《IMPOSTOR》


 Lets all stay in one house

    So many kidnappings started to happen in the town called Nishille. A girl was reading the news on her phone. Suddenly she got a notification saying, "you were added to the group chat." She opened the message. Slowly, so many other people were also added to the group chat. When the group chat had 16 people, the admin changed the group''s name to ''Suspects''. Everyone was confused, then the admin started typing.


    ???: Hello. From today onwards you guys are the prime suspects of the kidnappings that have been happening around recently.


    ''Alex'': And how could we be the prime suspects when you are the kidnapper?


    ???: Well, of course I am the kidnapper, but my real identity is still a mystery and that real me''s phone number is also in this group chat. What you all have to do now is to find that one person who is behind these kidnappings and you will be out of the suspects list.


    ''Mary'': Why are you doing this and why do you want to get caught by shortlisting the suspects?


    ???: Well you see, I want to see something interesting. It''ll be fun to see you guys trying to solve the case desperately. Life is so boring without some real life adventures, after all.


    ''Donkey'': Are you for real?!


    You are only doing this because you are bored?!


    Are you a psychopath?


    ???: Yes.


    ''Coolguy69'': But why us?


    ???: Well... You guys are the smartest people in this town.


    ''Eva'': How can you say that with so much certainty?


    ???: I have your personal details, your academic details, your actions that make you eligible for this group chat, and so on.


    So your time starts now.


    ''Phantom'': Like we will listen to you, we don''t care about who the culprit is.


    We just need our peace of mind. It will be fine as long as we know that we are not the kidnapper, and what will happen if we don''t listen to you?


    ???: I will leak these suspects list to the people of this town. Plus, don''t you think it''s a little bit selfish to think about your "peace of mind" when the people I kidnapped are suffering a few miles away from you? How can you sleep well after knowing the fact that you were one of the 15 people who could''ve saved them from their sufferings?


    The choice is all yours.


    The kidnapper went offline after that.


    Everyone discussed it and came to the conclusion that they''ll investigate this. Everybody introduced themselves in the group chat.


    ''Alex'': I''m Alex, obviously as in my profile.


    ''Mary'': I''m Mary.


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    ''Donkey'': I''m Tony.


    ''Coolguy69'': I''m Vincent.


    ''Eva'': I''m Evelyn.


    ''Phantom'': Ralph.


    In the chat: Cheng.


    In the chat: Vishnu.


    In the chat: Akbar.


    In the chat: Satoshi.


    In the chat: Catherine.


    In the chat: Meera.


    In the chat: Annie.


    In the chat: Trevor.


    She introduced herself.


    In the chat: I''m Misty.


    Misty: Hey guys, can we all meet up tomorrow?


    We need to discuss a lot of things.


    Satoshi: You are right, but where?


    Misty: At the Graveyard.


    Trevor: Graveyard? Are you into some sort of horror shit.


    Misty: No, I meant the cafe Graveyard.


    Trevor: Who names their cafe graveyard?


    Anyways, I don''t know where this cafe is.


    Mary: You totally don''t go outside much, do you?


    It''s the most popular cafe out here, you will find your way.


    Btw, time?


    Misty: 12 pm, if you all are fine with it.


    The next day in the Graveyard cafe


    "So guys where were you all when you were added to this group chat. I was at home," said Misty.


    Trevor, Ralph, Catherine, Akbar, Alex, Vishnu, Satoshi, and Annie said that they were at home as well. Mary said that she was at her aunt''s house helping her aunt to make cookies. Meera said that she was at the hospital. Tony said that he was at the gym. Vincent said that he went to get the groceries. Evelyn said that she was at her Karate class. Cheng said that he was coming back from the library.


    "Okay guys, I have a plan to catch the kidnapper right now, right away. Well, it''s more like 1% chance. Anyways, to come to the point, I know that Trevor is a hacker, so I-" said Misty.


    Catherine interrupted her. "Wait a minute, how do you know that?"


    "Well, he was caught by the police for hacking into the government stuff."


    "Yeah, he''s Jonathan James 2.0," said Mary.


    "I''m not that great, which is exactly why I got caught so easily but I can do simple stuff," said Trevor.


    "Okay, but how were you so sure of that? It could have been a random Trevor. Plus you only saw him today for the first time," said Catherine.


    "Well I thought it couldn''t be any random since the kidnapper said that he picked the "smartest" for this. So I just simply asked Trevor if he''s the same Trevor."


    "Hmm, makes sense," said Akbar.


    "So what I was getting to was that Trevor will check into ours and this kidnapper''s yesterday''s location and see if these two cells were in close range," said Misty. Trevor looked into the location of these people. Everyone''s cell who said they were outside showed the exact location they said they were in yesterday. Everybody else''s locations were random since they were at home including Mary''s since she was at her aunt''s house. However, the kidnapper wasn''t anywhere near them. In Fact the kidnapper was not even in their town itself, they were at the nearest town.


    "How could it be possible?" said Alex.


    "It''s possible, if they''re a hacker as well, they could do some hacking. Not only that, there could be a helper as well," said Trevor.


    "Hacker, you say, there''s only one hacker in our group," said Meera.


    "They could be hiding that fact from us," said Trevor.


    "Could be a helper as well, since there''s a total of 5 people kidnapped so far. It''s not easy for a person to hide 5 people alone. Even though it''s not that hard it''s not that easy either," said Misty.


    "What do we do now?" said Cheng.


    "There''s so many things we could do but for now I have a proposition to all of you," said Misty.


    "A proposition?" said Cheng.


    "Yes," she glanced at everyone. "Let''s all move to one house until we find out who the kidnapper is."


    "It''s only a logical reaction considering that it will help us all monitor each other''s actions. I don''t mind it but we need a house for that," said Akbar.


    "I arranged it. Well, more like I have it, a house spacious enough for all of us. When Misty asked about it before everyone arrived, I immediately said that we could stay in my big house," said Satoshi.


    "So far, me, Ralph, Mary, Meera, Satoshi, and now Akbar agreed to this proposition. You can tell me if you''re against this, if not you don''t have to say anything," said Misty.


    Nobody said anything against it, that meant everyone agreed to her proposition. "So tomorrow we will all meet here again and then Satoshi will lead us to this house, so pack your bags and be here tomorrow. By the way, it''s my cafe," said Misty.


    "Yes, it totally makes sense. The name of this cafe is as weird as you," said Trevor. They all went back to their home agreeing to meet-up and move to that house tomorrow.

 Looking around for clues

    Since everyone has left now, she thought she should look up a little into the case. So she locked her cafe and went to the one place the kidnapper should have crossed paths with, which would be the toll booth.


    ''Luckily, a highway is followed by our town so there''s two toll booths here, and fortunately or unfortunately you have to pass through that to get back to our town after leaving,'' she thought. ''That means the toll collector must have seen the kidnapper if they left the town and came back. Even Though it''s unlikely it wouldn''t hurt to check after all.''


    She drove her car to the said destination where she saw a suspicious looking man wearing a black leather pants and jackets with a hat covering his face. ''Is he the kidnapper...? No way, that''s way too much of a coincidence. Plus he looks more like a buffoon rather than a criminal,'' she thought.


    "So you''ve finally come, I was expecting you," the mysterious man said.


    "Huh?" It was her immediate response to his words.


    "Oh forget it," the mysterious man slowly removed his hat. "I don''t know why I said it."


    "Trevor?"


    "Yeah, guess we both had the same idea."


    "Yes, I guess... So, did you get any information so far?"


    "No, I just reached here, guess we have to investigate together."


    "Okay, fine by me."


    They approached the first toll booth. "Hey sir, have you seen anyone suspicious here?" said Trevor.


    "Yeah, you," he looked behind him, "and the girl behind you looks suspicious as well."


    Misty gave an awkward smile. "I mean apart from us... Like, have you seen someone suspicious yesterday specifically?"


    "If you did see someone, please give their information," said Trevor.


    "Uhm, no, and I don''t think I can hand over such important information to anyone."


    Misty Showed him a photo of the group, which she took when they all met up. "Have you perhaps seen any of them leaving or entering the town?"


    He squinted his eyes to observe each of them carefully. "No, I don''t think I did."


    "Thank you for your cooperation, we will take our leave now."


    They got the same response from the second toll booth too. "Guess we are at a dead end," said Trevor.


    "No, now we at least know that the kidnapper didn''t leave the town that day," said Misty.


    "Yeah but I was hoping to get some info about the kidnapper."


    "Well, no worries we will definitely catch them in a few days."


    "I hope so, but aren''t you missing something?" said Trevor.


    "Yes, I suppose there could be a helper who isn''t part of the 15 suspects who wasn''t seemingly suspicious because they weren''t trying to hide anything," said Misty.


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    Trevor nodded. "I could get the details of everyone who passed through that toll yesterday."


    "No need bro, I don''t think they''re so stupid to give away any information in any way. Plus we shouldn''t focus on diversions right now, we need to focus on the 15 suspects." Both of them went back to their home after that small investigation.


    The next day all of them met up again at the ''Graveyard'' to leave for the new house. "Guys, come with me I will lead you to my caravan and when everyone is ready we will head over to my big house," said Satoshi.


    "What about our vehicles?" said Alex.


    "Well, those with a vehicle can come by their vehicle and just follow my caravan." They rode to Satoshi''s house.


    "Hmm... it''s not really a house, it''s a FUCKING MANSION," said Catherine.


    "Oh, this mansion was yours after all, huh?" said Alex.


    "You are rich," said Ralph.


    "What''s the problem with being rich?"


    "I hope it''s not daddy''s money," said Mary.


    "Stop saying such things..." Satoshi unlocked the door. "Even though it''s half true," he murmured quietly.


    "Half?" said Misty.


    "How the hell did you hear me?"


    "I have good hearing ability."


    He sighed. "Let''s just get in." They all got inside the house


    The house had way more room than 15, even though some were relatively smaller, so everybody got themselves a bedroom. Everybody was panicking about their luggage and stuff, they were exchanging conversations too.


    Misty felt as if her whole world changed in a matter of a few seconds. She always wondered how it would feel to have friends, because she never had any before. She does have a friend, but a group of friends is another thing. ''Is it finally time for me to experience that too...'' She shook her head, ''nah, I know it''s a beautiful scene to view. A bunch of random strangers making friends with each other, but I also know that all these strangers-'' she paused for a second. ''No, these "friends'''' have dark secrets that they don''t want to share.''


    "Yo, what are you thinking?" said Satoshi.


    "Nothing," she shrugged.


    "Just forget about the case for now, take some rest and relax with us."


    She talked a bit with everyone for a while and went to bed. The next day, Misty woke up early so that she could leave early for some ''investigations''. Right then, she saw that Trevor also seemed like he was getting ready to go somewhere. "Are you getting ready to kidnap more people?" she said.


    "No," he said in a serious tone, "I''m going somewhere."


    "Seems like something important, sorry I guess," said Misty.


    "Where are you going anyway, off for a kidnapping?" said Trevor in an annoyed tone.


    "I thought I should investigate a little bit," she said.


