With Mrs. Todd's help, I locate Lizzie's room quite effortlessly. She is sitted on a chair, tapping away on her laptop, completely unaware of my existence.
" Nice room. "
Her finger hovers above a key and she turns to look at me. " What're you doing here?! "
Well, she's happy to see me. I hold out the ziplock bag for her to see and she raises a brow.
" It's a hair. "
" You think? "
" Can you stop being indifferent? I found this at Mr. Jenkins murder scene, I think it belongs to him. "
Lizzie shuts her laptop and faces me completely.
" Why're you telling me all this? "
" Don't you see? It'll give us lead about the killer! "
She veers away from me, facing her laptop again with indifference to my opinion.
" Not interested - "
" Don't you want to find out who killed your friend!! Why am I even surprised? I know you to be heartless anyway. " I head for the door.
" Wait. "
I comply.
" You got the hair, what do you want us to accomplish? "
" Your dad is a pathologist, right? "
" I don't like where this is going - "
" Come on! We can get him to run some test on the hair. See if it matches. "
Lizzie gets up from her chair, walking towards where I stand.
" And how do we get Mr. Jenkins hair? "
I smile devilishly and she starts to backtrack, looking cautious.
" Whatever you're thinking, I'm not doing it. "
- - - - - - - -
" I can't believe you talked me into this! " Lizzie cries for the fourth time since I started digging.
I stab the soil with my shovel, wiping the sweat off my forehead. Harsh rays of the daylight slices through the towering foliage to beat my skin.
" You know, if you did less complaining and more helping, we'll be done by now. "
" No, thank you. " She shivers.
I continue digging the shallow grave, arms glistening till I hit the rotting coffin. Squatting to the ground, I clear out the dirt from the coffin's lid, pulling it open to reveal a rotting corpse.
" Ufffh! That is wild! " Lizzie whines, backtracking as far away as possible.
I drop down into the coffin, scissors ready in my hand, ziplock bag in the other. Lizzie was really overreacting. The smell isn't so bad, and the fear of getting caught gives me adrenaline rush.
I snap a piece of his hair, my eyes trained on his ashy face. I feel like he can come back to life any moment.
" You're a sicko! "
" I know. " I climb my way out of the coffin, unto the ground and shut the lid.
After covering up the coffin, we make our way to Lizzie's dad's hospital.
- - - - - - - - -
" You could've at least showered! People are starting at us. "
" I don't know why that bothers you, I'm the one covered in dirt. "
We approach the front desk where a nurse jots down something on a clipboard. " How can I help you? "
" I need to see my dad, Mr. Todd. "
" He's busy. " Her tone is brusque.
" Oh, come on! This is really import - "
" Elizabeth! "
We turn to the direction of the voice and catch sight of Lizzie's father. He strolls to our direction, pulling us aside.
" What're you doing here? "
" We got a lead on Mr. Jenkins case - "
" Huh? "
I butt in. " I found this hair at the murder scene. " I hold up the ziplock bag.
" And this hair..." I hold up Mr. Jenkins's hair. " Belongs to the homeless man. "
He collects them. " How did you get this? Have you been snooping around? Do you even know how dange - "
" Just help us run some test. We need to know if it matches, " I tell him impatiently.
" Fine, I will. You need to go home though, I'll inform you about the results. "
" Thanks dad. " Lizzie starts to pull me towards the exit and I reluctantly follow.
I don't want to trust him, but at this rate I have no choice. I can only hope it matches. That would be a breakthrough.