Their discussion resumed in the dining area, after Ethan had obtained a decent helping of noodles for breakfast. Along the way, Grey had taken a solo detour to the storage room, where she found some paper and fashioned herself a notebook of sorts with the help of some aluminium wire found there too.
Seated around the table, Grey was writing in her notebook, occasionally muttering under her breath or rubbing her brows in contemplation. Both Ethan and Yellow watched her work with a mix of curiousity and fascination, neither having seen a detective at work before. Ethan even took extra care to eat as silently as possible, not wanting to disturb the detective in any way.
"Oookay, I have narrowed down the suspects to Brown."
As Ethan was polishing up the remaining bits of noodles, Grey resurfaced from her notebook and declared. In response, there was only confused silenc, neither sure of how Grey had arrived at her conclusion. Having already expected this, Grey smoothly went on to explain her reasonings.
"Of the 4 initial suspects, Brown is the only female. This is important if we focus on Gold' state of undress when he's dead, which would suggest that both him and the perpetrator had been... intimate prior to the injection of the poison. This act I then confirmed after checking on his... member."
Ethan blushed furiously at this, fidgeting and ducking his head as he felt his face and ears heating up. A fact which did not go unnoticed by Grey and Yellow. Where the former tactfully ignored it as a sign of understanding, the latter decided to tease him with suggestive phrases and actions.
"Ahem, Yellow. Anyway, there's a possibility that Gold had different tastes, so keep that in mind. For now, we should confront Brown and see how things play out with her. With any luck, we should have the poisoner immediately."
With the new goal in mind, the 3 decided to each search a building, except for the domitory building. Taking the east building, Ethan started his search. It was the first time he was alone, having always enjoyed the safety in numbers. His hand felt clammy as he nervously toyed with the pepper spray in his pocket. Yellow had passed it to him, stating that it was a spare and that unlike the detective, she could not see him defending himself well. As insulting as it may have sounded, Ethan did not take it as such. Having long come to terms with the weakness of his ill body, he knew he was definitely no match for most of his peers, much less fully grown adults.
With the exception of the few special rooms and bedrooms, the rest of the rooms resembled classrooms. There were desks and chairs within, some placed neatly while others were haphazardly strewn across the room. As Ethan searched each empty room, the stronger the impression of an abandoned school grew. There would be the occasional whiteboard, or computer, or projector found within these rooms. Searching through the 2nd floor, Ethan did not find Brown, nor did he encounter anyone else. This unexpected solitude helped calm Ethan down, who was starting to hope that he would not be the one to find Brown.
This peaceful solitude did not last long however. He had walked into Green, quite literally, as he rounded a corner. Spluttering out an apology while staggered backwards, Ethan has to strain his neck to look up at the lanky giant who towered over him. Unfazed by Ethan, Green's face remained unperturbed, calmly studying the flustered boy who had just walked into him. Standing before Green's calm, analytical gaze, Ethan once again felt like his secrets were slowly being unravelled before him. However, unlike with Grey, this time the discomfort was accompanied with a sense of danger. Squeezing out the last of an apology, Ethan hurriedly walked away, extracting himself from Green's gaze.
"Watch where you're going next time boy. You may not run into someone nice next time."
A low gravelly voice trailed after him, almost lazily, as if the intention behind the words were nothing more than friendly advice. However, Ethan could not help but shudder, as if his body was reacting to some unknown threat lurking beneath those words. Hastening his pace, Ethan almost barged into the first room he came across.
It was another "classroom", messily filled with desk, chairs, and this time a computer. But, Ethan was not the first, there was someone occupying the computer. Said occupant peered over the computer screen and locked eyes with Ethan. This lasted for less than a second before the occupant let out a small squeak and hid back behind the screen.
"Ple-please go away." The whisper was barely audible, Ethan was surprised he had even heard the words, much less understood what was said. Ethan hesistated, before silently sliding out the door. The occupant perfectly matched Grey's description of Brown. Black hair with streaks of purple and a mousy-looking face donning a pair of over-sized glasses. Caught off-guard by his sudden finding, stood dumbly at the door before coming up with his next course of action. He quickly sped down the stairs over to the next building, hoping to inform Grey before Brown decided to disappear elsewhere, an understandable concern Ethan had after witnessing Brown's incredibly timid behaviour.
It didn't take long for Ethan to find Grey. After informing her of Brown's location, he then continued on to find Yellow, while Grey made her way to Brown's location. When Ethan returned with Yellow in tow, they were greeted with a curious sight. Brown was curled up in her chair, seemingly trying to shrink herself as much as possible. Her tear-filled eyes darted about, reflecting fear and anxiety, she gave Ethan the impression of a cornered mice furiously trying to figure out a path to survival. Opposite sat Grey, straddling a chair, arms folded on the chair's backrest. Grey had, what Ethan would call, her thinking face on. With a slight frown, Grey silently observed the panicking, half-sobbing Brown, she too was unsure of what to make of the scene before her.
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Eventually, Grey got up with a sigh and join Ethan and Yellow.
