Chapter 5

After leaving the Forestry Bureau, I had to face the truth: Alan had tricked me, no doubt about it.

Since I met him, he'd never lied to me. Not once.

I remember one time, I saw him chilling on the sofa with a book. I ran over all sneaky-like and said, "Come on, spill it. Got any secret cash stashed away? Let's blow it on a fancy dinner, and you can hide the rest again!"

Alan just closed his book and laughed. "Why would I hide money? We're doing fine."

I couldn't argue with that. Then he hugged me and said, "I'll never lie to you."

"Why not?" I asked, playing along.

Alan raised an eyebrow, wrapped his arm around my shoulders, and said, "You were the former prosecutor of Silverlight City, now you're the editor-in-chief of the Legal Journal. If I lie to you, I might as well turn myself in and hope for mercy."

If the young girls at work heard this, they'd probably say I was just a love-struck woman going along with whatever my man said. But if they knew it was Alan, they'd believe it. Not because I was their boss, but because they knew Alan.

My student, Zoey Taylor, once said, "Mrs. Smith, if there's one trustworthy man in this world, it's your husband!"

So, I trusted him. Even if Alan deceived me, it had to be because he was dealing with something, not because he was hiding something from me. But I had no clue what he was up to.

After leaving the Forestry Bureau, I thought I'd never come back here.

It was a habit from my prosecutor days. Whenever I finished an investigation, I'd pause at the door, listening to what was being said inside.

After Henry told John about Alan's murder, I didn't hear any reaction.

No surprise there. I hated this kind of workplace drama that killed efficiency and made guys like Alan do pointless work.

My phone rang; it was my boss.

"Nancy, my condolences. You've achieved so much, and I truly admire Alan for being the man behind your success." That was his first sentence, typical of his blunt style.

Then he continued, "First, I'm giving you two months off with triple salary, as a tribute to Alan and my condolences to you. Second, regarding Alan's case, if you need anything, the whole company is at your disposal. As your boss, this is the least I can do."

A warm feeling spread through me; it was one of the few comforts I'd felt since last night. I said, "Sir, I want to investigate this case."

"Alright, go ahead," the boss agreed.

I continued, "I need you to use your connections at the student personnel archive center of Silverlight University to help me find the contact information of three people."

The boss replied, "Send me their names and any info you have, and I'll get back to you before the afternoon."

"Okay."

Before hanging up, the boss hesitated for a moment and sighed, "Nancy, hang in there."

I was taken aback but then replied, "Okay."

Besides Laura, I had only met Alan's three friends a few times, but Alan mentioned their names often, and I remembered their majors.

So I sent this info to my boss: [Mike Anderson, male, Silverlight University, graduated from the English Language and Literature program at the School of English at Silverlight University]

[Bob Moore, male, graduated from the Performing Arts program at the School of Arts at Silverlight University]

[Frank Thomas, male, graduated from the Business Administration program at the School of Economics and Management at Silverlight University.]

[These guys were all in the same year and were part of the school opera club.]

To avoid confusion with people who had the same names, I sent over their group photo from Alan's university days and instructed him to send a trustworthy person to compare in person, not to send the photo to the school.

Before the facts were clear, any related info should be kept within a small circle. It was crucial for prosecutors or investigators to keep the info sensitive and minimize the chance of complications.

The boss quickly replied: [Okay, I'll go personally. I think I know Frank, but I'm not sure if it's the same guy. I'll drive to the school now. I haven't agreed to the internship dispatch from Silverlight University to the company yet, so this won't be difficult.]

I checked the time; it was just past ten. I hadn't slept well all night, and my mind was on high alert. I drove to a nearby café to rest and gather my thoughts.

Combining the info from Joseph and my investigation at the Forestry Bureau, I started piecing things together based on the limited info I had.

I was certain Alan had lied.

He left work on time yesterday. The Forestry Bureau closed at six, so he had plenty of time after work. He could have gone to Serene Restaurant first and then to True Love Entertainment Club, or he could have gone straight to True Love Entertainment Club.

Now, I needed to verify the latter part of Joseph's info: no one at the scene knew Alan.

If what Joseph said was true, then the class reunion might not have happened, and it could be an issue between Alan and Laura alone. But if he was hiding something, then these people might be directly connected to Alan's death.

Still, something felt off. Even if they weren't there, given their relationship, they must have some idea about Laura's motive for killing Alan.

First, I had to rule out a crime of passion.

According to Alan, Laura was a big deal in the drama club back then. She was beautiful and played her roles brilliantly, naturally attracting many admirers. As a good friend, Alan often helped with love letters, but he never had any romantic intentions.

During my university days, I heard some rumors about Laura from the girls. She was indeed a prominent figure, but it wasn't an exaggeration to say she was flirtatious. Staying out all night was common, and there were even worse rumors, but I didn't dig into them because of my relationship with Alan.

An economic dispute was even more unlikely. Laura spent money lavishly in college and never seemed to lack funds.

So what was the reason? I couldn't figure out.

To be honest, I did hold some resentment towards Laura. After all, she killed my husband. But in a society governed by law, she had already been arrested as a suspect. If she was the real culprit, with such cruel means and bad influence, there was no chance of a suspended death sentence; it would definitely be the death penalty.

But Alan once said, "People come to this world not just for life and death, but for many whys, which fill the long time between birth and death."

Suddenly, my phone buzzed with several messages from the boss.

[Mike, 34 years old, an English teacher at a junior college in Harmony City. Phone number: XXX]

[Bob, 35 years old, an actor in a drama troupe in Shadow City. Phone number: XXX]

[Frank, 34 years old, the same guy I know, a manager at a foreign company in Silverlight City. Phone number: XXX]

After thanking him, I started calling them one by one.

First up was Mike. Harmony City was down south, not exactly booming economically. I called, and someone picked up pretty quickly. The voice sounded groggy, like he'd just woken up. "Hello, who is this?"

"Hi, is this Mike? This is Nancy. Do you remember me?"

There was a pause, then his voice perked up. "Nancy! What's up? Did the baby arrive?"

Mentioning the baby, I had to push down my sorrow. "Not yet! I wanted to ask you something. Has Alan contacted you recently?"

Mike replied, "No, he hasn't reached out in ages. No calls, no Facebook messages. Why are you asking about him? Did you two have a fight, and Alan ran off? He's got a temper. Don't take it to heart."

"No..." I denied.

After some small talk, I hung up. From his tone, it seemed Alan hadn't contacted him recently.

Still suspicious, I called Bob next. A woman answered, sounding wary, probably because it was an unfamiliar number. Her tone was a bit rude, "Who are you, and why are you looking for my boyfriend?"

I explained, "I want to ask about my husband Alan. He went on a business trip to Shadow City. His friend Bob is there too, so I called him. Have you seen them meet?"

"No, I haven't seen him. Bob just went to sleep, and he's been with me these past few days." Then she added earnestly, "Miss, you must keep an eye on men. You can't just take their word for it."

"Okay, thank you." I replied and hung up.

The last call to Frank was answered by his secretary, who said he was in an out-of-town meeting and could be reached later if needed.

None of them had received any news or were in the local area, which meant the class reunion Alan mentioned never happened.

I felt a bit lost, as all the info before the incident seemed to be a dead end. But something still felt off. It was like trying to fill in the blanks on a test, and my thoughts were just starting to connect the dots.

I could only wait for tomorrow's court session to get more info and figure out what Alan had really been up to.