Her Secrets

Chapter 37

Two days had passed and there was no sign of Vera. Officers and the detectives were restless and they ran here and there when someone gave them a tip about her whereabouts.

But most of the time they were false reports and they wasted their time and energy for nothing. The pressure from the public was immense and it made them frustrated more than anything.

I on the other hand skipped school and spent most of the time trying to make up with Maddy or in the town just wandering around.

I knew I said that I wanted to give her time. But she was distancing herself from others and it made me worry that she wouldn't listen to me, if she really had something to with the murders.

It wasn't because I had evidence or anything. But because of her strange behaviour since that night.

Justin was correct! She looked and behaved differently than she was before. But I was ignoring them like a blind man and when Justin pointed that out that day I realised that it was the bitter truth.

I drove to my favourite cafe in the town and sat down after greeting Mrs. Berkeley.

I ordered my usual coffee and sat down in a corner. The cafe had only few customers and it gave a lonely feeling.

I remembered the last time I came here with Maddy. Even though we fought that day, her company always brought me a comfortable feeling and I liked it so much. But the person who Maddy had become made me uncomfortable and I hate myself for feeling like that.

Mrs. Berkeley brought my coffee and sat down. She smiled apologetically and I wondered what it was about.

"I'm sorry for that day, Alex. I thought I was doing the right thing"

I tried to smile, "it's okay, Mrs. Berkeley. I don't blame you"  I sighed.

"I apologised to Maddy, no! Chloe too"

"Call her Maddy Mrs. Berkeley. She doesn't like the name Chloe" I sipped my coffee.

"Oh! I did" she got up, "but she said to call her Chloe since she hates the name Maddy"

I choked and coughed, "what?!"

"Are you okay?"

I nodded, "Did she really say that?"

"She did"

Mrs. Berkeley's words made me uneasy. Maddy never liked the name Chloe and she asked to call her by that name. Huh! Who thought I would live up to see that day.

But I felt like I was missing something. It was nagging in a corner of my mind, but I couldn't really point out what it really was.

My train of thoughts disturbed by my phone's ringing tone. I sighed and took it out. I hoped it wasn't Richard again trying to apologise for the hundredth time. I answered the call quickly when I saw Dean's name on the screen. He didn't call me after that day and I was waiting to call him if I didn't get a call from the lab today. It had been two days after all.

"Hello, Dean!" It felt weird.

"Alex!" he breathed, "where did you get those food samples from?" This question made me nervous.

"Why? If you know what I gave your friend then you do know where I took it from" I didn't like to beat around the bush.

I heard him sigh, "I'm sorry, but I asked her to call me instead of you if she found something suspicious"

I sat straight. This couldn't be happening! "Did she... did she find-"

"Yes!" My whole world stopped running, "can you tell me what happened that day?"