Behind me

Chapter 15-New Alliances

I went with my father to the prison, and upon arrival, I asked him to wait outside. I wanted to meet with the professor alone. He nodded understandingly, respecting my need for privacy and focus during this crucial conversation.

I walked alone to the prison's entrance, where I had to go through strict security procedures before being allowed into the visitation area. As I waited in the visitation room, my mind was filled with questions and anticipation.

Finally, I was called to meet the Professor. He was on the other side of the glass, a barrier separating us. He looked visibly beaten and depressed, wearing the typical orange jumpsuit of inmates.

The Professor looked surprised to see me there, and his words were filled with genuine emotion. He said, "Alice, I'm so glad someone came to visit me."

I asked him how he was, and he sighed before replying, "Things haven't been going well these days. My life has been turned upside down." His gaze reflected sadness and despair.

Then I asked if he remembered the conversation we had at school about Lucy.

He said he did, and I encouraged him to try to remember more about her, urging him to make an effort.

Suddenly, he remembered that Lucy had confessed to him, but he had declined. At the time, he didn't mention it to me because he didn't think it was relevant; he received many confessions.

He then explained that he was surprised when the police entered his house and found the knife and the box because he had never seen those before in his life, and he had no idea how that evidence ended up there.

I told him that the police had obtained a search warrant for his house a few days before Kate's death because he was the prime suspect. I explained that he became a suspect due to being the teacher of the first victim and having access to information about teenagers, given his profession.

Furthermore, his profile matched that of the killer, and the trauma he suffered from his adoptive mother's abuse could have been a motive for developing hatred towards women and committing murders.

He looked at me and expressed regret for not sharing that part of his life earlier, explaining that he felt ashamed. However, he added that the idea that he hated women was an exaggeration. Although he had suffered abuse from his adoptive mother for a year, he had always admired women and had deep love for his mother, who had raised and educated him for most of his life. He categorically stated that he would never harm a woman.

Then, he looked at me and continued, "You may not believe me, but I'm innocent." His words were filled with sincerity, and I could feel the intensity of his emotions at that moment.

I told him that I believed him and that I was willing to help him. I mentioned that the only concrete evidence against him was the murder weapon and the victims' hairs found in his house. Without this evidence, he was as guilty as anyone else. I then asked if anyone had been to his house in the days leading up to the police visit. It was crucial to understand how this incriminating evidence had appeared in his house.

He mentioned that the only person who had been to his house was the detective, who had gone there to ask questions about his whereabouts on the night we were kidnapped.

The Professor explained that, on that occasion, he had informed the detective that he was busy grading tests, a task he often did. On the day Kate was murdered, he was also doing this.

However, a particular word, "test," caught my attention. Intuitively, I asked Sebastian if he entered the students' grades into the school's platform after grading the tests. His answer was affirmative: he updated the scores immediately after finishing grading the tests.