A/N:

I know the update is getting late, and I'm really sorry about that. The thing is, I have a very important exam coming up in a couple of days, and I had to prepare for it... Though I'm not really studying that much... Anyways, I hope you enjoy this one, and please, Review!

Chapter 3. I Think I Found the Killer

Brian looked up as Calleigh and Ryan walked into the room. He smiled at the sight of Ryan. Ryan gave him a little smile back while Calleigh sat in the chair, facing Brian.

"Officer McKlein?" Calleigh began.

Brian looked at her and smiled again and said, "Brian, please."

"Okay, Brian." Calleigh smiled back and looked down at the folder in front of her. She opened the file and took out a small photo of the victim Dustin Manson. She pushed it to Brian. "Do you know Dustin Manson?"

Brian took the picture and took a brief moment to look at it.

"'Course I know him. Isn't this the guy who died this morning?" Brian answered after putting down the photo.

"Yes, he is. But I'm not asking that." Calleigh said. She looked straight into his eyes. "Do you know him personally?"

"This guy? No. Can I know why you're asking it?" Brian looked first at Ryan then at Calleigh.

"Brian, where were you last night around 11?" Calleigh said.

Ryan had his arms crossed and was looking at Brian. Brian looked at Ryan too with slightly widened eyes. Ryan was silently pleading him to tell the truth - to tell the truth that he had nothing to do with the case.

"It was my day off yesterday and I was just resting at home. Catching up some books I've been planning on reading." Brian turned back to Calleigh and answered. She just eyed him for a moment before opening the file in her hand.

"Mr. Josh McKlein is your father, right?" Calleigh asked while looking into the file.

There was a momentary silence. Brian frowned and stared at Calleigh.

"Yes." Brian answered. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It says here that you saw your father die by an accident." Calleigh said. "Did you see who the driver was?"

"I didn't get to see the face, but I'm sure he was a male in his thirties or forties." Brian answered with a stiff and unpleasant tone. "What's this all about?"

"Did you know that this guy," She pointed to the victim in the picture and continued, "was the one who killed your father?"

Brian looked at Calleigh with annoyance filling his eyes.

"So, you think I killed him?" Brian snorted. He fixed his posture and leaned forward. "I said I was home last night. I didn't even go near that place."

"Brian, we found a hair on a black hoodie we got from the crime scene. And the hair was yours." Calleigh said. She handed Brian another picture with the evidence in it.

"It's nothing out of ordinary. That shirt is mine." Brian said after looking at the picture. "I lent it to my friend Max a couple of days ago when he spilt beer on his shirt. I didn't get it back from him."

"Max? Max Lukas?" Ryan asked. Brian looked at Ryan.

"That Max." Brian nodded. He turned his eyes to Calleigh again. "Look. I didn't kill anyone."

Ryan and Calleigh exchanged looks. She then turned to Brian and said, "All right, Brian. You may go."

Brian got up from the chair and walked out of the room. Calleigh and Ryan looked at him walk down the hall and disappear at the corner. After he was gone, they looked at each other.

"You know this Max?" Calleigh asked to Ryan.

"He's in patrol, too." Ryan said. "Should we bring him in?"

"I don't know. We don't have much evidence to help us." Calleigh said.

"Why don't we ask the daughter?" Ryan suggested.

"Kiana Manson? What for?" Calleigh looked up at Ryan with curiosity on her face.

"Maybe she can give us some information about her father's life." Ryan raised his shoulders.

"You talked to her already. Do you really think there's something left that she didn't tell you?"

"Maybe. And she is the only one who can give us further information other than what we have right now." Ryan answered. "Besides, we really don't have anything else."

Kiana Manson was waiting in front of the reception desk.

"Hi, Ms. Manson. Thank you for coming in." Calleigh said as she and Ryan approached her.

"You have something to ask me?" Kiana asked.

"Do you know any person who might have had a bad relationship with your father?" Calleigh asked.

"Honestly, I don't really know. I didn't really get along well with him. I live in dormitory and only visited him like once a week or so." Kiana said.

"Don't you remember anything out of ordinary? Anyone at all?" Ryan asked.

"Well, come to think of it, I remember him meeting a few police officers a couple of times." Kiana frowned as she went through her memories. "He usually really looks down upon policemen for some reason. Never knew why. So I thought it was weird for him to be close to them."

"How did you know they were police? Were they in their uniforms?" asked Calleigh.

"They weren't. Dad told me." Kiana answered.

"Do you know their names?" Calleigh asked.

"Well, one was Max Lukas. He told me himself. I think he was kinda flirting with me. The other, I didn't get a chance to talk to him. They both weren't wearing uniforms." Kiana said. Calleigh and Ryan exchanged looks at the name of Max Lukas.

"Can you describe the other one?" Calleigh asked.

"Um… I remember one was tall, maybe 6 feet tall? With sandy hair, kind of skinny a bit…"

"Wait, did he look like this?" Ryan showed a picture of Brian to Kiana. Kiana looked into it.

"Yes. That's him." Kiana answered.

Ryan and Calleigh looked at each other. Ryan sighed and Calleigh thanked Kiana and told her she may leave.

"I'm gonna go back to the crime scene. There may be something we missed." Ryan said after Kiana left.

"Then I'll take a closer look at the evidence we have for now. I still have to search for the tattoo." Calleigh said.

They both walked down the hallway until they were separated in front of the elevator.

Ryan got out of the hummer with his kit. He locked the car and walked under the yellow tape. He stopped and looked at the house with a sigh before he went in. It was so quiet, just the way it was expected to be, but somewhat creepy too. It wasn't the blood stains and the dried pool of red or the fact that there had been a murder in this place that aroused this spooky kind of atmosphere. Ryan has been to numerous crime scenes by this point, thus they didn't really creeped him out or anything. Yet this was actually giving him a chill for some reason. He couldn't really pinpoint the exact reason behind it, but maybe the idea of accusing his best friend of a murder was something that evoked his fear.

He opened the front door. When the door opened, a wall came into his view. It was a plain wall with nothing on it. Most people would have decorated that sort of space with paintings or family photos, but in the house only a huge white blank was there. Well, it was as blank as it could be, to be accurate, with it being ornamented now, of course, with bloody partial handprints, which indicated that the victim was running away from the living room towards the door.

And when he turned to his right, he could see the living room. Ryan decided to have a look around again to make sure. The living room was small but looked rather comfy. Right next to it was the kitchen, looking clean enough to make him wonder if a person actually ever used it.

He went near the couch with his flashlight on and searched every space. Literally every space he could find, whether it was tiny split or under all pieces of furniture. He looked at the space between the sofa and the wall. He checked every cushion on it. He even knelt down to look underneath the couch.

And there he found something.

He stretched his arm and picked the thing with his gloved hand. He pulled it out and examined it in the light. When he realized what it was his eyes narrowed and shook his head momentarily as if he was trying to deny what he was actually seeing. He stared it for a while and took out his phone.

"Yeah?" Calleigh's voice came through it.

"Calleigh, I think I found the killer." Ryan said slowly with gloom in his voice.

"Really? Who?" Calleigh's voice sounded surprised.

"It's…" Ryan just opened his mouth when he heard someone's footsteps from behind. He froze and didn't turn around as he felt the presence of another person behind him. He licked his lips nervously. "I'm gonna have to call you back."

"What? But Rya…." Calleigh started to talk but Ryan just hung up.

Then he slowly turned around.

Once again, I'm really sorry for the delay and please review. Gosh, it's 2:43 in the morning right now here in Korea, and I seriously have to go to bed...