"I need to look around Hilda's room now," Detective Anna said. Then she got a quick nod from Mr. Lockwood."Oh yes, let's go there. I told you that Hilda's room is upstairs, right?""Yes, you did, Mr. Lockwood." Detective Anna said, who immediately stood up, following Mr. Lockwood's lead."Let's go up there.""Please."Detective Anna followed Mr. Lockwood up the stairs to the second floor. She looked around, the furnishings and interiors of the house were a mix of classic and elegant. Everything was mesmerizing and a feast for the eyes.Until finally, Detective Anna did not realize when Mr. Lockwood had arrived at the place she wanted. She almost bumped into his back, but luckily he didn't notice.After opening the door to Hilda's room, Mr. Lockwood turned to face Detective Anna. He smiled slightly and said, "This is my daughter's room, detective. Please come in," he said.Detective Anna said yes. She nodded her head. "Thank you, Mr. Lockwood. May I come in now?""Sure."As her feet b
"It's still about that issue. Are you the type of parent who forbids your daughter to have a boyfriend?"Mr. Lockwood chuckled softly. He waved his hand. "Not at all, Detective. I don't forbid it. For me, falling in love is a natural thing. I don't mind if Hilda has a boyfriend. She's still a teenager, liking someone is part of life.""So you allow Hilda to have a boyfriend?""Yes, of course, there's nothing wrong with that." Mr. Lockwood said, who seemed very confident in the answer he gave to Detective Anna."What about your wife? Would she have no problem if Hilda did have a boyfriend?""Yes, definitely." Mr. Lockwood was much more confident this time. "My wife has always agreed with me, so she would have no problem if Hilda had a boyfriend. My daughter is young, detective, having a date is something we don't have to worry about.""But you two didn't know about that, did you?" Detective Anna emphasized the question at a similar time."Yeah, that's true. I thought Hilda was a bit se
The look on Zana's face made Meg want to know what had really happened. The girl who was sitting next to her made Meg wonder to herself, she tried to find out, but she couldn't, she failed, she couldn't think anything about Hilda, and Zana said that Hilda was her friend Alice too. They were just friends Meg didn't know.Meg realized that she didn't know anything about Alice. She felt very bad. Her daughter was too private about her personal life. They rarely talked, and Alice was difficult to approach. The girl always radiated hostility toward her. Her tone was getting ruder and ruder. Meg didn't know what to do to make Alice a better girl. She didn't have any way. She was already hated by her own daughter. And even though it was painful and her chest often felt like it was being hollowed out, she still loved her daughter.Alice hasn't opened up completely, she doesn't tell her about anything, including what happened at school. This makes it natural that Meg doesn't know what people a
Meg's mouth immediately opened wide. The words that came out of Zana's mouth instantly made her put on a serious face. Her eyes were now unblinking. She did not give any response for a while, making the silence trap the two of them. However, their eyes continued to clash.What Zana said was that even though she had been badmouthing Hilda right in front of Meg, it didn't make Meg immediately explode and get angry at the girl. No, Meg is not that kind of woman. She always saw things from all sides. If Zana looked angry at Alice, that meant there was something. Meg just wanted to know the truth, that's all. But, if Zana had crossed the boundaries that she shouldn't have crossed, of course Meg wouldn't stay silent.However, Meg did not deny that her heart was now beating very fast. She was afraid. Yes, fear suddenly crept into her heart. She didn't know why Zana suddenly said that Alice had killed Hilda, but there must be a reason. And this was Meg's job to find out. If Zana said that, th
Detective Anna was already feeling a rush of excitement. She thought the book she found in Hilda's room would lead her to clues and a series of facts unknown to anyone but the girl herself. And Detective Anna thought that at last she would be able to dive deeper into the personal matters of the murdered girl, but apparently she was wrong, leaving her now deeply disappointed. Detective Anna let out a long sigh. And as she closed her eyes, she could feel the hopes that had been building up in her chest begin to loosen and drift away, then pop like soap bubbles to the touch. This disappointed her, of course. The book she found was not the diary she thought it would be. In the first pages of the book, just like what Detective Anna had checked in Hilda's room, it did show Hilda's writing, which contained the girl's self-introduction and a few other things about herself, such as her hobbies, favorite foods, and things she liked. Just about that—nothing more. Then, on the next page, she wr
When Detective Anna's eyes caught sight of a boy who had just walked out of the house that would be her destination now, she immediately stopped walking, followed by her gaze that continued to follow where the boy had gone until he disappeared.Detective Anna's mind was, of course, now wondering to itself. She muttered, "Why did Thomas come out of there? What was he doing?"Yep, that's right, it was Thomas that Detective Anna saw at this moment. And he had now disappeared from her sight, making Detective Anna decide to return to her goal, which was to go to the house where Thomas had just come out.Detective Anna was so sure that she was on the right track that, when she confirmed it twice, she knocked on the door.In no time, the door swung open, making Detective Anna reflexively move backwards.And now, Detective Anna was confronted by a large man with a bulging belly. His head was bald on top, but on the left and right sides, there were still strands of hair that were all white. Wh
