Chapter 2

William's wailing ground to a sudden halt. He looked up at me in sheer astonishment. "What… What's the meaning of this?"

"I have reason to believe you are involved in this case." My tone was calm, my gaze unwavering.

In a heartbeat, his expression changed drastically.

He sprang to his feet, pointing a finger at me and bellowing, "You're talking out of your ass! Is this what you police do when you can't crack a case? You pin the blame on the victim's family? I'm going to lodge a complaint against you! I'll sue you for defamation!"

Dr. Woodward was livid as well. He took a step forward, planting himself between me and William.

"Get the hell out of here right now, Charlotte Clive! I'll write a report stating that you made baseless accusations, disrespected the dead, lacked discipline, and are unfit to be a forensic examiner! In fact, you can forget about becoming a permanent employee for the rest of your life!"

The whispers around me reached a fever pitch. Several people urged me to apologize, while others criticized me for being immature and insensible.

I took a deep breath and stood my ground. As a forensic examiner, my duty was to speak for the dead. I couldn't let the real killer get away scot-free.

The golden retriever had said that the couple got into a heated argument before the murder. Helen even scratched William several times.

According to Locard's Exchange Principle, every contact left a trace. Helen had long fingernails. During the fight, she must have scraped off William's epithelial tissue!

I crouched down and carefully used my forceps to pick up Helen's right middle finger. Beneath her fingernails, hidden among the bloodstains, was a minute fleck of epithelial tissue.

"Look here, everyone!" Holding up my forceps, I raised my voice. "There's fresh epithelial tissue under the victim's fingernail. It's highly likely that it was left behind by the killer. Running a DNA comparison will only take two hours.

"Mr. Cox, if you're innocent, a simple swab will exonerate you. What exactly are you afraid of?"

William instantly blanched. His lips quivered as he backed away. "No way! I refuse to be subjected to this humiliation!"

Having worked cases for years, the captain of the Criminal Investigation Department, Conan Truman, saw right through William's guilty conscience. "Mr. Cox, all citizens are obligated to cooperate with the investigation. Please don't give us a hard time."

Realizing he couldn't avoid it, William spun around and attempted to flee.

The golden retriever beside us lunged forward, clamping its teeth firmly onto his pant leg.

"Let go, you stupid dog!" William yelped.

I could hear the golden retriever's voice in my head. "You're worse than a dog. Dogs are loyal, whereas you're nothing but an ungrateful wretch! I'll avenge Helen! If it weren't for this amazing forensic examiner, you'd be walking free right now!"

The police officers swarmed forward, tackling William to the ground. Even as he wriggled under their weight, he kept howling, "We just had an argument! I only pushed her; I didn't kill her!"

Dr. Woodward's expression hardened. "There's no murder weapon and no stolen goods. Even if you found his skin tissue, you can't convict him. He could have left it behind from daily contact. This doesn't prove anything."

Recalling the fly's words, I turned on my heel and headed to the backyard. "He might've dumped the murder weapon in the garbage shed. Follow me."

Everyone followed me over, though they were still skeptical.

Sure enough, buried at the very bottom of the dumpster, we found a bloodstained dumbbell.

William was still trying to talk his way out of it. "The killer used my dumbbell to commit the crime! It has nothing to do with me!"

I let out a derisive chuckle. "We'll know who did it once we check how many sets of fingerprints are on it."

William was at a loss for words, breaking out into a cold sweat.

On the way back to the living room, when we passed through the garden, I noticed a patch of soil that looked exceptionally fresh. I lowered my head and asked the earthworm poking through the dirt, "What's going on with this pit?"

The earthworm grumbled, "The man dug it in the middle of the night. He buried a ton of cash inside and even dropped his glasses."

I straightened up and pointed at the freshly overturned soil. "Excavate this area."

A few minutes later, the missing cash was found neatly stacked inside the pit. Right beside it was a custom-made pair of glasses engraved with William's name.

It was glaringly obvious now—there had never been a robbery in the first place.

Realizing his game was up, William jabbed his finger in my face and roared, "You monster, you ruined everything!"

He then threw his head back and cackled. "So what if I killed her?! Every single day, she emasculated me, calling me a freeloader! She wanted me to leave with nothing to my name. She had it coming. I did nothing wrong!"