The Detective and Her Bachelor

Chapter 15

Solving a mystery is full of long hours of staring at a whiteboard covered in notes, images, and more questions than answers. It's like playing the staring game, but the stakes are higher and the consequences are blood and death.

I thought Decker's living room was far too normal for a man in his line of work until I realized he kept all of his detective leanings in his office. A room that looked like it belonged to a clean freak turned psychopath.

The walls were all whiteboards organized into categories divided by black tape. I spotted sections of the walls that were dedicated to mysteries that our company had been working on for months. The ones that had yet to be solved. Decker's handwriting was splashed across the walls, all thick ink, and sharp lines.

It would have been funny if the crimes we had been working on weren't so serious.

Decker's dedication and love for the job was evident as I turned in a full circle, taking in the walls covered in mysteries. They screamed passion, determination, and a drive that left me breathless. Like a set of wallpaper that made up the inner workings of his thought process.

"Holy crap," I muttered. "If I didn't know you better I'd assumed you were crazy..." I shook my head. "Even now I'm not so sure."

Decker who stood at a small table in the center of the otherwise empty room snorted, glancing up at the walls as if seeing them in a new light. "Part of the job," he said before opening a drawer under the table and pulling out a black marker. "You don't know what you don't know until you can see everything laid out. Makes it easier for me to think and keep track of things."

Decker walked over to a section of the wall marked with the words 'Hearts Don't Lie,' at the top, and began to write down the contestant's names. His eyes were distant as he took a step back, the end of the marker resting against his chin as he stared up at the board.

"I'll talk to Bianca as soon as she has been dismissed from the house and see what she knows," Decker said.

I nodded, staring up at the board, trying to organize my thoughts. "What I don't understand is why someone would drug Bianca several days AFTER she may have seen who killed Kacey Grail."

Decker underlined Bianca's name several times. "The show gives Bianca a platform. Whoever drugged her may have wanted Bianca off the show before she could say anything that could incriminate them."

"Well they got what they wanted then," I replied, running a hand through what was left of the crowned braid at my temples. "She's being asked to leave tonight."

"Good." Decker said, writing 'interview' next to Bianca's name. "She shouldn't be trapped there. It'll be easier to keep her safe and ask her questions without having a thousand cameras around."

Decker turned to glance at me from where I stood staring up at the board next to him. "You need to continue playing the game. Stay low and stay... interesting." He waved his hand vaguely. "At least long enough for us to figure out who is behind this."

Below the contestant's names, Decker wrote 'USB,' followed by 'Wonder Twins.'

Decker and I had listened to the USB drive's file with Kacey's last moments and Decker seemed just as confused as I was that the police hadn't viewed that as enough proof to open up an investigation.

"I'll have Hudson and Hunter play with the file and see if they can uncover anything." He tapped his chin with the marker again. "But we need to be careful. If the police don't think there is something—."

"But there clearly is," I added with an edge. "They're blind if they don't see that. We should involve them. They need to know—"

Decker shook his head, eyes suddenly dark. "We shouldn't involve them. Not now. They are blatantly ignoring evidence."