I ran over to the science building to grab some latex gloves, some powder and brushes in case I needed to brush for prints, and a magnifying glass. One can never be too prepared. Upon returning, I used the magnifying glass to carefully check the body. There were no defensive wounds or other indications of a struggle, hmm. I checked under the fingernails just in case but found nothing suspicious. Next, I checked out the surrounding area. I determined that the closest window was ours. That made sense. If this wasn’t murder, Mackenzie would have jumped from the window in our apartment. A quick run up the stairs to our living quarters confirmed my theory, the big window in the living room was wide open. I didn’t bother using the powder to brush for prints. The four of us used this window a lot, so all of our prints would be on it. The only other person who had access to our room was the dorm monitor Mr. Solstice, and he had been with me all day, so that ruled him out as a suspect. There were no indications of foul play, but I decided to treat this case as if there were. I’ve seen a few mysteries where the police believe it’s suicide but it is actually murder, I was not going to make the same mistake! Once I was done with the body, the police returned to take it to their morgue. In the meantime I returned to the dorm’s community room so I could question my suspects.

“I’m treating this investigation as murder, so I need you all to give me your whereabouts before the trip. Who wants to go first?” No one volunteered, so I picked Fay to start.

“Well,” she said. “I was standing in line. Then I went to the bathroom. Lauren met me on the way back to the buses.”

I hummed in thought before asking, “How long were you in the bathroom and did anyone see you in there?” Fay shrugged dismissively. “Right… We’ll come back to that. Hades, your turn.”

“Uh, I was with you the whole day.” Hades muttered.

“Except for those few minutes after your phone call.” I reminded him.

“Oh yes, I went to the first floor bathroom in our dorm so I could talk privately. I passed Rob on my way in and Stevie on my way out.”

“Ok,” I smiled at Lauren who was twirling her pink and blond streak of hair in between her fingers.

“I don’t see why we have to do this,” she popped a pink bubble. “I don’t even live with you guys. And besides, we don’t even know if she was murdered.”

“Just get it over with, L. The sooner we finish this, the sooner we can get back to our lives.” Fay suggested.

“Fine,” Lauren sighed. “I dropped my backpack off at my room after class. I ran into Fay on my way to the bus and we stayed together the rest of the day. Satisfied?”

“Well, I get to solve my roommate’s death and one of my suspects is giving me snarky answers, but at least I have an idea where to begin, so it could be worse,” I shrugged. “It’s late, we all should go to bed. I’ll start early tomorrow and get you if I need anything else.” I shooed them upstairs, then tried to recharge for my busy day tomorrow.