Chapter 4

Don kicked Timothy out of the precinct.

Timothy looked at the file box on the passenger seat. Don had made him a copy of the complete case file so he would finally accept the truth.

Yet, he refused to believe it. He couldn't believe that I, who had always put him first and compromised my own needs for his sake, would disappear from his life forever.

Timothy's breathing quickened. He pushed open the car door, rushed into the rain, and stormed into the precinct's evidence room.

Using his connections in the justice system, he managed to gain access to the storage facility holding evidence from cases that had remained unsolved for over six months.

The evidence officer reluctantly pulled open the storage cabinet marked "1109."

"Mr. Ludd, these are some of the belongings the victim left behind at the scene. Since the case still involves suspects who remain at large, it has not been officially closed. That's why we've kept them in storage."

He then placed a transparent evidence bag on the table. Inside was a maternity dress stained dark brown with dried blood.

The fabric had been torn to shreds by a sharp weapon and was stained with a mixture of machine oil and dirt.

Timothy stared intently at the evidence bag, his eyes bloodshot.

"This isn't real… She bribed you to stage the whole thing…" Timothy muttered to himself. Then, he grabbed the dress with trembling hands.

With a loud rip, he tore the already fragile maternity dress in half, threw it on the ground, and stomped on it.

"Quinn! Do you think you can fool me with a tattered dress? Don't you know that fabricating evidence can get you over three years in prison?" Timothy shouted into the evidence room, driven to the brink of despair.

Meanwhile, my soul could no longer weep. All I felt was endless grief at my own demise.

Then, his phone rang. It was Theo calling. He reported, "Mr. Ludd, I've found Ms. Sutton's medical records from six months ago just as you asked."

Theo's voice sounded somewhat heavy as he continued, "Ms. Sutton was indeed pregnant, but three days before the incident, she was treated in the emergency room at Dolce Hospital.

"It was because she had… signs of a threatened miscarriage caused by severe malnutrition and prolonged psychological stress."

"What do you mean?" Timothy asked, his voice beginning to tremble.

"It means that… Ms. Sutton was killed along with her unborn child."

After a pause, Theo continued, "I also had someone check her accounts after her release from prison. Every month, the compensation payments were immediately withdrawn from another supplementary card under the guise of various overseas purchases."

Timothy felt his heart bleed. He wondered if someone had stolen the money. He finally knew that I was malnourished and that I had died along with my baby.

"Also, Mr. Ludd, I just visited the unclaimed ashes repository at Chilton Cemetery."

Timothy held his breath at Theo's words.

Theo took a deep breath before continuing, "The management office said that since the storage fees had gone unpaid for so long, those unclaimed cremated remains were buried in a mass burial site in the hills two days ago."

At that moment, he tore open the evidence bag, and something fell out from the very bottom with a ding.

A metal object had fallen to the ground. He picked it up with trembling hands. As soon as he saw what it was, his eyes widened in shock.