The Widow's Death Chapter 2

The sheriff's department sealed off the scene.

Because I was at the crime scene, I became the prime suspect.

This was completely fucked.

When Martha died, my wife Rachel was a suspect. Now Frank was dead, and I was the suspect.

What the hell did the killer want?

The detective's name was Russo—Detective Mike Russo. Slightly overweight, five-foot-nine.

I'd never seen this detective before. Word was he'd been transferred here to pad his resume.

He cursed under his breath as he entered the scene.

Something about his bad luck, just getting here and catching a case like this. If he couldn't solve it, he'd never get to go back.

"This is inhuman. How could anyone be this brutal?"

Detective Russo's brow furrowed deeply. He'd worked homicide cases before, seen plenty of more gruesome scenes.

But Frank Wilson's crime scene was bizarre. No signs of forced entry through windows or doors. The killer must have known Frank, able to enter without leaving a trace, even catching Frank completely off guard.

I was handcuffed by two officers and held at the doorway. I figured they wanted to use this method to break down my psychological defenses.

"David Miller, all evidence points to you as a prime suspect."

I was completely baffled.

"Detective, I told you—Martha Henderson called me, told me Frank Wilson was the next target. I came to warn him. I reported this to the sheriff's department."

I felt helpless. How was I supposed to know the killer would move this fast, and pick this exact moment?

Detective Russo sighed, had someone completely seal the scene, then took me to the patrol car.

The townspeople looked at me differently now.

I finally understood how Rachel must have felt.

I thought I'd be locked up for a long time, but they released me the next day.

The reason? My wife Rachel provided video footage. She was worried I'd be framed, so she'd secretly followed me.

The footage showed me leaving Frank's house at 8:06 AM, then taking a phone call by the roadside.

At 8:16 AM, you could hear screaming in the video. I ran back to check, and then at 8:16, Tom Richards arrived.

I had no time to commit the crime.

Detective Russo was stunned.

According to the medical examiner's autopsy report:

Frank Wilson had no defensive wounds. Two strangulation marks on his neck, but not fatal.

Two marks, one above the other, but without much pressure. The ME found Frank Wilson's own fingernail residue on his neck.

The fingerprint size also matched Frank's.

So both strangulation marks were self-inflicted.

There was no mechanical cause of death. External asphyxiation could be ruled out.

Where Frank had been dismembered, the muscles showed clear signs of tearing, meaning Frank was still alive during the dismemberment, even struggling from the pain.

The killer had extensive knowledge of human anatomy, severing tendons at the joints to create the current state of separated limbs.

Additionally, the killer had strong counter-surveillance awareness. From the murder to the dismemberment, they left no fingerprints, murder weapon, or biological samples—not even a single hair.

The only clue was a bloody footprint the killer left while wearing shoe covers.

Based on the footprint characteristics, the killer was female, shoe size 7, height under five-foot-seven, weight under 220 pounds.

And the actual cause of death was sleeping pills?!

The medical examiner detected large amounts of sleeping pill compounds in Frank Wilson's blood.