Surveillance Here, Surveillance There, Surveillance Everywhere

Marcus was just entering his home's compound when he heard his mother screaming. He suddenly halted, listening into the evening for whether another sound might come out. His fears were confirmed when a man also screamed and started making sounds as if he was being beaten. Scared and alert, Marcus stealthily moved to the front door of the house, turned the doorknob carefully and tiptoed inside; he didn't want the supposed hearing him approach him. He traced the noises to the kitchen, and his mouth dropped as soon as he saw what was happening.

Stewart and Jane were responsible for the noise. Apparently, Jane had poured hot soup all over Stewart, and Stewart was still dancing around the kitchen, trying to get wipe the soup off of him. He frantically removed the shirt he was wearing, exposing his muscular chest and packed abs in front of Jane. Jane took the view with quite the shock and stood there confused, some sexual tension growing in the kitchen. They stared at each other in silence, and probably would have done more if Jeff hadn't been screaming from the bathroom.

Marcus jumped at Jeff's interruption, announcing his unknown presence in the room. Jane took quite a leap too, and moved to Marcus hurriedly, a guilty look in her eyes.

"Marcus!" her voice was higher than usual. "What a pleasant surprise! For how long have you been standing there?" she asked, throwing glances at Stewart, who was now covering his chest with a kitchen towel.

"Ummm... I just arrived right now," he answered, his eyes moving to and from Stewart and Jane, his smile a cunning one. "How long has Stewart been here?"

"Morning!"

"Evening!"

Jane and Stewart stared at each other in surprise. They had just stated two contradicting answers at the same time. Marcus still kept his look at them, an uneasy silence reigning the atmosphere. Once again, it was interrupted by Jeff screaming to a song from the bathroom.

"Wow! Jeff is really hitting those Ariana Grande notes, huh?" Stewart changed the subject.

Marcus laughed.

"You should listen to him when he's drugged on enough energy drinks, that guy's voice is literally a whistle. Bet he's just from talking with Luis," he replied.

"Speaking of love," Jane approached Marcus and pulled him over to the dining table. She then made him sit on one of the chairs and she sat directly opposite him, placing her chin on a palm and eyeing Marcus cheekily.

"Why are you giving me that look?" asked Marcus.

"What look?" Jane protested.

"That one that looks like you are expecting me to announce that I'm marrying tomorrow," Marcus answered.

"Jeff told us that you spent the whole day with a girl—Michelle," Stewart joined Jane's side, covering himself with the shirt he had removed before doing the chores.

Marcus expression changed into a shocked one.

"Excuse me? A whole day! With a girl!" he exclaimed.

"Of course! Where else would you be?" Jane asked.

"With Michelle," Marcus unwillingly replied, suddenly getting why Jeff had lied.

"Well, tell us what you did with her the whole day? We also want to know what you did with her?" Stewart asked, his interest as piqued as Jane's.

The sound of the bathroom door opening was never sweeter to Marcus' ears than at that moment. He jumped from his seat, surprising his parents.

"Just at the movies," he shouted as he dashed to the guest room, leaving Stewart and Jane shocked.

***

Jeff was shocked to see a Marcus burst into the room as if he was being chased and close the door hurriedly. He threw stares at Marcus, who was now leaning over the door, panting.

"Next time a knock would be appropriate before bursting into a naked man!" Jeff exclaimed as he hurriedly put on his pants.

Marcus shot a glare at him.

"Seriously? You were the one with Michelle was with the whole afternoon," Marcus cried out.

"What did you want me to say? Oh Miss Jane! Your son has gone to look for a man who probably killed Sheila and I don't know, WENT TO A FUCKING DEATH TRAP!'

Marcus dropped himself on one of the beds, sighing.

"How was it? Did you manage to talk to the dude," Jeff asked.

"We didn't. He was already dead," Marcus replied. "Or at least that is what he made us think."

"What do you mean?" Jeff went and sat beside him.

"The dude literally killed another guy and dumped him inside the motel room," Marcus threw his hands up.

"Shit! What's with people dying all of a sudden?" Jeff shook his head.

"I don't know, but we found something else."

"What is it?"

"We found a picture. It was of Luis' grandmother and two other people, one who could possibly be the daughter of the Expiravit of Middlewood," Marcus spoke.

Jeff was taken aback.

"Luis' grandmother?! In the same picture with the daughter of an alleged ghost?!"

Marcus nodded.

"Dang. It just keeps getting more interesting,"

"Yeah, it does," Marcus replied, staring at the wall, his mind far away. Jeff noticed the look in his eyes.

"Marcus. There was something else, wasn't there?"

"There was a lot of something else," Marcus answered.

"Then tell me," Jeff begged.

"First of all was why this Joel would kill someone and then specifically leave that picture there. It was as if he knew that Luis and I were coming," Marcus spoke out his concerns.

"Or maybe it was just sheer coincidence," Jeff responded.

"Yeah, but there was something else. It's just that Luis has taken the picture; I would have shown you, but that boy in the picture. He looked so familiar. I'm sure I've seen him somewhere. If only that picture wasn't kind of blurry,"

"Are you sure Marcus?" Jeff asked, but Marcus wasn't done yet.

"And that handwriting," Marcus continued. "I've also seen it somewhere, but I don't know why my brain forgets things when I need it the most."

"Maybe I'll help you remember once I see the picture tomorrow," Jeff told him.

"Yeah. By the way, we're going to see Luis' grandmother tomorrow, so we'll have to cook up an excuse to my mother."

"Right, I'll get to it," Jeff answered.

"And please do not say that we're going out with Michelle, I just can't get enough of my parents' adolescent stares," Marcus warned Jeff.

Jeff looked in silence at his best friend.

"Do you think that this Joel probably killed Sheila?" he asked.

Marcus turned to face him.

"I'm certain. All evidence points to him. But one thing's for sure—our future of unmasking Sheila's killer heavily depends on whether Luis' grandmother will speak or not."

***

Stewart looked around Marcus' room. Jane had given him the room to change into something else after soiling his clothes with soup. Stewart had already changed and was now roaming across the room, checking Marcus' things. He was just about to leave the room when his phone rang. It was Rocco.

"Hello, I hope everything's fine," Stewart began.

"Everything's absolutely perfect boss. We've fitted the security cameras into the school. Arabella Academy is now being monitored by the finest surveillance from Miller Technologies," Rocco answered from the other end of the line.

"Good," Stewart spoke. "That old man William was starting to give me a headache about them."

He kept quiet for a moment.

"Speaking of surveillance. Are you sure that there was no footage from our hidden cameras showing who really murdered the girl?" he asked.

"No, there isn't," Rocco responded. "That man was a clever one, sir, he managed to escape our secret surveillance, but I also took care of that. Right now there is no angle of that school without a camera."

"Good. You know how important Arabella Academy is to our project, right? I don't want any mishaps when it finally begins," Stewart replied.

"Yes boss," Rocco spoke.

"Okay then Rocco. Have a good night."

"You too boss," Rocco answered and hang up the call. He sighed as he placed his phone on his office desk, staring at his computer.

He then pressed continue on the video.

The video that showed Sheila being killed.