    "That''s also my second goal of the day. Okay then, you go ahead and investigate. I will go do my business and do some investigations myself as well," he said.


    "Let''s do it together then," she said.


    "I don''t really mind but it will take some time before I finish my first business."


    "It''s fine, you are also among the 15 suspects, I want to know where you are heading to."


    "Okay fine." They both got in Trevor''s car once they were both ready and drove off. "Don''t you think they''ll suspect us once they realise we left this early? We did leave a note, but they wouldn''t know where we actually went, so they''ll suspect us," said Trevor, while driving the car.


    "Let them be, they''ll eventually realise that it''s not us, I mean at least not me," she said.


    "Aye, it''s not me as well," he said.


    "It''s here," he stopped at the cemetery. "I will be back," he said and left.


    When it took him more than 30 minutes she got impatient and got a little suspicious of him. So, she just went towards the grave he was standing in front of. When she got near it, she saw the names on the gravestone, it read ''Alice Cameron'' ''Rex Cameron''. She remembered that Cameron was his last name and she took a glimpse of Trevor''s face, he had a sad look on his face. After seeing that she just went back and waited for him. He came back an hour later. Then he just got into his car and drove.


    "So, what''s our next destination?" he said.


    "Can we go to the said locations of these people when they were added to the group chat. Well, mostly their houses, going to public places is a hassle."


    "Okay, off to your house." He started driving faster. "They are my parents," said Trevor. "Hm?" "That grave was my parents'', you probably saw a glimpse of it, so I thought I should clear it for you."


    "Sorry for invading your privacy." After a while They reached her house.


    "Okay I will ask around about you and your existence that day. For some reason you didn''t even open your cafe that day." Trevor came back after a while. "Well, they said they didn''t see you around that time of the day... suspicious."


    "Hmm... Yes I guess."


    "What? You don''t even have any excuses for yourself, Ms. Kidnapper?"


    "No, I am not the kidnapper, I just agreed that it indeed is suspicious."


    "Then why didn''t your neighbours see you that day during that time?"


    "I just didn''t go out during that time of the day."


    "Hmm, whatever," he said and got in the car.


    "Where should we go next?" said Trevor.


    "Of course to your house," said Misty.


    "Well, the results will still be the same because I don''t go out much anyway." Turns out he was right, nobody saw him around, that day.


    "Trevor?" "Hm?" "Isn''t it kinda weird you don''t go out much, but you are the one who is accompanying me to look for clues. Something a culprit would definitely do."


    "I have my reasons."


    They went around these people''s said locations and went to some other places as well to gather some significant clues. They got the same reactions from most of the neighbours except Catherine''s. Her neighbour said, "oh, I went to her house around that time because we ran out of salt. When I got there, I saw that she was busy with her phone. She never seemed to be the type to be addicted to mobile phones, so I was surprised and to top it all off she was grinning at her phone."


    When they went to the store where Vincent went, they said they don''t remember seeing a guy like that. Though they also said that it''s hard to remember everyone they see everyday. The hospital staff had the same to say about Meera. Evelyn''s and Tony''s coaches confirmed that they were indeed at their said locations that day.


    The librarian confirmed that Cheng was at the library, she said, "he''s such a good boy. Having a strong passion for books at such a young age, so I''d remember if he doesn''t show up one day. He left around the same time he leaves everyday, which is about 5 minutes before the timing you said."


    The most surprising thing of all was what Mary''s aunt said. "She didn''t come here yesterday, her sister did come here though."

 Lets play truth or dare

    They went back to the house confused. They saw that everyone was sitting in the living room looking dead serious. "What''s up?" said Misty.


    "See this..." Akbar showed her a note which read, "You all are the dumbest people in existence, staying with a group that has a potential kidnapper? You guys came running right into my trap."


    "Now that I think about it, wasn''t it you who brought up the idea to stay together in a house," said Alex.


    She ignored his question. "Let''s play a game."


    "A game?" said Akbar.


    "Yes, a very childish game considering our current situation," said Misty.


    "Hey, you are ignoring my question!" said Alex.


    "I will answer it once the game is finished," she said.


    "A game you say, what kind of a game?" said Catherine.


    "To put it simply, it''s just truth or dare."


    "Huh? look at her build up for just truth or dare. I thought it was some original game she came up with," said Mary.


    "Same," said Satoshi.


    "Well, there''s a small twist to the game. I will give 5 people the opportunity to be the one asking truth or dare questions. The other 10 have to answer."


    "That''s unfair," said Mary.


    "Yes, I know, which is exactly why we''ll allow the universe to pick those 5. We''ll pick them through a lot," said Misty.


    "Oh, so in other words it''s just based on luck, huh?" said Evelyn.


    "... Yeah ... Just write your names and put it on the table, and shuffle it when you put it. I have my own way for the lot selection, we''ll do that," said Misty. Even though everybody was a bit hesitant they agreed to it eventually.


    The lots were selected and the selected ones were... Trevor, Cheng, Meera, Vincent and Misty. Everybody was annoyed but they didn''t say anything since the lot selected the people. "It''s so weird and annoying. We just got a note from the kidnapper and we are out here playing truth or dare. To top it all off, two of the possible suspects are gonna control us now," said Ralph.


    Misty grinned at him. "Unfortunately, there''s no other way to cool you guys down. You guys will randomly suspect anybody in this tense atmosphere, it''s the only way."


    "Okay then, I will ask the first one," said Cheng. "Vishnu, truth or dare?"


    "Truth."


    "You were quiet from the day you came here. Why were you so silent, are you perhaps trying to hide your kidnapper persona from staying silent?"


    "No, I just prefer it this way. Plus I don''t think a kidnapper would stay silent and attract suspicions like the one you just said, will they?"


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    Cheng was both impressed and surprised by his answer that he stayed silent.


    "Guess it''s my turn now, well I don''t have any clever or cunning questions or dares," said Meera. "Okay Annie, truth or dare?"


    "Dare."


    Meera pointed at a small cloth laying on the sofa. "Okay then, take that cloth and hit me as hard as you can." Annie took that cloth and hit Meera''s hand, shortly after, Meera''s hand started bleeding. Meera quickly took the cloth from Annie''s hand and wrapped it around her arms.


    "You didn''t hold back at all," said Ralph, while grinning at Annie.


    "That was an accident... she was the one who wanted it..." said Annie.


    "Okay Mary, truth or dare," said Trevor.


    "Dare."


    "Hmm..."


    "What hmm? Just give me my dare."


    "Well then, give me your house keys."


    "That''s terrible, why should I give you my house keys?"


    "That''s terrible Mary, even kids go according to the game''s rules."


    "Well, I am not a kid anymore! Fuck this game I am done."


    "Okay then, don''t do it but please don''t leave, it''s a game to cool down after all," said Misty.


    "Ralph, truth or dare," said Vincent.


    "Truth, I guess."


    "You are a pro stalker, aren''t you?"


    Ralph''s face turned pale for a moment but he quickly snapped out of it. "Come on bro, you are asking as if it''s a job, like seriously pro? Well of course I am not a stalker."


    "Okay, it''s the last one and it''s by me. Catherine?" said Misty.


    "Truth."


    "Catherine, you love chaos, don''t you?"


    Catherine was surprised. "What kind of a question is that?"


    "Just answer me."


    "In a way, yes."


    Everyone went dead silent. "Okay guys, you have cooled down and the game is over," Misty said cheerfully.


    "The game is over? Yes, but I am more scared now, for some reason," said Satoshi.


    "You guys are probably suspecting us because the camera footage isn''t showing anything, right?" said Misty.


    "Yes," said Mary.


    "Since there was no CCTV footage, we have no options but to suspect you guys, but I think it doesn''t make sense in a way," said Cheng.


    "Satoshi, what happened to the CCTV by the way," said Trevor.


    "It was hacked last night, it''s showing this empty living room from the time 10 pm. The reason we suspect you is also because you are the only hacker known to us in this group. Apart from the fact you guys are the only two who came to the living room before everyone woke up, at least the only people we have proof of. To top it all, the last line suggests that Misty lured us into this house, and where the hell did you leave for so early in the morning," said Satoshi.


    "Hmm, anyway I will check on that CCTV''s problem first." Trevor went inside the CCTV room.


    "Hey.... aren''t you gonna explain anything to us?" said Akbar.


    "No, just think it through thoroughly and you will know it''s definitely not us," he said.


    "Yes, he''s right guys, I have been trying to say that to you guys for a long time, but nobody was listening," said Cheng.


    "Yes, you are right, if they were really the culprit who hacked the CCTV why would they give obvious clues that it was them? About Misty, somebody is probably trying to frame her," said Ralph.


    "You''re half right, phantom," said Trevor.


    "Half?"


    "Yeah, their main goal is probably not to frame Misty. It is to convince all of us to leave this house, if it''s not Misty of course, and framed Misty in the process," said Trevor.


    "Hey, are we ruling out the possibility for the culprit to be Misty and Trevor?" said Mary.


    "No, they''re still suspects just like all of us. What I am saying is, don''t make them the culprit just because of certain events and uncertain facts. However, there''s still a possibility that they just did this to make it seem like they wouldn''t do something so risky or something like that," said Cheng.


    "Trevor pointed out half of it already, but I want to add something to it. If it''s not me, which is something I am certain of. Then that person who wrote this letter wants us all to leave, that implies..."


    Trevor interrupted Misty. "That this person is most likely harmless, right?" said Trevor.


    "Yes, harmless in a way where this person can''t kill someone no matter what," said Misty.


    "This person is definitely not a saint because he kidnapped some random people and is making them suffer. However, they are definitely not a murderer, that''s what you mean, right? Big sis Misty?" said Cheng


    "Yes."

 You are the kidnapper, arent you?

    "What a pointless game," said Akbar.


    "It''s not so pointless," said Meera.


    "Really? Then tell me what was the point of this game. According to her it was something to cool us off but things got more complicated, at least in my eyes," said Mary.


    "Perhaps that''s what she wanted," said Cheng.


    "Are you implying that she''s the culprit?" said Alex.


    "No, it''s just... something else," said Cheng.


    "Okay Satoshi, the CCTV wouldn''t be so easily hacked now. If somebody does try to hack it, we''ll be alerted immediately," said Trevor.


    "That''s good," said Satoshi. That day was over just like that and everybody went to bed.


    The next day they got very unpleasant news. "Guys, somebody else was kidnapped last night," said Alex.


    "What?! How do you know that?" said Vincent.


    "Well, me and Alex thought of going outside both for fresh air and some clues and people were talking about it at the town centre," said Mary.


    "Does that mean somebody got outside last night and did this?" said Vincent.


    "It''s impossible... Trevor fixed the camera last night and we checked it today, it was working just fine. We didn''t catch anybody in it, how could somebody go out and do this without getting caught by the CCTV?" said Ralph.


    "Well, maybe somebody hacked into it and made it back to normal before we woke up, but I made it extremely hard to hack back into it. Even if somebody almost succeeded we''d have gotten an alert," said Trevor.


    "What''s up guys?" said Misty, after seeing the tense mood right after she woke up.


    They explained the situation. "Hm, maybe they didn''t hack the cam," said Misty.


