In Andrew's gaze, there was a surprise, astonishment... Clare was grasping his wrist, she was shaking, obviously scared but the moment he put himself in the fire, he hadn't expected her to do the same. It was one of the reasons he liked and hated Clare... sometimes she could be a bitch with a lot of nerve... but some others she was perceptive.

She had been giving their earlier fight a lot of consideration.

"Clare" As if to reassure her, Andrew grasped her hand as well... he felt more relaxed to know that both of them would be speaking against Mariah as he didn't have that much to say anyway, 'I will be relying on Sophia'.

"If you talk, I talk… Andrew".

'Thank you! thank you!' Sophia exclaimed once and again and even her father's countenance changed to a more hopeful one, so far... no one had any leads... he got the police to investigate this matter that was being disclosed as suicide. If they didn't find any leads, then the case would be closed.

He nodded in reassurance and both of them faced the officer who had been looking at them wit

"Then you two please come with me to this room, Mr Jones, I hope you understand I have to interrogate them privately" The policeman addressed Leon Jones who was more than pleased to allow the procedures to follow along, any information he could get would help the case. Even if just a little, he was convinced that more than Andrew, Clare Euston would have useful information since she was quite close to Sophia.

'Don't worry, father... I will help you somehow!' Andrew saw how Sophia was hopelessly trying to contact her father, but the same phenomenon that occurred to him didn't occur to her father... she couldn't talk to him and she couldn't touch him. As so, she gave up and followed him and Clare into the private room... that was, until someone else spoke.

"I-I know some things as well" Mariah lifted her hand and Andrew could hear Sophia greeting her teeth in anger.

'Preposterous!'

"Mariah Belle?" The policeman turned around to send her a mysterious glare that the girl didn't seem to catch.

"Yes, sir... I also know some things about Sophia, they could help the investigation".

"... are you sure? it may be enough with just this boy and girl, you don't need to come"

"N-No, I have useful information".

Andrew frowned immediately and he wasn't the only one, Leon did so too. Something was not right between this policeman Carl and Mariah. Under different circumstances, he wouldn't have been able to catch onto anything suspicious. But... things were different.

He knew that Mariah was guilty... because Sophia's ghost herself is here to prove it!

'This officer is colluding with her! Andrew, you have to reco- oh… you're already doing it' Sophia exclaimed only to see how Andrew had already taken out his phone and put it in record mode.

'… If I'm going to fight this battle, I'll do it all out...' This was not a fistfight, what would develop out of this scenario was an unprecedented legal fight that the Mayers and Euston families would have to fight against the Belles... the more proof and information he got, the better... the moment he decided to speak against Mariah... Andrew had already placed himself on the battlefield.

He knows that Mariah's parents or at least her father... somehow managed to both kill Sasha and Sophia and make it look as if it was suicide, they left a scene so convincing that the police could disclose that verdict without being scrutinized... which meant they had the disadvantage.

'All the advantage I have is the absolute truth...' He looked at Sophia's ghost whose gaze was nothing short of venomous against Mariah.

Mariah, Andrew and Clare sat down one beside the other inside a classroom, the police officer sat in front of them and the doors were closed; he gave the room a few looks and saw that there were no cameras around.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"So? What do you know, kids? tell me one by one, you go first, Mayers..." The man pointed at Andrew, but instead of immediately answering, he inquired a little.

"Could you tell me how Sophia died, sir?" He didn't even know what was Sasha and Sophia's official cause of death which only made things more difficult.

"I'm sorry but that is not information I can disclose, please answer the question, what do you know?" Carl was insistent and didn't leave any leeways, thankfully... he wasn't fighting this on his own.

Sophia answered that question herself.

'I was poisoned, Andrew... I don't know when or how, but it has to be poison... that night I had gone to a restaurant with someone, a detective that I had contacted to properly investigate what happened to Sasha. When I was in the taxi back home from the meeting I was dizzy and had a huge headache, the next thing I know... my soul had left my body. I saw a man then carry my dead body and throw it from a bridge uptown, they made it look as if I jumped... the police are still investigating, but they can't find any trace of that poison... as far as they're concerned, I committed suicide.