"So as you can see, she's basically a mess. If I were to put it nicely, extremely introverted. I did manage to have some semblance of a conversation with her, but really she was either just crying the entire time or just too distracted to answer me properly."
"Unless she's a really exceptional actor, I don't see how she will be able to even have a proper conversation with someone else, much less lure a stranger into bed. As for her task, seems like she has no faith in being able to complete it, so there's that. Anyway, back to the drawing board, lets go find someone else to interrogate..."
With a huff, Grey left the room. Ethan followed suit, glancing back in worry. Viewing the frail figure curled up in her chair, Ethan could not imagine her with any sort of malicious intent. If anything, she felt similiar to him, tricked into participating in a game that they were unprepared for.
...
The rest of the day passed relatively peacefully, though barely yielding any results. Grey had somewhat relunctantly crossed Silver off the suspect list, even though he did not explain his actions, he had been eating in the dining room close to the time of the announcement. A fact that disgruntled Grey who had somehow forgot that fact.
As for Green, Ethan witnessed a tense exchange between him and Grey. Every word spoke between them had been carefully measured and calculated, and seeing Grey's guarded stance towards the man only deepened Ethan's fear of Green. It seems like his intution was right on Green being a dangerous individual.
And lastly Orange, search as they might, they failed to locate him throughout the day.
"Not being able to find him in an enclosed area tells us something too. One of two possible things happened. One, Orange is dead and someone has disposed of his body. Though this is unlikely since no announcement has gone off. So its very likely that, two, he is our poisoner, and he is actively avoiding us. He probably got wind of our investigation, and decided to hide from us to avoid trouble. But its alright, I have a plan, he won't be able to hide from me for too long."
This was how the day concluded. On the advice of Grey, Ethan went to a different bedroom. After setting up the simple barricade at the door, Ethan finally let himself relax. Fortunately, his nerves had not been as high-strung as it was on the first day. Seems like I'm getting used to this... Not sure if that's good or not...
Ethan found his mind wandering back to Brown. Recalling the events in the day, Ethan felt sympathy for her. I got pretty lucky huh. If I were alone like her, I probably would've ended up the same way too... Pity for Brown slowly turned into worry. He could not help but imagine himself in her shoes, resulting in a constant worry for her safety. Alone, scared and helpless. And probably an easy target, especially someone like Blue... This constant nagging in his mind kept him awake, eventually driving him out of the safety of his bed and room.
Even though the clock showed night, everywhere remained lit by the various lights installed. Ethan headed straight to the classroom where he had previously found Brown at. Unfortunately, though expected, she was not there. Ethan proceeded to search for her room by room again. With each passing second, each empty room, Ethan's unease grew along with a sense of foreboding. He hastened his actions, his body starting to fill with adrenaline, his overly active mind creating endless hell-like scenarios if he were to find Brown too late.
Voices were heard when Ethan started his search at the top-most floor. It came from one of the rooms, and the voices were barely audible. Despite that, Ethan was sure one of them belonged to Brown. Well at least, he desperately hoped so. He excitedly pushed opened the door where the voices were coming from, and Yellow and Brown entered his view. Brown seemed less fearful than she had been during the day, she looked more calm and wasn't on the verge of a breakdown.
Due to Ethan's over-excitement, the door slammed into the wall. The loud bang was furthered amplified when compared to the calm and quietness the room held moments before, startling not only Yellow and Brown, but Ethan as well. Brown gave a yelp of surprise, pushing back on her chair, nearly toppling over as a result.
"White! Be gentler next time, don't scare us..."
Yellow quickly recovered from her initial surprise, giving Ethan a reproachful look.
"Its alright Brown, White means you no harm, there's no need to be afraid. I'll go talk to him outside while you calm down, is that alright?"
Towards Brown, Yellow's voice was calm and smooth, it gave Ethan the impression of warmth and honey. Brown gave a small nod, hands pressed against her chest as she tried to calm her breathing down, eyes remaining downcast. Ethan saw a hint of relief appear on Yellow's face when Brown responded to her, though this immediately disappeared when she faced towards him. Expression laced with slight annoyance instead, Yellow headed out of the room, half-dragging Ethan along, as though worried that Ethan's prescence would further upset Brown.
After Ethan explained his worry about Brown, Yellow's annoyance quickly vanished, replaced with an understanding smile. "Its nice that you were looking out for her. Don't worry, you can leave her to me. Truth be told, I used to work as a psychologist before, so I know my way around these sorts of things." Surprised at Yellow's sudden self-disclosure, Ethan wasn't sure of how to respond, instead choosing to mutely nod.
"When she gets better, I'll see if she's comfortable enough to talk to you. I can even talk you up if you're interested in her." Chuckling, Yellow added the 2nd part to lightly tease Ethan, winking playfully at the same time. Blushing, Ethan resolutely ignored what Yellow was implying, choosing to focus on the relief knowing that Brown was safe, and better yet, had someone that she could rely on as well.
Even if its not me... No no no, what am I saying. Argh, Yellow got into my head. Shaking his head to clear it of intrusive thoughts, Ethan headed back. This time with his heart at ease, sleep came easier.