Luck was on Thomas’s side. The feed from the CCTVs outside Sandra’s house had been processed just in time. After heading back to the station, he scrubbed through the surveillance feed frame by frame.
It was around the 01:23 time mark when he found the hooded figure outside Sandra’s house. Two hours before her death. Ample time for this mysterious person to get to the lake and murder her.
Thomas watched with bated breath as the figure picked up a rock and made to hurl it at the window. Then stopped as a light upstairs came on, spooking the figure. The rock fell to the ground. And it was then that the hood came off, revealing the figure’s face.
Until now, Thomas hadn’t wanted to believe it even after Shawn had shown him the evidence in the chat server. But watching the CCTV feed confirmed everything. He sat in his chair, staring into space as he wondered how to catch the elusive stalker red-handed.
When it finally hit him, he told Marsha everything. Showed her all that Shawn had found. Showed her the CCTV feed. She fought him back, nail and tooth, as he expected. Then he laid his cards down. His plan was perfect and she had nothing to lose if he was proven wrong.
Reluctantly, she agreed. His plan was set into motion. He enlisted Shawn’s help, picking the teen up at home after getting Tamm’s permission. As the teen strapped into the backseat with a laptop cradled to his chest, Thomas snuck a look at Marsha. Her face was set in a hard line, like a robot who didn’t want to admit it had feelings.
“Let’s go.” She shifted into gear, the car lurching forward as she tapped on the accelerator.
Thomas didn’t know what to tell her. There was nothing he could say that would make a difference. Instead, he turned around and nodded at Shawn. “You know what to do?”
“Yup.” Shawn had his laptop open, his fingers flying over the keyboard. “Working on it.”
A soft tapping sound filled the car as the teen worked his magic. Thomas bit the corner of his lip, watching the familiar roads and scenery pass by his window.
“Engaging him now,” Shawn muttered.
On the laptop screen, a maximized window displayed the chat server. Shawn clicked on modthebod’s green icon, opening up a private conversation with him.
pheme: Hey, how are you doing? We haven’t heard from you for a while.
It took a second before the reply came.
modthebod: What do you want?
Grinning, Shawn snapped his fingers. “Got him. He’s responding.”
Thomas swiveled in his seat. “Keep him talking.”
“You got it.”
pheme: Just worried about you. Sansan was concerned that you might be having a difficult time.
modthebod: Mind your fucking business, pheme. I don’t trust you.
Shawn grunted and flexed his fingers. “This is not going to be easy.”
Different tactics crossed the teen’s mind. Deep in thought, he tapped a finger on the keys. There was no person he couldn’t pry secrets from. But given limited time, it became a race to figure out what made someone tick. He licked his lips.
“How long before we reach the target’s house?” Shawn asked.
“Ten minutes, give or take,” Marsha said as she drove like the devil on fire.
“Okay.” Murmuring, Shawn rubbed the tips of his fingers together. He sucked in a breath before typing out his reply.
pheme: Sorry. I didn’t mean to intrude. It’s just that Sandra’s death has been bothering me a lot. And since you know the most about her, I thought you could help me.
Shawn waited on tenterhooks. His leg jiggled, the laptop wobbling with the movement. He wasn’t sure whether the bait he had dangled would be juicy enough. If his gut was right, this modthebod guy loved to be superior to everyone. Deferring to him for help should make him more pliable.
When the three dots at the bottom of the window flashed, Shawn held his breath. A line of text appeared.
To escape a scandal, a small-time singer flees to her hometown, but nowhere is safe from the watchful eyes of the Internet. Her return stirs up a maelstrom that ends in a string of horrific deaths, and the list of suspects is endless - ranging from cyberstalkers to old flames. With help from the double-edged sword of technology, an over-enthusiastic policeman and a mild-mannered school counselor must piece together the clues to the murders.
~ 1st Prize Winner of Neovel contest: "A Mysterious Case" ~
(Book cover done by Denis Istomin: https://www.artstation.com/gydwin)
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