Chapter 13: Bold Deductions, and Providing Clues
In his drunken, terrified state, George’s first thought was to not let anyone know that Michelle had died after having s*x with him.
And thus, this idiot stealthily took her out of the first floor bedroom.
That was right. George had been in one of the rooms Luke hadn’t opened when he and Jemina went looking for a room.
Martha’s swimming pool wasn’t a fully rectangular pool. The pool curved in one corner, and was separated from the main pool by a stone platform.
Simply put, the main pool was the actual swimming pool while the smaller curved pool in the corner was for recreational purposes, such as soaking while drinking and so on.
Last night, everyone had been busy hanging out around the main pool. Someone would stop at the small pool occasionally, but they would all quickly move to enter the house.
When George carried Michelle out, he acted as if they were still making out. Thus, nobody paid much attention to him. Then, he placed the corpse on a cushion float in the small pool before slipping away.
The pool had a drainage system which activated at fixed intervals. The small pool also had an outlet. Thus, before long, the cushion float drifted out of the small pool along with the body. That was when everyone had discovered it.
As for why George had done that, one could only say that he was simply an idiot.
Not a single rational thought had crossed his mind. He was a musclehead who loved sports and disliked studying, and one could say that George was only slightly smarter than someone with a learning handicap.
Coupled with the fact that people didn’t think straight when they were drunk, George decided to do something that stupid.
Robert and Selina kept their opinions to themselves. After all, many people would act dumb in front of police officers as a last resort to avoid responsibility for their crime.
But Luke believed George. This fellow wasn’t lying. He was truly just that dumb.
Robert was already done with the questions. Most of the answers he received from George were “I don’t know,” “I don’t remember,” or “I can’t remember.”
Based on what he said, it wasn’t weird that he would do something like that when drunk. But similarly, many suspects would use such an excuse to muddle through a police investigation. And because of that, rather than reduce the suspicion on him, he had instead increased it.
Robert stood up and said goodbye, and Buck sent them off at the door.
Standing at the door, Buck called out to Robert. Selina and Luke proceeded to their car while Robert stopped.
Buck and Robert had known each other for years. For his son’s sake, Buck would definitely try to plead for leniency. Luke and Selina were tactful enough to give them some privacy.
Buck spoke with a pleading expression. However, Robert only shook his head and patted Buck’s shoulder before turning and getting into his car.
Buck was left standing there helplessly.
Luke sighed softly when he saw that.
Selina glanced at him and said, “Why are you sighing like you’re some old man?”
Luke said, “One must never be too stupid. Otherwise, he’ll trouble himself and his loved ones. Just look at Buck. His usual coarse and outspoken attitude is nowhere to be seen now.”
Selina sank into silence when she heard that. “Hence, you learned to be cunning so as not to worry Robert?”
Luke: “…Hehe.”
Girl, you make it sound so simple. Robert isn’t the one worried about me. Instead, I’m the one worried about them. This world isn’t as safe as you think.
When they arrived at the police department, the three of them entered Robert’s office again and locked the door.
This time, Robert didn’t ask for Luke’s opinion. Rather, he asked Selina, “Selina, what do you think?”
Luke grumbled inwardly, “Robert, are you reenacting an American version of Detective Di Renjie?”
Then, the beautiful Selina replied, “George might be telling the truth, but we can’t completely remove him as a suspect.”
Robert understood what she meant. She didn’t believe everything that George said.
He looked at Luke and said, “How about you? George is from your school, and you knew Michelle too. Did you notice anything?”
Luke pondered for a bit and said, “Robert, have you thought about it this way? The murderer didn’t choke Michelle to death, and instead used something like a pillow to suffocate her to death. What’s the reason for that?”
Robert answered immediately, “Perhaps the murderer has some common sense when it comes to committing a crime, and was aware that leaving fingerprints behind would expose them. Thus, they used a pillow or something similar instead.”
Luke said, “There’s another possibility. Given the murderer’s size and physical strength, she decided to use a pillow instead of her own hands.”
The other two blanked out before Selina asked, “She?”
“He” and “she” were different, and the both of them had latched keenly onto that point.
If even Selina had caught that, then the experienced Robert had naturally caught it as well. “Are you saying that the murderer is a woman?”
Luke replied, “If you want to solve the case as quickly as possible, we have to make bold deductions. Now, I’ll tell you something I’ve been withholding before this.”
The two frowned.
Luke continued, “On the day of the murder, I was on a certain balcony on the third floor with Jimena. The balcony faced the pool directly. When we heard the noise downstairs, I looked down and saw that one person in particular hadn’t approached the body to see what was going on. Rather, that person slipped away stealthily. And in the subsequent report we made, this person’s name also wasn’t included in the list of guests that night.”
Robert and Selina instantly understood his meaning.
Someone had been there that night, someone that nobody knew was there.
That someone hadn’t stepped forward to see what was going on, and instead had slipped away silently. And coincidentally, that person had also left from the pool. There were too many coincidences here.
“Who?” Robert asked.
“Jessica Thompson, a sophomore from school. She’s also one of the school cheerleaders,” Luke said.
The other two exchanged glances. In short, this girl was from the same social circle as Michelle.
Selina pondered for a bit and asked, “What is her relationship with George? Or is there a grudge between them?”
If they were a couple, it was very likely that she was the murderer, and this was a crime of passion.
And if she had a grudge against George, then this might be a set-up.
Luke shook his head. “No, she once got into an argument with Michelle, but it wasn’t over George. Rather, they fought over Lorde.”
Robert and Selina asked blankly, “Lorde?”
Luke nodded. “Lorde is the quarterback. He’s handsome and athletic. Moreover, he does quite well in his studies. He’s also from a decent family. There’s always been a rumor among the cheerleaders that Jessica was chasing Lorde.”
Robert frowned. “Only a rumor?”
Luke shrugged. “As far as I know, they indeed aren’t together. But there are also rumors that Lorde rejected Jessica’s advances.”
Robert and Selina exchanged glances again.
This made things interesting.
Robert started pacing around the room. After a short while, he pointed at the computer and said to Selina, “Pull up the details on Jessica and Lorde.”
Then, he started searching the room before he found a folder. He opened the folder and read it for a bit before he lifted his head. “Selina, are you done?”
Selina replied, “I only found their school records. Do you want me to read them out?”
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