"If you are reading this, that means you chose to know me. I know you are desperate, you are eager to know who the person trying to help you is. But don't panic, I am just a normal person trying to do what's right.
I am a friend to someone very close to you, and I know exactly what's going on in your house because even though I am not involved in thr case, my political influence made me cognizant about it.
We don't used to meet often, but we've seen each other tor a couple of times now. You dislike me for some of my behavior, and you are always giving me that look that signifies disdain. If you still didn't know me, one day you will.
But trust me when I say I am a friend to someone very close to you, and that person certainly isn't Jessica. Of course I wouldn't befriend Jessica, who doesn't know her as a spoiled brat in Cornfield?"
When I was done listening to the voice record, I didn't even know when I giggled. He was funny, at the same time right. But why would ge call Jessica a spoiled brat when in fact her mother was doing all her best to teach her morals?
I used to blame Aunt Vicky in the past, but I stopped when I realized that the woman had and was still trying her best to fix the poor girl but the girl just isn't interested. The only thing that could change Jessica is time, and experience.
When she keep on getting herself into trouble and coming out narrowly from those troubles, she would learn to be smart and be a good samaritan. I just hoped she doesn't end up being thrown to jail for a very long time because of her recent mistake, or should I just call it crime.
I clicked on the second folder which was named, "Why I Did It", and I found a voice record as well. This one talked about why he decided to keep himself anonymous and why he decided to help us even though we weren't close to each other virtually or physically.
After explaining those things, he then told me Jessica might not be as innocent as we thought but her friends were, the ones that childishly followed her to the jewelry store to take pictures.
However, there is one friend of hers apart from those guys that knew about her plan to sneak into the jewelry store, he was the same person that apparently stole the missing Jewelries and had left cornfield to sell them in the city. He intended to do that in order to take care of some financial responsibilities or burdens.
I was surprised that the person trying to help knew all that, what I wanted to know was his relationship with the Jessica's friend he wasn't mentioning. For him to know a lot about everything, he must also be involved at some point or he must have known about the whole thing before it even took place.
It was obvious the reason why he decided to reach out to me is because he knew reaching out to the police could have him arrested for knowing all those information and refusing to alert them, but what if he didn't know anything about it beforehand? What if he had only known about it later?
Whatever the case was, to know that much means he was very close to the culprit. And that made him a suspect too. Legend has it, he who chooses to befriend a criminal will always have a share in his crimes, regardless of whether he's innocent or not.
Talking about befriending a criminal, who was that friend Jessica that went into the jewelry store to steal jewelries and indirectly frame Jessica and her friends that went there before him? Was it... Reade? Because Reade was the only bad*ss I knew could do such a thing and he was Jessica's friend too.
Moreover, I heard he wasn't currently in town, and according to the anonymous guy the culprit left Cornfield to the city to sell the Jewelries. What if it was Reade and he went to the city to sell the stolen Jewelries? I guess I should better notify Aunt Vicky about it. Or would that be to early?
I took my laptop and went downstairs to her. Fortunately, she wasn't still on phone. I briefed her about what happened and then played the voice record for her, from the first folder to the second folder. "You said you didn't catch a glimpse of him, right?" she said looking at me somehow.
"Yes, he sent a little girl to me with the folder. Should we talk to Jessica about it? She may be able to identify the culprit, or perhaps we should take the flashdrive to the police for proper investigation" I said as she shook her head,
"No, no... we can't do that. We can't notify the police. Doing that will have Jessica arrested and detained, they would interrogate her until they get a clue as to where the culprit is. We should just, talk to her. She's in her room, let me go and call her" she said and quickly headed to the stairway.
While waiting for her to come back with Jessica, I thought about the possibility of Jessica concealing the truth about the culprit's identity. I mean, Reade promised to help enrolled her into Oxford, right? And he promised to get her a student loan. How then would he be able to pay for their flight there with all the expenses?
I believe he would spend a lot, and it wasn't as if he was rich or from a rich family. Hence it was possible he was the culprit. Jessica must have told him about her plans to sneak into stores to take pictures with her friends, which included the jewelry store. She probably won't tell the truth if it turned out he was the suspect.
