I don’t know what I was expecting, but Luke’s apartment isn’t too messy. It’s small, with a little kitchen, an eating area, and a TV area together in an open space, and two doors near the back, which I’m assuming lead to the bathroom and his bedroom.

“I guess we’re looking for anything that proves where he was that night?” Annalisa says, sounding unsure of our less-than-solid plan. “Time of death was around 6 p.m., so look for around that time.”

We look around aimlessly, splitting up to sort through Luke’s stuff, opening cupboards and moving dirty dishes into the sink to check the counter, hoping that whatever it is we’re looking for will just jump out at us.

Annalisa finds Luke’s laptop, which luckily wasn’t taken by the police, and plugs it in so she can turn it on and see what she can find. Charlotte’s going through the various papers scattered on his table and counter, so I venture into his bedroom. Anything useful has probably already been brought in as evidence, but we’re not looking with the assumption he’s guilty, we’re looking for clues of his innocence, and I hope that gives us an edge on finding information that may have been overlooked.

Clothes are thrown in a pile in the corner of the room, and the bed is just a mattress on the floor. It isn’t made, either, and the pillows aren’t even covered with pillowcases. The gray paint is peeling from the walls, and other than a small desk with a couple of drawers and a folding chair, the room is bare. The desk, however, looks promising. It’s a dark-brown wood, and has an ancient-looking, gray printer sitting in the corner.

The papers on top are mostly just bills and take-out menus, same as in the kitchen. Sitting in his chair, I open the first drawer, which is just various chargers and office supplies. I try the drawer beneath it, which has a bunch of papers strewn about and some video game boxes.

None of the papers seem to be important. This whole thing feels weird to me, like I’m spying on Luke, and as I push past an open pack of condoms, it’s getting harder to ignore the fact that I’m totally invading his privacy. I mean, he gave us permission, and we might find something to get him out of jail, so it might be worth it in the end.

This is pointless. I want to help Annalisa and prove her brother’s innocence, but maybe he really did do it? What can we possibly find to prove his innocence when the police haven’t found anything? What was I thinking in agreeing to this? Now all she’s going to remember about me when I leave was that I got her hopes up and disappeared without actually doing anything to help.