Chapter 6: :)

Karen, a young, friendly woman in her early thirties, had brought the ordered coffee and biscuits. Plenty of them, too. Besides a considerable selection of biscuits, there were five muffins. Three with chocolate chips and two with blueberries. My empty stomach was very grateful for this. So I immediately took one of the chocolate muffins and ate it while Alan read out my personal data.

My name, my date of birth, my address, all this was correct. As Alan began the lecture, I sipped my coffee. Saying that it was the best coffee I had ever drunk would have been an exaggeration. However, it was very close.

"However, you do not have to incriminate yourself. Do you have any questions?"

"Yes, I understand completely," I confirmed and sipped my coffee anew.

"Why don't we start with how you got involved in the Hannah Donfort abduction case, [MC]. You're not even from Duskwood."

My eyes fastened on the large dictaphone and the black tape, moving from one reel to the other.

"Thomas messaged me and added me to a group."

Still looking at Alan.

"Thomas said he got my number from Hannah."

I reached for my coffee with a shaky hand.

"After she was kidnapped already."

The spilled coffee drops formed large stains on my blouse.

"Do you have any explanation as to why Ms. Donfort did this?"

Automatically I shook my head.

"For the record the witness is shaking her head," Alan's voice surprised me.

"Sorry, I didn't think of it," I said, my cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

"It's alright. I still can do something like that, just like put it in the audio log like that. There' s really nothing for you to worry about. Your testimony is only to prepare the charges against Richy Rogers."

Alan had already told me that before we started the investigation. Actually, there had been no reason to be suspicious of this. But the fact that Alan was now officially taking it on board relieved most of my nervousness.

"Do you have any idea why Ms. Donfort might have sent your number to Mr. Miller of all people?"

"I really don't know Hannah. I hadn't even heard of Duskwood until the message from Thomas."

"Understandable. After all, they live several hundred kilometres away from our little Duskwood. However, surely you will have given some thought to, shall we say, your role. I'd just love to hear those theories."

I took the second chocolate muffin and took a piece. However, I held it in my hand and didn't put it in my mouth.

"Yeah. I think Hannah just mistyped it. Maybe she meant to send Richy's number. Or it was Jennifer's Hanson old number. But if you want to know the exact reason, you should ask Hannah, not me."

"We've already done that. However, Ms. Donfort assured us she hadn't mailed your number. She had lost her phone in the assault."

The piece of muffin I had just had in my fingers had fallen into my coffee. According to the laws of physics, the hot brew should burn on my skin, but I felt nothing.

"Ms. Lilly Donfort had mentioned a man in your video. Can you imagine him integrating you into that?"

"No.", I said with a vigorous shake of my head. "He was just trying to help."

I didn't let on how pissed off I was right now. Before the official part started, I had made it clear that I didn't want to talk about Jake. Now I was forced to rip my own heart out. Even though I was careful to only reveal positively and as little as possible about him, I felt like a traitor.

"But the option would he have? To send your number and then delete it again."

"Alan...", I pleaded.

"[MC], please answer my question."

"I don't know. Probably I do. But I don't see why. We didn't know each other either."

The sting in my chest was unbearable. Not just that I felt betrayed by Alan, but for the first time doubts were really growing inside me. Erasing my number from Thomas' mobile after the fact could only have been Jake. The others had suspected something like that and had asked me about it. However, I was able to dismiss this thought because I didn't know the true face behind the legend.

Richy...

I didn't mean to say that he wasn't computer-savvy. It's just that he was a car mechanic, not a hacker. The latter was Jake's job.

But did that mean he'd put me in the Group?

Me being his personal spy...

All those feelings were just pretend to keep me happy. Somehow I couldn't, or rather didn't want to, imagine that. Although it was easy to act purely through the written word.

Hadn't he told me once that he couldn't read emotions like that?

And yet he did it every time with me...

Besides, it would explain why he'd been missing for two months.

If he had just disappeared...

Then I guess I really was just a pawn on his chessboard. From a purely logical standpoint, it would make sense.

Jake wanted to save Hannah.

At any cost...

He himself had not been able to contribute to the group

But emotionally...

He was always trying to protect me.

It certainly wasn't because he knew how blameless I was...

No!

I didn't want to believe it...

Don't even think about it...

Jake wouldn't do that!

Or would he?!

"So you don't see any motive in this man regarding this," Alan brought me back to the here and now.

"Exactly," I confirmed.

"You know nothing about this man, did I understand that correctly?" he said in a strange emphasis.

"Yes...?", I replied, trying to hide my uncertainty.

"Then there's no point in continuing to question you regarding the hacker either.", he winked at me and I stared at him with my mouth wide open.

Of course he had to mention Jake...

Lilly's video had had over 4000 views in a short time. That's how many people knew at least one outstanding person besides me was involved in the case.

I wonder if Alan would have given me a heads up if I hadn't been so stubborn.

"Thank you.", my lips formed tonelessly and Alan nodded at me meaningfully.

"You decided, after Thomas Miller contacted you, to help? I could gather that correctly from your previous words?", Alan steered the questioning back in the direction of my part of the story.

"Exactly. Or rather, that's what the others asked me to do. They finally had a straw to clutch at again. I also understood Thomas' fear that if he went to the police with my number, he would make himself even more suspicious. More suspicious, that is, than the cohabitant already is."

"And you weren't afraid of being targeted by the investigation?"

