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Todos os capítulos de The Day My AC Killed Someone: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

10 Capítulos

Chapter 1

My mind went completely blank, as if it'd just exploded.Once I regained my senses, I hurriedly explained, "Officer! There's been a terrible mistake! I haven't even stepped outside today! Besides, I've never even interacted with that man before! How could I possibly have harmed him?"The chief police officer, whose name badge said "Melvin Yoder", fixed me with a sharp, piercing gaze. He asked sternly, "You're Timothy Russell, right? Before Freddie Sanchez died, he left a final statement, claiming that you were the one who killed him."With that, Officer Yoder pulled out his phone and played a recording. A weak, halting voice drifted out, chattering and whispering, "It's so cold… So cold… T-That Russell guy right above me is trying to freeze me to death with his AC unit… Please… save me…"A shiver ran through my entire body.Who else could it be but the man who claimed to be from Unit 402 earlier? But when had I ever tried to freeze him to death?Before I could even process it, Of

Chapter 2

I quickly explained my thoughts and hunches to Officer Yoder, who listened to me and nodded in agreement."You're right. Logically, Freddie can't freeze to death at his home, given the current weather and temperature. But the problem is, Freddie was indeed frozen to death, as certified by our forensic pathologist."According to our investigation, his home is the scene of the first crime, but he doesn't have any refrigeration equipment such as refrigerators and air conditioners in his home."I couldn't help but interject, "Then it's possible that the murderer used some kind of refrigeration equipment to freeze Freddie to death and then escaped with it!"Officer Yoder immediately shook his head and replied, "We checked all the surrounding surveillance cameras. Nobody came in or out of his apartment after he returned from your place, not until his death. So, your hunch is completely invalid."Also, according to our forensic investigation, Freddie was frozen to death over a span of ha

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 wi

Chapter 4

The other officers exchanged glances with each other when they heard what I said.Officer Yoder also stared at me for a full ten seconds before finally saying very slowly, "Fine. I'll give you a chance to prove yourself."He then turned around and told the other officers to begin setting up for the test.I breathed a silent sigh of relief.My AC unit was installed on my own balcony, with the piping running along the exterior wall. There was absolutely no physical connection to Freddie's home. No matter how high I cranked the AC, it shouldn't have had any impact on the temperature in his place—let alone freeze him to death in his home. It was simply impossible!The officers were soon done preparing. They placed a thermometer in the center of Freddie's living room.At Officer Yoder's command, the officer inside my home pressed the power button on the air conditioner.A few minutes passed.While my own home had become quite cool, the air inside Freddie's place remained hot, stuf

Chapter 5

Officer Yoder, who was just about to signal for me to be taken away, stopped in his tracks at my yell. He turned around, his gaze sharp as a blade as he glared at me."You'd better explain yourself clearly, Mr. Russell."I took a deep breath, pulled free of the two officers' grip, and pointed to the wall on the right side of the living room, near the balcony."That corner over there! Look closely at the gap between the floor tiles there. The baseboard next to it shows clear signs of having been patched up. And the color of the floor there doesn't match the rest of the room."The officers exchanged glances with each other. Frowning, Officer Yoder walked over and leaned down to inspect the spot. He tapped the floor tile with his finger, then crouched lower to touch the edge of the baseboard. Then, his expression shifted."Pry it open," he said, his voice low and firm.An officer fetched a crowbar, wedged it along the tile's edge, and pried hard. The tile came loose and was lifted a

Chapter 6

In less than 20 minutes, several electrical technicians in their work uniforms rushed over with their tools and equipment.They assessed the situation and quickly concluded, "The power lines for Units 402 and 502 were rewired many years ago in the building's old meter box, and one of the main lines was connected in parallel inside the wall."Due to the aging and peeling of the insulation layer in the wall, as well as the continuous high temperature in recent days, the electrical load has surged. The lines have created a weak electromagnetic induction loop.""To put it simply," the technician continued, pushing up his glasses. "The moment the AC unit in Unit 502 is started, a current surge will be generated. This surge passes through the overlapping lines and triggers the relay of the cold-storage compressor in the cellar of Unit 402.""So that means the freezer in the cold storage unit downstairs was activated as soon as I turned on the AC in my apartment?" I asked in disbelief."

Chapter 7

Officer Yoder remained silent for a long time. Then, he turned to look at me."Mr. Russell, Freddie's death should be ruled an accident, based on the current findings. Your AC unit was merely an indirect trigger. The primary cause lies in the illicit installation of refrigeration equipment and faulty, dilapidated electrical wiring. As far as criminal charges go, you're in the clear—for now."My legs went weak, and I nearly collapsed to the floor."But there's one thing you need to understand," Officer Yoder said, stepping closer and looking me straight in the eye."Even if you had no malicious intent, things would have turned out differently if only you'd just gone downstairs to check the moment you heard his screams."I opened my mouth, but my throat was parched.He was right. I had heard the screams, but I hadn't taken them seriously.But still, that couldn't count toward me as murder. It was simply an accident—an accident so bizarrely coincidental that it was ridiculous.Off

Chapter 8

I shuddered and immediately called Officer Yoder to arrange a meeting with him.Officer Yoder sat across from me and listened to my account without reacting immediately. He simply asked, "Well, what do you think about it?"I replied, "I'm not sure. But it's definitely not a legitimate wholesale goods business. A friend of mine in the logistics industry told me that real wholesalers wouldn't set up a cold storage unit in a private home. The logistics costs are too high, and the facility wouldn't meet regulatory standards."But with the way Freddie was operating, it looked more like he was—""A middle-person in a cold-chain operation," Officer Yoder finished for me. "Or, to put it more bluntly, a temporary transit point for smuggled frozen goods."He pulled up a photo on his phone and slid it toward me."And you're right. We found 32 cases of frozen meat products with foreign-language labeling inside the cold storage cellar. They had no quarantine certificates or customs documentat

Chapter 9

Officer Yoder said, "Strictly speaking, the cold storage unit was activated remotely. Freddie went down to shut the equipment off, got locked inside, and froze to death. Alan probably meant only to warn Freddie, but things went awry."Of course, Freddie had no idea it was triggered remotely when he froze to death. He just assumed it was because of your AC unit upstairs, which was why he recorded that final message to us."I remained silent for a long moment."And this threatening note?" I asked."Alan is on the run. His phone signal was last traced to the outskirts of the city, and we're still after him. But he must have had a few accomplices before he fled, and one of them likely slipped that note to you.""Why would they want to threaten me?""Because you nearly took the fall for Freddie," Officer Yoder replied. "If you hadn't noticed the irregularity with the floor tiles, the case would have been closed, and everyone would have assumed you turned on the AC and froze him to dea

Chapter 10

Officer Yoder and his team surged up the stairwell, throwing my front door open with split-second precision."Freeze! Police!"The living room lights flicked on, catching the intruder completely off-guard.He instinctively bolted toward the balcony, but an officer was already there, waiting for him after having already scaled over from a neighboring unit.As the intruder was pinned to the floor, an object fell out from his pocket. I later learned in the interrogation room that it was a small signal transmitter, tuned to the same frequency as the receiver module in the cold storage unit in Unit 402.The man, Pablo Rogers, was one of Alan's henchmen—a gofer tasked with running errands and "taking care of problems".Less than six hours after his arrest, he confessed and spilled everything.As it turned out, Alan was hiding out in an abandoned logistics park on the city's outskirts. It used to be a secondary transit point he'd rented years ago, one that even Freddie didn't know abou

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