>>Clio
Chris had a blank expression on her face. She studied all of us, and I felt weirdly nervous. A sense of doom loomed over me, as if something was wrong. For a moment, I noticed a weird look in her eyes, similar to what I saw the first time I met her at the office and when she came to talk to Matthew after Rameen's death.
"No," She took a step and moved aside, "Please, come in," She answered and we all walked into her house.
The inside was eerie. The place was clean but there was a sadness attached to it, along with a sense of solitude.
We all went and sat down in the lounge. The lights weren't too bright before we entered but as we settled down Chris turned on more lights to brighten up the place. The first thing I noticed there was the urn.
Rameen's urn
Sitting in the middle of the shelf above the fireplace.
"Do you guys want something to drink?" Chris asked.
"Oh no!" I was the first one to stop her, "Please, just sit with us." I felt bad. Just what is Harou planning?
"You don't have to get us anything," Harou answered but Matthew didn't even look at her properly. It was like he was purposely avoiding looking at her as he looked around the house. His gaze traveled everywhere but her and I think she noticed that.
Chris sat down on the puffy and took a deep breath.
"How are you doing?" Harou asked her.
"I'm not exactly sure," She answered, then paused, "There's something I've been thinking about a lot though,"
"What?" The detective was alert.
"Who do you think is in the video?" Chris asked, "In the office footage?"
I saw Matthew freeze, his gaze was elsewhere but it stopped moving as well. Then he finally turned to look at the victim's mother.
"My guess is it's someone from the office." Harou glanced at Matthew, "From the physique, it's someone big," He then looked at me, "But we still haven't found out who it is."
"Detective," Chris had a deadpan voice, "Did you release the footage?"
Harou put on a poker face, "I did,"
"There's another reason you're here, aren't you?" She seemed emotionless.
The detective gave out a subtle smile like he had been caught, "Yes," He nodded, "Have you seen the recent video that got uploaded online?" He asked as he stood up from the couch and walked around, "The one that shows the man in black walking the streets."
Chris nodded, "Yes,"
"Then I'm sure you heard the news too," He stepped towards the big shelf, staring at the urn, "There's a speculation that the killer originally planned to put the head at your house but changed his mind." Matthew followed him without a word.
"Yes, I heard…" Chris kept her eyes on the detective, "Is that why you're here? To see if he had entered my house?"
"..." Harou paused for a moment, "Did he?"
"Not that I'm aware of," She replied, "And the house is locked, unless someone has a key, they can't come in."
"But I'm sure Rameen had a key," He curiously stared at the Urn.
!!!
"Oh yes…" The realization hit her and me too.
"And the fact that he knew where your house is and where your office is, along with the desk you sit on, pretty much guarantees the killer is someone you know personally."
Right, the Head Hunter could get the key after killing her. Serial killers tend to do their research before killing and the Head Hunter has a type. So far he's killed young girls who had single mothers. And all the girls were trying their best to work and look after their mothers too.
…
Wait
But Rameen's case is a little different, isn't it? Yes, Chris is a single mother as well, but-
"So you're telling me you didn't notice any signs of forced entry? Or any blood?" Harou asked.
She shook her head, "No," She was confident.
"Mind if I look around?"
"Go ahead," She replied.
He nodded, "Before that," He pointed at the Urn, "Is this Rameen's Urn?"
"Yes,"
"I thought the color was lighter." He didn't look back at the Urn but kept his eyes on the mother.
Matthew walked up to it and smelled it, "Did you polish it?" He finally spoke.
Chris nodded.
"Oh well," Harou began to walk, "Can you tell me where your bedroom is?"
Chris pointed at the door at the left of the stairs, "That's mine," She said, "Rameen's room was upstairs."
"Come on then," Harou gestured to me, "It's best if we look around together."
Why me?
Why does he want me to tag along??
***
"Nothing of importance," I replied, "Every place looks fine," I didn't even know what I was looking for. We went through Chris's room, the kitchen, the lounge, the patio. We even had a look into Chris's garden shed. After that, we went to Rameen's room.
Every place looked normal. I walked around the pastel-yellow-themed room when something caught my eye on the study desk.
"Oh," I noticed a lens box, "Did Rameen ever use lenses?"
Matthew came over, "There were a lot of things that kid did," He took the box from me to examine it, "Many things that she didn't speak about."
My heart squeezed.
If she didn't die that day, she was wanting to talk to me about something. She looked disturbed. I wonder what burden she had in her heart that she wanted to talk about it with someone she had just met.
Harou noticed the lens, "What color?"
"Black," I replied.
He nodded and looked around. Chris had gone to get some water for the detective since he asked for it, "Your mother is in the hospital, isn't she?" Harou asked me and I was surprised he knew but I was more surprised that he mentioned that out of nowhere.
"Ah, yes," I answered, "How'd you know?"
"Matthew mentioned it," He replied but I felt like he was lying.
"Your mom is sick?" Chris turned her face towards us as she entered the room with the glass of water.
"Thanks," Harou helped himself and took the glass.
I nodded, "Yeah,"
"I heard you're trying to support her while trying to support your education." The detective sipped his drink.
"I am…" I looked away.
"Having trouble?" Chris asked softly.
"Well," I didn't want to talk about it, "It's definitely not easy…" Why is the detective suddenly bringing that up? I rolled my eyes and glanced at Matthew. He was glaring at the detective.
"Clio," But Harou paid no attention to my boss.
"Yes?"
"Did you know, you're the only person who saw the killer and is still alive?"
!!!
"What?" I was definitely caught off guard with that question.
"Lily from the convenience store from City D, you reported that to the police, right?"
"Yes…." I had an odd feeling about this.
"You gave a description of the killer too."
"I didn't…" I replied, "I just told them there was a murder that happened near the convenience store."
"Why are you bringing that up?" Matthew glared at the detective.
"No reason," Harou shook his head, "I want to question you again, in the police station this time,"
"Why?" I began to panic.
"Because I need you to give me an accurate description of all you saw that night." He replied, "Stuff like this needs to be recorded properly."
"Do I have to?" I felt something very ominous at that moment. It was like I was being sent to my doom or something.
"Yes, you're a girl too, wouldn't you want other young women your age to be safe-" He paused, "Oops,"
My heart dropped. He spilled my secret in front of Chris and Chris's eyes went wide. She shot her head in my direction, her gaze carrying disbelief.
But before anyone could say anything.
A loud bang reverberated in the room.
My eyes went wide when Matthew grabbed Harou's head and smashed it in the mirror he was standing near.