"I've solved this case." I said, standing up straight.

Bethany and Drake both looked at me with raised eyebrows. Drake was the first to break the silence. "What do you mean? You solved the case?" He said, sitting back in his chair. "I've watched this recording over and over, and I don't have the slightest idea who could've done it. The camera is broken, and there’s just some squeaking noise.” Drake’s eyes grew wide as he rewound the recording and listened to it one more time. Sitting back in his chair, he ran his fingers through his hair.

I smirked, but Bethany looked at us both confused. Before she could question, there was a knock at the door. Still confused, Bethany walked over to the door and opened it.

Standing at the door was a woman wearing a solid black shirt, with a blazer and dress pants. But what stood out the most about her were her lilac eyes. They almost reminded me of Karlo’s. I wonder…No, probably just a coincidence. She pulled her badge out of her pants and held it up, showing us she was FBI. "Hey there, Drake and Bethany. I see there's another murder at your lovely hotel." The investigator turned to me and extended her hand for a handshake. "Looks like you just started your job here, kid. Don't know if you were told, but many people have died in this hotel over the decades. My name is Detective Rose."

"Uh... Hi Detective Rose. My name is Tom. I don't actually work here..." I said.

"That's right, Tom is one of our guests! He’s already solved the case!" Bethany said, bouncing place. “Oh, and he’s going to get me a date with a hot guy!”

Detective Rose raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Alright, I'll bite. Tell me how you solved this case?" she said, cracking a smirk.

“Alright, can you play the video from the beginning again, Drake?" I said, turning to Drake. He shrugged and rewound the video. Then hit play. "Okay, listen close. You will hear a squeaking noise right before Maggie says hello. Then after she finishes screaming, it's very faint but you can hear a squeaking noise moving quickly away from the camera."

"Interesting deduction, but why wouldn’t it just be a noise from the broken camera?" Rose said.

"I thought that too at first. But if it were mechanical, wouldn't the squeaking be constant? It follows the pattern of someone walking, and there's someone who has a squeaking leg." I said.

Drake sat back in his chair. "Hold on, we have to hear his side of the story; he could have just been fighting off the murderer.”

"What do you mean, Drake, you know who did it? Tell me, I have to know!" Bethany asked.

"If there were a fight, wouldn't there be more than one voice in the recording? Maggie is the only person we hear in the video." I got so caught up with solving this case, I forgot this was a real person I was about to put away. Rightfully so, I mean they killed someone, but I could handle the situation with a bit more grace, since this is a shocking reveal for people that are close to him.

I put both my hands in my pockets and looked at the ground. "Bethany, the person who killed Maggie, was Raj."

Bethany's eyes grew wide, and she let out a scream as she burst into tears. "No, that can't be true. Raj wouldn't hurt a fly. I know it too! Every time he has to kill a bug, he has to call me over to do it because he can’t!”

"Well, let’s go ask him and see what he says." Detective Rose said, sliding her badge back into her pocket. We all left the office and took the elevator up to the scene of the crime.

Arriving back at the scene of the murder, the crime scene unit wasted no time and were already taking pictures and documenting evidence. There was a woman putting down evidence markers as a man next to her wrote something on his clipboard. There was a man taking pictures of the body, and another was taking pictures of the surrounding area.

Standing in front of the crime scene tape were two officers blocking Raj, Cyrus, and a crying Vivica group watching the unit perform their work. "Detective Rose, the crime scene unit is almost finished marking and collecting evidence."

"Thanks, Officer Brody," Detective Rose said. The group turned around, walking towards us. "Hey Raj, can you come here for a minute?"

"Yeah, sure thing, Detective Rose," Raj said, walking over squeaking with every step. Detective Rose’s poker fancy turned into a frown.

"Hey Raj, do you mind if we search your room?" Detective Rose's voice was heavy as she spoke, hating what she knew came next.

"Why do you want to search his room? Are you accusing him of a crime? You can’t search his room without a warrant," Cyrus said. He stood by his brother with his arms crossed.

Detective Rose ran, put her hands on her hips, looking down. "We already called the judge. He gave us a warrant to search every room in the hotel if we have probable cause the criminal is staying at the hotel.” Detecive Rose said.

“And what you have probable cause that my brother did such a gruesome act!? Unbelievable, Kalina. You and I both know Raj couldn’t do something like that.” Cyrus’s face changed to a dark shade of red as he yelled at the detective.

Detective Rose raised her head, looking directly at “Raj. We have enough probable cause to search your room. If you did nothing, just let us in and we can move on to our next suspect.”

"Umm..." Raj looked around at the floor.

"Listen, brother, you don't have to do anything! You have rights!" Cyrus said, putting a hand on his shoulder.

Raj stood there fidgeting, and eyes darting from side to side. He looked as if he were a dog cornered by a pack of wolves."Raj, is there something you’re not telling us?" All emotion drained from Detective Rose's voice, leaving behind the steel-edged clarity I assumed she reserved for carrying out the law. Drake ran his hand through his hair and looked at the ground. Bethany had her hands over her mouth, tears rolling down her face.

"Yes, you can search my room...You’ll find what you are looking for in there." Raj said, hanging his head. The crime scene unit looked over at the detective. She nodded for them to go into the room. One by one, they filed in.

"What do you mean, Raj? Why are you letting them search your room? Don’t let them pressure you into giving them what they want! You did nothing wrong, Raj!" Cyrus pleaded with his brother.

With his head still down, tears fell from Raj's eyes. "But…I...I...I did something wrong, Cyrus. I…did something very wrong, Cyrus. I murdered that innocent girl." It was only for a moment, but I could have sworn that his eyes flickered a grassy green.

"How could you?" Vivica screamed, charging at Raj. The officer standing in front of the crime scene intercepted Vivica, holding her as she struggled to break free. "Let me go! That bastard killed my best friend!" She screamed.

"Take her to the lobby, Officer Clark." Detective Rose said. On cue, Officer Clark picked up Vivica to the elevator, kicking and screaming. Sort of like how a parent would pick up a kicking and screaming toddler. When the elevator doors shut, the hallway went silent. One person from the crime scene unit poked his head out of Raj's room."Detective, we found what appears to be the victim's liver in the ice bucket." He said.

Cyrus's face filled with shock and horror."Brother… Why?"

"I got into some trouble while gambling at the casino, and before I realized I had a problem; I was in more debt than I could repay in 10 lifetimes. So, I got desperate, and I went to the dark web. I found my way to a site where they buy human organs. The guy I was chatting with said he would give me 500,000 Monero for a liver. It's an untraceable crypto and if I convert it to USD, I could pay off my debit and be a free man again."

 I pulled out my phone during his story to look at the current price of the coin. The search results showed that each coin was worth $1,000. I need to get ahold of that liver.

"Brother, if you needed money, I could've helped you. We could've figured something out!" Cyrus said, now on his knees. Tears ran down his face.

“Let the officers read you your rights first, Raj. Then you can continue your confession,” Detective Rose said. Looking over at Broody, he nodded, pulling out handcuffs. He tightened the handcuffs on Raj's wrists one at a time.

Broody guided Raj to the elevator with one hand on his shoulder, calmly reading him his Miranda rights. Cyrus and Drake followed, and they all squeezed in like sardines before the doors slid shut with a soft ding.

I guess he won't be writing that book based on Bethany and me.