Murder Charges Over a Missing Order

I bolted for the school's front gate.It was my birthday, and since I couldn't afford a cake, I secretly ordered myself some barbecue skewers instead. Spicy lamb skewers with ice-cold Coke—just thinking about it made my mouth water.The delivery should've arrived a while ago, and my stomach was already growling. But when I reached the little convenience stand by the gate, the owner told me my order had been picked up an hour earlier.I practically jumped out of my skin. That meal was my entire month's allowance!Seeing how panicked I was, the owner offered to pull up the security footage. He scrubbed to 7:23 pm, and a familiar figure appeared on the screen.With the school uniform, the height, and the way of walking, I instantly recognized him."Isn't that Louis Jones?" The owner frowned. "This kid's always in here buying stuff. Why'd he take your order?"My heart sank. Louis was the top dog in our class and came from money. He never hid how much he looked down on us poor kids.

The police still hadn't made any real progress on Louis' murder when, a few days later, something else happened at school. This time, the one who died was Fred Roth from my class.The news spread before the first period even started. The whole grade was buzzing."Fred Roth is dead, too! It happened last night!""How did it happen?""His mouth was torn open from the corner of his lips all the way to his ears, like he was laughing like mad."My hand, holding a pen, started to shake. Fred was the one who'd been snickering in the crowd that day when Louis humiliated me. He'd been sitting in the back row, thinking I couldn't see him, but I clearly remembered the gloating look on his face."Where was he found?" Micah asked in a low voice."The same back alley behind the school, near where they found Louis' body.""What are the cops saying?""They're saying it was the same killer because of the similar methods. There weren't any real clues left at the scene, too."Rita's face had

"Everyone who died had beef with Jeremiah," someone said."Yeah. Louis stole his food delivery, Fred made fun of him, and John talked trash about him. Now, they're all dead," another person chimed in."You think he did it?""No way. He's so skinny and small. How could he kill guys like Louis and the others?""Maybe he hired someone to do it or had an accomplice.""I just think it's creepy. I'm staying away from him from now on."My heart sank. It seemed my classmates were starting to suspect me.…That afternoon, Captain Colson came to the school for the third time. This time, he called me straight into the administrative office."Jeremiah, I need to verify a few things again." His tone was much stricter than before. "All three victims had direct conflicts with you. Do you really think that's a coincidence?"I tried to stay calm. "I don't know why things have turned out like this, but I really didn't kill anyone.""Then who do you think would murder for you?"The question s

Captain Colson asked, "Thought of anything?"I shook my head. "Nothing yet."But inside, doubt was already creeping in. Was it really Jacob?After I got back from the station, I started replaying every moment I'd spent with him. The more I thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.Jacob really did care about me—but maybe he cared a little too much. He was always the first to know when something went wrong in my life, the first to show up and comfort me. And for all three incidents, he conveniently had a reason not to be in the dorm.That night, I remembered something. The night Louis died, I'd woken up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom and noticed Jacob's bed was empty.Back then, I'd just assumed he'd gone to the restroom. But now that I thought about it, I had no idea how long he'd been gone.And the night Fred had died, Jacob had said he was going to the library to look something up. But the next day, when I'd asked the librarian about it, she said she'd n

Jacob looked confused. "The administration inspection?"Mr. Vale stared straight at me. "Why don't you ask your good friend about that? Make him tell you what he said to the administrators!"I felt the blood drain from my face. I'd almost forgotten about that incident."Because of one thing he said, I lost my shot at being named an outstanding teacher, lost my promotion, and lost my girlfriend!" Mr. Vale's voice grew more and more agitated. "My mom's dying wish was to meet my girlfriend. We'd already planned everything, but the day before we went to see her, my girlfriend dumped me."The next day, my mom died from the shock. He ruined my whole life! That's why I wanted to give him a taste of what it's like to lose everything!"Jacob stared at me in disbelief. "Jeremiah, is that true?"I wanted to explain, but the words stuck in my throat."I started with the people around him. I killed them one by one so everyone would suspect him. I wanted him to know what it was like to be com