Detective On Duty-Chapter 19: First Dinner With Adrian

Finch and the others stared at him, their expressions a mix of confusion and curiosity. Miles, still rattled by the vision, took a deep breath.

"The night I saw her crying in front of James’s house, she wasn’t wearing a necklace," he explained, his voice more confident now. "I saw her wore the necklace when we bumped into each other that morning before the exam. I think She always wore it, but that night she didn’t. That night I saw a something in her hand, but I’m not sure if it was the necklace, She was clenching her fist, and I think the necklace was what she was holding. James was the one who broke it." The words hung in the air, a chilling new theory. "But why?"

Finch gave the grieving Mrs. Vance a sympathetic nod. "We have what we need for now, Mrs. Vance. We’re very sorry for your loss." He said, Mrs Penelope shutting the door with the keys rattling noisily.

Penelope gave them a weak, grateful smile. "The autopsy is complete," she said, her voice filled with a hollow sadness. "The funeral will be held this Saturday morning." A faint, bittersweet smile touched her lips before she turned and walked away, a solitary figure consumed by grief.

The team left the place. As they walked back to the car, a heavy silence settled over them. They were armed with a new theory, a diary, and a broken necklace, but they were no closer to solving the case.

"How on earth are we going to figure out what happened to her?" Ethan muttered, his frustration palpable. "We’re going in circles."

Miles, his mind racing with the revelations from the vision, was already formulating a plan. "We have to go back to the source," he said, his voice firm. "Ethan and I will go back to James’s place. There are still some questions we need to ask him. He’s holding something back, and I think I know what it is."

Finch stopped the car as they entered except Miles and Ethan who deviated to the right, Finch and Cecil entering the tall building and going to their office department.

Finch, looking thoughtful, handed a pile of the Diaries to Cecilia. "You stay here and go through Katherine’s diaries. See if you can find anything that would help us. The truth is somewhere in these pages."

Miles and Ethan arrived back at James Anderson’s grand house. The place was just as opulent as before, but a sense of unease hung in the air. Miles knocked on the door, his heart pounding in his chest. After a long moment, the door creaked open, and James appeared, his eyes bloodshot and his hair a mess. He was a far cry from the slick, confident man they had met yesterday. He looked like someone who had been suffering from a profound and recent loss.

"What do you want?" James said, his voice a hoarse whisper.

"We’re back for some unfinished questions," Miles replied, his gaze unwavering.

James’s eyes darted toward the door, and he made to close it. Miles quickly put his foot in the doorway. "If you don’t cooperate, I’ll have to come back with a warrant," he said, his voice low and firm. "We’re detectives, not just investigators. We have the authority to do this."

James sighed giving up, his shoulders slumping in defeat. He stepped aside and let them in, his eyes meeting Ethan’s, who gave him a chilling glare. The tension in the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. The interrogation had just begun.

"So what have you come here to ask me?" James questioned, his voice flat and resentful.

Miles took a step forward, his gaze unwavering. "We know you haven’t told us everything about you and Katherine Vance. We need to know when you broke up, why, and what your reason was for not telling us before."

James sighed, slumping into a leather armchair as the fight seemed to drain out of him. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, his face a mask of weariness and guilt. "I’m the one who broke up with her, I did it because I thought she wanted to," he confessed, his voice barely above a whisper. "The evening before she died." He stopped abruptly, his eyes fixed on some point in the distance.

"She wanted to break up? but why was she weeping the last time I saw her?" Miles asked, his voice low. "And were you the one who took this necklace off her neck?" He pulled the broken pendant from his pocket and held it out.

James’s eyes widened when he saw the broken necklace. He shook his head, a look of confusion on his face. "I don’t remember breaking that necklace," he said. "How did it get halfed? Did she break it? I wasn’t the one who broke the necklace."

Ethan stepped forward, his voice hard. "If you didn’t break the necklace, then who did?"

"I don’t know," he quickly said feeling the pressure from the question, his mind time travelling to the day it happened.

"Why did you think she wanted to break up with you?" Ethan question, his voice hoarse and deep, his eyes devoid of emotions, eager to bring out what James is hiding.

James, his face a mask of shame, looked at Miles.

"Because I cheated on her."

The room went silent, save for the hum of the house. Ethan shifted uncomfortably, but Miles’s stare remained fixed on James. "With who?" Miles asked, his voice low.

"I don’t know," James answered, the words dripping with shame. "I was drunk. I hooked up with some woman, and Katherine saw me. She didn’t talk to me for a week. I tried to reach out to her, but she wouldn’t answer my calls or letters."

He paused, a bitter laugh escaping his lips. "She finally agreed to meet me that day to break up with me, but... out of pride, I broke up with her first."

"Why do I feel you know the person you slept with that made her to get angry?" Miles commented his brows narrowed at James.

1955

Katherine was on her way home when she saw Adrian, Ava’s boyfriend. They exchanged greetings, and Adrian, a friendly and easygoing man, smiled warmly. "I was just about to grab a bite," he said. "How about we grab dinner? My treat."

Katherine hesitated, not wanting to intrude, but Adrian’s offer was sincere. She eventually agreed, and they made their way to a nearby diner. As they ate, Adrian continued to stare at her, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Why are you staring at me?" Katherine asked, a little self-conscious. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"It’s weird," Adrian said.

"Why is it weird?" she asked.

"This is the first time I’m eating with my girlfriend’s best friend," he said, and then he laughed. "We’ve all been friends for so long, and this is the first time we’ve ever sat down for a meal like this."

Katherine chuckled, a warm feeling spreading through her. "Oh," she sai

d. "So that’s what’s weird." Katherine chuckled slightly, her white set of perfect teeth enlightening her glowing beauty that made Adrian smile.