Ghostly (Ian Hecox)

Chapter 8 - Paint and Problems

"So, every suspect is dead?" My Aunt asked me as I re-dipped my paintbrush in the red colour and ran it vertically across the living room wall.

"Yup. There's no one I can talk to besides Anthony." I sighed.

"Did you ever consider that Anthony might have done it?" She asked me.

"Honestly, no but he is either the most dedicated mad-genius murderer who spends ten years trying to cover his tracks or a man who just had his best friend murdered." I laughed and Aunty nodded in agreement.

"Consistency equals results." She joked and we laughed as we finished the last wall of the library.

"Okay, so that's three rooms done," Aunty paused to look at her watch, "It's 2:30, so how about we take a half an hour break and then finish up the last two rooms after?" She asked and I nodded.

"Sounds like a plan." I told her. I waited for her to remove her apron and walk out of the living room and to the kitchen before I made a mad-dash for the third floor.

When I walked in Ian was siting in his usual spot, at the desk with his feet on it. When he heard me walk in he turned his head and stood up.

"So how's the painting going?" He sarcastically asked since I told him this morning how much I was not looking forward to it.

"Absolutely wonderful." I told him with a fake smile.

"How long do we have?" He asked and I shrugged.

"About half an hour."

"Okay so shall we discuss?" He asked me and I nodded.

We walked over together to the old couch and Ian held all my papers and my notepad so we could talk about theories and suspects.

"Okay so where would you like to start my love?" He asked and I did my best not to blush. I like it when Ian calls me love.

"How about suspects?" I suggested and Ian nodded.

"So I'd say it's safe to say your parents are out of the question." I said.

"Yeah, they frequently went on business trips so it doesn't surprise me that they'd be gone together." He explained.

"Anthony is also completely out of the question." I said and Ian over-dramatically nodded in agreement.

"He would just make no sense. There's no motive. He wouldn't get anything out of killing me."

"Okay, how about Ms. Hander. I also don't see a motive at all."

"Yeah, my father would've never given her anything even if I was dead." He half-joked. I laughed along and continued to read names off of my list.

"What about your friend Michael? I don't really know much about him but he did have an alibi for the night."

"Michael was an old friend from elementary school. We never had any falling outs or major disagreements that could possibly spark a desire for murder. Who was his alibi for the night?" Ian asked and I pulled out Michael's statement from the police reports.

"His parents said he was at home the entire night." I read off the paper.

"Yeah, Michael was never a very social guy. He was always fairly insecure."

"Okay can you tell me about.." I looked down at my list of suspects. "Veronica?" I asked and Ian paused for a second. He let out a half-chuckle before he spoke.

"She was a girlfriend." I suddenly felt a slight pit in my stomach. Not a burning anger but I guess jealousy just kind of kicked in. "We had a very complicated relationship. We were on and off every few weeks. The last and final time we broke up was about two months before I was killed. It wasn't dramatic, we just decided that it was better to go our separate ways to save ourselves the trouble."

"Did you have any dramatic fights that could've been a motive for murder?" I asked him. I was trying to tread my water carefully but I was a curious person.

"Oh yeah, most of them were dramatic but not dramatic enough for murder." He joked but I know he was hurting inside.

"Tell me what you're thinking." I asked and put my hand gently on his cheek.

"I just feel so dumb. I wasted so much of my time fighting with that girl. I should've known from the beginning it was going to be nothing but trouble. Now my life is over. Gone, in the blink of an eye."

"It's okay Ian. I think we've all given someone our time who didn't deserve it." I gave him the kindest smile I could.

"Have you?" He asked and I nodded. He didn't ask any further questions.

"What about Lucas? He was quickly brushed off as a suspect in the case." I asked.

"Ah, Lucas." Ian smiled at the memory. "He was a very good friend of mine. Constantly making everyone laugh and telling jokes. Once again, we were really good friends and I can't see him having any reason to kill me." He explained as he leaned into the back of the chair.

"Well that's all of the suspects." I sighed and threw my head back in frustration. Then a thought crossed my mind. "Ian, the police report said that you likely let your killer in. So, it must've been someone you knew. Is there anyone on the suspect list that you wouldn't've let in?" I asked and Ian thought for a moment.

"I might've hesitated on letting Veronica in but then again I was heart broken so I might have just been desperate enough but other than that, I would've let everyone else in."

"Well, that doesn't narrow it down at all." I sighed. I looked down at my watch. "Ugh, I should probably go back down. We're going to start painting in a few minutes."

"Okay well have fun! I know you'll enjoy it so much." Ian joked in a voice that was higher than his usual sound.

"Screw you Hecox."