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🕑 Added 2025-03-21 05:54:07 +0000 UTCAnatomy of a Killer
Chapter 17 - The Girl in the Woods, Part 6
Larry looked at the information in his personal notebook and sighed with some fatigue; he had found little from his first interview.
Alejandro was a boy who maintained a close friendship with Greta Mayer, the victim of a violent murder. During the interview, he presented himself as reserved and reluctant to share details about his relationship with Greta, though he did not display signs of extreme anxiety or the evasive behavior typical of someone with guilt.
At first, Alejandro was closed off and uncooperative, which could be interpreted as a defensive attitude in response to adult scrutiny. However, his behavior changed significantly when Larry actively participated in the interrogation. At that moment, his body language and facial expressions reflected surprise and a sudden need to communicate, indicating that his previous silence did not stem from a desire to hide his own involvement but rather from the emotional pressure he felt regarding the situation and external judgment.
In conclusion, Larry discovered that this boy did not exhibit signs of latent aggression or psychopathic traits linking him directly to the crime. His primary conflict seemed to stem from the influence of adults and their interpretations of his friendship with Greta. His distant attitude was not a strategy for concealment but a typical reaction of a minor who felt misunderstood or judged.
Wanting a closer connection to the case, Larry decided to interrogate Camila, who was Nicolás’s girlfriend and was likely at the center of everything.
"Where were you between 5:00 p.m. on January 1st and midnight on January 2nd?"
Camila’s eyes instantly widened, and she glared at the two adults in front of her with anger. “Are you asking me this because you suspect me? If I were the murderer, do you think I’d be crazy enough to try and find out if she was the girl they found?”
Sergeant Doakes was tired of being treated like garbage by students, so this time, with an unfriendly look, he slammed the table hard. “Answer the question and stop talking nonsense!”
"I must remind you that we are only investigating the cause of Greta Mayer’s death, so we expect your cooperation." This time, Larry had to intervene in the initial interrogation and said, "According to both adults and classmates, you and Greta had a good friendship. If you were truly her friend, don’t you want to help the police catch the killer?"
Camila was upset, frustrated, and not in the mood to feel the compassion of adults who didn’t actually care about her friend’s death.
"I went home at the usual time; my father picked me up around three. I didn’t leave the house after I got back. If you’ve done your research properly, you’ll see that I didn’t stay for the New Year’s activities our high school always holds. But that day, I wasn’t feeling well from something I ate, so I went home earlier than planned."
"Can your father confirm that?"
Camila, who had barely been holding back her emotions, broke down instantly. She stood up and slammed her left hand on the table. “Greta and I were good friends, even if others don’t think so!”
"Now she’s dead! When she was alive, she never cared about what others said about our relationship. She always valued my friendship more because it was genuine and not fake like everyone else’s."
Larry assessed Camila, first looking directly into her eyes and then lowering his gaze to her hands.
"Sit down!" Sergeant Doakes, who had little patience, snapped at the girl, who seemed oblivious to the gravity of the situation.
"You say you went home earlier than planned because you weren’t feeling well. Can anyone else in your house confirm that you were actually there all night?" Larry began pressing Camila, looking for inconsistencies in her alibi without outright accusing her.
"Now we’re interested in why you’re so upset..." Once Camila sat down again, Larry continued, "You said Greta didn’t care about the rumors regarding your friendship. Does that mean there were people who doubted your relationship?"
Camila, who was beginning to cry, murmured, "We had our arguments... I gave her advice she didn’t want to hear, and that annoyed her..."
"When was the last time you spoke to Greta? Did you fight again?"
"We just argued about the same things..."
"Are you Nicolás’s girlfriend?"
"Yes..."
"Did you know that Greta also liked Nicolás? If you were friends, she probably never would have expressed her feelings so openly. I’m almost certain she didn’t know you were dating Nicolás, but the others did. Don’t you think it was cruel not to tell her?"
Camila lifted her head, looked at Larry, and through clenched teeth asked, "Does that have anything to do with the case?"
"Answer the question!"
"I never told her. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings."
Beside them, Professor Dave kept his stern gaze fixed on Camila. After all, she was speaking with a lot of aggression, and seeing that the two officers weren’t being too hard on her, he chose to remain silent.
After finishing the interrogation, Nicolás emerged from the adjacent room as soon as he left the office.
