Chapter 4

The cold metal edge of the handcuffs brushed against my wrist.

Beside me, Sophie was wailing at the top of her lungs. "Arrest her! Lock her up!"

Leon kept his head down. His shoulders shook in a performance that perfectly captured a grieving grandson.

The crowd of onlookers grew larger by the second. Everyone stared at me as if I were a convicted murderer.

I could hear people filming on their phones and their venomous whispers.

"How vile, targeting an old lady like that."

"The death penalty is too good for someone like her."

Just as the cuffs were about to click shut around my wrists, I took a deep breath and abruptly stepped back. "Wait."

My voice wasn't loud, but it was clear enough to cut through the noise.

Every single pair of eyes in the corridor snapped to me.

The officer frowned. "Ms. Spencer, please cooperate."

"I am cooperating," I said, looking him dead in the eye.

My voice was steady as I continued, "But before that, I have something I need to show you."

Leon looked up, his gaze locking onto me.

He still wore that mask of devastating grief, but I noticed his fingers twitch and curl inward.

Sophie shrieked, "What's left to see? The evidence is right there! You're the killer!"

I ignored her completely. Instead, I reached into my bag, pulled out my phone, and opened a file.

"Officers, my husband asked me to deliver medicine to Grandma yesterday. But before I went to her house, I took that bottle to a pharmacy and then straight to a hospital."

I handed the phone to the officer.

"This is a chemical analysis report issued yesterday afternoon by the pharmacy department of the downtown general hospital. The bottle that was tested is currently sitting in the evidence locker at your Southia precinct."

The officer took my phone and scanned the screen for a few seconds. His expression completely changed.

Leon's gaze was glued to the phone screen.

The layer of so-called grief on his face began to peel away, piece by piece, like cracking plaster.

Sophie was still yelling in the background, "You obviously forged that in advance just so you could get away with it today!"

Upon hearing this, the officer looked back up at me with a hint of suspicion.

Leon's Adam's apple bobbed heavily, and the corner of his mouth twitched upward in a faint smirk.

Everyone in that hallway thought I was doomed for sure.

And then, I reached into my bag and pulled out the second item.

Leon's pupils dilated instantly, and every last drop of color drained from his face.