"I want to make a good impression on my students at Starlight High School. I want to be a good, wise, and understanding leader or principal. I don't want all the students to be afraid of me, let alone have to deal with me because of my looks. Do you agree that I chose an unfriendly face, detective?"Detective Anna frowned, her round eyes blinking softly. "I don't think so," she replied honestly."Well, you're one of the few people to say that to me." Mr. Paterson tried to smile. "A lot of people are scared because of my big body and creepy looks. I had an experience once, I was spending time on the beach, reading a book while sitting in the sun, Sounds like a lot of fun, right? Yeah, it was fun at the time, but all of a sudden, a kid fell in front of me. He tripped over something, and his body hit the sand. And since I was still sane and had empathy, of course I wanted to help him. And you know what, detective?""What?"Mr. Paterson straightened his back. "The child was crying when I
"Please, I will listen to you.""Well, just before coming here, I saw Thomas coming out of your house, so I'm sure I didn't see anything wrong. Isn't that so?""Yes, you didn't see it wrong, it was Thomas." Mr. Peterson answered straightforwardly. "You know him, detective?""I happen to know Thomas, but what brings him to you?" Curiosity was already nagging Detective Anna. She wanted to know about it.There was obviously a reason behind Thomas coming to see the new principal of Starlight High School. That's why he came here.Mr. Paterson immediately gave a statement to Detective Anna. "Thomas came to me to discuss his position at Starlight High School. Or rather, he still wants to stay there until graduation."Still not understanding, Detective Anna then asked, "What does that mean? I'm still confused.""Well, his mom contacted me earlier.""Yes, and?"Mr. Paterson sighed heavily. "She told me that she would not let Thomas continue his education at Starlight High School. She wants to
"Come in, detective." Mr. Lockwood welcomed Detective Anna with excitement and happiness. His smile widened. Detective Anna was his hope, so she was precious to him.Detective Anna nodded and smiled politely. Her feet began to step inside Mr. Lockwood's house after the door was opened wide."I'm glad you're here again. Let's sit down, I happen to have something I'd like to discuss with you."Detective Anna said, "What is it, Mr. Lockwood?" She looked at the man in front of her with interest. She had taken off the jacket she was wearing and placed it on the head of the couch."I took your advice, detective." Mr. Lockwood's face lit up. A smile refused to disappear from his lips.Detective Anna had certainly guessed what Mr. Lockwood meant. She had prepared the words on the tip of her tongue, but just as she was about to reveal them, Mr. Lockwood suddenly spoke first."I brought in a psychiatrist for my wife, just like you told me.""Oh, that's good news. How is your wife now?""She's g
"Did you come to Hilda's funeral?" Detective Anna asked.Alice smiled wryly. "What did I come for? It was a waste of my time. She's not my friend anymore. I'd rather sleep at home."Although Alice admitted that she wasn't Hilda's friend anymore, Detective Anna thought it was unethical of Alice to say so. It didn't feel right and sounded too frivolous."You may have admitted that Hilda isn't your friend anymore, but at least you can watch your mouth. If you couldn't come when Hilda was buried in peace, you should have shown your condolences.""I don't care." Alice waved her hand. "I do what I want. You can't control me. I'm getting tired, you'd better ask quickly, I'm leaving.""This won't be over for long. There's just one more thing I need to ask you."Alice returned Detective Anna's gaze with an already bursting curiosity. "What?""According to Zana, you don't want to admit the existence of your mom, and you often lie to Zana and Hilda, you also pretend to be rich all this time, the
"According to the information I got, you were once friends with Zana and Hilda. I'm sure that's true, so I don't think I need to ask you for confirmation.""That's not quite right, actually." Alice smiled mockingly. She was now leaning against the back of the chair, hands folded in front of her chest, her eyes snapping at Detective Anna. "They are not my friends, but my trash. Compared to friends, they're much better suited to be called my trash." A chuckle was all he did when he finished saying that.Detective Anna took Alice's words in stride. "What makes you not be with them anymore?""They're arrogant bastards. They like to throw tantrums. That's the most appropriate answer for me to tell you." A low sigh escaped Alice's lips. "Did you talk to Zana?""Yeah, I talked to her.""Don't completely believe what that bitch told you. I'm so sure, in fact, that I'd be willing to bet she's badmouthing me when she talks to you, that's true, right?""I see you hate Zana and Hilda. What caused
