Chapter 3

Under pressure from the public, the police showed up again the very next day.

Betty had returned to her parents' home while Ben was at work. So, I was the only one left at home to answer the police's questions.

The officer tactfully asked, "Edith Dent was getting on in years. Is it possible she had some sort of mental condition? Maybe you didn't notice, but she might've already been confused for a while."

I thought back carefully, sifting through every little memory I had of Edith over the past three years. In the end, I firmly shook my head.

"That's impossible. Edith had health checkups twice a year and just did her latest one half a month ago. She was in great health with no signs of dementia or anything like that," I replied.

The officer looked a bit disappointed at my answer. After a brief pause, he asked again, "What about your boyfriend's father? We heard work has not been going well for him lately, and his company is planning to lay him off. Maybe he was embarrassed by this and couldn't accept it?

"He killed himself right after hearing his mother's last words. She could have told him she took her own life so she wouldn’t burden him. And perhaps your boyfriend's father followed suit because he felt ashamed?" he theorized.

I had watched with my own eyes as both Edith and Hank went from living, breathing people to cold, lifeless corpses. Hence, I understood better than anyone just how determined they were when they ended their own lives. There was no way they would have done so over something so absurd.

The officer offered a few other theories, but I shut them all down. Seeing they couldn't get any clues from me, they had no choice but to end the questioning.

After all, Edith's and Hank's deaths were clearly suicides, not murders. If it weren't for the pressure from public opinion, the police wouldn't have wasted the manpower to question me in the first place.

However, shortly after the officers left, Deputy Captain Leo Cade came hurrying back.

Deputy Captain Cade scratched his head uncomfortably as he looked at me. He asked if I was able to get in touch with Ben.

"Your mother-in-law… Meaning your boyfriend's mother… She jumped," he said.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. My knees buckled, and I collapsed to the ground. I struggled to breathe, as though I was suffocating.

As the police couldn't reach Ben, they had no choice but to take me to the scene first. By the time we arrived, the area outside the building had already been cordoned off.

A crowd had gathered. Their eyes were full of curiosity. The moment they saw the police helping me out of the car, they all raised their phones to take pictures.

"That's the daughter-in-law of the woman who jumped, right? I heard both her father-in-law and grandmother-in-law took their lives in the house the same day she visited!"

"That is so unlucky. Anyone who didn't know better would think she drove them to their deaths."

"The woman who jumped is something else too. Her husband and mother-in-law may be dead, but she still has her son and daughter-in-law, right? I heard the daughter-in-law is even pregnant. How is that young couple supposed to go on living now?"

I had already gone completely numb as I listened to the whispers around me. I knew Betty was grieving deeply, but I never thought she would actually take her own life.

One of the more superstitious officers pulled me aside. Concern was etched on his face.

"She jumped from too high… Her body's completely shattered, so you really shouldn't look. Where is your boyfriend? Some of the onlookers said she was muttering the word 'secret' in a trance-like state just before she jumped. We suspect it's the same secret that drove Hank Miller and Edith Dent to end their own lives," he explained.

Despite the officer's attempts to block my view, I stepped through the layers of white drapes and spotted Betty's body. Her body was mangled beyond recognition.

With over 30 floors, the building was dozens of feet high. Jumping from it was certain death. Yet, Betty had done it.

Unable to hold myself up any longer, I fell to my knees. I broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

Like anyone else, I had visited my boyfriend's family. Yet, I had watched as they died in quick, horrible succession.

I didn't understand. What kind of secret could possibly make them so desperate to end their lives?

Deputy Captain Cade looked at me with sympathy.

"I know you're falling apart right now, Ms. Samson, but you have to pull yourself together. The situation is very clear now—anyone who knows the secret ends up dead," he said.

Then, he asked, "Seriously, what is this secret? Do you know? Or does your boyfriend know?"