# Chapter III
Eloise played the video back for the umpteenth time, squinting her eyes, trying to find even a shred of a clue that could lead her to her father's killer.
The man in the video was standing confidently, albeit rather impatiently, as he waited for her father to open the door. He was dressed stylishly; with designer shoes and an eccentric navy blue coat. His hair was a deep mahogany brown, ruffled and unkempt, yet still oddly handsome. He was carrying a bag, which baffled Eloise, as there hadn't been any bag left at the scene of crime. "It must contain the murder weapon then." muttered Eloise, focused on who would soon come out of the door.
And then the door opened and *He* appeared. Eloise's heart began to falter yet again as she saw her father smile at her would-be killer. She wondered whether her father knew that he was about to be murdered.
*Ridiculous*, she thought to herself. As if he knew.
The man exchanged greetings with her father and then the two of them entered the house, as the screen cut to black.
Even after watching, she still couldn't understand why her father smiled at the man. Did her father know him? And why did that man seem oddly familiar?
Try as she might, Eloise simply could not fathom the reason, and decided to give it up for later.
She looked at the time, exhausted even though it was morning; it was time for work.
---
The office was exactly how she had left it the night before. With the addition of Sebastian, who was cursing under his breath as he read a file.
"Something wrong? You look ruffled." asked Eloise, as she sat down on her chair.
"It's just this case I'm working on. I can't figure it out." replied Sebastian, not taking his eyes off the file for even a second.
"You mean the suicide case right?" asked Eloise. "Hit me with it, maybe I can help."
"If you can, it'd be a lifesaver." sighed Sebastian as he handed over the file to Eloise.
Eloise scanned the file in front of her; A woman committed suicide, but did not leave a suicide note.
"Alright then, Seb. Brief me on the case." She asked, completely focussed on the file.
"Let's see… the woman lived alone, and used to frequent a bar. The bartender said that she used to go there a lot with another man." Sebastian replied.
"Boyfriend?" Asked Eloise.
"No, a brother apparently. He's the defendant. He claims to have an alibi at the time of death. He says he was at the very same bar, but no one can attest to that."
"And the prosecution believes this to be a murder?"
"Yes, they seem to have gotten that into their heads because her neighbors heard her arguing with a man. Just before she committed suicide in fact." Replied Sebastian.
"Hmm… a fight with some unknown person, and commits suicide immediately after. Could this person be a lover?" asked Eloise, after mulling it over.
"We have no idea. The neighbors saw nothing, only heard." continued Sebastian.
"That's all the background. The woman was found hanging from the rope by the police, and there was nothing out of place there. She seemed to have been knitting and watching TV prior to her death."
"Wait!" she abruptly said. "Was the TV loud?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. The officers at the scene told us that the woman used to put her TV on loud enough for everyone to hear." replied Sebastian.
"Hmm… if the prosecution's case rests on the fight she had, I think that can be easily disproved." mumbled Eloise.
"What, how?" asked Sebastian quizzically.
"It's simple really. The sound of fighting could simply have been coming from the TV. It's easy enough to check what was airing at the time of the fight." responded Eloise with a flourish.
"Of course! Why didn't I think of that. I'll look into it immediately." replied Sebastian, once again in awe of Eloise.
Sebastian then turned to leave the room, as Eloise scrutinized his back and realized the cold hard truth.
Sebastian was wearing the exact same navy blue coat as in the video.
She was still standing in Sebastian's office.
"This can't be true, I'm probably just thinking too much but - what if?... Ughhh." She was frustrated and bewildered because on one side there was heavy evidence and on the other, there was the person she trusted the most.
She looked outside, and then she looked at the clock, it was 4 pm, and I know where he'd be. She started to rush out of the office, but paused when she reached the door and asked herself, "Do you really wanna do this? Do you think he's the killer?" She doubted her instincts for a minute but in the other, she brought out her accumulated confidence back and said, " Well... I guess there's only one way to find out." Saying this she left the office with a bang on the door and on her way out she picked up a hat that wasn't hers.
"BE A FREAK" was a gym. It was almost 20 minutes away from Sebastian's house.
He was busy lifting weights when a fly came and sat on his nose, he moved his face forcing it to fly away, it then reached the large window, from which you could see Eloise standing next to her parked car, she was wearing a black hat.
"Who names their gym 'Be A Freak'?, Must've been a freak himself. She rolled her eyes and entered the gym.
Hi! I'm Nancy, said Eloise to the front desk associate.
Hello! Nancy, how may I help you? Said the receptionist with a wide smile.
