I was standing in Mitchell's room. It was harder than I expected it would be. It would have been somewhat better if the room was drastically changed. It would have been like her death has changed something. But what broke me as soon as I entered the room was, nothing had changed. The apartment had come furnished when Mitchell rented it. So, the bed she slept in, the dressing table in front of which she used to get ready, the table where she used to study, everything was in its place. Granted, they were not as clean as when she lived here. She used to be a cleanliness freak. Everything in the apartment has to be in order and in place. I used to resent that but what wouldn't I give now to have her lecture me about how messy I kept the kitchen.

Warm tears started to wet my cheeks again. I sat heavily on the bed hiding my face in my hands. It was just not fair. She was very young. She had dreams just like the rest of us. She didn't deserve to die. Sadness turned to anger like it always happened whenever I thought about Mitchell's murder. Whoever did that, shouldn't be roaming around freely in this world. They should be behind the bars or better in an electric chair. Police were still investigating the case without any real breakthrough.

If only I had paid attention to what was happening in her life. I knew no one in her life other than Kevin. The police were almost convinced that Kevin was the culprit. But something in me, which saw Kevin who made a big scene when Mitchell cut her hand while making him a sandwich, the Kevin whose face always lit up whenever he saw Mitchell walk out of her room and the Kevin about whom Mitchell talked with such love in her eyes, couldn't believe that he could kill her.

Heck, they went for a movie, the day before the murder and Kevin dropped her home with a good night kiss at our doorstep. Why would he kill her all of a sudden? I didn't know the answer. But if he didn't do anything, why was he on run? My head felt like it could explode any second with the number of thoughts that were running in my brain. I looked at the small key in my hand and the reason why I was here came back to my mind. This was the key to Mitchell's, now empty, closet. I had come to see if there was anything left behind of Mitchell's belongings. Detective Graham said that Mitchell's parents had cleared her room. But the curtains and the sheets left behind were proof that her parents had not cleared away everything completely. I had to make sure everything was in order before Noah Carlson moved here this weekend.

After Noah and I sealed the deal, we went to the landlord and changed the lease from Mitchell's name to Noah's.

It was still strange to think I was going to live with a practical stranger. Thanks to the background check run by Jane's cop uncle I was not worried about Noah being a serial killer. He was from Los Angeles and was pursuing a business degree at Harvard. No criminal record. Jane remarked that he was hot on seeing his photo and advised me to try to see if there was any chance for possible sparks flying, completely forgetting that she was the one who arranged our disastrous blind date with the same dialogues. But honestly, in my current mental condition, I doubted there would be any sparks flying even if I live with Chris Hemsworth. I was still wary of this Noah guy. I would continue to be for quite some time I guess.

The only reason I agreed for Noah living here was my fear of living in a murder spot. I knew it was absurd. I knew I was being paranoid. But I felt like someone was watching me, every moment. I couldn't help but always look over my shoulder to confirm that no one was there. It was like something ominous was there with me in this apartment. I didn't admit this even to Jane. She would just say I was hallucinating due to the recent circumstances. The police would probably tell the same. So, a roommate was the best option I had.

I gave out a long sigh and got up from the bed. This room was similar to mine but different. I had never been into this room often. I was a big believer in giving space to people and I didn't enter this room if it was not an emergency. Mitchell too always gave me my space. We were not really drinking cosmos, braiding each other's hair and talking about the guys; type of roommates they show in Hollywood. Though I wished, I spent more time with her than I did.

Even the decoration of our rooms showed the utter difference between us. The door of my closet was filled with pictures of my favorite movie stars and cricketers. Not only my closet but all the walls were filled with one poster or another. But Mitchell's room was plain. There was a small picture of Kevin and her at the Empire State building during their trip to New York. It was six months ago. I opened the closet with the key in my hand. It was empty. So, her parents had cleared her wardrobe. I couldn't even imagine how painful it would be to pack your dead daughter's belongings into a bag. The closet was dusty due to weeks of negligence. I carefully went through the closet to see if anything was to be returned.

Apart from the occasional scarf and cheap bead chains, there was nothing of importance in it. I found a plastic bag to keep them. While I was walking out of the closet, I felt something fall into my shirt. I dropped the bag in my hand in shock and started ruffling my shirt hurriedly, to get whatever it was out of it. A spider fell out causing me to utter a shrill scream in terrified surprise. I started to run out of the closet. In this attempt, I slipped and fell flat on my back.

"Oh my god." I groan at the sharp pain in my back. I laid there, watching the spider which caused this mayhem, slowly crawling back to its web. After a minute, I slowly got up supported on my elbows and stood back on my legs.

"I'm going to make Noah clean these freaking webs as soon as he arrives," I swore under my breath and looked down for the bag, with my hands on my hips. The bag fell to a corner. I sighed and picked up the bag from there. As soon as I removed the bag, my eyes caught on something shiny at the bottom of the wall. I looked at it intently to find that it was a keyhole. A gold-colored small keyhole was fitted into the wall. You can't see it if you are not very close to the wall.

"A secret compartment?" I said with surprise. I didn't remember seeing one in my closet. I looked at the key in my hand. I wondered if the closet's key could fit into this hole. I placed the key in the hole and turned it. It clicked into place. I felt through the wall to find an opening and found it. I pried the drawer open. I didn't know what I expected but it was certainly not a small plastic cover. I removed it from the drawer and observed it carefully. It was sealed with tape.

I knew I shouldn't invade a dead girl's privacy, but my curiosity got the better of me. I slowly peeled the tape open and put my hand into the cover. My hand came in contact with something small and hard. I took it out. I was looking at a small SD card.

As soon as I saw it, my first thought was to ring detective Graham to tell him that I found something suspicious in Mitchell's closet. But it might be nothing. It might be a bunch of old videos and some music. I couldn't exactly bother the police without knowing if it was helpful to the case or not.

Before I could choose my course of action, the calling bell rang pulling me out of my thoughts. I hurriedly wrapped the card in its cover and put it in my jeans pocket. I walked to the front door and peeked out of the peephole. Noah Carlson was moving impatiently from foot to foot out the door.

What was he doing here now? He was not due until the weekend. It was still Thursday. I opened the door and asked him the same.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." Noah rolled his eyes.

"Sorry," I said and looked at him. He had a bag in his hand. He followed my gaze.

"About that," he looked at me embarrassed, "I'm moving in a little earlier than we decided. My landlord is already storing some construction equipment in my apartment and I thought 'Hey I leased an apartment. Let's go there.' So I dropped some of my things in a bag and drove here." He said.

"Wow. Fine. But I'm not thorough with the room. It needs some cleaning" I said gesturing towards Mitchell's. No. Noah's room. I was not mentally prepared for this storm right now.

"No problem, I will do it if you just let me in." Noah shrugged.

Realizing there was no way around it, I moved aside to let him in. He stepped inside and threw his bag on the couch in the living room before falling on it himself. So, this was it. Noah Carlson was officially my roommate. He looked like he was fully exhausted. I fetched him some water before retiring to my room. Once I shut the door and was sure I was entirely alone, I took the SD card out from my pocket. It was time to find out what mysteries it was holding.