Fourty One

CHAPTER 41

Dormitory hallway 001, room 020.

"Are you sure?"

Nicholas pulled his gaze towards Noel and the other two officers who were now standing inside a room of one of the female students in the dormitory. The three of them had just conducted an investigation and search in each of the rooms.

Room 020 was dominated by white walls. The owner's personal belongings, meanwhile, stood out in pink and black. The pink was definitely Brittany's and the black was Alicia's. Because both of their names were clearly displayed on the doorway.

Noel approached and handed a silver hairpin in his hand to Nicholas. Just in case, the man assigned to search the dormitory was wearing latex gloves so as not to damage or remove anyone's fingerprints there. "Isn't this a hairpin and is it silver?" asked Noel rhetorically.

Yes. The hairpin was indeed silver. And Noel had found it in Alicia's nightstand. Someone who had been suspected by various parties as the culprit.

Nicholas then grabbed the hairpin and looked at it carefully. "It doesn't look like a tool to hurt or kill someone," he said. "The tip is not sharp and I don't think the victim would die just from the pin stab."

Noel snorted rudely when he felt Nicholas was defending Alicia too much. "Then how does she have it? Why does it have to be silver? Why did she keep it and not say anything to you about it?!" he scolded in a high tone.

"We'd better check it out ourselves." Nicholas tried to play it cool there and it just made Noel even more annoyed. "Get Alicia and Brittany over here!" he ordered one of the investigating officers standing behind Noel.

But Noel suddenly held Nicholas' hand. He looked at him coldly. "Are you trying to question her directly?" Noel snorted amusedly this time. "She] will deny and not admit to any of this."

"So, what's your plan?"

Noel lowered her hand slowly and put some distance between them. Noel's bluish eyes looked at the young detective then turned to his two subordinates. "We should search this entire room before meeting the girl," he suggested. "The girl named Alicia is more intelligent than she looks."

There was a moment of silence after that. The two investigating officers in the room were silent, waiting for Nicholas' approval of Noel's suggestion. Nicholas was the one who had full authority over this investigation. Noel, meanwhile, looked at Nicholas expectantly.

"Okay. Let's check this room," Nicholas said in the end. "But if after the search and this room is not indicated to have any suspicious items, we should call Alicia and Brittany to question them directly."

Noel nodded quickly. "Of course." He turned to his two men. "You two, check this room immediately!"

Noel and his two men immediately split up. They searched room 020 with quick and careful movements. They removed all the items from the nightstand and wardrobe and put them back together. Noel wanted the investigation to be neat and slick. Just like what the murderer did in the dormitory.

Meanwhile, Nicholas remained where he was. His eyes were indeed watching the three people, but he felt suddenly anxious for no apparent reason. It was like he was standing there, but his soul wasn't with him.

The man named Noel immediately returned to Nicholas' presence while shaking his head lightly. "I think we need to call those two girls in for questioning. We didn't find anything other than that silver hairpin," he said regretfully.

Nicholas breathed a sigh of relief as he ruffled his waist. "Yeah, you guys better--"

"What's going on?" exclaimed Brittany suddenly. She stood in the doorway with a confused look, while Alicia stood next to her and watched the situation with a flat expression.

Without warning, Brittany and Alicia quickly entered her room and approached the officers. "Why are you all here?" she asked again. "Are you checking this room?"

Noel glanced at Nicholas for a moment before nodding his head. "We need to ask some questions to..." His eyes shifted to Alicia. "this girl."

All eyes in the room immediately turned to Alicia. Alicia, meanwhile, did not react in any way. She was still standing there, returning Noel's probing gaze with her usual flat face. No fear or worry could be seen on the dark-haired girl's face.

"So, Alicia Perth, can you explain one thing?" Noel got straight to the point.

"About what?" Alicia replied.

Noel paused for a moment before finally raising her hand into the air. Showing the silver hairpin she had been holding. The silver hairpin itself had been found in Alicia's nightstand during the investigation. "About this," he said. "How do you have it, this silver hairpin? Isn't it the missing evidence of the murder of the first victim?" Noel asked these questions in a high-pitched voice, as if he was judging Alicia without accurate evidence. "Miss Alicia, can you explain everything to us now?"

Brittany snorted amusedly and crossed her arms over her chest. "Can you relax a little? She's my roommate and I don't think you should intimidate her like that," Brittany concluded unhappily.

Noel looked over. "This hairpin could be evidence in your boyfriend's murder case, Miss Brittany."

But Brittany shrugged her shoulders lazily. "I believe her. Alicia couldn't have killed James." The blonde girl turned her face to Alicia. "Right, Alicia?"

Alicia looked at Brittany and then Noel in turn. She took a short breath and said, "That hairpin was a gift I got from someone."

"Someone?" interrupted Nicholas.

Nicholas' silence during Noel's prodding of Alicia surprised everyone in the room. He sounded very curious and annoyed at the same time. But the young detective hurriedly interrupted his words by asking again, "I mean, who is that someone more precisely?" Nicholas looked at them all in turn. "In this interrogation, the investigating team must get concrete testimony, right?"

"I..." Alicia bit her slightly pale lower lip.

"Where did you get this silver hairpin, Miss Alicia?" said Noel impatiently.

Alicia looked into their eyes in turn, then sighed heavily as she said,

.

.

.

"I got it from Ace." []