The Wedding Eve Murders

I started to sweat at this. Hurriedly, I tried to explain. “I went home for a bit to freshen up and pick something up before going over.” The timing was so much of a coincidence that I even suspected something amiss myself.

“Do you have any conflict with them? Or maybe some small issues?” Jay changed the subject, but his eyes were still cold.

I ducked my head sheepishly. I mumbled, “The four of us went on a trip once. I slept in late and delayed our plans, and that upset Lysette a bit.

“Things were pretty awkward back then, but Cynthia helped me smooth things over, so we managed to go on the trip in the end.”

“Did Kellan and Lysette ever snub you?” Jay’s questions became more pointed. “Or did they ever mock you?”

I stayed quiet.

I slowly recalled some instances when I felt I had been intentionally left out.

While we were discussing the itinerary for the trip, my suggestions were often ignored. When we took photos together, I was always shot from a bad angle, so the photos came out ugly.

During university reunions, Kellan frequently brought up my crush on Lysette to make fun of me. I knew very well whether this was malicious or in good humor.

Jay zeroed in on my silence and took out another evidence bag. This one held Lysette’s cellphone in it.

He opened WhatsApp and found a group chat named “Teasing the Idiot.” One of the messages stood out to me.

It had been sent at 7:15 p.m. by Kellan.

[Morgan says he’ll be a bit late. What do we do? If he doesn’t come, no one will be here to witness my happiness with Lysette.]

After that, he sent an emoticon that was smiling sinisterly.

Some of Kellan’s pals replied simply below that message.

[Luke: Stop messing with him. He might be a simp for Lysette, but he has pride. He’s better than most guys.]

[Donny: You even made him help with your proposal. He was holding up the sign with the word “love” on it, and he looked like such a clown. You’re so ruthless, man. And now you’re doing this before you get married.]

Lysette replied with a cute, smiling emoticon.

I glared at the word “clown” and felt my body go cold.

So, that was what Lysette thought of me. To them, I was just a fool.

My expression darkened, and I pressed my lips tightly together.

Jay pointed at the screen. “Here, they privately made fun of you and did their planning. There are two group chats, and Cynthia’s in this one as well. Only you are absent. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way they treat you?”

The screen’s cold blue light shone on my dazed face.

Of course, I had. There was no way I could overlook the small offenses they hurled at me. However, I still always considered these people my friends.

My voice was hoarse when I said, “I noticed.”

“Did you maybe wish, just for a second, that they would get into some sort of trouble? Or that their wedding would hit a snag? Maybe you even hoped that something terrible would happen?”

His questions were like a scalpel, unearthing the feelings I had hidden for so long with great accuracy.

I whipped my head up, meeting his calm yet intense gaze dead on.

“Maybe I was a little unhappy with how they treated me, but I never did anything to hurt them! Don’t start accusing me out of nowhere just because you can’t find the killer!”

My voice was sharp in a way I had never heard before.

“But I have proof that you’re not so innocent.” Jay chuckled. He played a clip caught on a surveillance camera in Kellan and Lysette’s neighborhood. I was at the entrance to their building, bundled up in a coat, when I went in. My face was unsmiling, and my gaze was a little distant.

My footsteps were hurried. It looked as if I was hiding from something.

“You said you only arrived after 10 p.m., but this footage shows that you arrived at 8 p.m. You were with them, and you spent time with them tonight. You weren’t doing overtime for that long!

“Morgan Kimmerer, you’ve been lying from the start! You killed these three people!”