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"You don't know what they did."
"How would you know? You fled. I had to pay my condolences to their parents when they came back. I had to watch the news. I had to answer the questions!"
"That wasn't it!" His voice raised. "You knew I had an internship opportunity in London. I had to go long before they got themselves killed!"
Chris shrugged. "Whatever it may be. You can't just sit here and defend them just because they were once our classmates. For me, they were monsters. I don't know who killed them, but they deserved what they got. For God's sake, Alex, she was just a kid."
Alex gulped, looked down, then nodded. "You're right. No, of course, you're right."
"I can't believe we met after seven years and this is what we're talking about."
Alex looked at him, pursed his lips, and sighed.
Chris sighed, too. "Let's just talk about why you're here."
He let out an unsteady breath. "So, Abbott..."
Chris nodded. It'd been three days since he'd been back from Petrichor. He'd visited Giselle every day to keep her from falling apart. He'd stopped by the office with Abbott's lawyer and closed the business for a fortnight to figure things out, and more so because he needed time to let Giselle adjust to her father's absence before he could let the lawyer read her the Will.
He'd been responsible and level-headed. He still wasn't, however, used to the fact that Abbott was dead.
"Yeah, him..." he said.
Alex puffed out his cheeks. "I can't believe it. It feels like only yesterday when I met him. He was such a happy man. I don't understand why someone would murder him. For the money, you suppose? But he would've given them anything they wanted if it meant helping them. Yes, even the killers."
Chris found himself nodding. Abbott was known for his generosity. Alex used to be his secretary's son. When his mother died of breast cancer, he was only thirteen, and Abbott had taken it upon himself to support him financially because he had no one left in this world. Alex got enrolled in the same school Chris was studying in, and that's how they'd met.
Alex continued, "Thought it's the least I could do for him, so I came as soon as I could." He paused. "You said, they killed him for money?"
Chris blinked, then shrugged.
"Was anything taken?" asked Alex.
He shook his head. "I don't know. Nothing noticeable, I think."
Alex nodded. "Then, why commit a crime just to steal a few bucks? Do you think he was just mugged? That it wasn't intentional? That may be because the killer didn't know who he was killing?"
Chris hadn't thought of it from that angle. "I don't think anything was taken."
"Are you certain?"
"Not a hundred percent. I have a feeling that it wasn't just a mugging. Petrichor isn't a safe village. Right?"
"It's called Prime Crime for a reason."
Chris's eyebrows connected. "I didn't know that."
"It's home to some of the most notorious criminals, Chris. Their authorities are, let's say, easy-going." Another word for'involved in the crimes.'
"How do you even know all this?"
Alex smiled smugly. "I have my sources."
"Of course. What then if he wasn't mugged?"
He shrugged. "I'm working on it. What's your motive for this investigation?"
Chris leaned forward. "What do you mean?"
