CHAPTER 17: THE MISLEADING CASE (FOREST)

Elliott's POV

I suddenly felt bad after she left. I know I was rude to her but what she did before is still stuck in my head. She left everyone without telling anyone. I witnessed how worried her friends were when she disappeared and how depressed they were to know what happened to her. Seeing them like that makes me mad at her, it's okay for me if she didn't tell me she's leaving but it's her friends. They are with her through her hard times and she just left them like that.

"You know what you just said was rude, right?" Mom asked seriously looking at me in the eye.

"I know, and you can't blame me," I said walking away.

"We both know that the case was still not solved, Elliott. So, why are you being like that to Scar?" She scolded. Yes. The case was still not solved. Nathan might be the one who ordered Morgan to do the killings but he wasn't the mastermind. Before we can interrogate him more, we just found him dead in his cell. That's why the case hasn't been solved yet.

"The case wasn't the reason I'm being like that to her, Mom. She left her friends without saying anything leaving them dead worried about her. I saw how much they cared for her, how they kept searching for her without rest. And she just come back as if nothing happened. So how can you tell me I shouldn't be like that to her?" I said trying to calm my voice and try not to shout.

"You know Scar won't leave like that. She's a responsible kid. Even if it kills her she will take responsibility for something that involves her. Also, as police officer, we have the duty to know the truth and never jump to any conclusions. Remember what Scar said? 'keep calm, don't let your emotions get through your head. It will only mess up your mind'. So try to calm down, she must be a reason for her to leave like that," she patted my shoulder before getting her things.

"Where are you going, Mrs. Li?" 

"You finally remember that we are at work and should not address me as 'mom'. Well, Scar said the kid asked her for help. Meaning there is something that we are forgetting. I trust her institution so I'm going back to investigate more," she explained and left. 

"Hold on, I'm also coming,"

****

"Aiden, where did you see Scar around here?" Mom asked. Yeah, the others also came. After Scarlet appears at the police station everyone knows that she might have found something and they trust her. Aiden was also intrigued when he heard how we met Scarlet and also came too.

"Over the building of boxes there," Aiden pointed out. We went there and searched around.

"Why is she searching here? There's nothing helpful at all," Eliana said. 

What is searching here? It's too clean here what can she—

"It's too clean," I said

"What?" Mom asked.

"It's too clean for a murder scene. She might find it suspicious," 

"Of course, it was too clean, the victim died due to strangulation. What do you expect, it will be a mess?" Aiden clarified.

"No, even if she died due to strangulation there should still be a mark left here or a sign of fighting back to the victim but there is none. It's strange," Brent explained.

"Then this means that....."

"This is not the murder scene," I said.

"If that's the case, how will we manage to find the killer now if the evidence we had leads to a dead end?" 

"There is one way," Mom said. Karma really comes fast.

*****

We arrive at Scarlet's house and ring the doorbell. We waited for a few seconds but no one answered. We rang it again and still no response.

"Where could she be?" Eliana asked.

~few moments earlier~

Willow's POV

I was lying on my bed devastated at why Elliott was treating me that way. I didn't even do something that offended him so why? Argh! Nevermind. I shouldn't think about him now helping the kid was more important than him. 

I put my hand inside my pocket and picked out the thing that I found at the scene. A fresh leave. Why is there a fresh inside an old factory if the leaves outside were dead?

I realize something making me stand up and leave the house. I went back to the factory and went straight inside the forest. How great is it? I'm going inside the forest again. Why do I keep getting involved in cases that are connected with forests? What kind of luck do I have?

I walked further into the forest until I saw a house. Why is there a house here? From the look of it, it was not an abandoned one. I walked closer to the house until suddenly I felt dizzy. A bundle of memories flashes into my mind. 

The memory of that kid. She was here before.

I was going to faint but someone held my shoulder. "Who are you? at are you doing here, Young Lady?"

I looked at the person who spoke and it was a middle-aged man. "I was strolling around and got lost, then, I felt dizzy," I answered. The f**k on getting lost. I never lost my way before. 

The man looked at me seriously like he was judging me. I shift my eyes to his back and my eyes widen. The kid was staring at me, scared. I stared at the man again and he was looking at me sinisterly before following the direction I looked at.

"So, you can see her too, aren't you?" He said turning back at me with a horrible. I stepped back not knowing what to do. "You came here to know the truth, right? Too bad. Your parents will lose their child for meddling with someone else business,"

He was going to attack but before he could touch me I kicked his face and ran away.