Andrew bit his lips and nodded, There were many questions that Andrew wanted to ask her, but he couldn't do so without speaking out loud.

"Sir, that girl had depression, she merely-" Mariah intended to jump and speak above him much to his and Clare's irritation, but she wasn't getting out of this.

"That girl Sasha was bullied by Mariah and her group On a daily basis, sir… Sophia stopped hanging around with them because she made friends with Sasha and the girl was being scorned because she was from a poor background and had a scholarship. They bullied her harder out of jealousy, eh-?" Andrew was speaking, but as he did so and Mariah's countenance grew progressively ugly, Sophia spoke some more facts that he merely relayed.

"One night… they followed Sasha back after school and squared her up… they hit Sasha too many times and the girl lost consciousness, from then on she started fearing for her life".

"How do you know that!- I mean… what are you even talking about!? That's a lie!" Mariah tripped, earning a glare from the policeman whose gaze then switched back to Andrew, indicating him to continue.

"Andrew…" Clare was merely surprised that the boy was so involved with the case, as far as she knew, Andrew didn't care about any of this and the little information he had, was from her mouth.

"S-Sophia told me… that once Sasha told her what happened, she threatened Mariah, but the girl instead threatened to use her father's power to end the Manhunt Buffet... sir, I have reasons to think Sasha's case wasn't suicide" Andrew finished his report in front of a fuming and scared Mariah.

"I see… and you?" Carl questioned Clare but his gaze didn't look like someone who had gotten a realisation or new information.

"I can confirm part of Andrew's story, I'm in their group so I know that girl was bullied, I… saw it and didn't say anything... they did horrible things to her, and everyone was too afraid to speak about it. They were either afraid of Mariah, or her parents".

"And weren't you afraid, Clare Euston?"

"U-Uh?" Clare was confused and so was I, this man... what is the purpose of that question?

"Are you not afraid of her parents right now? since you're talking against her".

His question sounded ominous, Andrew didn't even need Sophia to point out his intentions.

'He's trying to intimidate her. This bastard is completely sold, but Mariah doesn't seem to know that, she's making a fool of herself in front of him!' Andrew thought Sophia's intelligence was remarkable, they were on the same train of thought.

Sadly for the officer, Clare's family was no slouch either... this girl had been spoiled rotten by her father, who was she ever afraid of? if anything, she was more nervous as to how she'd be perceived by others... and by Andrew.

"I'm not scared of her... I didn't say anything back then because I... I... d-didn't care about Sasha, I'm sorry, Andrew. I never thought it would all come to this!" Clare held his wrist and apologised, back then... it looked like fun, like free amusement, like a spectacle.

"..." Andrew evaded her gaze, he couldn't so easily forgive her for partaking in something so horrible, even if she came clean now to speak about it.

"They're lies! They're lies!" Mariah yelled and it was then that the cop did something that completely convinced Andrew that he was not on their side.

"I know they're lies… or at least, mismatching information. We have an alibi for Mariah during that night, Andrew" He explained to both Clare and Andrew with the former getting slightly confused.

'He's speaking craftily, obviously, Mariah didn't kill me or Sasha with her own hands… either he knows you're recording or he's worried there may be microphones in this room, we have to make him say something compe-'.

"I'm sorry, officer... but how comes you have an Alibi for just Mariah?" The boy asked with a tilting confused expression.

!!!

The officer's eyebrows twitched, as if he realised his mistake, "Excuse me?"

"Your POLICE DEPARTMENT having an alibi for Mariah means that your department has gone out of their way to investigate her exclusively in the last two days; looking for explicit proof of her status during the night that Sophia's MURDER took place. Could it be that you have information that you're retaining from us which would compel your department to investigate Mariah Belle before even coming to the campus to ask questions?"

"You!-" The cop was fuming, Clare was astonished and Sophia's gaze looked at Andrew in disbelief.

'Nice one, Andrew!'