The November project 2020, part 14

I couldn’t stay in there for one minute longer. With clenched teeth I quickly gathered my things and walked out of the room as fast as I could. Cursed to myself over what had just happened. Wrote angry messages to my friends on the bus home, wanted confirmation that Vera was the crazy one in all this and not me. Mona agreed. So did Lydia.    In the middle of all messages I got a notification from my e-mail app as well. I usually only got ads there, but this seemed to be from an actual person. I didn’t recognize the address, however. Who, that I didn’t know, had my e-mail? And wanted to write to me?    Frank. He had written from his private address, for some reason. Maybe because he wasn’t allowed to write to me about these things? I could of course understand that, with all information classified as confidential at this early stage. I kept reading. “we’re working hard”… “lots of interrogations”… “classified data”… hold on, “Do you want to meet me at the hut”? He wanted to meet up after all? For an interrogation, or what? He didn’t specify. But sure, if he wanted to hear about my run that got cancelled halfway through then who was I to stop him. I went there the next day. The cordon tape had been removed, but there were still no cars in the parking lot except for Frank’s own. Maybe people hadn’t got the memo yet that they were free to roam again? Or did it still feel wrong to them? As if the whole forest was a graveyard now, even though the body had been moved a long time ago?    He stood leaning against his car in private clothes when I got there, but lit up as soon as he saw me.    - Hello there Alba! So glad you could make it.    - Well, yeah, I thought it was important.    - In what way?    - No like, I thought you wanted me to come for a hearing.    - Oh, well, in that case you would have got an official letter by ordinary mail. No, I suggested we’d meet up here today since you seem so eager to know more about the case, but as you may have understood, there isn’t much I can reveal without breaking several laws regarding confidentiality. That’s why we’re here now, just you and me, off-hours –    - Hold on, a cop breaking the law?    - It’s more common than you think. If you only knew what the patrol guys are up to… they often claim that’s either self-defense or that they do certain things just to show them who’s boss, but in my opinion they sure take it down a notch. And if you knew all the things they ask you to shut up about! That’s just the culture there. I would have quit a long time ago, but solving crimes is the only thing I know how to do. What else would I do for a living you know?    - Well now, I don’t think it’s ever to late to re-educate yourself. I have a classmate who is 45. I don’t know how old you are but, if you wanna try out something else, you can! There’s no upper age limit.    - Maybe, maybe… anyway. I asked you to come here because I think you can be useful. You seem to have an eye for all the people that come into the hut. Like you find personality traits and notice details no one else really thinks about.    - Vera does that too, probably even more than me.    - Yes, but she doesn’t have the same will to help out with this as you do. I think you can help me find the puzzle piece I’m missing when it comes to mapping out suspects. Do you have a key so we can sit down inside?