The Longest night

冬至 [12] / [16]

How long had he slept? He woke up after hearing a voice. It was Anna.

"You tired? I got some coffee and scones."

she handed Alexander hot, chocolate-aroma black coffee, which is the coffee bean flavor he was fond of.

"I prefer the acidic flavor."

Ed muttered quietly. Anna ignored him.

"Ah, thanks, Anna. Hadn't you gone to search out another district with Tony?"

Alexander asked her.

"Yes, and we finished. There was no CCTV coverage of course. Besides, the number of dwellings were not many at all. If it's necessary we have to investigate by questioning each residence, then so be it. We could keep this investigation going at least until we get a picture or something. The evidence is desperately sparse."

Anna sighed.

Alexander tapped her shoulder with his palm lightly. Even though her face got flushed, Alexander couldn't see it since he was behind her. Alexander found out what time it was now, and he was surprised. It was already past 7 a.m.

"Damn! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"Anna got here a little while ago, we finished watching the footage."

Ed answered, showing him some pictures which were captured from the CCTV video. Only silhouettes were seen from a very far angle. He could distinguish only whether people were wearing a cap or not, and the color of the clothing people were wearing.

"Whew."

Alexander shook his head.

"It was as you told me, the number of people going in and out was not many. But this person caught my eye."

Ed submitted another picture. It looked like a person covering their head with a hood.

"It's not a crime to wear a hood, but if anyone looked suspicious, It'd be this person. The time he or she entered this alley was 5:40 p.m. There's no trace of this person going out from the alley. That could mean the person lives there, and is roaming around the alley still, maybe leaving through another way, or ascending to heaven, one might be the answer out of these 4 possibilities,” Ed finished.

Alexander looked at the picture again. It was literally a person wearing a hood, with just their silhouette visible; nobody could even tell if the person was a male or female.

"We haven't even figured out if this person left the alley yet?"

Alexander asked.

"No, there isn't any CCTV coverage."

Anna answered this time.

Alexander was extremely exhausted. He lost his will to work in the face of the vast possibilities before him. A hoodie was something you can easily use to obscure your identity. Hell, the person could even be a woman. He tried to get his headache to subside by pressing both his temples with his forefingers.