The Longest night

冬至 [13] / [16]

"Are you alright?"

Anna asked with a worried voice.

Ed intervened,

"I will go canvas the area with Anna, you can just go home and take some rest. I will call you if something happens. How about it?"

Ed put his hand on her shoulder while he said this and Anna answered,

"I got it," while avoiding his hand.

"I'm sorry you caught me napping on the job."

Alexander said this jokingly, but he honestly felt embarrassed.

"Just buy us each a drink after we solve the case," Ed said.

"Let me ask you a favor first. I need to see my sister for her birthday today. I haven't visited her yet,” Alexander said as if it just occurred to him.

"Oh, do you have a sister?"

Anna asked with a surprised look.

"Yeah, my sister is about the same age as you."

Alexander smiled weakly, and she smiled back.

"Of course, no problem. Let's go, Anna."

Ed answered Alexander rather carelessly, and left. The smile was wiped from Anna's face.

“I will see you at the office then.”

Anna said, and followed Ed.

"See you guys later on."

Alexander spoke in a loud voice to their backs.

He remained alone, leaning his head on the back of his chair. His figure was haggard, and it reflected back at him from the mirror on the opposite side of the room. His mind had to deal with countless sorts of emotions, and this placed a lot of strain on his body too. He was worn out. He went home with the intention of going back to work after a short shower. But as soon as he perched himself on the couch, he fell asleep despite himself.

He didn't know how much time had passed. He opened his eyes when he heard the phone ring.

"Where are you?"

It was Cynthia.

"I went home just for a moment.”

He cleared his throat to hide his voice, which deepened due to drowsiness.

"I will be back soon.”

He said this rather hurriedly, as if she was going to scold him for going home when he pleased.

"Take your time. Anna is interviewing the victim. Have you found anything?"

She asked. Her voice softened, unlike her tone in the office.

"Nothing. The only thing we got was a silhouette of the person who entered the alley from that CCTV recording.”

He answered by carefully retracing his thoughts.

"The DNA test results are back. Do you remember the 3rd victim, Daniel? The DNA is the same."