    "Then?" said Mary.


    "There are blind spots for cameras, they probably got out through those blind spots," said Misty.


    "Hmm, could be," they heard a voice from behind.


    Trevor was startled. "Yo! Are you some sort of ninja, bro".


    Catherine smiled. "Maybe. Anyway, let''s announce this news to everyone else."


    "That''s right," said Vincent. They broke the news to everyone, everyone was surprised but they went on with their days because they knew that a 6th kidnap was on the way. Everybody is trying to solve the case in their own way at this point. Everyone also knows that there were multiple investigations going on for this same case, because they couldn''t trust each other.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    "Yo, are you not going to do anything today," said Trevor.


    "Well, I am tired after yesterday''s investigation," said Misty.


    "So, are you not going to do anything? I am thinking of doing something myself. I don''t want you to waste time by investigating something I already did. I am pretty sure everyone is already doing that right now," said Trevor.


    "No, I am definitely going to ask Mary why she lied to us," said Misty.


    "That was my plan as well," said Trevor.


    "Well then, let''s do it together, but later."


    "Yeah, right now she seems to be having a chat with Alex."


    "Now that you mention it, I remembered that somebody told me that they both were the ones who first found that letter," she said.


    "Who told you?" He said.


    "Vincent did."


    "They were also the ones who told us the news today," Trevor held his chin with his hand in confusion.


    They waited and waited but their conversations didn''t seem like it would end any time soon. So they thought they had to butt in. "Mary, we have something to ask you," said Misty.


    "What is it? Tell me dear."


    "Before that, Alex, can you please leave," said Trevor.


    Alex left, Mary was annoyed but kept her calm. "What''s up?!"


    "Why did you lie to us?" said Misty.


    Mary''s face changed from annoyed to anxious. "W...w.. what are you... talking about, when did I... l..lied," said Mary.


    "Oh, you didn''t?" said Trevor.


    "Y...yes I didn''t."


    "Stop lying, Mary," said Trevor.


    "Mary, we went to your aunt''s house yesterday. She said only your sister was there, tell me why you lied," said Misty.


    She stopped trembling. "That day, my sister had mistaken my phone as her own and took it with her accidentally. Actually she always makes that mistake. You know she''s very nosy, so she asked some questions pretending to be me so that she could know more about this interesting case. When you asked me where I was, I said I was at my aunt''s house because I knew that Trevor was a hacker. I interpreted that you''d probably match locations..."


    Misty and Trevor went quiet for a short time, Trevor broke the silence. "It''s a little too much of a coincidence, but it''s believable." Misty agreed and they both left.


    A few moments later, Akbar called everyone to come sit in the living room to discuss something Important. "So guys, I found something out," he said.


    "What is it?" said Mary.


    "You know it very well, Mary, it''s about you," he said.


    "Tell us already, big bro," said Cheng.


    "Mary lied to us about her location that day."


    "What?! Is it true Mary?!" said Vincent.


    "Yes."


    "If you really had the balls to eavesdrop and "discuss" about it with everyone, at least tell everyone the whole story," said Trevor. Akbar explained it to everyone.


    "Oh, well then you did have a reason, I guess it''s fine then," said Vincent.


    "Yes, true but it could all be a big lie to cover up, maybe the real reason behind that lie is..." Akbar turned left, walked a few steps forward to reach Mary. He then leaned towards her and looked her dead in the eyes. "You are the kidnapper, aren''t you?"


    "Cut it out already!" Alex stood up from his seat, "They randomly came out of nowhere and asked for it, so she probably didn''t have any time to think of a lie. Stop saying your dumb conclusions out loud without any proof!"


    "The discussion is over so let''s just leave then," said Trevor. Everyone left after that.


    At midnight


    ???: Did you kidnap somebody new yesterday?


    Caller: No, you told us not to, so we didn''t. We thought it was you.


    ???: No, it''s not me as well.


    Caller: Maybe it''s one of the other two with you in that house?


    ???: I am not sure but they gave me the impression that it''s not them.


    Caller: Does that mean there''s some other kidnapper in that house who is not part of our team, if so who could it be?


    ???: Likely, but the real question is, are they dangerous?

 Entry of Police

    The next day


    Trevor woke up to see Misty all ready to leave for somewhere. "Where are you going so early in the morning?" he said.


    "Investigations," she said.


    "Oh, may I come with you?"


    "I don''t know, you are one of the possible suspects, I can''t let the culprit meddle with my investigations."


    "I don''t think I will be able to do that. You are also one of the suspects, what if you are up to something?"


    "Yeah I know, which is exactly why I said I don''t know. So in these circumstances it''s best to just tag along."


    "Yes, which is exactly why I am also coming with you guys," said Ralph.


    "Oh, why didn''t I notice him here when we were talking?" said Trevor.


    "Because I just came here."


    "And what is this about you tagging along with us? You were literally doing nothing ever since you came here, why the sudden interest?" said Trevor.


    "It''s not a sudden interest, it''s just as I said. What if you guys are the culprits and are up to something, and how do you know if I didn''t investigate alone before? So yeah, I am coming with you two."


    Misty and Trevor looked at each other, Misty then looked at Ralph and said, "yeah okay, you are just doing what you are supposed to do." Just when they were talking to each other they saw Vincent getting into his car.


    "Hey bro, where are you going?" said Trevor.


    "I''m not cut out for "investigations" so I just thought I should get some fresh air," said Vincent.


    ''Wait, he''s going somewhere alone, he has more chances to do something,'' Ralph thought. "Bro, I will come with you, it''s suspicious to move alone," said Ralph.


    "Okay," said Vincent. Ralph went with Vincent.


    "Guess he ain''t coming with us," said Trevor.


    "Good," said Misty.


    Evelyn came from behind and said. "Why? Are you guys up to something."


    "No, fewer people are better, especially considering the fact that there are werewolves among us," said Misty.


    ''Why is everyone so secretive when approaching us... it feels like everyone is a Ninja,'' Trevor thought. "Okay, I will be back in a minute, Misty," Trevor went inside the house.


    They left for their little investigations after a while. "Yo, where are we going?" said Trevor, who was driving the car.


    "To the police station," said Misty.


    "Police... station, huh?" He said.


    "What''s up bro?" said Misty.


    "Nothing... Why go to the police station? Are you going to reveal our little secret to them?" said Trevor.Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators!


    "Yes, kinda," she said.


    "Wouldn''t we be in trouble if we did that?"


    "Nope."


    "Weird..."


    At the police station


    "Sir, we would like to meet Mr.Fred," said Misty.


    "Sorry, we can''t let random people meet the chief without an appointment," The officer said.


    "No sir, tell him Misty wants to meet him, plus I called him yesterday to let him know that I am coming," she said.


    The officer went inside to get the police chief''s permission to let them in. "Okay, you two can go inside."


    They went inside the chief officer''s room. "Hey Uncle Fred," said Misty.


    "Yes, come in, Misty," he said. He then looked at Trevor and said, "you are that hacker boy, right?"


    "Yes..."


    "Hmm, anyway please take a seat," said Fred.


    "So tell me what you want to talk about, Misty." He then paused and looked at Misty and Trevor for a second. "I assume it''s not something personal."


    "Yes, it''s not personal. It''s about the mysterious kidnappings in our town, I want to ask you-"


    Fred cut out Misty''s words. "Misty, you don''t have to help me with my investigations anymore. Remember what I said to you when your parents died? You just live your life happily with your new boyfriend. Even though I don''t quite like a criminal like him as your boyfriend."


    "Boyfriend? Are you calling Trevor my boyfriend?" said Misty.


    "Yeah, who else would be with you?" said Fred.


    "I could come here with my friend, you know, and there''s a reason behind why he''s here with me," said Misty.


    "So he''s not your boyfriend?" said Fred.


    "Yeah, he is not my boyfriend. Uncle Fred, you are wasting my time! So let me get straight to the point, I''m not doing this to help you, I''m doing this to help myself," said Misty.


    "Yourself? What do you mean?" said Fred.


    Misty explained the whole situation to him. "Look uncle Fred, I only told you this because I believe that you will keep this a secret, you will right?" said Misty.


    "You know you are making this hard for me, but okay. Only because I know that you will find the culprit, especially with the help of the person next to you," said Fred.


    "Uncle Fred, these are the list of suspects, it even has their pictures, will you look into these people''s history?" Misty handed over the papers to Fred.


    "Ofcourse, I will," he paused.


    "What happened sir?" said Trevor.


    "It''s Catherine," said Fred. He flipped pages of the suspects list and examined each one of the pages carefully.


    "What''s up Uncle Fred?" said Misty.


    "8 out of these 15 people have committed some kind of crime in the past. Well, Trevor being one of them," said Fred.


    "Who are they?" said Misty.


    "I only know full details about some of them. I will have to check into it further. I will tell you the full details tomorrow, okay? For now, I will tell you the names of the 8 "criminals" in your group, they are Trevor, Mary, Catherine, Evelyn, Tony, Satoshi, Vincent and Vishnu."


    "Okay Uncle, we will come back tomorrow, but I have one more favour to ask of you," said Misty.


    Back into the house


    "I wonder what they are up to," said Akbar.


    "Probably doing something impactful unlike you," said Mary.


    "Oh, you are still mad at me for yesterday, huh? It''s not my fault that you lied to us. By the way you aren''t doing anything either," said Akbar.


    "I did some investigations at some point at least and I am leaving for investigations now as well. I am just waiting for Alex to get ready," said Mary.


    "Hey guys, isn''t it suspicious that Cheng bro is doing "investigations" on his own. He even left early so that nobody would accompany him," said Akbar.


    "No, he''s too young to be the kidnapper. He probably doesn''t want any culprit to accompany him," said Mary.


    "That''s not true Mary, even young people can be cold blooded murderers. You are way too gullible. Anyways, let''s go," said Alex.


    "Okay," said Mary. They left.


    "I''m leaving too," said Tony.


    "Alone?" said Evelyn.


    "Yeah," said Tony.


    "I will come with you then," said Evelyn. They also left after a while.


    "It looks like only us lazy asses are left behind," said Catherine


    "Yeah," said Satoshi.


    Back to the police station


    "Uhm okay fine, I will do it," said Fred.


    "Thank you, Uncle," said Misty.


    "Trevor, I''m sorry for back then," said Fred. Trevor just left without saying a word.


    "Uncle, you said you are sorry but you still called him a criminal a while ago. I''m pretty sure people are already treating him horrible enough. At least you, a protector of law, should know that people make mistakes and change. Always remember that he was just a kid back then," Misty exited the room. They both got in the car and left.


    "So your parents are also dead, huh?" said Trevor.


    "Yes, they died two months ago."


    "It must hurt alot, right?"


    "No, not really." He was surprised by the answer and they both said nothing for the rest of the ride back home.

 Its just the beginning

    They came back to the house. They went inside to find that only six of them are home right now. "Huh? where are the others?" said Trevor.


    "Well, everyone including you guys loves to play detective, so they are out to find some clues," said Akbar.


    "Okay, then why are you guys still here?" said Misty.


