Beyond the Screams ✔

Chapter Nine

"So you were the first one to see him correct?" The officer asked, peering over me,

I nodded, "That's correct. I was in the interview room, talking to an old friend when I heard a high pitched shriek. I figured that with everything happening related to the murders, I would check if the person was ok. The door and the window leading out of his office were wide open. I looked in and saw Mr MacPherson lying on his desk, bloodied and dead. If you don't believe that I was on the other side of the building then you can go and check the security tapes." I repeated in a monotone voice. It felt like the sixth time I had told him that. The officer nodded and wrote it down in his notepad.

"Why did you leave the building less than forty minutes after the murder? Something to hide?" He continued to interrogate.

I rolled my eyes, "I went out to a flower field, I needed a break." I explained, ignoring the temptation to stand up and strangle him.

"Final question, if you were the first person to see Mr MacPherson after his untimely death, why were the authorities not alerted sooner?"

I sighed, "I didn't have access to a phone, and I was still considerably shocked."

The officer nodded and wrote a final note before closing his notepad and stepping back, "Thank you for your cooperation, Ms Hughes, I'll alert Mr Redfield that he is welcome to continue looking after you."

He stepped back and walked away, I internally cringed. It seemed that Bryce was now my designated carer since I obviously couldn't do it myself. Bryce quickly walked over, taking the place was the officer previously stood.

"Hey, did everything go alright?"

I nodded, "Yeah, it wasn't too bad. Did someone come over and talk to you?"

Bryce shook his head, "No, I guess I wasn't a suspect."

I sighed, of course, he wasn't, "Were you able to find out what's happening to the studio since Mr MacPherson can't run it any more?"

Bryce snorted, "Apparently his nephew is coming to run the business, I can't remember where he's from but he's not from London. I'm afraid that was all the information I could gather."

I had heard of Paul MacPherson only a few times, A large photo of Mr MacPherson and Paul, accompanied by another man, would always be sitting on the front of Mr MacPherson's desk.

"I've heard of him before," I replied, "But I never realised that he would be the one to take over if Mr MacPherson ever died or when he retired."

I pulled out the suspect list and scanned over the list, landing my finger on another name,

"Alfred Barry," I stated, "I think we should interview him next. The reason that I was able to be given that note was because the lights went out. He works in tech, so even if he didn't have any part in it, he might know who turned the light off, if we can get that information, then we may be able to figure out if this murderer has an accomplice."

Bryce nodded, "Smart, do you want me to go get him?"

I shook my head, "No, Emily has a friend in tech, but do you think you can organise a list of questions?"

"Yeah, sure. I can do that." Bryce agreed,

I sighed in relief, "Thank you. Meet me in the meeting room, it should be empty. I won't be too long."

I stood up and walked by him, not staying to hear his reply. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen Emily, it had been a while for sure. The last time I had seen her was when I had received the letter, or at least, I thought so. If I was being honest, my mind was so clouded from all of the suspect names and murder theories, my priorities where changing, and quickly.