Chapter 78: Chapter 78

"Detective Chandler?" I ask in surprise.

"Come in quick," he says as he gestures us into his house.

Five minutes later, we're sitting at his kitchen table and his wife is preparing tea for us.

"So it was you prank calling me?" I ask him still confused.

"I wasn't trying to prank call you, I was trying to warn you," he says. I'm still confused. I think he sees the confusion on my face because then he starts to explain.

"The day I started calling you was to warn you that somebody was trying to take you. I couldn't talk of course because there could be a tap on my phone. I thought by calling you, I'd scare you into not going to your therapy session. But you still went. This is why I asked Greg to stay with you. So he'd protect you."

"You're working with Greg?" I guess he was trustworthy after all.

"Yes. He's the only one I can trust at that police station. Greg told me your friend here" he gestures towards Connor," was helping you hack into things. So I decided to use it to my advantage. I knew if you told him you were getting weird calls he'd trace the call and it would lead back to me. That's why I stayed on for thirty seconds." He picks up his phone and texts somebody. In 1 minute, Greg is at the door. He smiles and me and Connor.

"Greg followed you guys. I asked him too. He's been updating me on your findings. You two are smart, but the thing about Greg is he hears everything."

"Okay, so why are you off the case?" I ask him, sure that I probably know the answer to that.

"It's obvious. I was getting too close to solving the case so Marissa kicked me off. At first, I didn't understand why, but when Greg told me what you found out, it all made sense. She is trying to cover her husband's ass. I think the Dean ordered those hits on Jade and his wife is making sure no one finds out."

Okay so, Connor and I were right. Being a police officer isn't so hard I think to myself.

"So what do we do?" I ask Chandler.

"Well, Greg and I are building a case on Marissa in hopes of getting her kicked off the case and maybe even do some jail time. However, in order to do that, we need concrete evidence that it is without a doubt her husband and that she's helping him bury the evidence. If we get that, we can charge her with accomplice to murder, evidence tampering, attempted murder and attempted kidnapping. She can be looking at years in prison."

"Connor and I may have something," I say to him. "We have evidence that the Dean and Jade were having an affair and that it was his baby"

"That's great, but we have to prove that Marissa knew about it. It cannot look like a coincidence at all that she took this case. There's not much access I can get at the station, Marissa has blocked me out of the case files. But maybe you can Connor. I looked you up. You have quite an impressive record. Nothing lower than an A- in high school or university. An IQ of 157. I don't think any of the police hackers have that high of an IQ."

Connor doesn't say anything. He just looks straight at Chandler. No smile, no showing off. He was always a humble person.

"What I'm saying is...Connor, I'm going to need you to hack into the police database."

"What about Dean Daniel? Aren't we going to build a case on him?" I ask breaking Chandler's speech.

"You said tomorrow is the first day back at school right?" He asks, I nod.

"Well, then tomorrow we'll go pay Dean Daniel a little visit."

Our first legit plan is put into effect. Greg is at home with Connor trying to hack into to the police database and Chandler and I are heading to the university to speak with Dean Daniel.

When we arrive at the school, we head straight to where the offices are located. The secretary informs us that the dean is on an important phone call and that it will only take a few minutes. We sit down on the chairs outside his office and we wait. I've never been in this part of the university before. After waiting for fifteen minutes, the secretary approaches us.

"You may see the Dean now," she says.

She opens the door and we walk in. Standing by a bureau is a tall handsome man. Handsome wouldn't be the right word to use, he's gorgeous. The pictures on the university website do not do him justice. Of course, Jade would be in a relationship with him. He's her type. Maybe not age wise, but clearly Jade didn't care.

"Hello Dean Daniel, I'm detective Chandler and this is, uh..." He struggles for a bit.

"I'm Mia," I say and extend my right hand. At first, our initial plan was to say I was a detective, but I think I might have seen him before and it would be a bad lie to tell if he's seen me.

"Please take a seat." Both Chandler and I sit on the chairs directly in front of his desk. "What can I do for you?" He sits at his desk. He looks at me. Grey eyes.

"We just have a few questions," Chandler says. The dean nods. " Did you know this girl?" Detective Chandler shows him a picture of Jade. His eyes saddens and his jaw clenches. All at once, sadness, guilt and fear expressions display on his face for a few seconds, and then he goes back to a professional composure.

"Yeah, uh, Jade Butler. She was a student here at Pineridge University, I believe she was a fourth year. I saw on the news. It's a real shame what happened to her." His jaw tightens again. He is trying very hard, but he is not as good as his wife when it comes to hiding emotions. "Did you catch the people who killed her?"

"Well, that's why were here. We have reason to believe that you and miss Butler were having an affair and that she was pregnant."

The dean gives a surprised face and Chandler dives in. "Thought we wouldn't find out?"

The dean is quiet. He contemplates his next move and is trying to decide on what to say. "Do I need a lawyer?" He asks.

"Not if you answer the questions honestly," Chandler says.

Again, Daniel is silent, thinking of his next words. "Okay, we were having an affair. But it wasn't just an affair, we loved each other."

"let me guess. You were going to leave your wife and be together," Chandler mocks him.

"I wanted to but it was difficult. My wife. She's a ... vile woman. If I were to leave her, she would sue me for everything I have. She would take my child away from me. She would kill me and Jade. She would ruin me. I was trying to find an easy way out"

"So you had Jade killed" Chandler accuses him.

" Wha-what? are you for real right now? Did you not hear me say that I loved Jade."

"yes, and I also heard you say that you were trying to find an easy way out"

"You think MURDER is an easy way out?"

"Did your wife know about your affair?"

"No, I don't think so. We were smart about it. She called between hours my wife wasn't home and we always deleted our texts right after our conversations."

"Here's what I think," Chandler starts, "I think you got Jade pregnant and you wouldn't leave your wife so she threatened to tell your wife and you didn't want your wife to find out about your affair, so you had Jade killed. And when you killed her, you were worried that you'd get caught so you asked your wife to help cover your tracks." He grabs onto the dean's desk. "But we're on to you, and you and your wife are going down. There's no way I'm letting you guys get away with this."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."