    "Well, According to Akbar we don''t have to go outside to find the culprits. We can find it by using some "tactics" even by staying together indoors, I guess he''s somewhat right. Annie and Vishnu are probably too scared to go outside and talk with people. Satoshi said that he doesn''t trust us enough with his house. Meera wasn''t feeling well, and as for me, well, I don''t need clues, clues need me," said Catherine.


    "Yeah... right..." said Misty.


    Everyone else came back at night. Everyone was sitting around the dining table having their dinner. "Hey, did you guys hear that news?" said Evelyn.


    "No, what is it?" said Akbar.


    "The sixth person who got kidnapped was just found. According to him, the current kidnapper is not the same person as before. Apparently, the current kidnapper is using this kidnapped man as a messenger. This man claimed that the new kidnapper is trying to threaten the first kidnapper, and this kidnap was just a warning to that first kidnapper. This kidnapper may kidnap or even kill more people if that first kidnapper doesn''t come clean," said Meera.


    "That''s... strange," said Trevor.


    "Yeah, what a weirdo, which psychopath will be willing to even kill just to find some other culprit?" said Catherine.


    "Is somebody from our group this psychopath? I mean, we are already dealing with a weird kidnapper, I don''t want to deal with a possible killer," said Mary.


    "You know Mary, everything is possible," said Satoshi.


    "Genuinely, we have to be careful," said Alex.


    "Yes, it''s possible that one of us got so frustrated to the point that they will be willing to do anything to get themselves out of this mess. I mean we all have more chances to be that other kidnapper than a random person. Other people couldn''t care less about it," said Ralph.


    "Yeah, also, couldn''t they be bluffing?" said Meera.


    "Maybe, but don''t you think this person''s sense of justice is kind of fucked up. Like, kidnapping someone else to make a kidnapper come clean, that''s just horrible," said Misty.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The next day


    Misty got a call from Fred that he''s still looking into the suspects¡¯ information and told her to come tomorrow. So Misty and Trevor chose to stay in the house that day. Everyone else except Catherine, Akbar, Meera, Annie, Vishnu and Satoshi left that day as well.


    "You guys are still not interested, huh?" said Misty.


    "Come on Misty, just shut up. We already told our reasons just yesterday, stop making it such a big deal," said Meera.


    "Okay, sorry," said Misty.


    "Hey Misty, tell me what you found out so far," said Akbar.


    "Like we will share our precious findings to a lazy ass like you," said Trevor.


    Afternoon


    They were all talking to each other, and suddenly they heard a car''s voice. They went outside and saw that it was Cheng. "Yo guys, I have news," he said.


    "News? What news?" said Trevor.


    "Just look at this," Cheng handed his phone over to them. It was a news program from their local news channel. In the news, it was said that the people who got kidnapped were finally found. They also got the sketch of the two culprits. Those sketches were of two people they didn''t know.


    "What? Did they find them randomly? Does that mean all our actions..." Everyone else gave a death stare. "... I mean all your actions go to waste?" said Catherine.


    "Not everything, everything I did was meaningful. Also there''s something else," said Cheng .


    "How did you do it, Cheng?" said Akbar.


    "Well, our town is densely populated, so it''s difficult to hide the captives without anybody noticing in these densely populated areas, but there are very few places which don''t have many residents. So I just went there and started to look around those places. I was looking through these places for the last three days. It was more of hard work than smart work but it definitely was worth it at the end of the day," said Cheng.


    "And how did you get the police involved?" said Catherine.


    "I simply called them, and when the police arrived I said to them that I don''t want to do anything with this case anymore and asked them to let me leave. Somehow, that police chief agreed," said Cheng.


    "How did they not notice you?!" said Akbar.


    "Well, they did and tried to catch me as well but I easily overpowered them. In the end they ran away," said Cheng.


    "Ran away? Yeah, that explains the sketch," said Catherine.


    "By the way, aren''t you guys ignoring the fact that the kidnapper we are looking for is still not found," said Vishnu.


    "I don''t think that matters, we only agreed to look into it because of those kidnapped people, right? But now that they are found, our reason to continue with this case is equal to nil," said Catherine.


    "But... okay then," said Vishnu.


    Just when they were talking, they all got a notification on their phones.


    ???: You guys think it''s all over, right?


    But nothing''s over yet.


    It''s just the beginning.


    You guys have to find me, or else I can simply kidnap more people.


    I am definitely not like those weak teammates of mine. I can easily kidnap people with nobody else''s help.


    The kidnapper went offline after sending these messages. Cheng sighed. "I was anticipating this."


    "Oh, that''s what you meant, Vishnu," said Catherine.


    Everyone else came back one by one after seeing the news and the kidnapper''s message. They discussed it and eventually came to the conclusion that they have no choice but to continue.

 Crime Files of Suspects

    The next day


    "Hey Trevor, aren''t you coming with me?" said Misty.


    "Nope, for a change I will do the investigation alone or perhaps with another pair," said Trevor.


    Misty grinned at him. "Perhaps you already found another pair?" Misty left for the police station.


    Trevor realised that he never really explored the place he''s staying right now, so he decided to look around the house a bit. ''This house looks like a traditional Japanese house,'' Trevor thought. He then saw that Evelyn was sitting outside the house looking at the dried out cherry blossom tree.


    Evelyn looked behind and saw Trevor. "Hey," Trevor waved.


    "Uhm... hi," said Evelyn.


    Trevor walked to her. "uhm, can I sit here?"


    "Yes, you can."


    He then took a seat beside her. "What are you doing by staring at this tree?"


    "I was mesmerised by how weird trees are, in autumn all of the leaves will be withered away from it, but in spring, trees are filled with the greenest most beautiful leaves, and cherry blossoms in particular will have these beautiful pink flowers," said Evelyn.


    "Oh, you are poetic," said Trevor.


    "Am I?" said Evelyn.


    "Yes, you totally are, plus you seem to be a perfectionist, two traits a certain someone doesn''t have."


    "Are you talking about Misty?"


    "Yeah, she is sometimes unpredictable, you can''t tell what kind of shits she does..." Trevor chuckled, "in short she''s a weirdo."


    "Huh? Does that mean you don''t like her?" said Evelyn.


    "That''s..." Trevor flinched.


    "You know what? I don''t like her too, she thinks she owns the world, and what was with that truth or dare game she invented. An annoying piece of shit," said Evelyn.


    Trevor clenched his fist. "I see, you don''t like her, but that''s not really the case for me. Yes she is a weirdo but that weirdo is the only person who I can call my friend when everything''s over because I myself is a bigger weirdo than her." Trevor gave her a light smile.


    "I see," Evelyn smiled to herself.


    "Oh, just remembered, why didn''t you go with her today."


    "Because I wanted to change my plan."


    "Change plans?"


    "I thought I should change my team for a bit, maybe I could join you."


    "But I do investigations with Tony currently."


    "One more person couldn''t hurt," Trevor shrugged.


    "I wonder if Tony will agree to it," said Evelyn. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    "Don''t worry about it, I talked to him and he has no problem with it."


    Evelyn hesitated for a second, then she said, "then it''s fine."


    Trevor looked at the tree for a few seconds. "You are right, trees really are mesmerising. We can see this cherry blossom tree fully blooming in the spring, and maybe we can have some tea together, sitting around this tree."


    "What do you mean by we?"


    Trevor smiled. "All of us." Evelyn smiled back.


    At the police station


    Misty was there way too early and Fred took a while to arrive. "Oh Misty, come inside the office and take a seat."


    Misty did as she was told. "Honestly Uncle Fred, you are so carefree these days," she said.


    "That''s not true, my dear. You were here way too early," said Fred. Misty felt embarrassed because he was right. Fred looked around, "I don''t see Trevor, is he not with you?"


    Misty frowned. "He said he wanted to do things differently."


    Fred was confused for a second. "Does that mean you actually wanted his presence?"


    "It''s not that, it''s just that he was the one who wanted to investigate with me. Now he randomly changes teams."


    "Now, you were never a team to begin with."


    "Anyways, that''s not important right now, tell me, what did you find?" said Misty.


    "Oh, everything is in this case file, here," he handed it over to her.


    She examined it. "It looks like you created it."


    He was amazed. "How could you tell?"


    "It''s sloppy, and nobody can do it as terribly as you can," said Misty.


    Fred''s amazement was turned into distrust. "You can leave," said Fred.


    "Thanks, Uncle Fred," Misty left after that.


    Misty thought it''s not a good idea to look through those files in that house, so she went to her cafe.


    She sat down in her cafe. She opened the file to see the title "Misty''s weird friends'' crime files."


    ''Honestly how did he even become a police officer, let alone a police chief,'' she thought.


    THE CONTENT IN THE FILE:


    Friend 1 - Catherine


    The person who I know the most about in this list of people is her (I mean except you my dear child and maybe Trevor). She killed her own father 5 years ago, but it was for self defence. According to her sister Maria these are the things that happened at the night of the murder:


    It was a Friday night and their father came home drunk and started to beat their mother. It wasn''t the first time that it was happening, so their mother had enough of everything and threatened to call the police on him, upon hearing this he went crazy and stabbed her with a kitchen knife. Knowing that they''ll be his next prey, Catherine ran outside, and took the wooden axe for self defence, she knew he could easily overpower her, so when he charged at her she attacked him with no mercy.


    Friend 2 - Mary


    Mary originally isn''t from Nishille. She actually lived in New York before. She only came here in her late teens like around ten years ago. She had little to no money left when she arrived here. Her sister and aunt also relied on her back then. To top it all off, she wasn''t able to find any job. In the end, at such difficult times, she became a robber. At night she''d go to small shops, jewelleries, and similar places to steal money and valuables from there. She was actually good at it, she managed to hide her face from the camera, but even the greatest criminal would get caught once.


    Friend 3 - Trevor


    I already told you about it back then.


    Friend 4 - Satoshi


    His case is perjury. He and his brother were fighting over their father''s property around 3 years ago and when it came to the court, he lied about a few things. He was charged a penalty for it, but in the end he did get most of his father''s will because he himself had a major role in making their company this big.


    Friend 5 - Evelyn


    She''s real dangerous. She isn''t from here, she is from Los Angeles. 3 years ago she beat a person to a pulp. When asked why she did that, she said that they were disrespecting her friend. I was forced to look into her history due to her horrible attitude. When I did, I learnt that She was involved in some drug activities and other grave crimes back in Los Angeles that too in her early teens.


    Friend 6 - Tony


    Tony was a school bully, one day he took it too far by throwing a kid in the lake. The kid was saved, but Tony was charged for attempted murder.


    Friend 7 - Vishnu


    It was a suicide attempt. By law that''s still a crime, after all. The truth is, I thought he was brought here because he did something wrong, that''s why I included his name when I told you about the criminals. Since I included him then, I thought to include him in this file too.


    Friend 8 - Vincent


    He was a scammer. He''d scam people using various methods, he was really skillful at that. He made his "customers" believe that he''s genuinely from a company and he''s just offering a helping hand to them. He was even able to use the employees of the company without letting them know that they are being used for a scam purpose. He got caught five years ago.


