Acess Code for Murder

Secret Torture

Mentally, a picture formed in my head: the whole town had dark secrets about their past and present, and I suspected Maggie was no exception to the rule. You never know with whom you are dealing: it doesn't matter how much time you've spent with someone, all it matters is whether they trust you enough to tell you the important stuff or not.

I mean, technically, everybody has someone that they trust "unconditionally" but such thing doesn't actually exist if you keep something from (even if it has only a sliver of importance). And when they realize they have been deprived of information, said information doesn't actually matter: the secret does. The definition of secret is, quite literally, something that only you and/or a reduced number of people know, so I'm not going to even bother to try to tackle this concept that's actually pretty hard to grasp. To be honest, everybody likes secrets, but nobody likes being lied to. And the reason they like secrets is because they have done something really ansty throughout their life, and they want to know everybody else's dirt while not exposing their ones. 

I'm not going to lie to you: I like it! It gives me a (metaphorical) cozy felling, since I'm quite literally safe because of it, hence the reason why I don't like to trust people: I never tell them secrets, since they only expect more and more from you, like a cat that keeps finding you for food. That's why, my dear readers, I'll never trust anyone with the most meaningless secrets ever: because people get addicted.

If you need help on this subject, all I can say to you is: don't trust one person; trust several. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but it let me explain this opinion I have: you share different secrets with different people that don't know eachother. If one comes forward, the rest of your secrets will be safe, since there's no way the exposer will know about the others.

Now all you got to do is decide: do you like your safety, or are you so determined to have friends that you share secrets?

I'd need to dig a lot in that town to find every piece of information I could, but that was (again, a bit counterintuitive) something that could drown the bitterness momentarily. At that moment, I wanted to actually take a shortcut, just to find out a bit more about the people that was dealing with, so I asked everybody to join me in Maggie's house, for something that she was totally against: an actual honest reunion.

It was now nighttime, but nobody could sleep. They feared for their lives, for a killer could definetly strike again. I was, in fact, sure they would, so getting everybody together would also offer a momentary protection.

Everybody just sat down on some chairs, and I quickly uttered some words to increase conflict: 

- As you all know, I'm new in town, and I'm also the one investigating the murder of Sophie. - Ivy and Andrew still embraced each other, in a mess of tears. - Since I've been here, I've found out about 2 dark secrets that haunt people here, which makes me believe you are all liars. - Everybody let out a small surprised "Oh", and start eyeing me out like I was a monster.

- The only liar I see here is you. - Victoria said. - Where in the hell is Sarah? You told us everybody would've been here...

- She had a... - I started.

- Personal problem. - Tobias quickly added, interrupting me. Victoria took that as a final answer, but she was obviously not satisfied with such a rapid excuse.

- As I was saying... I know this town has some big dark secrets, and I want you to reveal them... 

- Why do you expect us to reveal our secrets? There's no way you can torture us enough to do so. - He said, in between laughs.

- You misunderstood me: I don't intend for you to reveal them here... I intend for you to trust someone that, sadly for you, has an unfair advantage over everyone here.

- And what is that advantage? - Erica asked.

- I know I didn't murder Sophie. I'll be here all night, and so will you, since I have the two sets of keys that open the doors. The faster you tell me a secret of yours and a secret of another person, the faster you can leave. - Everybody sighed heavily in disappointment but soon settle down.- I know this is torture, but consider it a revenge for the dead. 

- Some people have alibis... Why are we here? - Louise protested. 

- Glad you asked that. You are here to witness the downfall of friendships. It's not healthy for any of you to have to deal with toxicity everyday, and I strongly suggest you move out of this town when this is over. - Everybody opened their eyes, starting to hate me a bit. - I know it's dramatic, but your friendships don't have strong enough bases to sustain this. And deep down, you know it too. - Some people started looking down, avoiding my keen sight. - I suggest you start now before this gets out of hand. I'll let everyone go at 9 a.m.. Right now, you have to survive this for 13 hours with no food. Oh,  and I won't let you sleep. 

-Why are you doing this to them, James?

- Because one of them did it. 

-Then just do what you normally do. Investigate. Don't torture them.

- Honey, you have to understand that my means to investigate are everything but ortodox... Not something I'm proud of, but it's the truth. Everybody that I know didn't do it is allowed to eat and sleep, you included.

- Why me?

- You pointed the time of death to a time you had no alibi in. If you were the killer you would have lied to me. - She stood quiet. 

- I still don't agree with what you are doing. - I gave her a "Hey, what are you gonna do?" look and she then said, with some tears in her eyes: - Are we gonna move away from them when this is over?

- Darling, I think it's for the best, but I'll leave the decision to you.

- Why though? It makes no sense.

- Honey, who is your best friend? - I honestly asked.

- Ivy. I always talk to her.

- I'm sorry, but you don't. She talks to you. You can't tell a thing to her, she's always talking. And if you examine the list of your so called friends here, you'll find similar reasons: Anne wants secrets, Pete doesn't even talk and Andrew just has a compulsive need for compliments. - She shed some more tears. - I'm not saying you don't have friends, I'm just saying they aren't here. I know other people you were fond of, and I could actually see some character in them: Lindsey, Anthony, Grace, whatever. They were nice people. 

- And deep down I know these aren't. You're right. - She said. She hugged me hard. - I'm going to bed. Should I start packing tomorrow?

- We'll see.

She followed upstairs while I sat down on the couch. Everybody that was there removed themselves from my line of sight, but I stood still there for twenty minutes until Gundham came to me.

- Hey... Can we talk?

- Sure. What's up?

- Well, I want to know how this works... What secrets do you need to know of?

- Any secret, but the ones that actually matter would be the best. - He wrapped his head with his sweaty palms, mumbling to himself. - I don't want the information, ok? I want you to trust me... It's different. 

- Yeah, I get it. Can I tell you now?

- Yes, of course. 

- Well, I... - Suddenly, everybody hear a loud scream coming from upstairs. 

- MAGGIE! - I yelled. I jumped from the couch and came up the stairs with only 3 steps. I opened the door to our bedroom, but she wasn't there. The light on my office was on, and I came in, with all of the people following me. Maggie was sitting in my chair, with a dagger stuck in her back.