Enigma Of The Killer Lecturer

Two Sides

"Excuse me, Sir! Miss Soraya Chamberlain has come to show you something!" Said a young policeman.

"Miss Chamberlain? All right, send her in!"

"Okay, Sir!"

Inspector Smith raised an eyebrow, casting a glance at Jason who still hadn't moved from his spot. Three minutes later, Soraya entered his room nervously and looking scared.

"Good afternoon, Miss Chamberlain? How can I help you?" Asked Inspector Smith, trying to remain friendly and calm, so that the girl's nerves would lessen.

Soraya smiled bitterly, she started to have doubts and wondered if her act of informing the police about the mysterious message she received last night was the right decision. However, because David encouraged her to do so, Soraya felt she had no choice.

"I want to report about a mysterious message I received at 2 this morning."

"Mysterious message?"

"Yes, I received a message sent from Diana's mobile number."

"May I see the message?"

"Sure!" She said as she handed the phone to Inspector Smith. Jason who was originally standing in the corner of the room, walked over to Inspector Smith to see the contents of the mysterious message.

These two men read the message together with expressions that clearly showed suspicion. It seems they are starting to determine what case they are actually working on.

"Have you tried calling this number?"

"I tried calling that number a while ago before I came here. But, it's no longer active!"

"This is getting weird! Are you the only one who got this message?"

"No, one of my friends who is also Diana's friend also got the message. But, she thought it couldn't be from Diana. She thinks it's possible it was sent by someone who has done something bad to Diana. I don't know, but tonight that's when I came to where she was asked for. A big pine tree at the entrance to the forest behind the dormitory."

"You went there alone?"

"Yes, I came alone. At first I didn't think about the possibility that the message was sent by a stranger, I came with the hope that I could find Diana and take her home!"

"Listen, Miss Chamberlain! I didn't mean to offend you. But, your actions were very reckless. Came alone into the woods at 2am when one of your friends was missing in the vicinity of the dormitory area. You can be more careful! Avoid lonely places and wander alone, especially until the case is over and we can find some answers."

"I see, I'm really sorry!"

"Can I ask you something?" Jason asked.

"Of course, Sir!"

"You said you came to the forest. While there, did you see or find anything suspicious?"

"No! Since it was dark, I didn't pay much attention. I left immediately when my friend who also received the message came to the place and took me away!"

"Are you referring to the friend of Miss Kimberly Walter?"

"Yes, right!" She said. The two policemen looked at each other while sighing.

"We asked for her statement some time ago. She said she saw a man enter the forest carrying an object quite large and covered with a brown cloth the day after Miss Diana Brown was declared missing."

"A man? B-but, who?"

"She didn't explain in detail what the man looked like because she saw it from quite a distance. Out of fear, she didn't dare to follow this man and chose to tell us yesterday afternoon. Some of our members have already explored the area around the forest, but they didn't find anything. Therefore, tomorrow morning we will return to search around the forest area because Miss Walter is sure that something bad has happened in the forest."

Soraya feel limp, her body shaking. She was sure that the man Kimberly was referring to was Robert Stanley. But, why didn't Kimberly say so last night when they met in front of that pine tree?"

"Kimberly, did she really see Mr Stanley in the woods?"

***

"What? What did they say?" Asked David who looked very curious about the outcome of the conversation between Soraya and the police.

Soraya felt her body go limp. All the troubles that occurred made her completely drained of energy.

"Kim told the police that she saw someone enter the forest behind the dormitory!"

"Kim? Did she say that?"

"Yes, they say she saw the man come in with something quite large and covered in brown cloth. The police will be doing a search around the woods tomorrow. They will dig up the ground and they probably say Diana is dead and buried somewhere."

"Oh my God."

"What did I do, David? I'm sure this isn't true! Diana, I'm sure she's still alive. I'm sure she-"

"Soraya, I've told you before. That the only acceptable possibility at this point is that Diana is dead. She isn't anywhere, everyone has been looking for her even the whole place has been searched for days. But, she's still nowhere to be found. I understand this is hard to believe, but I beg you for now try to control your feelings!"

"David, do you also think that Mr Stanley is involved in this case?"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sure the man Kimberly is referring to seen walking into the woods is Mr Stanley. I'm sures she's trying to get the police to make him a suspect."

"Then, how about you? Do you also think that he was involved?"

"I don't know, I just wanted to accuse him for no reason. I-"

"You don't want to accuse him or you really don't want him to be a suspect, even if all the evidence points to him!"

"David, I-"

"Soraya, I know what you're thinking! You can't lie to me. You're so scared that Kimberly's guess is right. I don't want to say it's true, but I can't say it's not true either!"

"David, I know you've been swayed by the fake news that was written in that article. You were influenced and you believed it! David, you're so unfair. What if all the accusations were against you, but you didn't do anything wrong? Think about how it hurts?"

"Why are you defending him so much?" David was annoyed and immediately asked a frontal question.

Soraya was stunned, she could not answer. She also didn't know why she trusted Robert Stanley who she didn't really know? Soraya did not understand, why she was trying so hard to convince herself that Robert Stanley was the victim of the slander written in the article.

"David, have you ever heard the saying that you should never judge a book by its cover? Have you heard of it?"

"I know what you want to say! But, what if I told you that? What kind of answer would you give? You were carried away by his good looks, charisma and talent, didn't you? A terrible thing. Soraya, I could be wrong in judging who he really is. But, don't forget, you could be wrong too!"

***