𝐁𝐎𝐑𝐍 𝐓𝐎 𝐃𝐈𝐄 - 𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍

"𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞." - 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘶𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘫𝘳

"The evidence is enough to prove that the two men we have in custody are innocent." Howard Benson announced to the rest of the police station. Harper had informed him of the new evidence and now she was slipping away from the crowd of police officers and the detective to get to the cells. She couldn't wait to be the one that told the two footballers that were finally free.

The twisting of the lock on Harry's cell door was enough to grab his attention. He had been staring at his cell wall for what felt like hours. It might have been hours but it also could have only been minutes. He had no idea and he had lost all sense of time.

"Harry Winks, I am pleased to announce that you are officially a free man." Harper stood in the doorway of Harry's dark and depressing cell. He wasn't sure he had heard her properly or if he was hallucinating, his sanity gone after spending a few hours in jail. When Harper didn't move from the doorway, Harry approached her with glossy eyes and pressed his lips to hers.

Harper had been Harry's rock throughout the entire investigation and although there had been times when he felt like the world was closing in on him, Harper had been his light at the end of the impressively long tunnel.

"I'm not a suspect anymore?" He questioned as he pulled away to look at her, a single tear escaping from his eye and rolling down his cheek.

"No, you're completely free. We have a few new suspects but I think Howard wants your input on some of it." She gave him a sympathetic smile and wiped away his tears. Harper couldn't even begin to imagine what it was that harry was feeling. He had been living in constant fear, wondering when it was that he was going to be charged with the deaths of the staff at his club. Although the fear wouldn't be gone since they were still looking for the assailant, Harry could let some of the weight off of his shoulders.

"Have you told Dele yet?" He questioned and Harper shook her head. She had thought that Harry could be the one to break the news to him. They had been through a lot together over the past month or so and it was only right that they could share their release together.

"Come through to Howard's office once you're done. He wants to talk to you about some suspects that he has." Harper informed the boy that she was so fond of. She unlocked Dele's cell and left with the keys in her hands before Dele could see her.

The day had been crazy for Harper but it was far from over yet. She still had to power through her work but the input of Harry and Dele would prove to be very useful in their investigation.

Harper and Howard, together, had gone through every player and staff member at Tottenham Hotspur and narrowed the list down significantly. They now had just three suspects based on who had access to the training facilities, who favoured their left hand over their right hand and who was male. Angela had made it clear that in order to gain enough force for the wounds found on both Cassandra and Jonathan, a male would be the assailant.

"Harry, Dele, you need to help us out here." Howard spoke to the two boys sternly. There was no time for messing about as far as he was concerned. The situation was growing more and more serious by the minute and they were in the crucial stages of the investigation.

"Got it." Dele nodded his head at the older of the two detectives before giving Harper a small smile.

He owed a lot to that girl. He knew that she was only doing her job but her faith in them and their innocence was why they were now helping on the case instead of behind bars for the rest of their lives. Dele didn't know how he would repay her but he knew how Harry would repay her. Dele had noticed how his team-mate couldn't take his eyes off of Harper and he couldn't wait for the case to be closed so that they could go on their first official date.

"Who do we have?" Dele continued as he averted his gaze towards the pieces of paper in front of him.

Dele and Harry realised that the suspects were in fact several of the background staff at the club. Zeke Lewis, the chef. Christopher Bolton, the kit man. Eric Paisley, the recruiter. Neither of them could imagine any of them committing such horrific crimes but the police obviously had good reason to believe that these three were the most likely suspects.

"Could any of them have stolen your pass, Harry?" Harper spoke up after several moments of silence where the two boys continued to think carefully about who it could have been.

"Zeke was the only one in the cafeteria at the time and now that I think about it, his mum died last year and he's been an insomniac ever since." Harrt whispered. He was in disbelief and pure shock at the prospect that the man who had fed the entire team for years could be behind this.

"Get a search warrant for his house immediately and bring him in for questioning." Howard told his police officers but when they didn't move, he yelled, "Now!"

Ar that, the officers scrambled and made their way out of the office to try and bring Zeke Lewis for questioning.

"Hey, this is almost over. you're going to be okay." Harper approached the two boys and gave them each a sympathetic smile.

Harrt reached for Harper's hand and held it in his own for reassurance. Her words echoed through his mind. This was almost over.

a/n: feeling a little bit sorry for myself and a bit bad because I'm behind on updates so here's the chapter that you should've had on Thursday.

How's everyone feeling? Pretty sure the whole of the UK is entering a lockdown of some form on boxing day so how's everyone feeling? You can be completely honest and candid. You don't have to worry about judgment here.
- I'll be honest, I'm devastated. The lockdown lasts for three weeks which means that my 18th birthday which I had started to look forward to is now cancelled essentially. I'm trying my absolute hardest to look on the bright side but I've missed out on so much already this year. It's just one thing after another. However, I am grateful that my family are safe and healthy. I guess that's all I can ask for really. Still, it's hard to not be disappointed, upset and slightly selfish.

I hope you're all doing well and my DMs are always open if you ever need to talk.

Enjoy and stay safe!

Lots of love, e x