Too Hot to Breathe

Baytress, Alam and Demar

Even though my main wish was to proceed with the investigation and interrogate Mr. Demar, I feared that I would run into the Police and would end up a little screwed by depending on their investigations. Instead, I decided to call Ms. Owen again, to know how good Philip and Linda were when it came down to chemistry. 

- Hello?

- Ms. Owen? I'm so sorry for troubling you but I promise this will be fast. 

- Is this about Spiegel again? Can't we just be happy that the man died? My god, we brought such a bad reputation to the school!

- I know that, ms. But unfortunately, I'm more interested in the investigation than on his previous life. - She got silent. - Anyway, I was hoping you could tell me how Philip and Linda do in chemistry?

- Philip is amazing at it... All three terms last year were aced by him. Linda... Well, she isn't that good, but I think she got some lessons by a tutor... 

- Ok, thank you so much. 

- Bye. - She rushed before I could ask any question.

Baytress and Alam were next on my "To do" list. They had to be interrogated. It made no sense for them to have taken every little piece of money that they could find and leave two safes intact. In my opinion, Hannah and Bryan were in on it too. I managed to arrange a meeting at their house. They were boyfriend and girlfriend for 3 years, from what I heard.  

- So tell me, Mr. Atton. - Hannah said, entering the living room with a cup of tea on her hands. - What brings you here? 

- Well, there has been a robbery at your bank.

- What? How could that happen? - All of a sudden, Bryan was alarmed.

- There is no reason to worry... Your safes are intact... But they were the only ones. Which begs the question why you two? 

- I don't know... 

- Do you happen to know Alexandra Simmons? - They both shook their heads. - Maybe Ulric Fern?

- Oh, I know him. - Hannah said. - He was my boyfriend from high school. 

- When was the last time you talked to him?

- About 2 weeks ago, or so, on a high school reunion. Why? Is he in trouble? - I ignored her question:

- Did you happen to tell me what your safe is?

- Yes. He told me he was a banker now and he told me he worked at my bank and he was interested in giving me a new package with more benefits.

- Did you also tell which one belongs to your boyfriend?

- Yes... What's going on?

- You're lucky. - I said to both of them. - Ulric Fern, Alexandra Simmons, Casey Spiegel and Simon Becky all robbed your bank but left your safes intact. - I said both of Spiegel's aliases to see if I could get an abnormal reaction to any of the names, but I got none. 

- What? Why would he spare us?

- I don't know. Mr. Atton, do you want a cup of tea? - Hannah said, looking desperate for me to come with her. I followed her into the kitchen. - Look, don't tell this to Bryan, but... On the high school reunion... We slept together... And I think Bryan knows that I cheated on him but he doesn't know with who, so please do keep this to yourself. 

- Fine. What does your husband do?

- Well, he works at some chemistry lab, making chemicals for industries. Why do you ask?

- Don't ask that. - I said with a smile on my face. - Anyway, I have to go now. More suspects to interrogate. 

I left the house in a hurry to see a text on my cellphone saying "Thomas was interrogated. I don't think they found anything". At the end of the message, there was a heart and a number, which I assumed belonged to Demar. I texted him to also arrange a meeting, and this one was done at the same coffee shop where I had previously interrogated Alexandra and Ulric. But there was one thing I didn't expect: Demar. He wasn't 50 or so, like Taylor had told me. No, he had blonde hair and appeared to be 30 years old.

"Oh great" I thought. "We don't know Spiegel's identity, or Demar's."