    END OF THE FILE


    Misty closed the file, got out of her cafe, locked it, and left for the house.

 Detective Game

    Back at the house


    Everyone was there except for her investigation partner and his two new teammates. She had planned to talk about these crime files that day itself, so she waited until everyone was home.


    At night


    "Everyone, I have something important to tell you. Please gather in the living room," said Misty.


    "What are you, big brother?" said Trevor.


    "Yes, now shut up and come sit."


    Everyone came to the living room and sat there. "Okay, what is it, Misty?" said Trevor.


    "Well, here, you can read it yourself. Also, read it aloud," said Misty.


    "Yeah, just give it to me now," said Trevor. Trevor read the whole crime file to everyone. "Well, your Uncle is a little weird, his crime file isn''t that professional," said Trevor.


    "Well, it''s not supposed to be professional. He isn''t giving it to some judge or something. It''s just the little old me," said Misty.


    "Hmm, cute conversations, but can you tell us what the HELL is going on," said Vincent.


    "Yeah, who''s this Uncle?" said Mary.


    "Uhm, Officer Fred is this Uncle," said Misty.


    "HE IS YOUR UNCLE?!" said Ralph.


    "Not really my uncle but he was my parents'' friend, so I call him Uncle."


    "Wait, that''s not the important part here," said Alex.


    "Yeah, why didn''t you tell us that you were investigating with the police all these days?" said Cheng.


    "Yes, what if the police came here and took us in for questioning? I think everyone knows how brutal Nishille''s police are, especially you Trevor, but from what I understand, you knew what she was doing and went with it! It''s absolutely ridiculous!" said Vincent.


    "Woah, calm down, she didn''t go to the police, she went to the one person who is useful as well as trustworthy," said Trevor.


    "Yes, we get it, but you could have told us. Also with this information one of their threats would have vanished," said Alex.


    "It''s because I didn''t want the kidnapper to find out that I have connections with the police," said Misty.


    "Then why are you telling us now?" said Evelyn.


    "It''s quite visible, actually," said Cheng.


    "What?" Mary tilted her head in confusion.


    "You are so dumb, Mary," said Catherine.


    "If you are that smart, tell me what''s up, you lazy bitch," said Mary.


    "Well, from this particular information we can see that..."


    "That?"


    "That this person knows a lot about us, no they... "investigated" about us in advance."


    "Yes, they purposefully chose these 8 people because they are criminals. I thought they probably chose randoms, and everything they said that day was just a bluff, but turns out it''s not the case," said Misty.


    "Why did they choose criminals in particular?" said Mary.


    "I am not sure, there could be many possible scenarios."


    "There''s something else we are overlooking though," said Catherine.


    "Uhm yes," said Trevor.


    "The fact that 8 of us are literal criminals," said Meera.


    "We are gonna talk about it sooner, but not today. I can''t sacrifice my beauty sleep for that," said Alex.


    Mary looked downwards. "I mean I don''t think it''s that important. Most of the important points were talked about in the file. Plus it will be painful for the criminals."


    "I am sorry, Mary. Guess it''s not that important," said Alex


    The next day


    Catherine woke up late just like Everyday and sat there spacing out. "My life is going great these days. Well, except for a few things. Honestly it''s way better than the life I had with my father and..." her eyes widened. She calmed down. "Well, it''s all over now, don''t dwell into your past anymore." She did her morning routine and headed over to the living room. To her surprise, everyone was home today. "Wow, it''s a pleasant surprise."


    "Yeah, for us too," said Alex.


    "Since everyone is home today, let''s play a game," said Catherine.


    "A game?" said Misty.


    "Yes, you are not the only one allowed to give instructions, you know?"


    "Okay, so what are we playing?" said Trevor.


    "It''s a simple detective game. We are kind of private detectives at this point, so it''s the best kind of game for us," said Catherine.


    "Uhm, can you elaborate?" said Mary. If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.


    "I will ask questions to you, you know like those riddles, and you will have to answer that. To make it even more interesting, We will group into 5 groups consisting of 3 members."


    "Are you participating too?" said Misty.


    "Yeah, but one of you can create a question for my team." She saw Alex walking in the other direction. She held onto the back of his collar. "Hey, where are you going, you are in my team."


    "But....."


    "No buts," said Catherine with a scary expression.


    "Okay...."


    "Cheng, you are also in my team."


    "Tsk, bully."


    "Did you say something?"


    "I said I would love to join your team," said Cheng with a fake smile on his face.


    Misty teamed up with Meera and Vincent. Trevor with Evelyn and Vishnu. Mary with Akbar and Tony. Satoshi teamed up with Ralph and Annie.


    "Okay, Everything is set. Now, let''s begin. The first question is to Misty''s team. Mr.M was murdered in a hotel at 10 pm. There were 5 people who he had an argument with Last night. Each of them were called and asked what they were doing last night. The first person said that he barely left his room last night. The second person said that she went to sleep early yesterday. The third person said that she was putting her baby to sleep at 10 pm. The fourth person said that she was preparing for her college presentation the whole night and barely got to sleep. The fifth person said that he went to meet a client, came back to the hotel, watched some shows, and went to sleep. Now tell me who''s the culprit? You can discuss, and if somebody from the team already knows the answer you can just say that. Also, you do have to reason why that person is the culprit."


    "It''s the third person, because the police only asked about last night, but she said 10 pm which is the time he got killed," said Meera.


    "Bingo! That''s the correct answer."


    "Yay, our team got it," Vincent held his hand out, "so, where''s our price?"


    Catherine lowered Vincent''s hand. "There are no prices, you aren''t in elementary school anymore. We are playing this for fun."


    Vincent showed disinterest. "There''s no fun without a price."


    "Next is Trevor''s team. A precious jewellery was stolen from a famous museum. They tried finding fingerprints, but they couldn''t find any. There are 3 suspects, all are museum staff and they were doing their jobs when they were called. The 1st suspect is the security who was in charge of the CCTV. 2nd is the cleaner. 3rd is the receptionist. Who is the culprit?"


    "The cleaner, because there weren''t any fingerprints, and cleaners usually wear gloves," said Vishnu.


    "You are right!"


    "It''s Mary''s team''s turn now. Ms.x died on a Christmas morning. It was determined that she was poisoned. There are 3 suspects. As usual they were called and asked what they were doing at that time. The 1st suspect was the maid, she said she was cleaning the house. The 2nd suspect was her husband, he said he went for a jog and came back to find her dead. The 3rd suspect was her son, he said he was getting ready for college. Who killed her?"


    "So none of you know the answer, huh?" said Mary. They nodded.


    "Guess we have to discuss," said Akbar.


    "So you know, I don''t think it''s the son, because a child could never hurt his mother."


    "That''s not true Mary, but I still don''t think it''s him. I think it''s the maid, maids are popular for doing such stuff," said Tony.


    "That''s generalising, them, I think it''s her husband, he probably poisoned her before leaving for the run and acted like he knew nothing," said Akbar.


    They started arguing over that. "Seriously? Why don''t you think it''s true? A child''s pure love won''t allow him to kill his mother!"


    "Why are you so dumb, Mary?" said Akbar.


    "You are the dumb one, asshole!" said Mary.


    "Yo, watch your tongue, I didn''t curse you."


    "Guys, we need to answer the question," said Tony. They argued for the next 5 minutes.


    "Okay, time''s up, but since you guys were arguing I will give you two more minutes." They stopped arguing and tried to figure out the answer.


    Two minutes later


    "I think it''s the husband, because who goes on a run on a Christmas morning?!" said Akbar.


    "That''s wrong. It''s the son, he said he was getting ready for college, but it was Christmas and it''s a holiday. The fact you thought about Christmas and still couldn''t think of the fact that it''s a holiday is such a shame."


    "Next is Satoshi''s team''s turn. I will ask a moral question for a change. I got this question from my sister. A student committed suicide in a school. Whose fault is it? One, the kids who bullied him. Two, The teacher who ignored it. Three, the parents who didn''t let him change the school even after knowing about the bullying."


    Five minutes later


    "The bully I guess, because it all started with them, everything else wouldn''t have happened if he wasn''t bullied," said Satoshi.


    "You are right in a way, but that''s not the answer I want. I didn''t ask who was the bigger asshole, I just asked who was at the fault. It''s everyone''s fault, it''s the fault of the kids to bully him to the point that their victim gave up on his life, but it''s also the fault of the parents and teachers to ignore his cries for help. That''s the morally correct answer."


    "That''s just your perspective, I guess. The answer changes from person to person," said Annie.


    Catherine stiffened her eyes. "Hmm, then tell me your answers, Annie."


    "Well... I don''t really know. Also you got your answers, so.... there''s no point in... questioning me," said Annie.


    "C''mon Catherine, you know she''s shy, don''t force her," said Cheng.


    "So, next is your team''s turn, Catherine. Imagine you are stranded in a desert, there''s a rope on the left, and an oasis on the right. Tell me, how are you gonna escape the dessert?" said Trevor.


    "Let me guess, the answer should be... "stop imagining" how original!" said Catherine.


    Trevor got flustered. "You are... Right. I just wanted to get it over with!" They took that day as a day to cool off and decided to keep the investigations aside for a day.


    The next day


    Trevor left with Tony and Evelyn to investigate. They got in the car, Trevor took the driver''s seat, Tony sat on the passenger seat beside the driver''s seat, and Evelyn sat on the back seat, Trevor started the car. "So, where are we going?"


    "We are going to meet the man who was kidnapped by the second kidnapper," said Tony.


    "Well why? It doesn''t affect us," said Trevor.


    "Well... If this person is from our group, it will be dangerous for us, that''s why," said Evelyn.


    His location was saved in Car''s Map, so Trevor drove to the destination. When they reached his residence, they saw that his old and rusty house was getting a renovation. He was standing there and gazing at his house, he looked back and saw the trio standing beside the gate. He ran towards them. "What happened, why are you here?"


    Trevor looked at him with a confused expression. "Oh Trevor, don''t worry, we came here before, and our way of questioning wasn''t exactly... pleasing," said Tony.


    "Oh..." he said.


    The man stopped talking, and started thinking about something. "Hmm... I get it!"


    "What did you get?" said Evelyn.


    "Uh...uhm... I get it that you came here to question me again!" The man said.


    "Yes, and you can''t run away today," said Evelyn.


    "Yes, I was just really scared last time."


    "So tell us anything you know about them, Mr. Scott," said Evelyn.


    "This question again? I don''t know anything about them, if I knew, wouldn''t I have told the police?"


    "Yes Mr.Scott, we know that, we are not asking about the identity of the kidnapper, rather how they look, like their physique. Did they seem like a man or a woman to you. Were there more than one person. Were they cruel to you?"


    "It''s hard to tell if they were skinny or fat, or anything. When I tried to defend myself, I could feel that they filled their dress with something, so they looked like Santa Claus. I never heard that person''s voice either, so it''s hard to tell their gender. I only saw one person, I don''t know if there were other people who I didn''t see." Mr.Scott let out a big sigh. "Only thing I can say for sure is that this person is very evil, and will do anything to get their way. They love Chaos more than anything."


