Chapter 3

Reluctant as I was, I had no choice but to agree, just to clear myself of suspicion.

When we arrived at Unit 402, police had already set up a cordon, and a crowd of onlookers gathered nearby, whispering among themselves.

I followed Officer Yoder and the others through the crowd and stepped inside.

As soon as I crossed the threshold, a wave of intense heat hit me, along with an indescribable, pungent odor.

I scanned the scene before me. Freddie's body lay on the floor, covered by a white sheet, though a portion of his pale, bluish-white arm remained exposed.

I might not have seen a frozen human corpse before, but I'd certainly seen plenty of frozen meat in freezers—and Freddie's arm looked exactly like a block of meat fresh out of a freezer compartment.

Yet, because of the sweltering heat in the room, it was also beginning to thaw, like raw meat left out to defrost.

I couldn't believe that Freddie had actually frozen to death. I only got even more confused at this point.

Even with a portable AC unit now set up in the room, the temperature still remained stiflingly high. I could only imagine how hot it must have been in here earlier. So how on Earth could he have frozen to death?

Officer Yoder stood beside me, watching my expression closely.

"Does any of this ring a bell?"

I shook my head. "This is my first time inside this apartment unit."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Officer Yoder's eyes.

Just then, an officer hurried over and whispered something to him. Officer Yoder's expression then shifted instantly, snapping his gaze toward me and demanding sharply, "Timothy Russell! The time Freddie was heard screaming in his home matches perfectly with the time you turned on your AC!

"Why didn't you mention this earlier? Were you deliberately hiding it from us?"

My heart sank as my expression stiffened. I hadn't wanted to bring it up, partly because the idea that my AC unit could cause Freddie to freeze to death seemed utterly implausible, and partly because I didn't want to invite further suspicion.

I just hadn't expected the police to dig deep enough to uncover this detail.

Now, I was well and truly in it. Anything else I said now would probably just sound like I was making excuses.

I was about to explain myself, but Officer Yoder cut me off, his tone sharp and stern.

"According to your own previous statement, Freddie came to your place and told you not to turn on the AC, claiming that he would freeze to death otherwise.

"Yet, when you heard Freddie screaming at the time of the incident, you still went ahead and kept it turned on anyway—and sure enough, Freddie froze to death!

"And you didn't come clean to us about this detail, deliberately hiding it from us. What exactly were your intentions?"

Faced with this barrage of accusations, I was completely stunned. I desperately wanted to explain myself, but I didn't even know where to begin, and the words wouldn't come out of my mouth.

Officer Yoder was even more convinced I was guilty the moment he saw the panic on my face. He immediately ordered his officers to take me away for further interrogation.

As they moved to handcuff me, I grew frantic and shouted for them to stop. I then turned to Officer Yoder, whose expression was a mix of emotions, and steadied myself.

"Officer, since you suspect that I was the one who caused Freddie to freeze to death by turning on the AC in my unit, why don't we test it out and see? Let's see if running my AC actually causes the temperature in Freddie's home to drop!"