Murder in the City of Marylane
03. Clues
“You're serious?”
Dean's ruffled waist. March Lloyd who was already standing in front of us scratched his nape which I don't think itches at all.
The five of us were standing in an alley. There was no one there but the five of us. Me and my teammates including my captain were standing on equal footing, while March stood and bowed before us. We look like bullies if someone else goes through this alley.
I was wrong to think he did it because he ran. I thought he was caught or whatever.
“I'm serious, trust me.”
“Then, why did you run? Besides because we're after you.” Mort asked.
“I thought you were loan sharks.” March said innocently and looked at us.
Do our faces look so cruel that they are likened to loan sharks?
“Then, when you occupied my body, I saw your police ID card hanging from your neck,” he continued while looking at me. “Then, I said in my heart, ‘ah, maybe they're investigating Abey.’ So, spontaneously I said that I didn't kill him.”
I frowned. “Where did you know that Abey was killed?”
“It ...” He scratched his neck again. Harry stepped forward, as if to grab March's collar.
Seeing Harry step forward, March spontaneously took one step back and determined Harry's actions with his hands forward. Giving a stop sign with both of his palms pointed at us.
“Wow, wow. Relax, Dude. I haven't even explained.” Then he lowered his hand back.
“We already know that you always stalk Abey, March.”
March looked surprised, but he immediately changed his expression as if showing regret.
“So, for the past week, I've been aware of what I've done. I wanted to apologize to Abey, but she always avoided me. I haven't even said a word to her.” March started the story. I took out my little note and noted down his words that I thought were important. The same thing I did when Mort and I visited Eira Kimberly.
“I usually wait for Abey out of her house. I wanted to talk to her, but she ran away and avoided me. Next week I'm leaving the country, so I should at least apologize to him. I finally intend to visit her home. It would be a fool if I met her husband later. Whether I'll be slapped or beaten by her husband, I don't care.”
We still listen to the story carefully.
“That night, I went to his house. I knocked on his door, but there was no answer. I leaned against the door, then I fell backwards. It was there that I realized that the door was not locked. Well, I know my actions are breaking. I called him and went into the house. No more answers. Then a door opened, but a lot of red stains. I thought there was some renovation or something. But, you know, my curiosity rose, so I opened it.”
March took a breath and exhaled slowly.
“I saw Abey who was already lying on the bed with blood everywhere. I was terrified and couldn't see her for longer, so I went straight away.”
“Why didn't you report to the police first?” ask Mort.
He threw his face away. “Cih! The one I got as a suspect.”
I raise my eyebrows.
Is there anything like that?
“Alright, thank you, March,” said Mort later.
“Omong-by the way, where did you stalk him?”
“Eh?” He looked a little surprised as Dean asked the question.
“You just follow it, or do ‘something more’?”
He played his finger nervously. “Actually I put a camera—”
“What?!”
“But that was just one time! Please don't arrest me! I've realized my mistake, okay? I deleted the tape too. Don't catch me!” He clenched his palms in front of us. He begged.
“Did you see anything suspicious on that tape?”
He put his index finger on his chin, his eyes looked up—sign that he was thinking. “Nothing. After all, I put it in a place rarely occupied by her and her husband. He was more often in his room. I put him in a hurry back then, so he was only caught on camera a few seconds in a day. One minute not to.” He explains.
“His husband too, he just came home from work, went to work, came home from work, and so on,” he continued. “But the look on his face looks more irritated, I guess. I can't see clearly. The resolution is less good. Also, I didn't record any sound. Actually, I was stalking someone for the first time. Hehe.”
“Good. We didn't expect you to do that either. Is there someone you suspect or something?”
He nodded stiffly, a little hesitant.
“Nothing, I guess.”
“Good. Thank ye. Don't repeat your actions again, March.”
“Ready!” March put his hand near his temple, paying respect to us.
“Ah, sorry that I occupied your body earlier,” I said.
He scratched his nape again. “It's okay. Anyway, I caused a misunderstanding.”
“Omong-by the way, why did you go abroad?” ask Harry.
He looked to the right and to the left, his eyes alert. Then he put his hand on his cheek—whispered, yet his voice was still heard.
“I should avoid those loan sharks.”
This is why I think someone should try not to owe, especially with loan sharks. It just adds to the problem.
“Hey, it doesn't even solve your problem.”
“He can be trusted?” ask Harry. His eyes looked at March who entered his apartment through the window pane.
“Should have. We also have no evidence to suspect him.” Dean answered.
“He is so. That's why I told her to tell her husband. He's a person who doesn't like to trouble others, so he always hides it alone.”
Eira, Abey's best friend, said so.
Hiding it alone, huh? Is that possible?
“I think we should go back to TKP.”
“Eh?” say we three—aku, Dean, Harry—together.
“We might miss something.”
We went back to the CTF. I saw this place, and it hasn't changed at all since we last left it.
“Check back whether we left something.” Mort rules. The three of us nodded. They started looking.
I walked with a small notebook in my left hand and a pen with that black ink on my right hand. I saw my notes.
‘Abey always hide it alone.’
That's what I wrote on my notebook paper.
I move my pen with my finger.
Oh, naw. My fingers miss so much that the pen falls from between my fingers. The pen rolled into a short closet. The height of the closet was only about half a meter.
“What are you doing, Juan?”
“My pen fell,” I said on my knees and extended my hand under the cover, trying to pick up the pen.
Wait, I feel something other than a pen.
A book?
I took it and saw something in my hand. A slightly dusty brown book.
“What is it?” Harry asked.
“Entah.” I answered. I just opened the cover, and I knew exactly what the book was.
Abey’s Diary. It was written on the first page as the title.
Ah, she always hid it alone and told stories in the diary instead.
“Can I open this?”
“By finding the killer, I think this is necessary.” Mort says.
I took a breath. “Abey, forgive me for violating your privacy,”. I started reading sheet by sheet. My friends also read the book.
Silent. There was no sound other than the sound of the book sheets I moved sheet by sheet. We were surprised, really. All this book is about her husband's cruelty. She told me in the book that her husband always abused her.
September 12th, 2021.
Ah, those cops are stupid. They trust my husband more than I do. They may have fooled my husband's smile. My husband said I was crazy, and they believed him. Have they bribed him?
We kept opening the sheets until we got to the last page.
October 31st, 2021.
In people's eyes, Gary Keanett was a dream husband. No. gabe. You don't know the facts. Even Eira, my best friend, said that I was very lucky because my husband was her. No. gabe. I'm not happy. I asked her for a divorce, but she always beat me up. I didn't even get a chance to talk. He's monster. I'll have to record it in order to get evidence in court when I divorce her. I might put it on the clock or something to keep it from getting caught.
“Jam?”
Harry took the clock in front of us. The clock was located on top of this half-meter tall cupboard. “What is this?” tanyakanya.
“Maybe.”
Harry lifted the clock and slammed it on the floor. He crouched down and showed me something quite small.
“Camera.”
We took his memory card and put it in his phone to see the contents of his video. We widened our eyes when we saw what was happening in this footage.
“What is this?”
Perp ….
“Gary Keanett.”
