With Love, Your Killer (COMPLETED)

Chapter Five

8th October, 2015 (Three Days after the Murder).

9:25 AM.

Detective McNeil and five other officers were being escorted across the quad to an empty classroom by the principal of Barke High. The cops had been asking teachers and students routine questions about Bethany since she was found, but they had not gotten any new leads.

As he stepped into the school corridor, Ian was hit by a wave of nostalgia. The last time he had been there was about eight years ago at graduation. The lockers were previously painted blue, but they were now a horrible orange; The walls were the same color, but dirtier than he remembered; The floors were polished, but looked worn from overuse. The hallway was definitely smaller than he remembered.

Students milled about, trying to get to their classes. They tried to appear natural, but their movements were robotic, careful. Ian found a few of them giving him and the other officers nervous glances and quickly averting their eyes when they were caught.

He looked straight ahead, and found something that caught his eyes. Sherylyn was walking towards him, her hands entwined with Nathan’s. She had a C on her cheerleading uniform, and gave him an imperceptible nod as she passed him. Nathan did not look in his direction, as he seemed to be lost in thought. It was most unusual that Bethany’s boyfriend would be in a relationship with her best friend a mere three days after her death.

“Principal Hughes,” Ian called out to the portly, matronly woman who had been the principal for as long as he could remember.

“Yes?” she answered sweetly.

“I just saw Sherylyn Ross with Nathan Fields right now. What’s going on with the both of them?”

“Ian, they are both going through a traumatic experience. I believe they are seeking comfort in each other,” she said in her motherly voice. The principal had always been a naïve, unassuming woman who loved seeing the good in people. To her, there was nothing wrong in two people bonding after a mutual friend’s death. Ian saw it a different way entirely.

“I saw her with a C on her uniform. Has she always been captain?” he asked.

“No, she was voted as captain yesterday. It was unanimo-,” she trailed off as she saw him eyeing her with a look of skepticism.

“I know what you’re thinking. She’s expressing her grief the best way she knows how. The team would be in good hands with her in charge. That is what Bethany would have wanted,” she concluded.

She did not in fact know what he was thinking. Why the hell did one person benefit so much from Bethany’s death? From what he knew of Bethany the past two days, he was sure she’d be rolling in her grave at the thought of Sherylyn taking her place in any way.

“Here it is,” principal Hughes informed as she led them into an empty classroom. It had been prepared for questioning as most of the tables were piled on top of each other, leaving a small table right in the middle, with two chairs on opposite sides, facing each other.

“I’ll send the teachers and students yet to be interviewed in one after the other, so the academic activities won’t be disrupted,” she informed.

He nodded to show her he understood.

***

Same Day, 01:20 PM.

The interviews were going really well, as the teachers, unlike the students, had great things to say about Bethany.

“She was always at the top of my class,” one said.