3

When I walked into the investigation room the next day, Lisa practically ran to me. "Edward! Guess what," she said.

"What?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

She smiled. "I have a date tonight."

I stood in front of the murder board. "Oh? Who is he?"

"Ken Sole. He's so handsome."

"Hmm," was my response. She didn't date much so she gets excited when she does.

She looked at the board. "We still haven't found anything that links the girls."

"I might have," Amanda said walking into the room.

I looked at her. "What?"

"They all went to the same school," she said as she wrote it on the murder board.

What had we never checked their schools? Daila was found in the parking lot! I sighed. "That doesn't help much. Now we just know where the girls he's taking are at. We don't know which girl." Which is the most important part right now.

"Or we do," Julian said coming in with Noah.

I raised an eyebrow. "What did you find?"

"They all have the same hair color," Noah said.

"And their heights are all two inches higher. Daila was four foot eight, Sarah was five feet, and Halla was five feet two inches," Julian added.

Lisa frowned. "So we're looking for a kid with brown hair and is five foot four?"

Julian nodded. "At least this information will help us narrow it down."

I wrote Julian's and Noah's information down. "Amanda, you look for information regarding this school. Julian, Noah. I want you to talk to Mrs. Air. See if Halla knew or had Daila and Sarah over to the house. Lisa, you and I will talk to the principal of Cat Elementary School. Let's go."

Lisa got into my car and I drove us to the school. We walked to the principal's office and I knocked. The door opened. "May I help you?" A guy asked.

"Are you Mr. Hoot?" I asked

"Yes."

"I'm Detective Zone and this is Detective Light. We have some questions regarding a few students who used to go here."

"Please come in." We sat across from him which just made me feel like a kid who was sent to the office. That only happened once and it was because I got into a fight with someone. "Which students?" Mr. Hoot asked.

"Daila Dee, Sarah Ruth, and Halla Air. Did they ever act suspiciously?"

"You mean like they were doing drugs or drinking alcohol?" He asked nervously.

"Yes." Even though they were all young it is still a possibility.

"Not that I saw."

"Were they ever on a phone during school hours?" Lisa asked.

"Not Daila or Halla. Sarah did but she was just texting her friend who was in the same room."

"Did they leave class for long periods of time at all?" I asked.

"No."

"Have you seen an orang sedan hanging around the school at all?"

"No. But I'm in my office most of the time." He had panic in his eyes.

"Daila had been found in the school's parking lot. Do you have the CCTV footage from a month ago to today?"

"Um, I believe so."

I nodded. "Send it to this email address." I gave him a card that had Noah's email on it. What? He's our tech guy.

He took it. "I will."

"We're also wondering if you know any girls here who have brown hair and are five foot four," Lisa said ignoring the glare I was directing at her.

"Why?" Mr. Hoot asked looking at the clock worriedly.

"Because she will be the next victim."

"You don't have to answer her," I said firmly. She messing this up! I glared at her indicating that she needed to be quiet.

Mr. Hoot frowned. "I don't?"

"No, my colleague is forgetting some of our training."

"He…" Lisa began.

I stood abruptly. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Hoot. Let's go, Lisa." She didn't move so I grabbed her wrist and pulled her to the car. "What the hell was that? You weren't supposed to tell him!" I started the car and drove off.

"Why not?"

"Because of the way he was acting! Didn't you notice how nervous he was? How he was looking at the clock worriedly.?"

She blinked. "He was?"

"Yes! It's a possibility he's our killer and you just told him we were onto him," I shouted then sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. I did this until I had my anger suppressed. Though it wasn't completely hidden. "Were you even looking for any signs while we were there?" I asked calmly. If she says something wrong I knew I was going to break again. This would surprise Jasp because I never really lose control of my temper.

She looked surprised about it. "No," she said quietly. "I'm sorry, Ed. I know I should have but this has been going on for so long that I just want it to end."

I sighed. "I do too. But you have to remember that everyone is a suspect right now."

"I know. I'm sorry."

I nodded. "Just pay attention next time. Let's keep the information we have to ourselves from now on, okay? At least until I say differently."

She nodded. "I got it."

This wasn't her first time messing up but I haven't gone to the boss about it. I've been handling it myself because I know she can do better. "What did you notice?"

She thought for a minute. "He seemed to be afraid that we knew the car that the killer uses."

I nodded. "I noticed that too. But I didn't see the car in the parking lot. So he didn't drive it to work if he is the killer."

"I didn't see it either. Maybe it's in his garage."

"Or he's Night Wolf's accomplice." I hadn't thought of this until now but it kind of makes sense.

She nodded. "If he is then he'll be telling his boss that we know his car."

"And he'll tell his boss about your slip-up." I mentally winced. I hadn't meant to bring that up. It just slipped out. Damn.

She winced. "Are you going to tell the boss?"

I raised an eyebrow. "Have I told him about any of your mistakes?"

She shook her head. "No, but this one is much worse than those other times. A lot worse than those other times actually."

"Is it? Because I see it differently."

She frowned. "In what way? You were mad before."

"I know but while we were talking I thought about it. If the killer knows we're getting closer he'll become nervous and make a mistake that will allow us to arrest him."

"It might not work like that."

I nodded. "But it gives us a chance."

"And something to hope for."

"That too."

"So where are we going?"

"The Dee house."