in a warning manner. "Listen to me, you bastard! You're lucky you're not expelled from the university! Not that it's any of your business, but I was occupied with my girlfriend that night on campus! If I hear you spread such lies, I will tear you apart! All of you! Do you hear me?"

Glaring at them all one last time, Wilson turned around and walked away, not looking back.

    "Shawn, what is the matter with you? We almost had him!" Nicholas snapped at Shawn, but he wasn't listening, his eyes fixed on Wilson as he moved further and further away from them.

    Shawn only smiled. "He said exactly what I wanted him to say."