Chapter 3: The Convict in the Closet
"I...I believe you." I stop in my track, not sure whether to cry or to laugh. "If you're telling the truth about being innocent, and that you want to find who the real murderer is...then I will help you prove your innocence." I choose to laugh instead. Maka gives me a strange look and asks, "What? Do you not want my help?"
After I finish my chuckling I reply, "It's just that...no one's ever offered me their help like this."
"Do you want my help or not?" She asks me angrily.
"Hmph, what can a little girl like you do?" I chuckle again, testing if she was really ready for a problem like mine.
Adjusting her glasses and crossing her arms at me, she answers, "Don't doubt me! You don't even know me!"
"Okay. Fine. But don't blame me when something goes wrong; you're the one whose willing to do this," I shrug. "And just to let you know, I was gonna say yes anyways." I notice a small brooch in the shape of a skull pinned to her sweater near her shoulder and point to it. "What's that?"
"It's a the symbol of the academy that I go to; Death's Academy for the Naturally Gifted. It's a school where only the- "
"Wow," I whistle, cutting her off in mid-sentence. "That sounds fancy. It must mean that you're smart and that you can solve this case with ease, right?"
"Hardly," Maka scoffs as a cute and slight blush streaks across her cheeks. "I don't think I've obtained enough information to make that conclusion, but I know where to start. A good detective always-"
"Lets not start now. First, I need to worry about where I'm gonna sleep tonight." I had been exhausted for the whole night, and now my legs were starting to feel weak. Maybe if I went back to that building...no, they'll find me there...
"Yeah, it's getting late for me, too. I was supposed to be back home exactly 56 minutes and 49 seconds ago! My father's probably worrying right now..."
"We can meet up here tomorrow night, how does that sound?" I ask, still wondering where to find a place to sleep without the risk of getting caught.
"No, you might get caught. The police are all over the city looking for you. The safest place would probably be..." she thought hard for a moment. "There's only one way..."
"What?" I begged tiredly.
"What if you came home with me?" Her face lit up with the idea.
I let out a laugh so loud that I thought I would give our hiding place away. "Take me home with you? You're joking, right?"
"You act like you don't want my help at all!" Maka glared at me, completely serious. It seemed like there was no other option for me.
"Alright. I'll go. But don't you have a father that will catch me? I don't exactly think I'll get the welcome wagon when a convicted murderer walks through the front door."
"He won't. I'll just have to sneak you in," she smiles confidently. "Now the only thing is getting there. My house is approximately 943 and a half feet from where we're standing."
"And you know that how...?"
"I'm smart, remember?" she replied, mirroring my smirking face and grabbing my hand. "That's four blocks. Lets go!" Together, we ran through the darkness of the park and out into the street. Making sure there was no cops, Maka peeked out of corner and looked both ways before giving my hand a gentle tug.
To my relief, there was no sign of the police when we got up to the second block. All through the way, Maka had not let go of my hand as we walked. "It should be easy to get there now. I think the police have stopped searching for today." She finally breaks the silence between us and lets go of my hand. There is a long pause between us, until Maka decides to ask another question, which I don't mind answering. "So...how does it feel?"
"How does what feel?"
"To live like this- always on the run, always having excitement..." Maka looked at me with her olive-green eyes longingly.
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but it ain't that great. When you're running, you've got a lot to think about. There's a lot to lose. And there's a lot of pressure."
"Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought that an exciting life would be better than mine."
"Don't apologize," I said. We came up to an apartment building complex, and Maka opened the door.
"Here we are. We live on the 8th floor in room 14." Maka began trotting up the stairs and asked me if I think I could make it to the floor. I tiredly nodded 'yes,' and trudged up slowly behind her. "When we get up to the door, stay out of the doorframe while I distract my dad. My room is all the way across the hallway in front of the door, 3rd door to the left. Okay?"
I hide out of sight of the door when it was opened, quietly waiting besides the doorframe on the wall. "Maka!" A man squealed upon opening. "Where have you been?! Papa's been so worried!"
"You don't have to be so excited. I was just late because of an after-school club." Maka glanced at me as her father hugged her and pulled her inside. "Hey Papa! Could you come to the kitchen for a second? I want to show you something." That was my cue. I quietly slipped through the door while Maka led her father away, and tiptoed down the hallway. I passed two doors down, creaked open the third to the left, and slowly disappeared into her room. Letting out a soft sigh of relief, I plopped down in the dark next to the door and closed my eyes. "Okay, Papa. That was all I wanted to show you, you can let of me now!" Maka said to her father with an exasperated tone in her voice. Her footsteps approached the door and she opened it, turning on the lights. "How are you feeling?" She murmurs as she closes the door behind her.
"I'm too tired to move," I exclaim, my eyes still shut. "And I'm not joking."
"Can't you at least take a shower? You look like you need one."
"Thanks for the compliment," I reply sarcastically. But she was right, of course. After wearing the same clothes for two months straight, so much grime and dirt had gotten on it that the original blue color was impossible to see behind the layer of muck. I take off my jacket and rub it on my greasy dark-blue jeans.
