Jay Jays POV ✰✰✰
The next morning felt off.
Not in a way I could explain.
Just—
Wrong.
I walked into the office, the familiar sounds grounding me a little. Papers shifting. Quiet conversation. The hum of something normal.
Something safe.
"Morning."
Eman glanced up as I set my bag down.
"Morning," I replied.
"Ci-n grabbed coffee. There's an extra if you want it."
I shook my head. "I'm good."
Too quick.
Again.
Eman noticed. I could tell he did.
He just didn't say anything.
I sat down, pulling the case file toward me.
Same file.
Same pages.
But now—
They didn't look the same anymore.
"Alright," Angelo's voice cut through the room as he walked in. "Let's run it again."
My grip on the pen tightened slightly.
Of course.
The timeline.
We moved into the meeting area, papers spreading across the table.
Ci-n flipped to the main report. "All four were present at the mansion between roughly 9:00 and 10:30."
"Confirmed," Eman added. "Business meeting. No staff interference during that window."
Angelo nodded. "Victim was last seen alive at approximately 9:25."
My chest tightened.
9:25.
"And the body was found?" Angelo asked.
"9:40," Ci-n answered. "In the study."
A fifteen-minute window.
That hadn't changed.
But now—
It meant something.
"Alright," Angelo said. "Let's go one by one again."
I already knew where this was going.
Still—
I stayed quiet.
"Keigan," Eman started. "Accounted for. Cross-checked. Clean."
"Innocent," Angelo confirmed.
I nodded slightly.
That part was solid.
"Yuri," Ci-n continued. "Placed near the main hall. Movement consistent with his statement."
Too consistent.
Too smooth.
I didn't say it out loud.
"And Keifer," Angelo said.
There it was.
My fingers stilled slightly against the paper.
"Claims he was in the main area most of the time," Eman read off. "Minimal movement."
"'Most of the time,'" I repeated before I could stop myself.
Three heads turned toward me.
I forced my expression to stay neutral.
"That wording matters," I added.
Angelo watched me for a second longer than usual.
"Explain."
I swallowed lightly.
"'Most of the time' leaves room," I said. "It's not a fixed position. It's flexible."
Ci-n frowned slightly. "You think he moved?"
"I think," I said carefully, "he didn't want to commit to saying he didn't."
Silence settled for a second.
Eman leaned forward slightly. "We do have that CCTV flicker."
"The shadow," Ci-n added.
Right.
The shadow.
My chest tightened again.
"Time stamp?" I asked.
"9:28," Eman said.
Right in the window.
Angelo looked between all of us.
"So we're saying—what?"
No one answered immediately.
Because saying it out loud would change everything.
I exhaled slowly.
"Someone left the main area," I said.
"Briefly."
"And went toward the study."
"And came back," Ci-n finished quietly.
Silence.
Heavy.
Thick.
Unavoidable.
Angelo's gaze shifted to me again.
"You've been quiet until now," he said. "What changed?"
Too direct.
Too sharp.
I felt it—
That pressure building again.
The truth sitting right there, ready to come out.
But I couldn't say it.
Not yet.
"Nothing changed," I replied.
Lie.
"I'm just looking at it differently."
Another lie.
Angelo didn't look convinced.
But he didn't push.
"Then keep looking," he said. "Because we're close."
Close.
Yeah.
We were.
Closer than they realized.
The meeting continued, voices blending together again, but I wasn't really listening anymore.
Because the pieces weren't pieces anymore.
They fit.
Perfectly.
Too perfectly.
And the worst part?
I knew exactly where they pointed.
I just wasn't ready to say it out loud.
Keifer..
Why am I feeling this.. Weird feeling in my heart?
It's okay, Keifer. I will make sure you won't get caught.
Never.
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