Detective X's Journal

4 November

Questioning L’s friends:

            Friends barely know about him. L was secretive and did not like talking about himself. They only knew he was working in the publishing house. “We’re friends, but we had a casual relationship.”

L’s co-workers:

            “Oh, that kid. He was nice, but also quiet. Did not talk unless spoken to. He was kind of shy. Well, that might be because we’re all around 25 years old here.” — C

            “I didn’t know him much, but we walk together on our way home when he was taking a night shift to earn extra money. Mostly we just talked about work while walking. It was just a short one, so it didn’t bother me. But he was really a gentleman although he was only a teenager. He let me walk before him to somewhat protect me from thieves.” — Q

            “I hired him because I saw he was really willing to work and earn. He was pretty helpful and worked beyond what he’s supposed to do. Sometimes he fixed, I mean organized, papers. Arrange them alphabetically, separates some things, threw away what wasn’t needed, that sort. But since I was the manager, we had this sense of formality and I never got the chance to get closer to him.” — Manager S

            “Oh...” she suddenly said, and I became alert. I asked what was it.

            “I remember seeing him one night stealing blank papers. Then it was happening multiple nights. I wanted to call him out because papers are also part of our budget, and we’re just a small independent company. But I let it be because he was a good boy. He was also a student, and he might have needed them.”

So Manager S had motive as well.