    "Thank you, you could have told this the other day itself instead of running away. Anyways, Let''s leave guys," said Tony.


    Tony and Trevor started walking towards the car, while Evelyn stood there still. ''An evil person?! Does that mean this 2nd kidnapper is more of a danger than us. Will they try to kill our boss to get their way? I can''t let my boss die. No, that won''t happen. In anyways, I have to find this kidnapper!'' Evelyn thought.


    "Hey Eva, what are you doing? It''s time to leave," said Tony.


    "Uhm Mr.scott, can we come here more often? I still have some questions, but since you are busy, later I guess." Evelyn walked back to Trevor and Tony and got in the car.

 Dont Suspect Her!

    At the house


    Mary and Alex are standing in front of Alex''s car to go for their own investigations. Just when they were about to enter the car Cheng called them from behind. "Yo, I am also going with you."


    "Why?" said Mary.


    Cheng started to scratch his head. "Well, it''s kind of boring to investigate alone,bI''m kind of at a dead end too."


    "Okay, I guess," said Alex.


    "Sorry for the third wheeling, guys," he gave them a slight smile.


    Mary smiled back. "Oh, come on Cheng, you are my little bro, it''s okay." She started walking forward with a smile plastered on her face, suddenly she realised something and her expression changed from happy to embarrassed. "Wha... What are you saying Cheng, you can''t third wheel us, because we are not a couple."


    "Yeah, right. Anyway, let''s go," said Cheng.


    Suddenly they heard a loud thud from the house. Alex ran inside and saw that Meera had fallen from the stairs. Annie was standing at the top of the stairs staying still, shocked. "What happened?!" said Alex.


    Annie started crying. "She.... she slipped and fell off."


    Others also came there shortly after. "What did you do, Annie?!" said Catherine.


    "I didn''t do anything, she fell off her own!"


    "Guys, don''t you have something more important to do than arguing...." said Meera while struggling to get up.


    "Oh sorry Meera," Alex went over to her and helped her get up, Vishnu also gave a hand.


    "Are you okay, Meera?" said Vishnu.


    "Not really, it kinda hurts," said Meera.


    "Let''s go to the hospital, then," said Vishnu.


    "I''m coming with you, we can go in my car," said Alex.


    "Thank you," said Meera. They both took Meera to the hospital.


    "I always got a psychopath''s aura from you, Annie. Turns out I was right," said Catherine with a cold look.


    "I told you it wasn''t me! If I did something, Meera would''ve told you," said Annie.


    Akbar laughed. "Don''t worry Annie, she''s just messing around with you."


    Catherine remained cold. "Oh, am I?"


    "Oh come on, stop it already, you are scaring her," said Akbar.


    "Right," Catherine went back to her room.


    "She really doesn''t like you, huh?" said Cheng.


    "Why do you think like that?" said Mary.


    "I mean she''s probably the nicest woman in existence," Cheng paused. "Well yeah, she''s kind of weird but she was always nice and kind towards all of us but she is always cold towards Annie," said Cheng.


    "Maybe it''s because she''s the only woman who''s almost as beautiful as her, maybe she feels threatened?" said Akbar. A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.


    "Nonsense, she isn''t the type to get jealous," said Cheng.


    "I think... I think it''s because I''m quiet," said Annie. "Everyone..." Annie shreds a tear, "everyone always hated me for being quiet but..." she started to weep, "but it wasn''t in my hands! I tried so hard to talk but I really wasn''t able to do that."


    "That''s probably not the case, Annie, don''t cry." Mary looked at Cheng. "Cheng, I think you should apologise to her for what you said."


    "I''m sorry," said Cheng.


    "So Mary, let''s go," said Cheng.


    "Where?" said Mary.


    Cheng was confused. "Weren''t we supposed to do investigations."


    "But Alex isn''t here anymore," said Mary.


    "That''s fine, we can do it without Alex. Don''t you wanna prove that you are capable of doing things without his help?"


    Mary thought about it for a few seconds. "Hmm, okay then."


    "Right, that''s the Mary I know."


    Cheng stopped the car in front of Mary''s house. Mary peeked outside and got confused. "Why are we here?"


    "To question people," said Cheng.


    Her eyes widened for a bit. "Don''t tell me you asked for my help because you suspected me."


    "No, I am here to talk with your sister," said Cheng.


    "You want to hit on her?"


    "No, it''s for investigation purposes!"


    "So you really do suspect me, huh?" said Mary.


    "Just wait, you will understand what I''m up to," said Cheng.


    They got inside and there was no one there. Cheng sat on the sofa, Mary called her sister and told her to come home fast and sat on the opposite side of Cheng. "So Cheng, why do you suspect me?"


    "I don''t, I really don''t. I wouldn''t have teamed up with you if I really suspected you. I could have questioned anybody else than your own sister if I really do suspect you, it''d just be a waste of time."


    "Then why?"


    "Tell me, when did she start mistaking your phone as hers?"


    "Now that I think about it, it started around 2 months ago. She never mistaken my phone as hers before that, but it was because she suddenly bought a phone similar to mine. There''s nothing suspicious in it."


    "Right, but this phone is an old model, why did she buy an old phone? Have you ever thought of that?"


    "Yes, I did, in fact I even asked about it. She said she got this phone for free from one of her friends. I thought it was funny that her friend had the exact similar model of phone as mine and was glad that she got stuff for free and didn''t think much of it. So, all your doubts are cleared now, don''t you dare suspect my sweet little sister."


    "Then again she had a newer expensive model of a phone. Why''d she go for the downgrade? Taking the phone is one thing but using that phone over your slightly newer and shinier phone is weird, isn''t it?"


    "I don''t know about that, so to answer your question...."


    Suddenly she noticed something in his words. "Wait, how do you know which model of phone my sister used before that?"


    "Can you give me your purse please?" said Cheng. She gave him her purse, he slowly opened it and took out a picture from that purse. "I saw it from this picture." It was a picture she took with her aunt and sister, her sister was holding her phone in one hand. "You know, I became suspicious of you when Akbar said that you lied to us that day, so I started looking through your stu-"


    Mary cut off his words. "It''s not very nice to look through people''s stuff."


    Cheng bowed his head due to shame. "I know, I''m sorry, it was for investigation purposes after all. Back to the topic, I saw this picture and got even more suspicious. Your phone was plain and dull and hers was shiny and pretty with cool accessories, there''s no way she can mistake it as hers. Then I thought people were bound to make mistakes no matter what. So in order to clarify everything I went to your aunt because she seemed to be the type to have a sense of justice. She told me the same things you told me but things only became even more confusing when I talked to her. I found all of these things strange, I mean really strange, so I started stalking her." He paused, "you can smack me in the head for this, because I myself feel guilty-"


    Mary stood up and smacked him. She looked at him with a scary expression. "Go on."


    "Ye... Yeah. So when I was stalking her, I saw that she hid a note on the bus stop. When she left, I took the note and it read "Meet me here at 12 AM." He sighed. "Well of course I couldn''t be outside for that long, If I did I''d be the no.1 suspect. Anyway, since I couldn''t go there I hid a camera there, and this is what it caught that day." He handed a USB over to her, she copied the file and played the footage.


    In the footage


    Cayla, Mary''s sister, was waiting for somebody at the bus stop. After a while a man with a hood came to the bus stop. Cayla barged at this man. "What are you doing?! You said it''s not that big of a deal and it was something like a prank, but now..."


    He put his hand over her mouth. "No Cayla, it''s not safe here, let''s go somewhere else and talk." He put down his hood, his face was fully visible now.


    Mary paused the footage. "This man... he... he looks familiar."


    Cheng smiled at her. "Of course you know him, he''s a helper of this kidnapper that we are so desperately trying to catch after all.¡±

 Out

    "Yeah, now that you mention it. It''s one of the two kidnappers that got away that day!" said Mary.


    "Yes."


    "Does that..." she tried to hide her pain, she chuckled, "does that mean my sister is with these kidnappers?" She went silent for a few seconds. "Of course she isn''t, my sister isn''t capable of doing such stuff. She''s an airhead like me."


    "Yes she is, which is exactly why she''s involved in it. She was tricked into joining them," said Cheng.


    "Tricked?"


    "Yeah, focus on the words she says, "you said it''s not that big of a deal and it was something like a prank." That means she helped them thinking it was some weird sort of prank, but after seeing the news she realised the gravity of the issue."


    "But what favour will she "accidentally" mistaking my phone as hers do to those kidnappers?"


    "It was to make you look suspicious," a voice was heard from behind.


    Mary recognised this voice and barged at this person. "Do you know what you have done, Cayla?!"


    Cayla started to cry. "I''m sorry sissy, I... I didn''t know."


    "By the way, miss, how long have you been there?" said Cheng.


    "I just came, but I was able to tell why you were here from that last bit of conversation you had. I''m guilty after all."


    Everyone was silent for a good minute. Finally, Cheng decided to talk. "I know you guys are devastated due to various reasons but I have to know where these helpers are hiding."


    "I don''t know," said Cayla.


    "Then tell your boyfriend to come here," said Mary.


    "He said he''s going on hiding and he won''t be meeting anyone, not even me."


    "In that case..." Cheng took his phone and started dialling a number.


    Somewhere


    "Miss.Eva Said that the boss called us weak in the group chat. Who are we doing all this to, Robert?"


    Robert wasn''t hearing any of his words and was thinking about his lover Cayla. ''I hope you are doing okay,'' Robert thought.


    "Robert?" "Robert..." "Robert!"


    Robert snapped back to reality. "Oh god Jerry, what is it?!"


    Jerry felt bad and said, "n.. nothing..."


    Robert quickly realised that they were both stuck in a horrible situation and he shouldn''t get angry at him like this. "I''m sorry, what is it?"


    "I was just saying how our boss called us weak even though we are doing all this for our Boss. Actually I was asking if you have heard about it, Miss.Eva told me about it."


    "Yeah, it''s totally an ass move, especially coming from the boss." Robert took his phone out of his pocket and started scrolling through YouTube. A title suddenly caught his eyes, it said, ''A new lead on Nishille kidnappings.'' "Hey Jerry, look at this." The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    Jerry glanced at his phone. "Huh? It''s most likely nothing, they are probably just reusing the info they already have."


    "I hope so," Robert clicked on the video.


    In the news


    "The police have confirmed a new lead. They said they have caught a girl who holds valuable information and will investigate further upon her statements." A footage of Fred and his policemen taking Cayla away in the Police car was shown.


    "No, it shouldn''t be happening. Why is... Cayla... No!" Jerry tried comforting him by patting on his shoulders. Robert took his hands and looked at him with blood shot eyes. "Jerry, let''s surrender."


    "What are you talking about? We can''t do that! We promised the Boss," said Jerry.


    "I see. A promise to an asshole like boss is more important to you than saving an innocent girl, huh? Think about it, Jerry!"


    "Nothing is going to happen. She doesn''t know anything, so they will just let her go when they learn about it."


    Ralph let go of Jerry''s hand, bowed his head to the floor trying not to cry. "That''s the problem, she doesn''t know anything. Those bastards... Nishille''s police have killed innocent people because they didn''t say anything but the truth was, they didn''t know anything."


