Suddenly his attention caught some amazing news on the web.
Kids are often vulnerable to multiple vices because some parents are not so smart to discover their wayward actions on time. Their peer groups not scrutinized by Parents often leave these kids to bad influences and abuses. Several cases of child violence and abuse stem from the negligence of their parents and ignorance of what these kids are capable of at their tender age. Kids will always want to experiment with what they see and not until they do. They will never give up. And they don't care if their choice is to their disadvantage or not. Kids learn fast in this computer age even the dirty things some adults do like sex, drugs, romance, guns, and a lot more—
He stopped reading when the sound came again.
"Nancy—Nancy," he yelled.
Now it was obvious it wasn't her. His eyes fell on the wall clock and he remembered. Nancy said she was going to spend the weekend with her grandmother, Venox.
What sort of sound was that?
He pretends not to have heard it for minutes but when the sound came again, he knew, he can't ignore it. Standing up from his chair, he started for the kitchen. Looking around he found nothing unusual. He shut the door behind him and then started for Nancy's bedroom.
She can't be home. She was supposed to be with Venox and—
When the noise came again, his thoughts slipped.
This time he was cautious. He walked into Nancy's bedroom and started calling out again. "Nancy—Nancy, are you there?"
He looked around, Nancy wasn't in her bedroom. He checked the bathroom attached to her bedroom. She wasn't there either. And as he started for the sitting room there was a complete blackout—the light have all gone out and now it was obvious, there is an intruder.
Is the intruder still within or had disappeared?
His thoughts resumed.
He kept quiet for minutes as he struggled to see through the darkness that had suddenly come upon him. Soon, he noticed a swift movement. He couldn't see the figure quite well but it wasn't Nancy's.
Who then?
The more his thoughts got expanded in his head the more he became confused. And now he was confused about what to do.
And not quite twenty minutes. He knew he was in danger, the danger of the unknown.
Fear crept through his nerves and that got him even more terrified. "Who is that?" He demanded angrily. "This is my house and you have no right to come in here, show your face coward—"
He stopped talking when he thought he heard something or saw something.
"What was that? A spirit or a shadow of evil?—" He whispered to himself as he strains his eyeballs to see through the dark. As his thoughts refuse to merge, he made another attempt to see through the darkness, and this time, he saw the figure.
Now it was certain it wasn't Nancy.
But who then was it?
As he struggled to identify the figure, the first bullet came. Hitting hard on his hairy chest, piercing in and splashing out blood into the dark and as he staggered to retain his standing position, the second bullet came, penetrating his heart region. Edison screamed.
As the figure approached a moment later, Edison struggled to fend him off, tried to pull away from him. But the bullets have harmed already.
His eyes closed up now and his whole body felt heavy. So heavy he couldn't even move. As blackness even darker than the darkness in his apartment closed around him Edison knew he had made a terrible mistake.
He won't have delayed checking on the intruder and he would have called 911 the moment he heard the first sound.
As he slumped with these thoughts evaporating, he heard the feet of the intruder departing.
Now, he felt his body was light and see his spirit walking out of his body. He struggled to control the thought that he was dead.
But when he saw his lifeless body on the floor, he knew his thought was just right. He has been murdered.
"Teens could be unbelievable these days. It all depends on how they are brought up." Nathan began his eyes still on the rough paper in front of him.
He has been a police chief for quite a while now and he is good at investigating criminal cases.
Looking up at his partner James, he frowned. "Got any more questions for the Lad?"
Collins was already fidgeting. He could hardly believe Edison was dead. The news can't be true but with the police around, it is. He thought staring into the eyes of the police chief.
Edison was a fine gentleman and who would have done such evil to him?
His thought dropped when James' third question rolled in. "Do you know anyone in your class or the other classes Edison taught with any tendency to do this?"
Collins eyes meant Bruno and then, Annora.
Both of them have sat with Collins since the police interview began. Shifting his gaze back at James he nodded. "I don't know. But what I know is that some boys in the class are stubborn but to themselves and not to Edison—I still can't understand. Why should anyone murder Edison?"
James' eyes ran through Collins for a while and then gave Nathan a stare. Nathan who believed Collins's report knew there are still some questions to be asked. Adjusting his buttock carefully on his seat, he stared once more at Collins. "Mr. Edison was murdered with a gun and his fiancée Nancy happened to be away that night—have you seen a gun before?"
Collins now getting nervous nodded calmly refusing to lose his cool. "Yes sir."
Nathan asked again, "Where exactly?"
Collins's lips suddenly became dried. He knew he has to pull through this or he gets Nathan suspicious, "On TV sir."
"Do you by any chance have one?" Nathan kept the questions coming in.
Bruno wanted to interrupt but Nathan lifted his right hand to stop him.
"Collins I know you when you were just ten and now you are fifteen and growing up fast. And you know what? That's good—do you in any way subscribe to violence?"
And this got Collins now wondering what Nathan was driving at.
He seems to be asking too many questions, he thought. "I don't have a gun and I also don't like violence sir and anyone who indulges in it can't be my friend."
Nathan's scrutiny eyes stayed on him for a while and then shifted to Annora who was already tensed up. "Does your son have any friend with questionable character or behavior—you know of any?"
Nathan's question came like a blow on Annora's face. She felt the impact and seemed to fidget as it came. Selecting her words carefully, she began. "I sincerely don't know of any but to be candid. Collins is the most loving person I have ever seen. He is just like his father." Her eyes fell on Bruno who smiled at the compliment. "Collins my son has no tendencies of such and besides—"
"What about your daughter, Sandra? Is she home?" James interrupted, didn't let her finish. "I am sure she must be aware of the shooting of Edison last night?"
Bruno responded quickly, sensing where this whole thing was going. "No, she is not—she went shopping thirty minutes ago and will soon be home. I am not sure she is aware Edison is dead. And if you don't mind, you can wait for her."
Nathan could see the sincere expression on Bruno's face. "It is alright Mr. Bruno. We don't have to see your daughter, Sandra. We just felt she may know something Collins doesn't, perhaps. But I think I still have one last question."
Now he was busy sketching something in his little book and that got Collins wondering what that was all about.
"This Alex Rexon, I heard he is now in Lisbon and has a son called Duke who also is a student of Moleaf High. Do you think he got any kleptomaniac tendencies? I mean ever since they arrived in Lisbon certain things have happened and it seems to be getting bigger and bigger now than ever—noticeable."
Bruno's eyes again caught those of Annora for a while and then he stammered. "I—I—I don't know about that—I think you have the duty to see to that. I am sorry I can't say anything about that family because they seem very difficult to approach or befriend."