Alejandro finally stopped shaking his legs and looked at the two people sitting in front of him. "Of course I know her."
"That girl's mother told us you were good friends. Is that true?"
Alejandro nodded, not wanting to say much, and replied, "Yes, we've been going to the same school since first grade, and we've even shared classes. I could even say we were in preschool together."
"Is it the same for them?" Sergeant Doakes looked at the other students nearby.
Alejandro nodded again.
"What do your parents do for a living?"
"My father is the manager of the Miami Urban Construction Department, and my mother is an accountant for his group." Alejandro shifted in his seat, appearing a bit more confident in his words.
But as soon as he looked at Larry, his expression changed to one of fear. "Is she dead?"
Larry nodded, keeping his gaze fixed on Alejandro, who avoided eye contact. "Yes, she died tragically. She was unrecognizable. Her parents had to resort to a DNA test to determine if it was Greta Mayer. That's why we need your help—out of all Greta's close friends, we need to find the killer as soon as possible."
Alejandro bit his lip in frustration, his eyes slightly red. "The next question is important. Try to remember well so you can give me a precise answer."
But at that moment, Larry paused the interrogation. "I have a question just for you, Alejandro. Did you know if Miss Greta Mayer had a boyfriend?"
Alejandro clenched his fists inside his pants pockets and said, "I don't know..."
"You don't know, or you don't want to admit that she liked someone else?"
Annoyed, Alejandro instantly looked up at Larry and let out a slight sigh, knowing that anything he said could damage his standing with these detectives. "She really liked expressing how she felt..."
Larry reflected on Alejandro's words. They seemed to answer the question, but his explanation was not precise at all.
That's why Larry looked at Sergeant Doakes, who then asked, "Are you saying that she was in love with someone and expressed it openly? In that case, was she in love with your friend Nicolás?"
Alejandro felt annoyed to admit it, but now that the detectives had brought it up, he had no choice but to tell them everything he knew about her. Now, with his hands on the table, he whispered, "Yes, she was in love with Nicolás. She worked hard to get his attention, even lost weight so he would notice her."
"Does Nicolás have a girlfriend?"
"Yes..."
Larry handed Alejandro a glass of water. The gesture of reaching out to accept it showed that he no longer wanted to hide the truth, which was a good sign.
"It's Camila, isn't it?"
Alejandro froze for a moment and looked at Larry. "Yes, but how did you know? Have you already investigated everything we were going to tell you?"
Sergeant Doakes shook his head, and Larry continued, "Yesterday afternoon, Nicolás took Camila to the Forensic Identification Center. They were traveling in a very expensive car—no chauffeurs. But what intrigues me is how your teacher, Dave, who is usually very reserved, let two of his students leave so easily."
Alejandro furrowed his brows, made a scornful face, and looked at Professor Dave with disdain. "It's no secret that Nicolás' father funds the school. Even the gifts he gives to the most dedicated teachers are extremely enticing to all of them. In this school, Nicolás is like a king who must not be touched."
"We're making good progress, Alejandro. Now tell us, what does his father do for a living?"
"He owns a large insurance company..."
Sergeant Doakes was surprised by this new information.
"So, from what you're saying, Nicolás must be very popular among the girls at this high school."
Alejandro nodded, and Larry continued asking, "In your opinion, who at your school could be bad enough to harm her or have a bad relationship with her?"
"That's a very broad question. All the girls at school are jealous of her. After all, she and Nicolás are desk mates. They've thrown water balloons at her in the bathroom and poured ink on her while she walked through the hallways."
"Even though she never complained about the harassment she faced when she was alone, I know it was all because of Nicolás. In this school, all the girls have unrealistic princess dreams. But I think one of the most hypocritical relationships she had was with Camila."
"Her friend Camila?"
"Yes..."
Sergeant Doakes was losing his patience. Without solid evidence, this case would be impossible to solve. "Alejandro, did you like Greta too?"
The sudden change in James left Alejandro slightly stunned, but he still nodded. "I confuse the love of friendship with that of a closer relationship, like romance. I always doubted whether it was real love or if I simply enjoyed being with her as a friend."
"You need a psychologist to clarify those doubts in your head. I'll recommend you see one," Larry said, setting aside the interrogation.
"That's not necessary. I'll be fine," Alejandro responded with full awareness, and his answers were mature. Perhaps kids nowadays are very mature. After all, these kinds of news and information are shown on TV daily.
Larry felt that although Alejandro wanted to hide his feelings for Greta, what he had just said was true.
Alejandro's honesty was genuine—he truly didn't know what he felt for Greta, and that feeling could easily be confused when one hasn't experienced true love.
Finally, Larry suddenly asked, "Where were you between 5:00 p.m. on January 1st and midnight on January 2nd?"
Alejandro thought for a moment. "I was home the whole time. My parents can verify that information."
Larry nodded with a kinder expression. "Alright! We'll check on that later. You can go back to class."
Sergeant Doakes, knowing the questioning was over, looked at Professor Dave so he could take the student away.
"Well, that's all. If we need anything in the future, we'll get in touch with you."
Alejandro stood up, put his hands back into his pants pockets, turned around, took two steps, and then looked back.
"Can I go see her?"
Larry shook his head. "Wait until the case is closed and she's buried. Then you can visit her at the cemetery."
Alejandro turned and left without stopping, but his posture looked very sad.
Even though there was no substantial progress in this conversation with Alejandro, they still managed to learn more about the relationship between the five students and rule Alejandro out as a suspect.
The two detectives returned to the large office of the Academic Affairs Department and saw that Ángel had already spoken with another student.
"Got anything?"
"No, nothing."
"Alright, let's call in the other two. Let me handle the girl named Camila."
Ángel nodded. After all, there was no need for interference. So far, all the conversations were being recorded in both audio and video, so Larry could review them later if he had any doubts.
At that moment, Camila entered without showing any shyness or fear. She walked directly to the empty seat in front of Larry and sat down.
Sergeant Doakes, though surprised, asked in a firm tone, "Name?"
"I'm Camila."
"What is your relationship with Greta Meyer?"
"We're classmates."
"Where were you between 5:00 p.m. on January 1st and midnight on January 2nd?"