Five

CHAPTER 5

Hall room. 1:00 pm.

After a long autopsy process, the NYPD and hospital forensic experts finally informed detective Nicholas of James Portman's autopsy results. A forensic doctor named Anna gave Nicholas a few written reports and he studied them quite well.

"The victim was pronounced dead as a result of his blocked cystic artery," Nicholas said after reading the report in hand.

Nicholas' eyes looked around, the hospital was as busy as any other day. But Nicholas knew that after that day, his day would be more busy. James' death was no ordinary death. It was murder, and the worst part was that James' death could have been a case of serial murder.

Nicholas kept all the reports well, then reported them to Paul Scoots as his responsibility. Nicholas had a good hold on the case. And after confirming everything, Nicholas managed to become the leader of the investigation of this case.

After getting full permission from Golden High School to conduct the investigation, Nicholas was able to gather the people he thought were witnesses or involved in the case in the school's main hall without any hesitation.

Nicholas brought them all together in one room. They are Brittany (James' girlfriend), Ace and Luke (James' best friends), Jake (who found James) and Alicia (the last person to pass through the hallway according to CCTV data).

Nicholas Gray is one of the youngest detectives in the NYPD, not only because he is only twenty-five years old, but also because of his 80% successful history in solving complex criminal cases. Several times Nicholas solved complicated murder cases, but murder cases in a school environment are rare. especially since the school that experienced this was Golden High School. Security is pretty tight. But on the day of the incident, all the security who usually patrol around the dormitory all gathered in the main hall.

Nicholas' good background earned him the serious attention of Paul Scoots. Paul wanted to know more, and so he approached Nicholas. Nicholas and Paul turned out to have similar tastes in many things, making them eventually hit it off. Nicholas became close to Paul Scoots, along with his family, including his wife and Brittany, his only daughter.

Nic looked at everyone before ending his gaze and looking at Jake. Jake had his head down, but didn't look sad. "Jake, can you explain the chronology of the discovery of James' body in the main hallway?"

Nicholas' voice made Jake nod nervously. The student left his brunette hair in an undercut, giving a stern look to his oval face. He looked at the people around him, all now looking at him with curious expressions. Putting Jake even more in a corner. But he finally spoke, "Someone sent me a message."

Nic furrowed his brow. "Message? May I know what you said it was?"

Jake took his cell phone out of the varsity pocket with the golden rose on the back and showed Nic the screen. "The guy said my girlfriend was in the hallway with Ace," Jake glared sarcastically at Ace next to him. Seems like their relationship was pretty bad, Jake looked angry at Ace. "Because he said Elena's name, I panicked and didn't realize it was a foreign number. I didn't save that number and it was the first time I saw that number. I realized it after everything happened."

Nic looked at Jake and then Ace, while Jake put his cell phone back into his jacket pocket. Nicholas thought that the two men sitting across from each other had a bad relationship, Jake looked very upset. But Jake finally continued, "Instead of finding Elena, I saw a dead James in the main hallway of the school." Jake's voice lowered, he sounded sympathetic to James' condition. "I immediately ran to the hall after confirming his condition. The only thing I could think of at the time was that I needed to call someone else, so I wouldn't get into trouble. I was in a panic."

Jake's statement fits the facts, Jake finally manages to convince that young detective. Nicholas mumbled for a moment, then added, "Did you see anyone else in the dorm hallway when it happened?"

Jake shook his head. "There was only James. A silver hairpin was stuck in his chest and there was blood everywhere." making Nic bend his forehead deeply, I didn't see a silver hairpin on the victim's body. "This is my first time seeing a dead body, I don't know what to do."

Nic then looked at Ace. He intended to change the person he was talking to and so he asked, "Mr. Blake, I heard that you weren't present in the hall during the incident, isn't Mr. Wilson your father? You should have come to the hall with the other students, right?"

Ace crossed his arms, flanking the fancy Breitling watch on his left hand. He was indeed a cool young man. One eyebrow raised as he said, "My father already told me everything, I already know all the agenda that will be delivered at the hall. So I'm thinking of skipping it because it's not important to me. You know what I mean, right?"

Nic looked at Ace suspiciously, then glanced at Alicia. The two of them were the quietest in this investigation, what was wrong with them?

Nic then pointed at Ace's face with his pen. "This strange number accuses you of being with Jake's girlfriend in the hallway. Were you in the hallway with Elena at the time of the incident?"

Ace shook his head and put his arm around Luke. He patted that curly-haired man's shoulder casually. "I invited Luke to my room to play the video game I bought just as the show started. It gets boring playing alone, so Luke was the perfect choice. Right, Luke?"

Luke, who received a serious look from Ace, nodded. "Y-yes."

Ace grinned with satisfaction. "See, right?" He shrugged indifferently as Nic raised one eyebrow. "Besides, Elena's not my type. She's just a cheap whore who--"

Jake suddenly got up and pointed angrily at Ace's face. "WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE, BLAKE!"