"No, why should I be. I had nothing to do with it. I didn't know Hannah. I didn't know Duskwood. I don't have a motive and I probably would have had an alibi. Simply because I was so far away. I couldn't have done it, after all. It would have looked more like Thomas wanted to divert suspicion from himself with my number. At the very least, that would have made him even more suspicious.

Alan chuckled. "You have an interesting way of thinking. Have you ever thought about a career in criminology?"

The compliment had left a rosy glow on my cheeks.

"Thank you...But I guess anyone would have come to that conclusion. Besides, all those true-crime documentaries prove that it' s often the partner."

I smiled uncertainly as Alan laughed heartily.

"Well. You' ve solved two cases. Not everyone can do that. Especially a cold case on top of that."

"Both things belonged together, after all. Somehow," I replied shyly.

"Someone like you is certainly needed," he said kindly. "But enough chatting. Where did you come up with the connection between Jennifer Hanson's fatal accident and the kidnapping of Hannah Donfort?"

I sighed.

"Phew! I can't answer that question so easily. That's the whole story, really."

"I was aware of that. We have time, just get started. Then if I have any question, I will ask it in between."

I nodded.

"So our first lead was that Alfie, Miss Walter's son, he saw Hannah being lured into the woods by the Man Without a Face. So he told Cleo, and Cleo told me."

" So you believed an old legend?" asked Alan, puzzled.

"Well, actually, it was the first lead I got. Besides, there' s nothing absurd about a perpetrator trying to hide his crime behind a legend. Or as in Richy's case, wants to express their motives through it. Hannah was guilty of something. And so..."

So I started to tell Alan what had happened from my point of view. Beginning with the research on the "man without a face". Just as from the threatening phone calls to the attacks on Jessy. We realised that the kidnapper wanted to be connected to the legend. The same way we figured out the connection between Hannah and Jennifer. Although I left out certain parts. The parts that involved Jake and kept me out of trouble. As an example, Alan wasn't supposed to know that I knew his voice memos from Amy's flat inspection. I explained that the others had decided to go into hiding in the cabin in the woods. I also mentioned how Richy showed up at the cabin in disguise after sending us the fake livestream. Dan had just shot him because he was about to attack Jessy. I insisted Dan had just shot because there was a threat that all of us were going to be killed.

I referred to my conclusion Richy had to change his plan because of this. With his bullet wound, he couldn't play the hero anymore. I also shared my suspicion Richy was trying to lure me to Grimrock just to concede what he had done. Unfortunately, I was afraid to go there, because at that time we were still assuming Michael Hanson was the perpetrator. Finally, I told how Richy had confessed everything to me on the phone.

" So, you really don't want to do an internship here," Alan tried to cheer me up after the official part was over. I smiled wryly at him. It would be unfair to say he hadn't been nice to me. I felt relatively sure he' d intervened a couple of times to make sure I didn' t get myself into hot water. Furthermore, he seemed to be really impressed with the results of our investigation. Several times he had offered me a job as a trainee.

"I guess I can think about it."

Nervously, I sipped the cold remains of my coffee. Since our conversation turned to the events of Grimrock Falls, that one question had been simmering on my lip.

Did Alan know what had happened to Jake on that night?

After all, according to Jessy, no bodies had been found. But maybe that was just the official information.

"Alan? May I ask you something?", I abandoned my inner conflict.

My curiosity was to strong!

Besides, Alan had given me the impression I could trust him. Except for this. I mean, that he knew Jake was in the iron mines that night.

" You didn't get what happened to the hacker. So if your counterparts at the FBI arrested him." I just stammered my words while my face glowed red.

Initially Alan looked at me in irritation before smiling gently. "[MC], I'm really sorry."

My heart felt as if it had stopped beating abruptly. This beginning made me regret my question so immediately. My interlocutor had probably realised that his answer scared me. So he quickly added: "Unfortunately, I didn't hear anything about that. All the hustle and bustle at Grimrock, to say it was chaotic would be an understatement. And I had to take care of Ms. Donfort on top of that."

"I understand," I replied, trying to suppress my emotional chaos. Of course I was disappointed as I still didn't have an answer to Jake's remaining. Alan was probably the only one who could have given me the answer.

Nevertheless, there was hope in me again. Perhaps the aforementioned chaos helped Jake to escape unharmed.

And maybe there really was a chance that he was still alive and would come back to me one day. This glimmer of hope made my heart beat faster.

"I'm sorry I can' t tell you more," Alan added.

" It' s all right," I smiled.

Our conversation ended there, technically. We were still chatting, though, as Alan walked me back to the entrance. However, it was more irrelevant small talk and another attempt to talk me into a traineeship in the department. I was told to get in touch with him if I remembered anything else.

Standing in front of the police headquarters, I texted Phil to pick me up. Amazed, I noticed that it was almost 11:30 in the meantime. I hadn't expected it to be so late. It felt like an hour and a half at the most. Thinking about the fact it was almost time for lunch my stomach started to growl. I grumbled.

If only I had eaten a proper breakfast this morning...

Well, I couldn't change the situation either.

I spotted a free bicycle kickstand which I could use as a seat. In order to make the waiting time easier, I looked for a game on my smartphone.

Candy Crush...

Thereupon my choice was made. I managed the first round easily.

If only hacking into the cloud had been that easy...

However, I abandoned this thought as I lost the next level. Probably the investigation would only have dragged on unnecessarily. Annoyed, I started the level again after losing the 3rd level life.

"Hello [MC] :)"

My heartbeat abruptly stopped as this message popped up on my phone.

This smiley...

There was just one person who used those old-fashioned ones, right...?

Jake...?