They Said They're The Murderers

A day before the winter holiday, the prettiest girl in class, Mandy Smith, died.

She was found dead in the dorm’s toilet. There were eighteen stab wounds on her, and her blood covered the entire floor. The dorm manager found her dead body, and she immediately called the police.

When the other two roommates, Anna Anderson, Fiona Lee, and I, arrived at the dorm, the police and counselor had already arrived. There were students watching outside of the caution tape. Everyone was talking about it.

“Have you heard? There are eighteen stab wounds!”

“The murderer must have hated her!”

“Aren’t there four of them in the dorm? Where are the other three roommates?”

“There they are. The counsellor called them over. It’s them…”

Numerous gazes scrutinized the three of us, as if they were trying to find some clues. None of us spoke; we simply watched as the police entered and exited the crime scene. The counselor that was talking to the police saw the three of us and waved us to come over.

She introduced the lead police officer. “Officer King, these are Mandy’s roommates.”

Officer King sized us up and told us to cooperate when the police took statements. All of us nodded and stood quietly outside of the caution tape.

Anna tugged my sleeve and whispered, “Is she really dead?”

I met her slightly complicated gaze and answered indifferently, “She’s dead.”

Fiona let out a sigh of relief as she snorted. “That’s good.”

The three of us did not look upset at all. Instead, all of us looked strangely calm. It was because all of us hated Mandy.

Ten minutes later, we were brought to the police station to give our statements.

Before she left, the counselor told us to not be afraid. “Just be honest and tell whatever you know to the police. They’ll look into this fairly and justly.”

All of us nodded.

In the interrogation room, Officer King sat in front of me and instructed his assistant to start taking notes.

“Tell me your relationship to Mandy.”

I did not answer. Instead, I asked for a glass of water. Officer King personally poured me a glass of water. His eyes were curious. I held the paper cup with both hands and rubbed it lightly with my fingers.

Then, I met Officer King’s gaze and said, “I’m Rosalie Reid, Mandy’s roommate.”

Officer King indicated for me to continue.

I drank the water in one go. Then, I took out a piece of crumpled paper from my pocket and placed it on the table.

“We were roommates and romantic rivals. I killed Mandy because she was seducing my boyfriend.”