    Jerry put his hands on his shoulder. "Don''t worry, Nishille''s police have changed a lot in the past few years. They won''t do anything to your Cayla."


    Robert raised his head. "Okay, I believe you, but you have to promise me one thing."


    "What is it?"


    "If she had even a minor scratch to her body, we are going to surrender no matter what."


    "That''s..."


    "Don''t worry we still won''t snitch on the boss, we will just endure the physical abuse of the police. For the boss... For Cayla."


    Jerry was unable to decline his request, "okay."


    The next day in the news they saw that Cayla was covered in scars and injuries. It was the last straw for Robert. He called Jerry with him and drove to the police station.


    The police were surprised to see both of them, one of the police arrested them and took them inside. Cayla was sitting in a corner covered with blood and scars, Robert teared up. "I''m sorry Cayla, I shouldn''t have included you in our plan. First I somewhat used you for making your sister look suspicious. Then I deceived you by telling you that it was for a prank. Now, you even got hurt because of me."


    "No I didn''t," said Cayla. Robert got confused.


    "Yes she didn''t! It''s all the magic of my makeup up skills," said Mary.


    "Ma... makeup?" said Robert.


    "I will explain," said Cheng. "So yesterday I..."


    Yesterday


    "In that case..."


    "Who are you calling?" said Mary.


    "Officer Fred. I have a plan."


    "So, Why did you call me, smart boy?" said Fred. Cheng explained everything to him. "Hmm, how may I help you?"


    "Just arrest Cayla. He will definitely come running when he sees that his dear lover was caught by the police."


    Earlier that day


    "It seems that my strategy didn''t work. Maybe continue with this and he will eventually surrender himself, sir," said Cheng.


    "I wonder how long we might have to wait, there''s a chance they might never show up."


    "Then, I have something to add to your plan, let''s make her look like she was beaten up badly by the police. This will definitely make him come out," said Mary.


    "How are we supposed to do that?" said Fred.


    Mary took out her make up set and grinned. "With my makeup skills of course."


    Present


    "I see, I''m glad she isn''t hurt." The police locked them up. Fred asked one of the police officers to interrogate them. Even after an hour of questioning they insisted that they''re the only ones involved in it.


    "Sir, they''re not giving away any other information."


    He went inside the lock up. "I Heard you aren''t giving away any information," said Fred.


    "Yes, because there is no more information to give. The answer isn''t going to change even if you start your natural Nishille torture," said Robert.


    He smiled at them. "Okay, I believe you. Well, I don''t actually, but the interrogation is over. You will be here for the next two days. So make sure to tell us, if you "remembered" anything in the meantime," he walked back.


    Robert blinked in confusion. "Did the Nishille police change?"


    Fred stopped walking. "By the way, I''m glad that you are out of the game. Now it will be a fair game."


    "Thanks, you two." Fred looked towards Cayla and corrected himself, "three, I mean."


    "Thank you for letting her get away with what she had done, sir," said Mary.

 Failed Plan

    The next day


    Evelyn was sitting at her usual spot, in front of the dried out cherry blossom tree. ''I wonder what this 2nd kidnapper''s motive is,'' she thought.


    Suddenly, she got a call, it was Mr.Scott, she answered the call. "I knew it was him!" he said.


    Evelyn was surprised. "What do you mean?"


    "I know the identity of the 2nd kidnapper, come to my house and I will explain everything," Mr. Scott hung up.


    "Why can''t he tell it right away?!"


    "Is everything okay Evelyn?" said Trevor, who was standing behind her.


    "Yes, I mean no. Mr.Scott just called me, he said he found out the identity of the second kidnapper."


    "Okay then, let''s leave right away. I will call Tony too," Trevor left.


    She sat there in silence for a few seconds. ''I wonder if it''s a good Idea to let him tag along with us. Especially since that bitch Misty is making plans to catch the boss,'' she thought. A wind flew past her, she smiled. ''Well, isn''t that what the boss wanted.'' She stood up and left.


    At Mr.Scott''s house


    "So tell us, who''s it?" said Evelyn.


    Mr.Scott gave her a smile, took a deep breath and laughed hysterically. "I got you didn''t I?" he started laughing hysterically, "I always wanted to get back at you for giving me a hard time that day." Evelyn snapped and punched his face, he fell to the ground. She slowly walked towards him and took him by his collar.


    Tony ran behind her and released him. "What are you doing?! He''s an old man."


    "Yeah and old people shouldn''t be making such jokes. I should teach him a lesson."


    "What''s happening? You said this is a foolproof plan, but here I am getting beaten up by this girl," said Mr.Scott.


    Evelyn got confused. "What do you mean? Are you following someone''s instructions?"


    She looked at Tony. "Is it you? You suspect me?"


    "No, of course not!"


    "That means it''s you Trevor, of course it''s you," she chuckled.


    Trevor was disappointed by Scott''s actions. He scratched his head. "Well, does this reaction prove that I am right?"The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.


    "Of course not. I was laughing because you proved me right once again."


    "Once again?"


    "Yeah, everyone only became my friend because they needed something from me and I was sure it would never change. You joined us because you suspected me, you were only acting kind and friendly because you wanted to prove that I was the culprit!"


    "Don''t you have anything to say, Trevor?" said Tony.


    "Yeah, because she''s right."


    Tony ran over to him and kicked him, and Trevor fell to the ground. "You probably don''t know how lonely she felt all these years. Now you just reminded her of her trauma."


    Trevor sat up. "What am I supposed to do? We are at difficult times. We have to find the kidnapper at any cost."


    "Yes, but you still shouldn''t have played with her feelings. You could have just randomly joined us. I heard your conversation that day, all that was... unnecessary."


    Tony walked towards Evelyn and consoled her. "Let''s go, he can walk home." They both left.


    Trevor stood up and looked at Mr.Scott. "Seriously?"


    Mr.Scott gave an awkward smile. "You good?"


    "No, it hurts like hell. He''s a Gym bro after all. Looks like that kidnapper asshole picked strong ones in particular too," said Trevor.


    "Huh?"


    "Nothing."


    Trevor came back home and went to Misty. "What''s up with the big shoe mark on your shirt?" she said.


    "That''s not all, I got a tattoo of the shoe mark too. Anyways, that doesn''t matter, my plan failed horribly."


    "Plan?"


    "Remember what happened that night?"


    That night


    Misty, Trevor, Catherine and Evelyn were watching TV. "Don''t you guys think that this kidnapper is an asshole. This person has totally lost it, they are calling their partners weak. I am pretty sure that these people knew this person''s silly but filthy plan and still joined. I bet this person couldn''t care less even if they end up dying," said Misty.


    "That''s not true," said Evelyn.


    "Hm?" Trevor was surprised by this answer.


    "I mean, I know people who are rude outside and make themselves look bad but in reality they are the nicest people. My mother was like that."


    "But it is different here, this person really is shitty," said Misty.


    "No! It''s-" Evelyn noticed the look others gave her and stopped. "Sorry, my personal emotions took over. My mother isn''t like that, so anyone who acts like that isn''t necessarily bad. If they are, that would mean my mother is too."


    Present


    "You were trying to provoke her, right?"


    "Why didn''t you ask me directly?"


    "Because I was gathering more hints against her, I also completely forgot about asking you. When I gathered enough hints I decided to look into it. Why didn''t YOU take the initiative?"


    "Judging from her reaction I figured she could be a helper if she''s in fact involved. So, in order to focus on the main culprit I ignored her."


    "Now, give me some ideas to gather strong proof against her."


    "Nah, do it yourself. I''m on break and you need to do something cool yourself too."


    "Right," he walked out of her room.


    ''Well, it''s hard to think of a great plan by myself. For now, I will just tag along with them and think of a plan on the way I guess,'' he thought. He then went towards the cherry blossom tree to find Evelyn. When he reached there, he saw that Tony was sitting there with her. "Yo guys," Trevor walked to them and sat beside Evelyn.


    "What do you want?" Tony looked at him coldly.


    "Well, I am here to tell you that I will still tag along with you."


    "What if we refuse?" said Tony.


    "It''s okay if you refuse, but if Evelyn refused I''d think it''s because she''s the culprit. She is prohibiting me right after finding out I suspect her, that''s suspicious."


    "She won''t refuse because I will," said Tony.


    "I don''t need your answer, I need hers and her answer is the final one. Also, if you want to use force, you can," Trevor looked at Tony. "Don''t forget I can do that too," his voice was colder than anything.


    "Okay, I agree, you can tag along but just go away and give us some fresh air," said Evelyn.


    "Okay fine, bye.¡±

 Suspicious Friends

    The next day


    Trevor went to the living room to see Misty having her morning coffee. "Yo, selfish bitch."


    She drank her coffee slowly and finished it while Trevor was standing there in that awkward silence. "Yo, sceptical asshole," she smiled at him brightly.


    "Rude."


    "You were the one who started it."


    "I was just stating facts, you refused to help me after all."


    "So do I. Also, just because I said I can''t do it, doesn''t mean I mean it. It''s just that I have other things to worry about right now."


    "The kidnapper?"


    "N... I mean yes."


    "Don''t sweat it, take it easy. We don''t have people to protect right now, so we can do it at a much slower pace."


    "Hmm." The room went quiet for a few seconds.


    "Hey Misty, want to go on a stroll?"


    "That''s weird of you to ask."


    "Don''t misunderstand, I just want to take a walk with my friend."


    "You are being weirdly nice to me all of a sudden."


    "Does that mean you don''t want to come?"


    "No, I am coming."


    They got out of the house and started walking along the footpath. "By the way, you don''t have to think about any ideas for me anymore."


    "Why not?"


    "It''s because of what you said last night, I want to make a plan myself. Well, I mean you should still think of some way but no need to rush. What if I couldn''t think of anything? What if my second plan failed too? Give your current goal of catching their leader the priority. Oh, speaking of the leader, how''s your plan going?"


    "Things aren''t really going my way, but it will be okay."


    He smiled. "Yeah, you will be fine, Watson."


    She smiled back. "You will succeed too and why are you calling me by your name, is this the opposite day or something?"


    "Watson? If anything I will be Sherlock and you will be Watson."


    "I don''t think Sherlock will go waltzing towards Watson for help and then later complain about it."


    He chuckled. "Remember that day I told you that I have my own reason to investigate with you. I know it''s childish but it''s because of my deep love for detective books."


    Trevor''s phone started ringing, he took the call and walked a bit forward to talk. Misty stopped walking and stared at him. ''I''m glad that you still have a childish dream after everything that''s happened,'' she thought.


    He hung up the call and came back to her. "Misty, we have to go back. It was Evelyn, she said that they are going to look into something. Let''s hurry back, I want to spy on them."


    "You go back alone, I am going to the lake to cool off my mind."


    "Okay then, bye."


    Trevor came back home and got ready, he went back outside and saw Evelyn and Tony waiting for him there. "So, what''s the plan today?" said Trevor.


    "We are going to spy on Mr.Scott today," said Evelyn.


    "Why?"


