Imagines and One-Shots (Book Three)

Reputation (Luke Hemmings) - Part 4 *

Warning: Mentions of murder/death

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"As you all know, during today's meeting, we're going to be focusing on security footage," Professor Cortell said.

"Seriously?" Reagan cocked an eyebrow, "We're finally allowed to look at it?"

"Yeah, what's with the sudden change of heart from the police here?" Lydia wondered, "Do they finally trust us?"

"We'll only be looking at the cameras outside," he went on, "Despite the fact that you'll all see something like this one day in person, the department and I can't come to an agreement when it comes to the actual footage of the crime. But Miss Y/L/N managed to convince them to allow us to see at least some of the things caught on camera."

"Of course," Maya snorted softly, "Anything to protect her boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend," you grumbled in response, only earning eye rolls from your fellow classmates.

"In any case, this is an incredible opportunity," the Professor interrupted, "And I've assured Officer Reede that it won't go to waste, are we clear?" The class murmured soft affirmations, eager to get started.

"So this is..." Reagan trailed off as Officer Reede went up to the computer to play the video on the projector for you.

"This is the time Mr. Hemmings walked into the gas station," he answered. He started the tape at 1:17am, letting it fast-forward to 1:24am: the exact time Luke came into frame. "Mr. Hemmings walks in at 1:24, buys a coffee and a candy bar, and leaves at 1:29."

"He bought a coffee at 1:30 in the morning?" Spencer raised his eyebrows.

"Yes," the Officer nodded, "He says he was working on a Psychology paper and needed to keep himself awake, so he walked to the closest place that had coffee."

"Hmm," the boy sitting across from you snorted, "Not gonna talk him out of that one, Y/N?"

"I told you guys I'd focus on facts," you stated, tapping your pen on your notebook, "And the facts are that Luke was there the night Torres was killed. I'm not gonna sit here and say I don't see him on the tape."

"But...?" Maya rolled her eyes.

"But he left 20 minutes before the cashier was killed – those security cameras prove it."

"So what you're saying is he left the gas station and then came back 20 minutes later with a mask on," Reagan said.

You pinched the bridge of your nose as you exhaled slowly, doing your best to maintain your composure. You then got up without another word, and Officer Reede stepped away so you could get to the computer. You pulled up the footage from both the 1:24am and the 1:44am timestamps, putting them side-by-side so everyone could see it better.

"This is Luke Hemmings walking into the gas station at 1:24," you informed the group, pausing the video on the left as Luke walked through the door, "This-" You pointed to the video on the right. "-is 20 minutes later, when the murder takes place at 1:44."

"Okay," Spencer crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat, "Why are you showing us Hemmings murdering Torres again?"

"I'm showing you both men walking through that doorway," you glared at him, "I'm showing you the top of Luke's head nearly touching the top of the door frame while the other man's head lines up with the middle of the top glass panel. In case you need another breakdown of that, here you go: Standard doorways are 6'8''. Luke Hemmings stands at 6'4" tall, making the man who robbed the gas station and murdered Adrian Torres roughly 5'7". So unless Luke chopped off his own legs from the upper calf down just to make sure no one would realize it was him, I'm finding it incredibly unlikely that he was the murderer."