DAYMARE 12: Dig Her Death part 2

I am just lying on the sofa with my head on both my hands as I observe Mr. Sergio and Sir Johace searching the ground floor wearing white gloves. Maybe so that their fingerprints would contaminate the thing they were looking for.

My sister is in the kitchen preparing snacks for them.

Soon, Mr. Sergio and Sir Johace went up to the second floor. I followed them.

They entered Vea's room first. I went to my room first and sat there for a while, waiting for them to search my room.

I wonder what the thing was they needed so badly.

A few minutes later, Sir Johace entered my room while Mr. Sergio stayed at Vea’s room for a couple of minutes, then he transferred to Mother’s and Janey’s room.

Sir Johace looked at me.

“Is this your room?” he asked.

I nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

He just turned his back on me and started his quest.

This is my first time watching a private detective and a policeman scrutinize a house. I don’t know if I should feel honored or I should be worried because it was someone’s death that they were investigating—the reason they’re here.

“Um, Sir, please tell me…about-"

He opened my closet next to my bed.

"I can't," he replied while touching and moving some of my stuff.

Tss. I scoffed.

I watched as he bent down and knelt. I was wondering what he was up to—thought he might just be checking out the bottom of my closet. Then, out of nowhere, he started pulling my stuff out from under it.

“Why are you moving my things?” I asked, already annoyed.

He straightened up and stared right in the eyes. “Help me get rid of your clutter,” he said, like it was an order.

I just shrugged and started helping him clear the mess.

“What’s going on?” I asked him, leaning over to see what was hiding under my closet.

He went down on one knee again, and I was surprised at what I saw. There was this rectangular outline inside the wooden closet, with a small rusty hook attached.

“What’s that, Sir?” I asked.

Sir Johace tapped the bottom of it. “Get me a knife,” he commanded.

“Why?”

"Just hand it out to me."

I headed to the kitchen quickly and handed him the knife he requested.

He lowered the blade and held the handle down like he was about to open a can. To my surprise, the floor actually opened. There was a rectangular hatch!

“Whoa,” I murmured.

“There’s a secret compartment under your closet,” he stated.

A secret compartment! How had I never noticed that before?

I guess it was because my stuff was always piled on top of it, and the whole place was covered in dust when we first moved in.

The hook was so small that it barely caught your eye.

We both felt a little uneasy as he finally opened the secret compartment. I was even more surprised when I saw a pink rectangle inside.

A laptop. Why on earth was there a tiny pink laptop in a hidden compartment? And this gadget is outdated. I never knew someone was still using this except Hestral.

Mr. Johace pulled the pink netbook out.

“This is it,” he whispered.

I frowned. “The what?”

“This is the thing. It’s what the parents of the deceased have been searching for,” he explained.

“What’s with the laptop? How come there’s a laptop there?”

“This is supposed to be the victim’s missing item. They never found it until now… This is Hestral’s netbook.”

“Huh? But why is there a secret compartment here?”

“I don’t know either. We need to open it and see what’s inside.”

I just nodded, feeling a mix of curiosity and tension.

Sir Johace called Mr. Sergio, who’s from the other room.

Mr. Sergio walked towards us, then slipped his phone into his pocket. He must have been calling someone.

“Yeah, that’s the thing.” Mr. Sergio confirmed. “So, that netbook is in his room.”

Sir Johace sat at my study table, while Mr. Sergio and I stood to his right. Sir Johace pressed the power button of the netbook. We waited for a few seconds.

"Thank goodness, there’s no password needed," Mr. Sergio whispered in relief.

After a short wait, the netbook finally booted up. The wallpaper was plain and simple.

Mr. Sergio clicked around the desktop and opened the Documents folder. I was a bit surprised. There weren’t many files on it. We checked the pictures, music, and videos folders, but they were all empty. Then we found a single file in Documents, named “Document1.”

I hesitated for a moment, noticing Sir Johace staring at me.

“Open it. Maybe we can find some info,” I suggested.

He shot me a sharp look. “Why are you so curious?”

I scratched my head.

“Well, I helped you earlier with the closet and opening the secret compartment, so... you know, just trying to be more of a help.”

He gave me another glare. “Do you even understand how dangerous this case is?”

I thought about it for a second. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. The case is dangerous because you won’t tell me anything.” I answered sarcastically.

He sighed. “Anyway, I’m taking this netbook home. Thank you for your time. We’re heading out now,” he said, getting ready to leave.

I stopped him just as he stood up.

“Aren’t you curious what’s inside that document? You should show me. It could be something important.” I insisted.

“That’s not possible. This information is confidential. Only the victim’s parents and I, and Mr. Sergio are supposed to know.”

“You can trust me. My schoolmate used to be friends with Hestral, so I know a bit about her. And by coincidence, I go to the same schools she used to study at,” I said.

Torinay High School was the nearest school to this house. It’s a big possibility that Hestral had studied there too.

“You’re right. The victim studied there, too,” Sir Johace admitted.

I nodded, but he stayed silent.

When he stood up again, he added, “We’ll think about it and ask the victim’s parents if they’ll let you see the details. For now, I’m taking the netbook back to the office. We’ll let you know if I find anything.”

I didn’t argue as they both left my room.

Before stepping down the stairs, Mr. Sergio patted my shoulder and smiled. “Don’t get discouraged, kid.” He handed me a business card. “Feel free to contact us if you’ve found anything related to Miss Hestral’s case.”

I nodded.

They asked my sister about our contact details in case they still needed the house for further investigation. They said goodbye to my sister and left the house.

I understood, but I couldn’t shake off my curiosity.

That night, I still couldn’t stop thinking about what might be in that document. Strangely, her netbook was hidden in a secret compartment, and it had no password or other files except that document. It must be something very important that correlates to her case, or it was just a plain, old netbook she no longer uses.

“Winwin!” Vea called out.

After the police officer and the detective’s visit, I became bored. Stuck myself in my room and didn’t want to move.

“What?” I called back in a bored tone.

“Come downstairs! Someone’s calling you on the phone!”

I dragged myself downstairs and grabbed the phone from her. I wasn’t expecting anyone to call me.

“Hello?” I answered lazily.

“Mr. Lewin Truvel, I never thought I’d call you,” came Mr. Sergio’s voice. “This is police officer, Sergio Ohina from the Local National Police, Metro City.” Suddenly, my spirit felt excited.

“W-Why? Did you find something?” I asked eagerly.

“Yes, and it’s quite unexpected. Let’s meet tomorrow at a restaurant nearby and talk about it.”