    "Maybe the second kidnapper will show up to his house? What if they are working together?"


    "Look Evelyn, this second kidnapper isn''t that much of a big deal. Also, if you are saying that this second kidnapper is working with them, won''t that mean that this person is harmless and is trying to bait the kidnapper into showing themself?" said Trevor.


    "That''s right, I have thought about it too, but what if these two, including Mr.scott, are really dangerous and will do anything to catch the culprit?" she said.


    "Hmm, seems like a problem for the real kidnapper."


    ''That''s right too, this person is most likely harmless to others but what if they are dangerous for the boss? But I can''t tell them that it''s my reason here,'' she thought. "No! He could be a danger to anyone. Some people get too determined for their goals sometimes," said Evelyn.


    "I think the discussion is done here, let''s get in the car," said Tony.


    After reaching his house, they parked the car somewhere far away from the house so that he wouldn''t notice it. Mr.Scott was staring at his newly renovated house, staying still, mesmerised by its beauty, after a while he went inside. "He''s going inside, we won''t be able to see him from here," said Tony.


    "Our primary goal is to check if he goes somewhere sketchy or if someone sketchy is visiting him. As long as We can still see the entrances/exits of his house, it will be fine," said Evelyn. After a couple of hours he left his house. "Guys I am going after him. It''s suspicious to go in groups so you guys stay here and check if somebody''s visiting his house," Evelyn got out of the car and followed him.


    Scott came back after half an hour so did Evelyn. "Got any leads?" said Tony.


    "No, he... just went to get the groceries. What about you?"


    "Nobody came here."


    "You are just wasting our time, you know?" said Trevor. Evelyn ignored his words and got inside the car.


    At the house


    Meera was sitting on the bed thinking about something. Vishnu came to the room with a bowl in his hands. "What are you reflecting about?"


    Meera snapped out of it. "Oh, nothing."


    Vishnu sat on the chair beside her bed. "Here is your food."


    Meera looked at Vishnu for a good second. "Why are you doing this?"


    "Hm? You mean serving you food? Since you are not well you can''t take it yourself so I thought to help you."If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    "It''s not like I can''t move at all. Others understand this, but you are helping me on your own."


    Vishnu was quiet for a few seconds. "There are two reasons, but before that I want to ask you a question. Have you forgotten about me?" She was shocked to hear this question.


    She gave him a light smile. "Of course I haven''t, you are my favourite patient of all time."


    "So you do remember me, then why are you ignoring me?"


    "I thought you were going to give me your reasoning for helping me, and I haven''t heard it yet."


    Vishnu sighed. "Yeah right, one reason is because I want to repay you for helping me get rid of my depression. Two is.... well..... I have noticed that you aren''t eating well. You would skip breakfast, lunch,dinner, everything, you''d only eat enough to live, but not enough to live healthy."


    "You know, it''s my job to help people with mental illness, you don''t have to pay me back."


    "Tell me what''s up? Why aren''t you eating well?"


    She took a deep breath in. "I still trust you the same as I did before, so I want to tell you a secret. Promise me you will forever keep it a secret."


    "What is it?"


    "It''s about Annie."


    "Annie? What is it about her?" he went into deep thoughts. "Don''t tell me that she really did push you back then."


    "That''s not..."


    "You promised me, so keep it a secret, okay?"


    "I never promised you, I just asked you, but I will try to keep it a secret for a while..." he gave her a smile, "for your sake."


    Meera was flustered hearing this but she shook it off. "Vishnu, it was fun hearing you speak all those years ago." She pulled her face closer to him. "Speak to me."


    Vishnu''s face turned red. "Th..That''s what I was doing all this time, what do you want me to talk about right now?"


    She got all cheerful all of a sudden. "Like how your life has changed, your current goals, etc."


    He frowned. "Up until this point it wasn''t so good, but recently things started to get better. I''m at the top career wise, horrible things are finally starting to disappear from my life and now I even got new friends. About my goal..." he looked up towards the ceiling, "As I said, things are starting to get better for me, but all these years I never felt complete peace or true happiness. I just want to live a peaceful life, I . . . just want to be happy."


    "That''s sad," said Catherine.


    "Where did you come from?! Also it''s not sad, things are getting better so I''m sure once this kidnapper stuff is over I can find peace and happiness," said Vishnu.


    "You are so weird Cathy, how do you keep on appearing out of nowhere," said Meera.


    "I was here for a while, and I wasn''t even trying to hide myself. It''s just that you didn''t notice me because you were busy flirting."


    "Shut up. Anyways, why are you here?" said Meera.


    "I just wanted to check up on my sick friend."


    "I have a feeling that you have ulterior motives," Meera squinted her eyes, "tell me what''s up, Cathy."


    "You are cheeky. You told me that you are a psychologist. I don''t know why you are hiding this from everyone but that''s not the matter here. Tell me..." her carefree face turned dead serious now, "was Annie one of your old patients?"


    "Yes."


    "Okay," Catherine walked towards the door.


    "Hey wait, don''t you want to know why she was my patient?"


    Catherine stopped and looked back. "No, I just wanted to know this."


    "Still, since you know this much I am going to say it. She was suffering from anxiety disorder." Catherine left without saying anything.


    Cheng was sitting outside and admiring nature, then he saw Satoshi coming outside and unlocking his car. He called out to him. "Big bro, I will join you with your investigations today."


    "Hm?"


    "You seemed to be uninterested in this back when it all started, but lately you have been going out alone a lot. You are investigating alone as well, I want to see what you are up to."


    "Who told you I was investigating? I was just going out for some fresh air."


    "All these days?"


    "All these days."


    Catherine saw these two talking with each other and approached them. Cheng held his chin by his hands, "suspicious."


    "What''s suspicious?" said Catherine. Cheng explained the situation to her. Catherine looked at Satoshi, Satoshi moved his eyes away from her when their eyes met, she looked away after a while as well.


    "I don''t know what''s going on but anyway since you are saying you are going out for some fresh air, I will join too," said Cheng.


    "No, you can''t. I want some time alone."


    "You are enjoying your leisure time while everyone else is working their ass off for a thing that concerns you too."


    "Shut up! Some people have their own problems to deal with and they don''t even have anyone they could rely on. They are forced to fix all that by themselves!"


    Cheng was surprised and felt bad. "What''s up Satoshi? Whatever your problem is, you ca-"


    Catherine cut him off. "Don''t Cheng, just leave him alone for a while." Satoshi got in the car and left.


    "That''s so unlike you, Catherine," they heard a voice from behind. They looked back to see Misty leaning on a tree beside her.


    "You were listening in? How long were you here?" said Cheng.


    "Probably like one or two minutes. Anyways, what happened Catherine?" She slowly pulled herself away from the tree and stood straight. "Normally you''d be the one who will bug others, suspect people like him, or be there for your friends when they need you. That didn''t happen here, for some reason." ''Why am I acting like she and I have been friends for ages?''


    Catherine smiled and looked straight into Misty''s eyes. "It''s because I understood that''s what he needs right now, dear. I also think that there''s somebody else who needs that right now."


    "I see," Misty turned around and went inside the house.


    Mary, Alex and Akbar are cooking in the kitchen. "Catherine has been acting weird lately," said Akbar.


    "Hm? Why do you think that?" said Mary.


    "She randomly does and asks whatever shit that comes to her mind. It''s kind of annoying."


    "Really? I didn''t know."


    "That''s because you are dumb."


    "You are forgetting what this thing I am using to chop these onions is."


    "I have been thinking about it. Do you think this kidnapper is on their move to do something? Is he behind his new victims?" said Alex.


    "Maybe, who knows?" said Mary. The kitchen went quiet for a while.


    "I don''t think so, right now they are vulnerable and are most likely afraid to do unnecessary actions," said Akbar.


    "But I think they are onto something. Just you wait, we will surely get news like that soon," said Alex.


    "Hmm, I wonder," said Akbar.


    "How are things going for you, Akbar? I thought you were investigating stuff by staying indoors."


    "W..well, I am trying my best, you know."


    "Right. Don''t you think Misty has been acting suspicious lately. What do you think? What if she is related to some crimes?" said Alex.


    "Some?"


    "I mean she could be hiding things from us, you know, especially since she has a police Uncle."


    "Now that you are putting it this way. I am also starting to suspect her," said Akbar.


    "You guys are suspecting her for no reason. Seems like something''s bugging her," said Mary.


    Catherine ran from across the kitchen and took Mary''s hands. "Are you... are you alright, Mary? You are saying a logical thing for once!"


    "Where''d the knife go now?" Mary released her hands from Catherine''s, "but really, it''s true that I am the dumbest in our group. However, I can definitely feel it when something''s wrong with somebody I care about."


    Catherine smiled. "Of course Mary, I know you are that kind of a person. I was just messing around."


    Mary noticed that Catherine was wearing gym clothes. "There isn''t any equipment here."


    "Oh that''s fine, I am going for a jog. I am starting to get rusty, so it''s important."


    Ralph and Vincent were sitting in a small food vendor. "Hey Vincent, I have been wanting to ask you this for a while. Why... did you scam people back then?"


    "That''s a dumb question. I obviously did it for money, nothing more, nothing less."


    "You seemed pretty dumb at first glance, but you are a pro scammer. Are you perhaps the kidnapper and are manipulating me into believing that you are actually my foe."


    Vincent scoffed. "You think I will actually tell you the truth if I am in fact the kidnapper?"


    "Vincent, Do you regret doing that all those years ago?"


    "No, not at all. Not one bit."


    ''This guy is... hard to predict,'' Ralph thought.


    "But don''t worry, I won''t betray you. You are quite interesting and I love working with interesting guys like you."


    "That''s what I thought, but..." said Ralph. ''Ever since that case file came...'' Ralph thought.


    "Not only that, we have been investigating together for quite a while now to such an extent that I could call you my partner in crime? I can''t betray my partner after all," said Vincent.


    Evening


    Satoshi came back home now, he was about to enter the house when Misty confronted him. ¡°What''s up, Satoshi, you are hiding a lot of things from us these days,¡± she stiffened her eyes.


    ¡°Whatever that means,¡± he said.


    She smiled softly. ¡°You can talk to us if something''s bothering you, you know.¡±


    ¡°Of Course I can,¡± he reciprocated with a slight smile, which faded before it even appeared, ¡°but you know, I can''t tell you what''s bugging me right now. If things don''t end up like how I want it to be, the first person who I will inform will be you.¡±


    ¡°Promise?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, promise.¡±


    ¡°By the way,¡± she grinned at him,¡± just because I am talking to you this way, don''t think you are on clear. I still suspect everyone and that includes you.¡±


    ¡°Oh I see, you are trying to find someone to frame and since I am acting suspicious I am easy to frame,¡± he grinned back.


    ¡°Right, we will find out in a few days.¡±


    ¡°I don''t think you can find the culprit that fast, you are as slow as a sloth,¡± said Satoshi.


    Misty gave him an angry frown, ¡°we will find out real quick!¡± She ran back inside. ¡°I am to blame for showing concern for you.¡±


    Satoshi stood there and smiled to himself. ¡°Guess things will get better.¡±