17. Suspect list

The school day is over. Tristan feels particularly tired today. They had to form groups for an assignment, which would decide half of their grade. Coincidentally, Tristan wasn't in the same group as Alec. It made him unusually nervous, albeit he couldn't help being delighted.

For the first time since Kristina's transmigration, she can drop her act for a while. As far as she's aware, in her group, no one knows Tristan or Alec. She could hardly suppress her joy.

"I don't get why was Ms Black so grumpy today," Alec throws as they walk out of the school building. 

"I only wanted to be in the same group as you," Alec pouted.

"It's not like you are the only one who wanted to change groups. If she allowed it, she'd have to rearrange them from scratch." 

"I know, Tristan," Alec frowned.

Tristan looked around. The air held a sweet fragrance of blooming flowers. Tristan couldn't help but smile. Spring was here - it was almost palpable. 

When they got to the parking lot, Millen pulled down the window.

"Hop in, guys," said Millen cheerfully.

Alec sat in the passenger seat, Tristan in the back. 

"So, how was the school today?" Millen asked as they drove off.

Before Tristan could say anything, Alec went on about how he couldn't be in the same group as Tristan.

However, Tristan preferred it this way. What would he even talk about? About how he accidentally went into the women's bathroom or how he's unable to keep up in school? Tristan smiled to himself.

Tristan and Alec were in their second year at university. However, it was only over a month since Kristina ever set foot on the campus. 

Tristan pulled out his notebook and started flipping through it. Millen and Alec were too engrossed in their conversation to pay attention to what he did. Tristan stopped at the page where he listed possible suspects for Millen's murderer. 

Kristina listed everyone she knew could hold a grudge against Millen. Even some of Kristina's distant relatives were on the list. However, no matter how long she thought about it, she had a hunch that there was something more to her mother's killer. Something she left out.

Suddenly, a revelation dawned on her. On that chilly night when autumn gave way to early winter - she saw someone. As she went into the bathroom to check on her drunk mother, she bumped into a suspicious person dressed in all black. 

Kristina looked around. Her mother was gone for way too long. She slowly strolled to the bathroom. On her way there, she bumped into someone. They didn't apologize and almost ran off when they saw her. It must've been a woman - the figure was too small for an average man. As the woman hurriedly disappeared into the death of night, her hood fell off, and Kristina saw a long dark hair. 

Wait, was it the one who killed her mother? The one she completely forgot to mention at the interrogation where she faced accusations of killing her mother? Was the woman the one the police didn't know of because there was no security footage? The one who got lost in a fog of much stronger emotions of that night - the one Kristina completely forgot about?

Kristina had a weird gut-wrenching feeling. She strode to the bathroom.

"Oh," Kristina couldn't find words as she discovered the violated body of her mother lying in a pool of blood. Her face paled instantly as her frantically shaking hands looked for any signs of life in the dead body of her mother. No pulse, or maybe there is, and she never learned how to check pulse correctly. Tears streamed down her face as the blood of her mother smeared on her shaky hands. 

'No, snap out of it! That's in the past. You can save her. She isn't dead yet.' - Kristina repeated in her head as these ugly memories flooded back into her head.

Tristan teared up unconsciously. His body merely reacted to the overwhelming emotions Kristina battled in his head. 

"Tristan? You're crying," Alec said as he looked to the back.

Tristan quickly wiped off his tears, his blond eyelashes glued together by the salty liquid.

Millen glanced into the rear mirror.

"Eyelash got into my eye, and I couldn't get it out," Tristan murmured.

Alec looked at him with worry. However, he refrained from asking any more questions.

"Tristan, why don't you come over for a while? Alec needs a little help with math," Millen suggested as they stopped at a red light.

"He certainly does," Tristan smiled.

Millen was always like this. She couldn't hide her maternal nature. 

Kristina made a quick mention of the strange woman in her notebook before putting it away. The time was shortening.