Camila acted as if she were weak and walked toward him. The dominant attitude she had displayed vanished completely, and the two walked toward the classroom side by side.
Sergeant Doakes felt a chill run down his spine and spoke in a low voice, “Something is happening right in front of us, and I have no idea what it is.”
"Don’t talk about this here! The teachers would do everything in their power to prevent us from continuing the investigation if they think the murderer is one of their students."
"I’ll handle the rest." Ángel, who had just finished interrogating the other two children, looked at Larry and nodded.
They had to compare the entry and exit times of all the individuals with the transcripts. The truth was, it was an incredibly arduous task.
Larry’s phone vibrated. He took it out and saw that the test results had been sent by Dexter, who was responsible for analyzing the blood.
All the bloodstains on the murder weapon belonged to the deceased.
The more than 300 blood-stained sand samples they had provided also belonged to Greta.
No second DNA was found on any of the clothing, knives, nails, etc., that had been sent for inspection.
Larry, also quite puzzled, forwarded the results to Sergeant Doakes. After reading them, he nodded and continued reviewing the surveillance footage.
At that moment, Larry seized the opportunity to take note of Nicolás’s statement, in which he had openly denied his relationship with Camila when interrogated by Ángel.
"They surely always kept it a secret. Their circle of friends would fall apart if they knew the two of them were dating." Ángel suggested what might have happened within that group of five friends.
"Something didn’t add up…" Larry kept thinking, always feeling like something was missing, but he couldn’t grasp that fleeting spark of inspiration.
He continued pondering Nicolás and the other five people, and all the conflicts between them spiraled into a vicious cycle.
As they had lunch, Larry analyzed all the answers the other two students had given to Ángel’s questions during the interrogation.
They didn’t have much time. It would have been ideal for Larry to question all those students, but even they couldn't apply too much pressure, or they would be accused of overstepping their authority with minors.
Even if they proved otherwise, it would still delay the investigation.
"I have to check…" At that moment, Larry called the pathology department.
His request was simple: he wanted Greta’s body to be thawed because he planned to perform another autopsy the next day.
Since there was no concrete evidence yet, Larry had to see if anything had been overlooked.
But at that moment, even for someone like him, who rarely slept, exhaustion was setting in. So, he went home to rest.
At 5:25 AM on January 4, 2006, just after waking up, Larry received a call from Sergeant Doakes.
All traces of sleep vanished instantly, and Larry quickly pressed the answer button.
"What happened?"
"Forensic doctor Luk, please come to the high school immediately. A student has been found dead!"
Larry sat up abruptly; his drowsiness disappeared in an instant.
"A girl?"
"Yes, the victim is Camila Wells!"
Sergeant Doakes’s voice was hoarse, as if he hadn't rested all night.
Larry hung up, jumped out of bed, changed clothes, and rushed out. Driving his car, he sped towards the high school gate, where the police had already set up a perimeter.
On the other side of the street, another vehicle came to a stop, and Ángel hurried out.
When Ángel saw Larry, he ran over to help him with his equipment.
The security guard, who had seen them both the day before, was terrified when he heard that someone had died. But this time, there was no stopping them as they headed straight for the dormitory area.
Not far from the entrance, an auxiliary police officer was already waiting to guide them to the scene.
They passed by the school cafeteria and the library before reaching the rear area, a dense pine forest. The trees were so tall that they completely blocked out the sunlight.
As a result, the ground was covered with only pine needles and dead leaves, with not a single blade of grass on the hard soil.
A low, hollow wall, stretching several hundred meters, separated the forest from the residential area.
Sergeant Doakes, who was already at the scene, saw them approaching and rushed toward them.
"I’m on my way!" Larry nodded from a distance.
"This confirms one thing: the killer is definitely in the school." Larry stated while putting on his investigation suit, gloves, and a mask.
"At 5:00 this morning, we received a call from the high school’s night security guard. He said that when he got up to patrol as usual, he saw a flashing light in the forest, so he ran to check it out."
"The guard feared there might be mischievous students, so he inspected the area. After all, a student had died two days ago, so this was part of the school's protocol."
"But when he circled the forest, he saw no one. However, when he reached this spot, he found a girl in a white school uniform sitting right there," Sergeant Doakes said, pointing to the cordoned-off area.
"The guard approached, checked on the student, and when he realized she was dead, he immediately called the police."