Umm - I was wondering how I could join the gym, basically I have never been to a gym before, my friend here named Sebastian recommended me to this place, said Eloise with a very friendly and warm but nervous gesture.
OH! You're Sebastian's friend? I know him, the receptionist became excited and warmer than before. He's upstairs do you want me to call him?
Eloise took a moment to make a decision, without making her notice then suddenly she started acting like she remembered something horrible, she started panicking, OH MY GOD! Her hands were holding her head. The receptionist stood there trying to figure out the situation. "I LEFT THE GAS OPEN! I - ah - ah I should leave, Eloise started walking backwards in worry, can you not tell Sebastian about this whole situation, please? Because I don't want him to get worried, requested Eloise in the most intense tone possible.
Yeah! Sure. No problem, said the receptionist still with confused expressions mixed with worriness.
Eloise stepped out of the gym, almost running. Seriously! Gas? You didn't have any better excuse? Asked Eloise from herself. She sat in the car, "Well at least now we know he is at the gym, and we have exactly an hour until he leaves." She started the engine and speeded her way out.
She parked her car far from Sebastian's house, where nobody nearby could see it. And walked towards the house. As she reached the door, she needed a key to unlock it which she didn't have.
"If I was Sebastian where would I hide my spare keys? No not under the mat, he's too smart for that, neither in the plants, then where could it be?" She looked at her wristwatch. "Okay we don't have enough time for this, she took out a bobby pin and a pick from her pocket, knowing I would need it. Come on Nancy Drew, let's see if you still have it." Said Eloise challenging herself. A journey of childhood memories came to an end with a little click noise of a lock.
YES!
The front door was now open, and Eloise walked straight to Sebastian's study. She started with drawers, her movements were fast but not messy, she was placing everything back in its place exactly like it was before, leaving no track behind. She checked the whole study, every single thing. "There is NOTHING here, she grabbed her hair, then she covered her red face with her hands, "Don't lose hope, not this early." She motivated herself, took a deep breath and started moving.
Now she was in his room, she checked everywhere, the drawers, under the bed, even the bathroom, there was still nothing, then she opened his wardrobe and there it was, a jet black leather bag, the bag she saw in the footage. She couldn't move for a minute, she was sweating, she hurriedly started checking the whole bag, it was vacant. She was closing the bag and putting it back when she heard the jangle of keys.
"He's here? 15 minutes early? Does he know? Of course he does, I knew it was a shitty plan. Oh! Shit, I didn't even clear the camera footage. Her heartbeat had increased, and her brain was working faster than usual, I - have - to - clear - the - footage first, or else it'll all be for nothing.
Sebastian had entered the house and walked directly to the kitchen. Eloise was still in his room, she peaked a little from there to see where he was, then lowered her upper abdomen and started walking out of the room and towards the pillar at the end of the corridor, she hid herself behind it. "God damn it, Eloise was frustrated, I left the door open, he never leaves his doors open.
Sebastian was in the kitchen drinking water when her eyes landed on the open door, he placed the glass on the counter, took his gun out and walked towards his room. As soon as he was there, Eloise in a beat ran down the stairs straight to the basement.
Sebastian came out running, "Who is there, I heard you, I am giving you a chance to come out and surrender because if I found you by myself, I won't show no mercy, he was walking down to the basement as well, but as he walked he kept speaking too.Eloise entered the security room, there was a huge table, on which there was a large monitor, showing what was currently happening to every place where there were cameras present and in front of it was a chair, on which a man in a security guard uniform was dead asleep. Well.. well... Well - they aren't of any use, are they? Said Eloise noticing the guard. She deleted all the footage of herself and was stepping out of the room and her heart skipped a beat, Sebastian was standing right in front of her. His back was facing Eloise, she had a second to decide whether to go inside the room or take a risk and stay hidden outside. She took the second option and decided to stay out, hiding behind the shelf.
Sebastian had a last look around and went inside the security room. "TREVOR!" He got busy yelling at the security guard. Eloise quietly walked towards the ladder, leading towards the egress window, a way out. She climbed herself out, After this she ran towards the front of the house because her car was parked on the opposite side of where she was standing right now. As soon as reached the front side of the house, she stopped to catch her breath. She was looking around to see if anyone was there, and she looked towards the house. Everything was clear, everything was completely fine until her gaze rested on the window. She was shocked, it was there, the letter, stuck between the wood and glass of the window, waiting for her, she took it out, a glimpse of Sebastian from inside the house broke her trance, he didn't see her. She started running again.