"Too late to escape, girl," the man says as he points the flashlight towards her direction.

The man has this scary and authoritative tone—or it's just that Elvery is panic-stricken—that makes her stop and stiffen. With heart throbbing under her chest, she stands there facing the front door while her back faces the man.

"What are you doing here at this hour, young girl?" the man asks, maintaining his frightful tone.

Elvery feels the need to run but this man behind her seems to paralyze her limbs.

I need to distract him and find a timing to get away, she plans.

"I'm supposed to ask you that, mister. What are you doing here?" she asks, trying to sound strong—or at least not too weak.

"I'm just... finding something," he says.

"And what is it?" she asks, still facing the front door.

She doesn't really care about that thing yet she needs to make the conversation keep going—so as her life.

"Why do you care?!" he blurts, "It's just... just something small that I thought I lost here but must be somewhere else."

Psh, what an alibi, she thinks.

"And you girl," he chides, "better seal your lips and forget that you saw me, you understand?!"

Before she could utter a response, they suddenly heard a thud inside the building. Surprised, they jerk their heads towards the unexpected sound.

Someone is here other than them.

"Who's that?!" the man yells and walks toward it.

Suddenly, a hand grabs Elvery's arm from behind and pulls her out of the building.

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Shhh, utters a man, as he drags her with force. After a few moments, she finds themselves hiding behind a large post, leaning firmly to a wall on the side of the building. Both of them are gasping for air.

Elvery looks at the man beside her. He still holds her arm while peeping behind the post. He is tall; her height stretches up to his chin. He has a slightly slender body—not the muscular type but not too thin.

The man jerks his head to her and removes his clasp from her arm. "I think he already left," he says, "Are you okay?"

She wants to tell him how scared she was and how thankful she is that he came and saved her, but she only replies with a nod and a "Yeah."

"Do you know that man?" he asks. She says "No," shaking her head in reply.

"Why are you here?" he asks.

She stares at him, thinking if she should trust him. But then it comes to her mind that he saved her just a while ago. She exhales hard.

"The news about Mr. Smith's death bothered me very very much," she complains, "I-I don't know, maybe I'm just stupid enough to come here without even thinking that my life could be at risk. Argh, how impulsive I am!"

She lets out a sigh then she looks at him, "How 'bout you? Why are you here?"

"Same as you," he says, "Once there was a man—which is me—who came to investigate the crime scene. But to his surprise, he saw silhouettes of a man and a lady. The lady seemed to be very scared so the man threw a stone inside the building to distract the scary man, and grabbed the lady away."

Elvery turns her phone's flashlight on and flashes a smile. "The lady surely wants to thank the man for that," she laughs, "but wait, you're here to investigate?"

"Yeah, I'm Khael, the famous Detective K," he says. He offers his hand for a shake.

Now he's bragging, she thinks.

"I'm not bragging," he says, "Just stating the facts."

Wait, can he read my mind?

"No, I can't read your mind," he laughs.

What?!

"Oh, I'm Elvery," she responds, placing her hand on his. "You're good. You look young to be a detective, though," she commends.

He giggles. "Thanks but, uh- no, what I mean is I'm a high school detective. I helped in small cases like theft and leakages in school," he explains, "that's why I've been called a 'detective'. It seems that you don't know me, you must be from another town."

Elvery nods. She gives him a brief explanation of her life and how she pulled herself to a solo vacation. They keep chatting and she finds out that Khael is turning college, too. Khael tells her that Mr. Smith is his uncle who is very close to his heart; he considers him as a father.

"I have helped other people with their dilemmas," he says, "Now that it's my uncle who needs justice, why would I withhold my help?"

Elvery feels Khael's love for his uncle and his desire to attain justice for his death. She wishes that she can do something to help, but she doesn't think she can really be useful. Yes, she dreams to be a detective, but unlike him, she hasn't prove anything yet of her detective ability.

She sighs and stares at the spot of light pointed to the ground. She frowns when she sees something on it.

"What's that?" she mutters.

She walks towards the thing; Khael follows. It is a chain necklace with a gold ring as a pendant. Engraved on the ring is the initials TV.

"TV? Television?" Khael jokes. Elvery replies with a frown, and he giggles, "Just kidding."

Elvery lets him hold the flashlight as she carefully examines the necklace. "I think this is a ring," she says, "I mean, a ring for a finger and not meant as a pendant."

"Why do you say so?" he asks.

"The ring does not match with the necklace chain," she explains, "I think we should bring it to a jeweller."

"Sure," he agrees, "I have a feeling that it has something to do with this case, too."

"Why do you say so?"

"This is an unusual place to drop a necklace, you see," he says, "this side of the building is like an abandoned area."

Yeah, it's a narrow gap between the building's wall and another high wall that serves as a boundary for the lot.

"Remarkable," she comments.

He shrugs his shoulders, "We'll find out."