||||||||

When Jiro was in the elevator he took out his cell phone and called for Calvin who picked up two rings later.

“Yes?”

“Calvin, I need you to give me your friend’s number.”

In an hour Jiro was making his way into a small tidy restaurant. He immediately recognized Ella who was sitting at the table to the left of the door. She had chosen one of the tables that could be seen by anyone when they walked in, she probably sat there so that he wouldn’t miss her when he walked in.

“I just ordered a cup of juice. Do you want anything to eat? You look like you’ve been running around all day.”

“I had a sandwich before making my way here.”

Ella nodded. “So what did you want to talk about?”

“Keven Tian.”

“Hebe’s step brother? Why the sudden interest?”

“That means you knew him?”

“Of course.”

The waiter walked over to place Ella’s cup of juice in front of her and they waited till she was out of earshot before continuing.

“Did you know him well?”

“No. I’ve never seen him around much in particular. He was the type of guys that would disappear without word then pop up without warning.”

“Hebe told me that when she was younger they’d often argue about money. Do you believe he has an obsession with money?”

“He beat up kids in high school who wouldn’t hand him their lunch money. Because I was always with Hebe he never bothered me so I was spared the horror.”

“Do you know anybody else, like a friend, that would happen to know Keven too? I want to garner some information about his money obsession before I do anything else.”

Ella pondered about her decision then said, “I have a friend, Aaron’s current and past love interest to be exact. She might be able to provide you some information. Keven picked on her multiple times so he might have said some things to her.”

||||||||

Selina hadn’t gotten back to her apartment yet. Instead she had found herself pacing back and forth through the city lost in thought. Before leaving work she could see that their little meeting with Keven on the street certainly bothered Aaron. And it was bothering her too. Something from the sudden past that she remembered extremely well was coming back to her. Was it 4 years ago that Hebe’s grandma died? If she graduated 3 years ago then she must have been a junior when Hebe’s grandma passed away. She had gone to the funeral with Ella and Aaron to support Hebe. Plus that was the first time she’d ever truly had a conversation with Keven.

On impulse she called Aaron who answered on her second try, “Were you sleeping?”

“Oh no…I was just trying to relax after an uninvited visitor dropped in.”

“Visitor?” Selina repeated.

“The investigator in charge of the twins’ case.”

“I see. You don’t sound too happy.”

“Actually, I’m very annoyed right now, sorry Selina.”

Selina didn’t say anything.

“You should get some sleep.” Selina advised then hung up only to find that a second later her phone was buzzing.

An unfamiliar voice greeted her from the other line, “Miss Ren, do you have time right now? I realize it’d kind of late, but this is urgent.”

“I’m actually not at home right now. Is there something the matter?”

“Would it be ok for us to meet at a coffee shop?”

Selina found the coffee shop 5 minutes after the phone call and found a man in a green sweater sitting at the table at the front. She walked over and sat down. He appeared to be younger than she’d imagined.

“I’m Jiro Wang, the person who spoke to you on the phone earlier. Sorry to bother you.”   

“I was thinking of some coffee myself, you read my mind actually.” Selina replied.

“This girl knows how to make one feel comfortable,” Jiro thought silently as he observed her.

She was a sophisticated woman judging from the way she walked in, a mature one too. Aaron’s past and current love interest, as Ella had told him, was actually someone very beautiful. Jiro sort of understood why Aaron would fall in love with her and why Keven would pick on her.

“Would you like to order anything?” asked Jiro.

“Just plain coffee.”

“Plain coffee has a pretty strong taste.” Jiro commented then ordered two cups of plain coffee which came to them 30 seconds later.

When Selina began sipping her coffee she suddenly recalled the conversation with Aaron earlier. The investigator…was it this man?

“I’ll get to the point so as not to waste your time Miss Ren.”

“Call me Selina.”

“Selina.” Jiro enunciated her name. “I’m aware that you went to the same university with Aaron, Ella, and Hebe?”

Judging from the fact that Jiro had listed all their names Selina was sure he’d already talked to them all.

“Yes, we all attended the school together. We’d been friends, to be specific.”

Jiro nodded, “I’m not sure if you’re aware of the fact, but I’m the investigator in charge of searching for the twins.”

“I’m aware.”

“Then I would like to ask you about Keven Tian, Hebe’s step brother. As he’s been described to me he’s not a very kind person. Did you see him around much?”

“I doubt he even went to the school, but he appeared a few times.” Selina speculated.

“Did he do anything?”

“I heard from Ella he took money from kids in high school, but college, as you’re aware, is a very different environment. He came, probably only to play around. None of us enjoyed it.”

“Did he do anything in particular?”

“He initiated a few fights and was told to stay off campus by the police, but he kept coming back.”

“Ella told me he picked on you a few times.”

Selina didn’t hesitate with her answer, “I was dating at that time, so it was only on impulse to anger my boyfriend.”

Her boyfriend was probably Aaron, Jiro assumed.

“If you don’t maintain your anger in front of  him then you’re done for. I don’t know if you’ve gained this information, but Hebe’s grandma passed away in my junior year. We went to the funeral and Keven held a conversation with me.” Selina paused then leaned forward to ask, “Are you by any chance investigating Keven?”