Mystery Loves Company

Chapter 61 - File #6.16: The Reckless Rhett

Rhett

Noel cheered when he checked his emails back in the dorm. His midterms grades were announced and they were satisfactory as always. The other email came from Webster & Associates, contained the case files on Rickard and Roland against Garner Constructions. It was the full explanation about the lawsuit, the clients, basically everything we needed to know.

"This is enough for a proof, right?" asked Noel, but I was distracted a bit.

The fact that there were only two of us left now, and Avery's red face before she slammed The Paste's door, clouded my brain. I couldn't think straight, even after I stepped into my dorm and Noel deliberately let me cross the line to his side of the room.

"Why don't you just go and apologize to her?" Noel folded his arms.

"For what? She was the one who yelled at me and accused me of not trusting her."

"I couldn't exactly blame her," he shrugged. "I mean, I can understand why she was mad. You proceeded with your own investigation without even consulting her. You were being a shitty partner."

"Yeah? Get a mirror because you made me do all that," I replied harshly. "I don't even know what she was mad of—but sure, just blame it on Rhett Carver, everyone's punching bag!"

Noel didn't answer, which meant he agreed with that.

"You know what, I think I've spent enough time with you. Your grumpiness is like an infectious disease." I growled as I sat back on my bed.

"I can say the same thing about your bad luck," he said, not wanting to lose in this cheap argument. "Look, we only have two days before the election. Pushing Avery away would do more harm than good. I hope you understand that."

I let out a long sigh. "You don't want to lose the only witness to get justice for your father? Of course, I understand that."

"Ugh, Carver," he called me with gritted teeth. "It's not just about me anymore. It's about her. It's about you. You were the one who preached about working as a team in front of my face, and now you don't want to admit all of this."

I've got goosebumps—not only because I just realized my mistakes, but also because Noel Winston's rare wise words.

"Fine, I will call her later. Can we just go back to the case?" I pleaded.

I read The Exclusives folder for a while, trying to understand every single thing before taking my own notes.

"I think after the lawsuit, Landon and Rickard reached their own deal—one that didn't include him in the group but still allowed him to put his money into Victoria Foundation. Roland knew, he demanded the same thing, thinking he would get back his money that he lost, but the group didn't work that way," I speculated. "I'm assuming that Roland threatened to tell the police, that's why they killed him."

"They weren't even loyal to each other in the first place," added Noel. "And there was only one person who knew every single deal that happened in the group."

"Michael Norris," I mentioned the name confidently. "He was so slick, that guy. You came to this town because you were following the leads. What if he intentionally left traces behind?"

Noel jumped to the edge of his bed. "You mean, he wanted someone—me—to follow him?"

"You might not know him personally before, but I'm sure he knew you were Jonathan Garner's son. You were in the crime scene after all," I said. "He probably knew you were trying to get justice, since the police covered up the case. He gave you a lead and you took the bait."