73

73
Edgar Torn
I arrived just in time. I parked the car, set the alarm, and straightened my shirt. 
I was anxious.
As I walked, I felt my cell phone vibrate in my pocket. 
I took it out.
It was a new message.
From Detective Rolland Hunts.
I'm at a coffee shop near the scene, a few steps ahead, called Molly's. I'll wait for you there.
I read the message twice, took a deep breath, and hurried on. 
In less than two minutes, I was already there. My heart was beating fast, anxiously. I wanted answers, to find out as much as possible today. 
As I entered the coffee shop, my eyes found the detective. He was sitting with two men in uniform, wearing vests. They looked alert, prepared.
"This is William and Fred. My right-hand men," said Rolland, with a slight nod.
I greeted them both with a firm handshake and we sat down. 
We ordered something quick, strong coffee, toast, pancakes. The conversation was light at first, focused on the day's plans, until the food arrived and we finished eating.
We paid the bill and left.
We walked slowly down the street.
This was the street where the crime had taken place.
But the exact location was a few meters away, next to a narrow alley. And across from a convenience store. 
The place where Amanda... had been brutally murdered.
Everything still looked the same as before.
Even though years had passed... 
The storefront, the sidewalk, the dark alley. But there was something different that morning, an energy in the air, as if the past was about to unfold before me again.
The detective followed me in silence. I walked back and forth, observing everything carefully. And little by little, images began to emerge in my mind.
I stopped and looked at the alley. I turned to the detective.
"I had my cell phone in my hand at that moment..." I began, feeling my throat go dry. "Then I started walking down this street, near the coffee shop where we were..."
I pointed to the entrance of Molly's.
"I kept going... I didn't see anyone on the street. It was dark and... cold that night..."
I closed my eyes for a moment. I remembered the cold. The wind cutting across my face. The silence.
It was too quiet, too strange.
"I was worried about Amanda... She wasn't answering her phone... Then, when I took a few more steps, I looked down at the ground... and she was lying there.
My voice faltered. I felt that weight in my chest again.
"At the time, I froze. I thought she had just fainted... I ran to her and put my phone away."
"And did you see anyone, Edgar? Did you hear any noise?"
The detective's voice sounded firm, objective. He wrote down everything I said. But my mind was still fighting against the fog.
I closed my eyes again, trying to find something, anything.
But there was only her. Amanda. On the floor. Alone. And me.
No one else there. Just us. 
"I didn't see anyone, didn't hear anything. I just know it was strange... No one was on the street at that moment. Just me."
I sighed heavily, pressing my eyes with my hands, trying to force myself to remember. The images slowly came back... and then, a fragment.
Had I really seen that? I thought. 
"I started calling the ambulance, desperate... I looked around, crying, panicking... and that's when I looked at the wall of the alley. I saw... a shadow.
I opened my eyes and muttered:
"What the fuck..."
The three of them stared at me, attentive. I continued.
"I thought I was delirious because I was crying, in shock... But now I'm sure. I saw a shadow. A person. When I started screaming for help, calling the ambulance... it disappeared. I heard short footsteps. Fast. And then, nothing.
William and Fred looked at each other. The detective just took notes, silent.
"I'm sure it was the killer. He was there... well hidden. Watching everything."
I bit my lip, feeling the blood boil inside me.
"And why didn't he attack you?" Rolland asked. "You were alone. Vulnerable."
It was true. It had puzzled me from the start.
He just stood there watching? Why?
"I have no idea. Maybe... he had already done what he wanted. Potentially he just wanted to kill Amanda. I don't know."
The possibilities hammered in my mind.
Rolland took a deep breath and closed his notebook.
"Thanks for that. Your memories are crucial. And while we're here... there's something else that's been bothering me."
"What?" I asked curiously. 
"The shop owner. She was in the shop at the time of the crime, but she said she went upstairs at the exact moment it happened. I want to hear her statement again, more calmly. See every word, her reaction."
I nodded in agreement. It was very strange that no one had seen anything.
Or heard anything. 
We continued on to the store. Rolland knocked firmly on the door. William and Fred stood beside him, like sentinels.
I just watched.
We wanted answers. And now... possibly we were about to get the first real piece of this puzzle.