Animal Whisperer: Take Back My Life and Love Chapter 354: The Smoking Gun

"No, that’s impossible!"

Nancy didn't bother arguing. She simply leaned down and set Snowball near the body.

The little ermine’s tail shot up instantly. He began circling the corpse, his nose twitching as he worked. When he reached the neck and hands, he started frantically hopping in place.

"It’s right here! It’s that bitter medicine smell from the old lady, and it’s everywhere!"

Nancy’s eyes sharpened. "Snowball found it. The victim is covered in her specific medication. The concentration is heavy."

Simon turned his attention to Faylin. "We’re going to need to see your grandmother’s personal belongings."

The old woman began to shake, her cane thumping violently against the floorboards. "This is slander! I’ve lived a long life only to be humiliated like this? I’ll have your badges for this!"

Nancy met her gaze, unmoved. "Age doesn't matter if you had help moving the weight."

"Lies and nonsense!" the old woman shrieked, her finger trembling as she pointed at them. "I’ll sue the department for every cent they have!"

Faylin felt like she was being torn apart. Logic told her Nancy wouldn't make a claim like this without a reason, but her heart refused to believe her own grandmother was a killer. The uncertainty was suffocating. She was desperate for the truth, yet deathly afraid of what it might be.

Simon stepped in front of Nancy, shielding her from Faylin’s intense, desperate stare. "I know this is hard to hear. But my sister and her team are meticulous. They don't make accusations they can't back up."

Under Faylin’s hollow gaze, the group moved into the old woman’s bedroom.

Snowball didn't even have to look. He darted straight for the nightstand, his small paws frantically scrambling until he knocked a blue asthma inhaler onto the floor.

"This is it! It’s the exact same smell!" Snowball chirped, hovering over the device.

"Snowball’s confirmed it," Nancy said, her voice heavy. "The residue on the victim is an identical match to this inhaler."

Simon picked up the blue canister, his eyes cold. "Standard procedure for an asthmatic is to use their inhaler after heavy physical exertion or a spike in adrenaline."

He turned back to the old woman, who had gone deathly pale. "And for someone your age, hauling a dead body is about as strenuous as it gets."

"Ridiculous!" The woman hissed, looking like a cornered animal. "You’re taking the word of a rodent? This is a farce! A complete joke!"

Nancy pulled Snowball into her arms, shielding his ears with her hands and whispering softly to him. "Ignore her, little one. You did good."

"Snowball is a professional," she added, looking at the woman. "He doesn't need validation from the suspect."

Faylin stood frozen, clinging to one final, fraying thread of hope. Her voice cracked. "Officer, a smell isn't enough to hold up in court. You need more than that. You need real, undeniable proof."

The forensic tech stepped forward with a sampling kit. "We’ve already taken swabbings from the victim’s collar and cuffs. Fabric is excellent at trapping chemical traces."

He checked his watch. "We’ll have a comparative analysis in two hours. That will tell us once and for all if the chemicals on the body match the medication in that inhaler."

The next two hours were an agonizing crawl. The air in the living room felt thick enough to choke on. Faylin was a ghost, the old woman sat clutching her cross until her knuckles turned white, and the police kept a silent, watchful guard.

In the meantime, Nancy and Simon moved to secure the other half of the puzzle: Rudolph.

"Get Faylin’s cousin in here," Simon ordered the local officers. "He’s a direct relative and he was on-site when this happened. It’s time we hear his version of the story."

When Rudolph was marched into the room, he caught sight of the white sheet on the floor and recoiled. "What the hell? How did... how did someone actually die?"

Faylin’s eyes were bloodshot, her voice a jagged whisper. "It’s Almond. And they think Grandma did it."

Just then, the lead tech returned, holding a digital readout. He didn't mince words.

"The results are in. The traces found on the victim’s skin and clothes are a perfect chemical match for the inhaler seized from the bedroom."

The world seemed to drop out from under Faylin.

"Grandma, why?" she sobbed, the sound raw and broken.

She looked at the woman who had raised her, her face twisted in pure disbelief. "Tell me why! What did Almond ever do to you?"