When both she and her mother walked downstairs, the look on Jessica's face was filled with happiness, but as soon as I played the voice records, sadness engulfed her face. Her mother waited until the last record reached its abrupt end before she cleared her throat and asked if Jessica had any idea who the culprit was.
"No, I don't" Jessica said, shaking her head negatively. "Laura, who gave you this? Did you made it up? I don't seem to understand, this is an artificial intelligence voice, anybody can use it to send messages anonymously. You can. I can. Anybody can, for God's sake, this is rubbish!"
"Like seriously? Should I give you the contact of the person that sent it to me? He called me first, before opting to chat with me. He wanted to be anonymous, but I am sure the police can get his information using his contact. They can also trace to wherever he is, hence I think we should hand the case over to the police for proper investiga..." I said halfway as she snatched the laptop away from me.
"You are taking this to nowhere, not you and not mom. You will only make things worse, you will disrupt the police ongoing investigation and the longer it takes for them to find the culprit, the longer I remain under house arrest. Is that what you want?" She wrinkled a brow at me, and when she sees how neutral my facial expression was, she turned to aunt Vicky, "Mom, is that what you want, too?"
"No, but..." Aunt Vicky said as Jessica snapped at her,
"Damn, if that's the case then..." she quickly deleted all the three voice records despite our protests.
"What did you just do, Jessica, what is wrong with you?" I snatched the laptop away from her, "You deleted those evidences? Are you insane?" I wasn't happy with what she did, why would she do that. She must be out of her mind, seriously!
"You are the ones who's insane, you made this whole thing up just to nail Reade. I knew you never liked him in the first place, you think everyone is like your friends in the city? Betrayers? No, not everyone is like that. Reade is real, and he didn't steal anything. I didn't even discuss about the sneaking thing with him, you just proved yourself to be a naive young lady, Laura, and I am disappointed in you!" she rolled her eyes at me and began heading to the stairway.
"What the... you think I made this whole thing up? Why would I do that? And even if I am behind it, I am only trying to help you, right?" I said in order to make her understand the fact that the anonymous guy was only trying to help her, nothing more.
"Oh, wow," she turned, "Mom, did you just heard your niece? I told you she's behind it, and look what she's saying, that she's only trying to help me" she scoffed, "Well, please, help me convey this message to her that I don't really need her help if Reade is who she's trying to nail. Reade is innocent, and I know that because I know him. I know what he can do and what he can't!" she hissed and headed upstairs.
Suddenly, tears gathered in my eyes. I didn't even know when I sat on a chair and kept the laptop on the table in front of me. The whole thing was bizarre, Jessica was crazy but what she did this instant proved how crazier she was. As a matter of fact, I was beginning to hate her.
Seeing my expression, aunt Vicky sat on the adjacent chair and pleaded unbehalf of Jessica. "She's just out of her mind, you know... she's not thinking straight. She's under house arrest. She's worried about Oxford. All these makes her go insane. I am so sorry if you are hurt by her words, she will soon understand" she consoled me. I didn't even know what to say, I just nodded my head in acknowledgement of her words and shut my laptop up. "And, you know, she also lost a friend. Fred" she added, making me to glance at her.
"Yes, Fred died but... I don't think Jessica is touched by his death. When I talked to her about him, she told me she didn't care. She practically didn't care about anybody except herself. And I believe if Reade wasn't of importance to her, she would have been the first to accuse him" I muttered.
"What? Why are you saying that? Trust me when I say the girl is just confused, she has a lot going on in her head, that's why she's acting this way. Just give her some time, and please try not to say anything about what happened to anyone, especially the police. And if that anonymous guy calls you again, hand the phone over to me. If he or she is willing to help us, they should just tell us who the culprit is. That's all!" she said.
"Okay aunt, I heard you" I said with my heart broken, I still couldn't believe Jessica could do what she did to me earlier. If she hadn't delete those audio records, I would have sent them to the police for proper investigation.
They may come after her though, but only to get the truth from her. If she admits to telling Reade about her plan to sneak in the Jewelry Store to take pictures, Reade would be traced and apprehended for questioning.
He would also be investigated, and I am sure the police would get what they want from him the fact that he would be arrested when he least expected. As a matter of fact, since he didn't know he was being investigated it would be a lot more easier for the police to get enough evidence to tie him up and declare him the culprit. However, Jessica would never cooperate.
