SWNOVELS Chapter 42
Chapter 42
“Ms. Lewis didn’t want me to follow her and told me to come back first.”
Quintin was left speechless after hearing that. “It makes sense that she didn’t want you to follow her when she’s out on a date. with another man. If this happens again, you must tail behind her and find out who she’s seeing. Do you get me?”
“Yes, Mr. Ziegler!”
“All right. You may return to your work.”
Quintin slammed the bed in frustration. Although this was only a wedding of benefits, he still did not like having his wife cheating on him.
His wife was busy sleeping around, yet he was still trying his best to help her out.
At the same time. a Bentley was driving toward Jedayton.
Jedayton was located at the border of Jipsdale. It was a quaint little town not too far away from the city.
Slightly after an hour, they arrived at their destination.
Caroline traveled here searching for Sally, who once worked as a housekeeper for her mother, Lydia Later, when her mother went on to marry someone from the Lewis residence, she also found a husband for Sally in Jedayton.
After Lydia fell ill, Sally returned to care for her until Lydia passed away. Thus, finding Sally was the only way to find out what happened to her mother before she died.
Following the address given by Sally at the time, they walked on a bluestone path that led up to Sally’s house.
Riley knocked at the gate, but no one came to open it. Then, Riley lightly pushed the door, easily opening the gate.
“I think someone’s inside. Let’s go in and take a look!” Caroline suggested and led Riley through the gate.
“Hello? Is anyone there? Sally, are you home?” Caroline called out while walking further inside, crossing the front yard. before arriving at the living room. “Sally? Are you here? Hmm. It seems like no one’s home.”
She was about to leave the living room, but she heard something coming from the back room. She and Riley rushed over, and when they walked inside the room. Caroline screamed in fear, “Ah!”
“Ms. Lewis!”
Riley was frightened too. The person they were looking for, Sally, was now lying inside the back room with blood pooled around her.
She was still alive. Her eyes widened as she stared at the door. The movement they heard earlier was her flapping on the pool of blood around her.
“Sally! Sally!”
Upon confirming that the woman lying on the floor was Sally, who used to take care of her late mother, Caroline was shocked and quickly rushed forward. “Sally, what happened? Who did this to you?”
Caroline was in tears at the terrifying sight.
Sally was barely breathing, and when she saw Caroline, tears mixed with blood rolled down her cheeks. She opened her mouth and tried to say something.
“Sally, what are you trying to say?”
Caroline held Sally’s hand and lowered her head, trying to hear clearly what Sally was telling her.
“Leave the town..
Sally failed to
utter a complete sentence. She used up her last breath to say those three words, and then her head tilted to one side, suggesting her end of life.
“Sally! Leave the town? What does that mean? Sally!”
Just like that, Sally passed away in Caroline’s arms.
Caroline was devastated to see Sally die with a grievance.
She was also trying to understand what Sally told her before passing away.
Caroline broke down in tears, and her tears dripped onto Sally’s face. Meanwhile, Sally’s hand slid down from Caroline’s palm, but she was still clutching something.
Caroline placed Sally back on the ground and retrieved the thing from her palm. It was a crumpled picture that was torn into halves. The young lady inside the photo was her late mother.
She wondered, “What does this mean?”
Chapter 42
Caroline stood up while holding half of the picture. She blinked her tearful eyes, trying to think who murdered Sally.
She thought to herself, “Did Sally hold this picture in her hand because she had something to tell me? What did she mean by saying “leave the down? Could it mean something else?”
Caroline couldn’t think of anything, but her gut feeling told her something was amiss with Sally’s death.
It was as if someone knew she was looking for Sally, and that someone came to kill the latter, either to silence her or to hide
a secret.
Riley had begun to canvass the scene and discovered that Sally had died from a sharp object. There was a noticeable cut on the back of her neck from which she bled.
The signs of her death suggested that Sally’s murderer might have arrived only a couple of minutes or no more than 20 minutes before they came.
However, there were no fingerprints or shoe prints at the scene and no signs of damage to the doors or windows, which meant there was no sign of Sally resisting the murderer.
It was possible that Sally knew the killer.
She wondered. “Who could it be? We must find the murderer!”
Grieving, but more than puzzled, Caroline told Riley to inform Jayden to investigate the case.
Jayden Nydias was the head of the criminal investigation department in the top police station in Jipsdale and was an acquaintance of Caroline. She had approached him about her mother’s case before this, and he did promise her to contact him directly when in need. But then, he did not expect her to contact him so soon.
Around an hour later. Jayden arrived at the crime scene with the medical examiner and a couple of police officers. Noticing that Caroline’s hands were covered in blood and looked gloomy, he appeared to be a little concerned. “Ms. Caroline, can you tell me what happened?”
Caroline looked up at the man in his khaki blazer. His sharp eyes glowed with determination, and his ID card was pinned to
his chest.
Although he was born to a wealthy family and with a silver spoon in his mouth, he chose to get a police license and became a criminal investigator. It was no exaggeration to say that he was a strange presence among the other young rich men.
“Captain Xydias, I came to look for Sally, who was my mother’s housekeeper, but I found her dead at her home,” Caroline said with a grievance.
“All right. I’ll go and take a look first.”
Jayden went in with the medical examiner while several other police officers cordoned off the scene and began investigating.
After a while, Jayden stepped out with a solemn look and began his usual routine of recording their witness statement. He said. “The medical examiner is investigating the scene. May I know if the victim was dead by the time you two arrived?”
“No. She died shortly after.”
“Did she leave behind any messages? Or clues?”
“She only mentioned leaving the town and nothing else. I couldn’t hear what she said besides that. Also, I found this half of the picture in her palm after she died.”
Caroline handed over the picture that was covered in blood to Jayden. Taking a look at it, Jayden asked, “Who is the woman in the photo?”
“She’s my mother. It’s a picture of her when she was young.”
“That’s strange. Why did she hold your mother’s picture when she died?” Jayden asked with a puzzled look.
That was the biggest question in Caroline’s mind too.
After asking the usual questions, Caroline said in the end, “Captain Xydias, no matter what, I hope you and your team can find the murderer and seek justice for Sally.”
“Don’t worry! That is our job. You guys can go back first. We will stay here to search around for clues and evidence, and we will contact you if there is any progress in the case.”
“Sure, thanks a lot.”
Caroline left the scene of the crime with Riley.
Fortunately, they sought Jayden’s help. If any other police officers rushed to the crime scene, Caroline and Riley would have a hard time trying to clear themselves from the suspicions of killing Sally.
On their way back from Jedayton, Caroline did not choose to return to the Ziegler residence. Instead, she asked Riley to bring her to the Valley Funeral Home.
Sally’s death made her feel uneasy, and she had to get to the bottom of this.
Chapter 43