Murder At The Motel

1. REDRUM

Notebook?
Check.

Voice recorder?
Check.

Other bunch of stuff?
Check.

After zipping up her duffel bag, Paige looked around her room one last time to see if she had missed out on packing anything.

"Hey, where are you going at this hour?" a distant voice coming from outside her room asked.

"Duty calls. Was just given an assignment and I
gotta head there to investigate and get more details," Paige replied to her roommate.

It was an unusual occurrence as Paige's roommate rarely saw her going out at that hour and with a bag packed at that.

"Alright, just take care and text me daily so I will know to send help if you are in trouble," Her roommate said. Paige laughed in response and told her roommate that she would watch her back.

Making her way out of her shared apartment, she hailed a cab that was driving down the street.

"Excuse me sir, are you able to take me to this town? It's a little far since it's located near the outskirts," Paige asked the cab driver, showing him the location of the smalltown on her phone.

The driver didn't say anything except gestured his head towards the backseat of the cab.

Phew. Thank god the driver is willing to take me there.

It took nearly an hour for her to reach her destination. Paying the cab driver, she shut the door of the cab behind her and made her way to the only motel in that town.

"Hi, can I check if there are any vacancies?" Paige asked the motel receptionist.

"Sure missy. There's plenty of room vacant. Take your pick," the receptionist replied, showing her the room keys available behind him.

"Anywhere on the first floor is fine."

Without looking away, the receptionist took a key from behind him and handed it to Paige. She replied with a polite 'thanks' and quickly walked away in search for her room. She was feeling a little creeped out as the receptionist had maintained eye contact with her the whole time while giving the key.

Yeap, it was a good idea to pack my Smith & Wesson's M&P Shield just in case anyone tries to do anything

Once she found her room, she knocked on the door a few times to make her presence known before unlocking it. It may sound ridiculous but it was a habit that stuck to her ever since that one incident. Let's just say that she did not want a repeat of not being able to sleep due to 'poltergeist activities' that kept her up all night during that stay.

Throwing her duffel bag onto the floor, she plopped onto the bed and closed her eyes. A small sigh escape her lips as she could finally have some rest. She nearly fell asleep but was awoken by noises that seem to be coming from the room beside hers. Listening intently, Paige's expression scrunched into disgust when she made out what the sounds were.

"Oh yes! Just like that! I'm c-" Immediately, she took out her wireless headphone and played a song from her music playlist at maximum volume.

Thank f*ck it's noise cancelling too

She only removed her headphones once the battery had died which wasn't very long as she did not had the chance to charge it before leaving. She was relieved the noises had stopped as she was certain she wouldn't get any sleep if her 'neighbours' were to go at it till morning.

Before tucking herself comfortably in bed, she took a quick shower and changed into her nightwear. Strangely, she managed to fall asleep within minutes the moment she shut her eyes.

She was sure she had fallen into a deep sleep as she only awoke to the sound of someone knocking on her room door. Checking her phone, she saw that she had only been asleep for a few hours. Groggily, she dragged herself out of bed and looked into the peephole.

Why are there men dressed in uniform outside my room?

"How may I help you officers?" She greeted the policemen after opening the door.

"Ma'am, I need you to step out of your room and follow us. Watch your step on your way out," The older looking police officer replied.

Confused, Paige took a few seconds to process the officer's words before leaving her room. She halt her step just in time before almost accidentally stepping onto the bloody footprints that was in front of her room's doorstep.

"Um officer, could you briefly tell me what is going on?" She asked, wanting to know if she was in any kind of danger.

"I can't say much but someone was found dead in the room next to yours. An officer will shortly ask you questions and take your statement," Paige eyes widened upon hearing the officer's reply.

Her gut feeling had been telling her that someone had most probably met their demise but she did not want it to be true.

Great! Out of all rooms, why did it have to be the one beside mine? Now I'm probably the number 1 suspect on their list if it was murder!

Feeling a headache coming her way, she decided to sit on the pavement and ease the pain by massaging her temple. The sound of someone clearing their throat made Paige looked up before slowly standing up on her feet.

"Hi ma'am. My name is Officer Jenkins and I will be asking you some questions," the younger police officer spoke. She nodded her head and told him that he could proceed with asking her questions.

"Did you hear anything out of the ordinary last night?"

She responded by shaking her head, informing the officer that she was already sound asleep at around 3am.

"Wait, I don't know if this helps but if only 1 person is found dead, there definitely was someone else in that room cause my god were they so loud while having sex," Paige told the officer, shivering slightly in disgust when the sounds of the couple moaning and grunting started to replay in her head.

After several more questions, the officer thanked her for her cooperation and left. Paige stood at the same spot for sometime, trying to process  that a murder had indeed taken place.

Thank god I brought my phone along. I can try to take some discreet pictures while the police are here.

"Excuse me, may I know when I can get back to my room? I don't mean to sound insensitive but I'm a little tired having woken up early and I would love nothing more than get some rest soon," Paige asked an officer who happened to walk by her.

"Sorry, it might take awhile since the victim is someone very important," the officer accidentally blurted out. Realising what he had just said, he quickly walked off to resume doing his job. Paige eyebrows rose, eager to find out who the victim was.

Knowing that she will not get an answer from any of the officers, she walked to an area where she could get better view of the room. It was still dark so she had to squint in order to see things better with the little amount of light present.

Bile rose in her throat upon witnessing the aftermath of the brutality. She had never seen anything so grotesque that she was nearly on the verge of vomiting.

The victim's hand were tied up above their head, the carpet below them fully soaked in blood. Anyone who passed by could see from afar that the victim's body was close to being cut in half to the point where some of their organs had fallen onto the floor.

To her horror, she swore she recognised the victim of the gruesome murder after catching a glimpse of their face.

Is that Carlos Jones, the CEO of Aqua Water Works?