The funeral began on a cold morning. Andrew showed up immediately, wearing a black suit and a little red bowtie. He hadn't gotten nearly enough sleep the night before. There were bags under his eyes. And those bags had bags and so on. When he arrived, the first person he saw was Anthony. A young man whom Andrew had been friends with for many years.
"So, you decided to show up after all." Anthony said, still so full of spite.
"Yeah. I wouldn't miss it." Andrew said quietly.
Andrew went to sit in the back pews of the sanctuary. People came flooding in. Many of them Andrew had only seen in passing. Andrew sat and observed everyone. He took note of every face that he saw. All of the tears and despair that permeated the room. The sanctuary was packed, everywhere except for the back pews. Andrew sat alone.
"Sorry, I'm late!" Holly said, arriving atrociously tardy to the funeral she caused.
"It's fine." Andrew said, avoiding eye contact.
"Huge bummer what happened to your friend."
Andrew didn't respond. The family and friends of Marcus began to go up and tell their best stories about him. His mother sobbed uncontrollably. Anthony gave a heartfelt speech about how much Marcus meant to him. And then it came down to Andrew.
"Do you have anything you want to say about him?" Marcus's mother asked gently.
"Yeah. Of course." Andrew said standing up and heading to the front.
Andrew looked at the crowd. He looked at their pained expressions and sorrowful eyes. He couldn't take it. Andrew rushed off to the bathroom. Andrew caused this. If not for Marcus, for someone else. Everyone who dies leaves behind a number of broken hearts too great to count. Andrew sobbed until his eyes were red and puffy. Then, when Andrew believed it couldn't possibly get any worse-
"Hello, you're Andrew Baldmen. Correct?" A strange man asked after stepping into the restroom.
"Yeah? Why do you ask?" Andrew replied, caught off guard.
"My name is Officer Candon and I'm with the police. Marcus was a good friend of my son, but coincidentally I also needed to talk to you!" The man said, showing his badge.
"Oh? What do you need, officer?" Andrew asked nervously.
"Don't worry, I just need to ask you a few questions. It'll be no sweat."
The officer took out a small notebook from his back pocket and carefully removed a small pen from its spiral.
"Okay, ask away!" Andrew said, his heart nearly pounding out of his chest.
"On July seventh, at approximately eleven at night, A woman named Marie Teller was found dead by her coworkers. She worked in the red light district, and according to camera footage, you were one of only four customers to go to their brothel that day. We're still trying to figure out how she died, it's still quite unclear. Sometimes when killed by certain underground drugs, it can be hard to tell. New ways of ending lives are always being concocted. It's disgusting, really! Anyway, I would like to confirm, it was in fact you that showed up to the "good night" on July seventh, correct?"
"Um…" Andrew's hands were tied.
"What's wrong, Kid? Cat got yer' tongue?"
"Please don't tell my girlfriend! Yes, I was at the "good night"!"
"Don't worry, Kid! It's not my business what goes on between you and your girlfriend! Anyway, Which woman did you go to?"
"I went to Marie. When I went she seemed fine, She just did her services and then I was out. I never saw any signs of anything being wrong."
"Okay, Okay…" The officer jotted down a couple things on his notepad and then put it right back in his back pocket, "That's all I needed to ask. Thank you so much for your time. I'm sure you want the culprit caught as much as I do!"
"Of course, sir!"
Maybe Andrew had been too passionate with his response, maybe the cop knew something he didn't, but the officer looked deeply into Andrew, examining him with a straight face before walking off back to the sanctuary.
Andrew returned to the sanctuary and took a seat next to Holly again. He leaned over to her and whispered in her ear.
"Holly, We need to talk."