A Condemned Haven

Chapter 39

*****You guys are going to love this one.*****

Clarke wasn't kidding about showing up at the diner the next day. She actually sat and ate her food this time. Andy did show up and so did the girl he was with yesterday. They were constantly sorting through papers and writing things down. She looked like she was his tutor, which could've been a real possibility. There was also the fact that he could've asked her to do a favor for him. It was as simple as that. They sat there for what seemed like hours before the girl left. Clarke had been looking at the letters for most of that time. They were written on simple notebook paper, almost like someone had scribbled on them quickly in the middle of class. They had gone on for over two months, coming each two weeks apart. They were dated, which helped a lot with the timeline.

Andy got up and it looked like he was headed to the bathroom. Clarke walked across the room, trying to look as inconspicuous as possible. No one seemed to pay her much attention as she slid into the booth. He had papers scrambled everywhere and ACT and SAT booklets. Lucky for her one of them had what seemed to be a paper in it. She snatched the written essay quickly, before calmly walking back to her booth. Andy came back what seemed to be only seconds later. She had gotten lucky with timing on that one. She hid the paper in her bag and continued to drink her coffee. Andy looked as if he was trying to find the paper, but eventually gave up and started to walk away. For a split second his eyes wandered and settled directly on Clarke. He looked confused that she was there, but quickly masked it and looked away. He knew she was here, and he also knew Jack was here. It wasn't hard to put two and two together if he was the one sending her the photos. Moments after Andy left Jack popped himself into the booth next to her.

"What did we find?"

"Weren't you supposed to come over last night?"

"Yeah, but my mom insisted I stay at home considering that kids are dropping like flies. But seriously. I saw you go over to Andy's booth so what did you find?" Clarke pulled out the essay from her bag. The e's were written in cursive just like the letters. Clarke had witnessed herself that Andy was right-handed. This was the same handwriting, there was no doubt about it.

"Andy was the one who wrote the letters I found to Brandon."

"What letters?" She had forgotten to tell him about breaking into Brandon's house. She had never explained herself when she asked for Andy's receipt.

"I kind of stole them from Brandon's house last night."

"A little breaking and entering never hurt anybody, I guess. Why didn't the police find them when they went through his house?"

"They were somewhere they didn't know to look."

She told him about the similarities in the writing and they both agreed that they needed to look into Andy a lot more than they previously had. He could have been responsible for everything. They needed to find out why he had such a grudge against the team. Jack went back to work considering his shift was coming to an end soon and Clarke went home shortly afterwards. As soon as she opened the door, she heard her parents fighting again. She could hear their shouting through the study door just like last time. She didn't bother to listen and made her way to her room. She knew that Andy might be guilty, but she had no clue how to prove it. A couple of letters didn't prove he murdered four people. She could confront him, but if he really was the killer than that was an awful idea. Jack had said that Andy had been picked on but that was all she really knew about him. Not to mention that he got expelled. She needed proof and she knew how to find it. It also happened to be slightly illegal. She sat down on her bed and felt something firm under her comforter. When she lifted it up, she saw another manila envelope like the one that had the photos in them. She picked it up, her hands shaking slightly as she undid the metal pin. She slid out another photo of her and Jack in her car yesterday. There was also another photo of them tonight in the diner together. The person had been there. The picture had been taken outside the window by their booth. How in the hell did they manage to keep slipping out of her grasp? Andy must have seen them before he left.