Chapter 9: CHAPTER 8 : WANT A SANDWICH ?
Writing down her notes , Anika glanced at the clock that hung on the wall as its ticking sound filled the room along with the occasional sounds of Anika turning the pages of her notebook and the sound that came from her cup hitting the glass table .
She was planning on staying awake the whole night with only caffeine in her system. Ava , her dear friend was happy enough to spend the night at the office itself , for she didn't want Anika to feel alone , besides she felt Anika should not be left alone anywhere considering the fact that she was threatened twice .
Finishing with her work , she payed attention to the the ticking noises that were heard , desperate to hear another sound . Ringing Ava , she stood up and walked around her room waiting for her to come to her office , and soon enough Ava was there.
" Do you want something ? Did you hear another noise ?. " She whisper - asked as she closed the door behind her.
" I don't want anything , we would know if they infiltrate the perimeter . Johnathan's back at home with his computer , checking on us , and James and Rick are patrolling around our house and the office perimeter , besides I have not heard a single other sound and that's been irritating me for a while , so what about you ? "
"I am okay , I rechecked the whole place , it's fully locked up , all of the securities are outside and they have whatever they need . The new set of students are in the camera room and none of them seem to be even close to , blinking. Honestly , if that was me , I would have been sleeping and that's why I was never trained for the camera room . My teacher knew about how good I was at staying awake . "
Smiling at her , I noticed the bag that was hanging on her shoulder . " What's that ?"
" Oh , I almost forgot , I brought snacks . Want a sandwich ? " Ava spoke taking two out of her bag .
" Sure . " Anika spoke taking one of them.
" So what did they find about the painting? " Ava asked biting into her sandwich .
Opening up a file that laid on my desk , I searched for the page , where the pictures were present.
" Ha . " I spoke out , finding the page , turning the file to Ava who leaned forward , curious to see what the boys had found .
Pointing at one of the images , I said ," This is how the original one looked , " immediately pointing to the picture of the painting's latest state , I continued , " and this is how it looked at the party night. "
" The man on the right , is Mr.Hayes's grandfather , from the paternal side , Mr . Alexios Hayes . The man along with him went missing during the 1960's ."
" What's his name ?" She asked as I shrugged at her . I had absolutely no idea who he is, neither did the boys .
" Are you okay now ? " Ava asked , catching my attention.
"Yeah , I am fine . Why did you ask? "
"The girl named Lys - "
" Syl " I corrected .
"Well, Syl told me you were bawling your eyes out when you both were coming back ."
" I am fine . " I spoke as the guilt that was hidden deep in my mind started gnawing its way to the top .
Taking a bite of my sandwich ,I looked back at her as she nodded at my answer , she spoke , " It's okay , you tried your best . " Listening to her , a tight smile formed on my face.
" You know , it good that they called off the meeting. I dont think I would have the power to sit through it ." I said , swallowing the sandwich I had in my mouth .
" Right ." She spoke as a grin formed on her face .
~
We walked out of the bathroom after washing our hands. " What are you going to do now? " Ava asked as she walked along with me .
" Do a bit more of digging, see what more I can find. What about you ? "
" I am pretty much free , I know all the stuff I need byheart , so if you need help , tell me ."
"Sure."
" You are going next week , right ? " I asked looking at her .
"Yeah, precisely Wednesday . "
" How many more days do we have ? "
" Um , three and a half days , I will be leaving at three ( noon ) and will reach there the next day before 12:30 ( noon ). "
"We should go to that restaurant before you go."
"We are ' not ' going there . There is someone out there trying to kill you , you idiot . " Ava voiced out .
Sighing , I walked to my seat . " Want me to tell you the rest of the things about the case then ? "
"Sure".
Getting comfortable on my seat , I showed her the pictures of the well. " You know how we talked back at home about why Mr . Hayes was hanged and not drowned . "
" Yeah . "
"It's because , the well is not completely filled with water . Look at this pic. " I showed her a picture that was in the file.
" Underneath all this water is glass . "
" Glass ? Why Glass ? "
" I dont know , maybe it's Mr. Hayes's secret room and about the mansion the party was at . It belonged to Alexios Hayes."
" Oh , I thought it was a place they rented out. "
" The water in the well is not that deep though , it would hardly reach till my knees. It just looks deep. " I said now leaning back , folding my arms.
" You know , I think the glass is not that thick .
I was thinking about checking out the area again , maybe bring Rick along as well. I will contact the police , let them know about what we are going to do. "
" If it is a room , where do you think the door to it would be ? " Ava asked doubtfully , a frown etched its way onto her face.
" I think it would be somewhere in the mansion itself . I have got a lot of pictures with me , maybe look at them , see if I can find anything with just them . "
" The killer definitely knows the building properly , but sadly for us , the cameras were off till the day of the party where it again went off when he decided to visit , otherwise maybe we could have found him. "
" Did his post mortem report come ? "
" I don't think so , if it would have , Syl would have called me . "
" Well then , I will be around . " Ava said as she got up from the chair she was sitting on for the past minutes . " Anything you need , call me ." She completed as she winked at me .
" Sure . "
" The new weapons have arrived. " I spoke remembering the officers I had seen walking into the armory room , with many weapons , most of them which I had no idea what they were .
" We will have to select new weapons tomorrow . "
" Great . Its been a while since they brought something new. " My friend spoke as she stood near the door , her hand on the handle .
" Well then , see you later . " I spoke as she walked out of the room .
Anika sat through the night , with the decision to not spend even an ounce of sleep . The whole night went smoothly just like she had wished with frequent visits from Ava and calls from her team mates , but her promise to herself was broke as she slept soundly almost from four in the morning , with the sun slowly making its way up .
A new day had began.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Diyalekshmi_Pn
Diyalekshmi_Pn New chapter . I am having exams currently so I might take a lot of time , before updating a new chapter.
Stay safe . Stay healthy .
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