The Bride Beneath the Roses Chapter 7

I digested Derek's words before saying unhurriedly: "Wasn't it actually because you were afraid killing Lily would affect the entire building, so you switched to liquid gas? Besides, serious natural gas leaks trigger alarms that neighbors can hear. In other words, though natural gas is also toxic, people don't necessarily die from it, right?"

My words enraged Derek. I saw him grit his teeth, tears in his eyes as he shouted at me: "You're talking complete nonsense! I told you, Lily committed suicide. She left me a suicide note. I just didn't see it in time. Lincoln Woods, how can you, as a police officer, spout such nonsense? Lily died while I was at work—you should have verified this. I loved her so much, how could I possibly kill her!"

I watched Derek's tears slide down his pale face from agitation, but I remained unmoved.

I laughed coldly: "Derek, I checked the gas tank valve in your kitchen. The valve opening was very small, meaning the gas leaked very slowly. You must have force-fed Lily a large amount of Alprazolam before work, causing her to lose consciousness. You opened the gas tank when you left, right? Deliberately letting the liquid gas leak slowly. Because this way, you could delay Lily's death, clearing you of murder suspicion. The suicide note on the phone is even easier to explain. You controlled Lily completely—what about her phone? You carried her phone with you. When you felt the timing was right, you sent yourself a message from her phone. That's the so-called suicide note. Am I right, Derek?"

"Nonsense! Nonsense! Lincoln Woods, you're talking nonsense! Just because you're a cop, you can defile my feelings for Lily? I told you Lily tried to cut her wrists before. You police department scum—you're the real murderer!"

Facing Derek's roar, I simply countered: "What if you created that wrist injury to set up her death? Just to make it seem natural that she committed suicide?"

Damn, my one sentence completely drove Derek crazy. He screamed and yelled, looking extremely pained. Wendy, taking notes beside me, signaled me to stop the interrogation immediately. With no choice, I could only leave the interrogation room.

Captain Shaw had been monitoring from outside the entire time. He said that although my reasoning was well-founded, we lacked evidence. So after 24 hours, we still had to release Derek.

Hearing this instantly deflated me. Yes, we had no substantive evidence proving Lily's family of three were all murdered by Derek. So this killer would continue to go free.

The next day, when Derek's detention period ended, we were forced to release him.

Three days later, one evening, River City experienced an unusually strong windstorm, reaching force 10 or above. Early the next morning, the 911 center received a call reporting that skeletal remains had been discovered in a courtyard of a bungalow in the Southern District suburbs. Upon receiving the report, we rushed to the crime scene.

The crime scene was at the edge of the Southern District, in the suburbs. Because of last night's strong wind, the wall of a bungalow had collapsed.

After the wall collapsed, several stray dogs entered. Dogs have sensitive noses. Following the scent, they dug at the base of the south wall of the courtyard, and skeletal remains were unearthed.