"I'll wash your stuff in the washing machine. In the mean time, I'll try to get you something from my dad's room. The bathroom is across my room and-"
"Oh Maka~ Who are you talking to?" Her father asked, his voice right outside the door.
Suddenly, Maka grabs my hand and shoves me to the wall as the door swings open. I land on the wall right behind where the it opens, out of sight from her father. "Papa!" She screams. "I was just about to change! Go away!"
"Sorry! I'll come back later!" The door slams away from my face.
"I had to do that, sorry," she lowered her voice more. "Damn, he gets annoying."
Ow...I rubbed my sore and achy back and slumped down on the floor again. "Now I really need a shower..." She took my dirt-covered jacket and tossed it onto a pile of her other clothes. I opened the door to her room and peeked left and right before creeping to the bathroom. Maka said that she had to stay with me in the bathroom just in case her father barges in while a unknown and strange-looking boy is bathing in his shower. "Or is it because you wanna get a glimpse of my hot body?" I smirk.
"Don't make me chop you," she glares through her glasses. "And it's not like there'll be anything to look at!"
"Ouch," I said as we went into the bathroom. Maka huffed and turned around as I took off my pants and underwear. "Well, if I have nothing to look at, then you better not be turning around." When I had finally taken my shirt off and made my way behind the shower curtain, I notified her to turn around. "I hope this is not be see-through," I say.
I hear her dragging a stool across the floor. "It's not," she replies. "Hold on a sec, I'm gonna try and sneak my dad's clothes for you." After telling her to take her time, the door opens and shuts softly. Taking a shower feels so refreshing, especially when you haven't taken one for two months. I finally get to wash the caking layers of crap off my body and the grease off my hair. I think I know why girls take such long showers now. With the water steaming hot, my back and muscles are relieved of their pain, and my stiff shoulders relax.
Shutting off the water and grabbing a towel hanging on the rack, I carefully step out of the shower, nice and clean for the first time in a long while. "Soul," Maka whispers from outside. "I've got clothes." Opening the door, she tossed them in with one hand and left. An over-sized white shirt, red pants and underwear for me. At least it was better than sleeping in a dank and lonely building.
"So where am I gonna sleep tonight?" I ask as I come into her room, still wiping my head dry. But she had already arranged my bed- in the closet, that is. The closet wasn't exactly the most comfortable bed, but luckily it could fit my whole body in it if I lay on my side. "Do I have to sleep in here?"
"Well, there's no other place to sleep, so this will just have to do for now." She said.
"Are you gonna be sleeping in those?" I point to her school outfit. After replying no, she turns on her laptop tells me that she'll be researching my case all night. "Whatever," I say. "Do you need any help?"
"You need to promise me one thing." She turned from the computer monitor to face me. "Promise me that whatever you tell me is the truth, and only the truth."
I've only had to mold myself to fit the profile of a cold-blooded killer. But this time I have no choice; if I really want to prove myself innocent, then I'll have to tell her everything I know about the case. Promising her that whatever I said was the truth (and only the truth), I began:
"Fine. I'l start with my parents. They owned a medical research facility, which helped find cures for many diseases. Thanks to that, my family's business became very famous and world-renowned. The business became rich, and so did we. My older brother and I, Wes, were born with a silver spoon in our mouths. We got whatever we wanted, and did whatever we wanted. Soon after, the company became richer so we moved to a wealthy area and bought a mansion, where we lived for a few years. Life was nice there...I had a couple of good friends. But then the murder happened."
"Did your family make any enemies, or people that would want to cause them harm?" She asked, with a notebook and pencil in her hands.
"I wouldn't know. I never really cared for all that medical research and crap, even though my parents tried to talk me in to being the next heir. But my parents? Besides trying to get me to take over the family job, they never gave two shits about me or Wes. It was all about money, their wealth, how the research as going, and how rich they got. They never cared for me or my older brother, their own two sons. So when Wes was old enough to go to any college he pleased, he did."
"Your brother was not in the area- where was he exactly?" Maka twiddled with her pencil and stared intensely at the notes.
"He was somewhere else in the country."
"Which means he had an alibi," she finished my sentence. "So I doubt it could be him... Are there any other people or close relatives that were not on good terms with yours?"
"I told you, I have no idea. If anyone were to have anything, it would be my brother. He paid more attention to the business than me."
"Hm...I'll see what I can find tonight. In the mean time, you can rest for the night. Besides, you deserve a good night's sleep." Maka turned back to the computer screen.
I cuddled inside the small and somewhat-cramped closet and closed the door. Even though it was filled with Maka's girly outfits, I could at least get a little comfort from the warmth. I left the door slightly ajar so I could get some air. "Hey Maka," I called one last time. "Can you hear me?"
"Yeah, I can hear."
"I forgot to say 'thank you.'" I figured that those words will suffice for everything that happened today.
"Your welcome," she answered, but her voice lowered. "I have something to tell you too."
"Yeah?
"This might be the most important puzzle I ever will solve."