Detective Anna knows that she has to be professional. While at work, she must be able to focus and try to find new clues to the murder case she is handling, but she can't lie if the personal problems she is dealing with are so painful that her focus is quite blurred.Detective Anna never imagined that her relationship with her boyfriend would take this path. And since he left her house, they haven't spoken. She doesn't know what their relationship is now. Thinking about it was so difficult and made her head bang. Have they broken up? Was it just a short break, like what her boyfriend wanted?This all had to be discussed again. A point of clarity must be found. If left hanging without being discussed, Detective Anna feared that she would never calm down again. Indeed, she was confused by what was on her boyfriend's mind, not usually he acted like this. His character seemed to change. Indeed, she admits that lately she rarely meets with her boyfriend, even calling is rare. Even if they
The target is in sight.Alice, who was originally leaning her body against the wall, stood up straight as soon as Angie was seen walking while clutching many books. She needed to talk to Angie, she needed to discuss one thing with Angie, one thing that she thought was important to discuss immediately.Carrying a lopsided smile, Alice strode faster. She was reluctant to lose Angie. Before class started, it would be nice to finish something that needed to be done."Hey you!" Alice exclaimed loudly when she was behind Angie by a few footsteps.Angie felt that the exclamation was drifting toward her, especially with the fact that she recognized the voice. As a result, she turned around. It was not a big surprise to see Alice, who was now in front of her. She wasn't surprised, she wasn't scared, and she wasn't afraid. It was as if she could predict this was coming.With her chin raised, Angie said, "Excuse me? Are you talking to me?""You're standing in front of me right now, aren't you? O
"Why?" Detective Anna asked her boyfriend, who was sitting on a chair. She stood up while biting her fingernails. She looked at him uneasily, fearing that something big and scary would burst out of him."I don't know, Anna." Indra shook her head."You can't suddenly come to my place, want to ask for our relationship to stop here, and then you can't explain your reasons when I ask that. That's very strange, you know that."Indra looked down, the way he was sitting was already starting to make him feel uncomfortable. He did not even dare to look up to look directly into his girlfriend's eyes. He could not, because he was too afraid. He was afraid of disappointing her even more, even though he had already done so."I just want an explanation from you. Why? What's the reason? Did I do something wrong? Did I ask too much and demand too much? What? Please explain it to me so I can understand." Detective Anna pleaded, saying it in a hoarse voice. Her tears were almost pushing their way out o
"Do you think Hilda has any enemies?"Detective Anna's question made Zana immediately think of a name. Without thinking, she immediately revealed it. "There is."It was an unexpected answer for Detective Anna. She listened to Zana even more seriously. "Who?""Alice. They don't get along. Actually, neither do I. We used to be friends if you didn't know that."This was a new fact for Detective Anna. And very interesting. Then, she took out the three polaroids she had taken from Hilda's room during her visit to the girl's house. She placed the three polaroids on the table, arranging them one by one. She showed them to Zana."Here are three of you," Detective Anna said as she pushed the three polaroids closer to Zana. Zana looked at them and picked one up. "Yes, this is us. Where did you get that?""Hilda's room. I was there a while ago to meet her parents. I was allowed into her room and found those pictures."Zana looked sadly at the photo in her hand. Three smiling girls were there. T
Zana was let out by her math teacher to meet Detective Anna, who was waiting for her in front of the classroom. This was a good thing for her. For a moment, she was free from the headache-inducing lessons, plus she was currently unable to focus. It would be better if she did get out of the classroom. In fact, hearing that Detective Anna wanted to talk to her made her feel excited.Zana immediately knew what Detective Anna wanted to discuss with her. It was too obvious. Hilda was a topic that was bound to come up. There were many things she wanted to tell Detective Anna about Hilda.Now, Detective Anna sat across from Zana in the hall. A quiet place was the main thing that was needed. Zana asked for it because this way she felt much better, another reason was because she didn't want anyone to hear what she was going to say to the detective."I really need to talk to you," Zana said seriously. "Even if you didn't intend to see me, I would have come to you, detective.""Yeah, I'm sure yo
Angie was certain that she was not mistaken this time. From some distance away, she saw Detective Anna, who was walking towards who knows where.Thomas, who noticed Angie suddenly stop walking, was immediately puzzled by what the girl was doing. They had just come out of the library. The class change would start any minute now."Why did you stop?" Thomas asked. Half confused, half curious. He looked at Angie with a furrowed brow."Look over there." Angie immediately pointed at Detective Anna.Thomas, of course, immediately followed what Angie was pointing at. He saw what she saw. And now Thomas knew what Angie was talking about."Detective Anna?" Thomas muttered.Angie nodded. Confirming Thomas' words. It was indeed Detective Anna that Angie saw.Thomas immediately thought of something. "I can guess why she's here. She must be investigating Hilda's murder case. There's no mistaking it." Thomas was sure of his train of thought. He continued to stare at where Detective Anna was moving.