Too Hot to Breathe

Conquering Dialogue

- You have to be kidding me... - She started.

- I'm actu... - She interrupted me. 

- I was attacked twice and what? I just did that to myself? I have an alibi for when Franklin was killed in the hospital. 

- It was hard for me to believe at first, but do remember that the murder weapon that was used had a massive weight on one of the ends, so Demar only started to bleed out when his son lifted him up. 

- But still, I was attacked!

- No, you were... Well, attacked, but you knew about it. You jumped into that dumpster and made sure you would hit your head, but not in a place that would cause your death. And you also made sure that I would watch over you, noticing that someone had put the wrong IV connected to you. It was a genius plan, to be honest... However, Spiegel didn't delete the texts in his phone like you had said. You know, the ones where you apologized for breaking his car windows' mechanism... All you had to do was make sure the car would be by the sun and BAM! He dropped dead. 

- Why would I have done that?

- Well, to silence him. You had a college scholarship and you didn't want it to go away by being related to a robbery. You told your partners that you wanted the money to pay college, but your father, the one that you told me was dead, paid it already, now didn't he? You just wanted to do it for the funsies, and you were also the mastermind that was behind the plan. You made sure you wouldn't leave that implied by manipulating me like you do to your college teachers. They have it written down in your file, right next to the part where they say how you excel at chemistry, you know? - She stayed silent and I continued: 

- Unfortunately, you came late. He had told me already and I got into the investigation... I managed to connect the dots to Ulric Fern, you and Franklin Demar. Only then you noticed how much Ulric Fern actually talked, and so he also got taken care of. I got so distracted by you, lying unconscious on the dumpster, that I didn't even notice the bottle that was next to you. I noticed it was there but didn't connect it. And I also saw the piece of pink rubber that was there but didn't bother actually looking at it. The bottle was the one you used to get Ulric drunk and the piece of rubber belonged to the floaty that you used to get Ulric into the water. 

- Also, I can't just forget about the fact that you were the only one that visited Franklin Demar in his hospital room beside his son and so you were the only one with the opportunity to kill him. It was more than an ingenious plan... The delay within the beginning and the end of every victim's death made sure you would have an alibi, and you pretending to be a victim made sure the suspicion wouldn't drop on you. 

- But what about the man you saw attacking me twice? - She asked.

- Well, to be honest, that was Mr. Watson. Your father. I find it funny that everybody involved had two names. Casey Spiegel and Simon Becky. Ulric Fern and Victor Jay. Thomas Demar and Franklin Demar. And finally... Alexandra Simmons and Alexandra Watson. Your father, the doctor at the hospital. Your father, an elite athlete that jogs every day of the week. Your bloody father! - I said, tossing the file at her face. - Your bloody father, that told everything you would need to know. That distracted me while everything was being planned. And the crazy fact is that... The only fact that confirms all of this is the one that you used to try and shed less suspicion on him. The écharpe. 

- What? - Watson said.

- Your daughter left a écharpe so that I would think that the one responsible was a woman. And I only managed to break this piece of proof apart with your closet. On the accessory part, there was an empty hanger, filled with dust but in the middle. When I thought about it, I actually understood. When you jumped into the dumpster, you held onto the écharpe and made sure I would think that the one responsible was a woman other than you. But since I knew the one that kept trying to kill you was a man, I managed to understand something was wrong, and so I realized you were fooling me all this time.

- So... - Atkins finally said.

- So what? What are you waiting for? Take her!

*****

The case ended quite abruptly. All because of the beautiful and mysterious Maggie. I still had a lot to find out about her, but that's all for another book. I didn't hear from Hannah in a long time. All my friends, that took my side on this situation, barely spoke to her again. For some, I might be the villain here. For others, I'm just the protagonist that conquered love. Nobody knows... Your opinion here would be the most important one. But thank God I met her. Thank God Mr. Nature approached me on the beach that day, and led me to this case.