“Get the one with the lattice on top too! It looks delicious!” she said with a smile, pointing at the apple pie.
I simply shook my head and bought her the apple pie. Carbonara was enough for me.
Come to think of it, that apple pie seemed new to the menu. I’d never noticed it before—or maybe my attention had always been focused on the carbonara.
“Please cut it in half,” Nica requested.
Even though she was obviously going to finish the whole thing herself, she still asked for it to be divided.
“Let’s sit near them.”
We followed them and sat at a round table with four chairs, just like Betty’s group. There was only one table between us, so we could easily hear their conversation. Betty didn’t seem suspicious of us anyway, and we weren’t doing anything wrong besides acting as instant bodyguards.
I noticed one of the girls extending her hand toward Betty. She had long hair and wore noticeable red cat-eye glasses.
“Congratulations, Betty. I’m so happy for you. It’s about time somebody finally made a mistake!” she laughed.
Betty accepted the handshake and smiled.
“What do you mean, Shel? D-Does Betty have a boyfriend now?” asked the girl sitting across from her.
“Why don’t you ask her yourself, Julie? Hahaha! Come on, Betty, just admit it already! I wouldn’t have figured it out if I hadn’t noticed you and Tristan together!”
“Wow, Betty! You and Tristan are together now? Congratulations!” Julie shook her hand as well.
“Y-Yeah... Shel should’ve let me tell everyone myself. This is embarrassing.”
“Congratulations, Betty. I’m really happy for you and Tristan.”
“T-Thank you, Marivic.”
Marivic was about to shake Betty’s hand when Julie spoke up.
“Let’s eat first, guys. We can gossip about Betty later. We’ll be late for our next class.”
“So Betty has a boyfriend now. Who would’ve thought someone could tolerate a brainy nerd with a bad attitude? That reminds me—I read somewhere that there’s an 84% chance that if you’re sixteen or older, you’ve already met the person you’ll eventually marry. Who knows? Maybe Betty’s boyfriend is actually her future husband.”
My seatmate sure had a lot to say.
“Psh. You actually believe that? That statistic sounds ridiculous. If it’s only 84%, that means there’s still a 16% chance it’s not true.”
“Still, whether it’s true or not, Betty’s lucky she found a boyfriend despite her attitude.”
“Betty seems nice enough.”
I glanced at their table, expecting to see Betty there.
But she was gone.
“Don’t tell me you like Betty?”
I was about to argue with Nica when—
“KYAAAAAAAH!”
Both Nica and I shot to our feet at the sound of the piercing scream.
I looked at my watch.
My teeth clenched when I saw the time.
12:30 p.m.
Damn it.
We rushed toward the table we had been watching.
I stopped in my tracks when I saw Betty’s body sprawled on the floor.
Her eyes were wide open, staring at the ceiling, and it looked as though she had been clawing at her own throat.
“B-Betty! Nooooo!”
I stopped everyone from getting closer and checked her pulse.
Cheese.
I bit my lip.
This couldn’t be happening.
I looked away for only a moment, and this was the result of my negligence.
I pulled out my phone to call Dad, but then I remembered.
“I’ll call the police,” Nica suggested.
I closed my eyes and tried to compose myself.
Focus and concentration are needed. Don’t let personal feelings interfere.
I turned toward the three suspects and said bluntly,
“One of you killed her. Or maybe all three of you did.”
“W-What? Why would we do that? We’re her best friends!”
“Just because you’re her friends doesn’t mean you can’t be the culprit,” I declared.
“B-But how could we kill her? Tell us! Which one of us could ever bring ourselves to kill our own friend?”
It was Julie speaking—the girl with short hair. She was the only one among the three who didn’t wear glasses.
I looked at their table.
There was a container with one remaining slice of apple pie.
And then there was that suspicious smell.
I knew how the victim had died.
Potassium cyanide.
“Aedrian, t-the police are here!”
Nica grabbed my sleeve.
The worry in her eyes was unmistakable.
“Do you want to go ahead to class?” I asked.
She shook her head.
“I’ll help you. I’ll stay beside you.”
“O-Okay.”
The police cleared the cafeteria of students who might interfere with the investigation and sent everyone back to class.
Only the three suspects remained, along with Nica and me.
The cafeteria was sealed off and temporarily closed.
The forensic team photographed the crime scene and the victim before preparing to move the body.
“W-Wait!”
I stopped the people carrying Betty’s body.
I walked over and carefully examined the strange position of her hands.
Three fingers on her right hand were folded inward, while the others clutched her neck.
Her left hand rested over the right, almost as if she were deliberately hiding the position of those three fingers.
Suspicious.
I quietly pointed it out to one of the investigators and asked them to examine it further.
In Betty’s right hand, they found a broken piece of the apple pie lattice.
Its shape resembled the letter L .
“Could L be behind this?”
I thought about it.
It was possible.
After all, there was another apple at the crime scene—the apple pie.
But how could L have killed Betty if he wasn’t here?
Which of the three girls had he used to silence the victim?
“Have you gotten their statements yet?” Leo asked me.
“As far as I know, that’s your job, not mine.”
He shot me an annoyed look and shook his head.
Then he turned toward the three suspects while Nica and I listened.
“Can I have your names and your relationship to the victim?” he asked.