Chapter 44: Someone Died Again

Chapter 44: Chapter 44: Someone Died Again

Madeline sat on the ground, looking at Asher. "Where’s Cece..."

Asher dropped the stick in his hand. As if spooked, he turned to run but was pinned against the wall by Zeke Shaw.

"Why are you running! What are you doing here! Take him back for questioning!"

Zeke Shaw shouted, his voice thick with anger.

’It’s always him! Always Asher!’

’I knew it. Zeke Shaw’s suspicion of Asher was growing.’

I breathed a sigh of relief. ’That’s good.’

’As long as they discover the truth soon and find my body...’

The police took Asher away, and Zeke Shaw carried off Madeline Quinn.

I let out a breath I’d been holding, standing there in a daze and staring at the lollipop Asher had dropped on the ground.

’It was fruit-flavored.’

...

Asher was arrested. The police interrogated him for twenty-four hours, but he refused to say a single word.

Without enough evidence, the police had no choice but to release him for the time being.

I sat in the police station lobby, watching numbly as Asher was led away by the Lancasters.

’This killer... he’s just too cunning.’

Asher still seemed to hold great value for the Lancaster family; they had hired Meridia’s best lawyers to bail him out.

’I wondered, even if they finally proved Asher was the serial killer... would the Lancaster family still find a way to get him off?’

’If that were the case, what a tragedy for all the girls who died.’

That afternoon, Julian Fletcher came to the police station to inquire about the investigation.

’He seemed desperate to know whether I had been found.’

’I guessed he just wanted to know if I was dead or not.’

Zeke Shaw was starting to suspect Asher. He believed Asher had stopped and hadn’t killed Madeline because he realized she wasn’t Erin Whittaker—that his "mission" had failed.

"We found a handkerchief laced with a sedative, a stick, and other tools for committing a crime in Asher’s pocket." Zeke Shaw frowned. Even though Asher had been bailed out, he still had him under surveillance.

"It’s that Asher! That madman, he’s definitely the killer! Cecilia Caldwell must have fallen into his hands!" Julian Fletcher said angrily. "Why aren’t you arresting him!"

"First of all, the ’madman’ you’re talking about is the young master of the Lancaster family, and Master Lancaster himself came forward to secure his release. Second, they hired the best legal team to post his bail. And finally... Asher has a psychiatric evaluation proving he has a mental illness. Even if he was carrying a drugged handkerchief and a stick, we can’t prove he’s the murderer from the other cases."

Zeke Shaw warned Julian Fletcher not to cause a scene.

’If the target that night had been Erin Whittaker, and Asher had been arrested in the act of trying to kill her, then he would have had grounds to keep Asher in custody.’

Julian Fletcher fell silent and took a deep breath.

’The Lancaster family... they were indeed a force to be reckoned with.’

"I just have this feeling... that Cece is right here beside me..." Julian Fletcher murmured, then after a moment, he spoke again. "If we keep an eye on that Asher... do you think we can find Cece?"

Zeke Shaw didn’t reply. ’Let’s hope so,’ he thought.

The police were already suspicious and had Asher under surveillance twenty-four hours a day.

’I believed that under such close surveillance, he was bound to slip up sooner or later.’

Madeline Quinn sat dejectedly on a long bench. "That Asher... is he really the killer? For some reason, I don’t think he is."

I sat beside Madeline Quinn, giving her a gentle smile. ’That’s because you’re too kind-hearted, Madeline.’

Madeline Quinn froze for a second, then turned her head to look in my direction.

I froze, too, suddenly wanting to cry for some reason.

Her eyes were filled with a creeping sense of loss. She shook her head. "Cece will be okay."

"Killers are good at putting on an act, especially a psycho like him," Julian Fletcher said grimly.

"It doesn’t feel like an act." As a police officer, Zeke Shaw had his own instincts. "I’ve already contacted an expert in criminal psychology. I suspect... Asher might have a split personality, or some other mental illness."

I shook my head and sighed. ’I used to suspect Asher had a split personality, too, but now I’m more inclined to believe he has an accomplice.’

"Zeke, the bodies of the other adopted girls from that photo have all been discovered. The only ones left are a woman named Jade Morgan and Erin Whittaker," a colleague said, walking over to Zeke Shaw. "We’re already searching for Jade Morgan."

Zeke Shaw nodded.

"Can’t you just arrest that psycho? Why would the Lancaster family protect a madman?" Julian Fletcher was losing control. He spun around and stormed out of the station, clearly intending to confront the Lancasters.

’I paid Julian Fletcher no mind. He wasn’t anxious for my sake; he was probably just afraid Asher would hurt Erin Whittaker.’

Madeline Quinn’s eyes turned red as she looked up at Zeke Shaw. "Is there really no other way?"

’Can we only just watch Asher?’

"We’ll wait and see. We have people watching Asher," Zeke Shaw said, pouring a cup of hot water for Madeline Quinn.

Madeline Quinn took the cup, and her tears started to fall uncontrollably. "I’m so scared. I’m scared for what’s happening to Cece right now..."

"Madeline, I’m okay," I whispered soothingly, a sudden sense of peace washing over me.

’I’m already dead. At least I didn’t suffer for long.’

’I’ve already forgotten the pain of death.’

"Lowell! Something’s happened..."

A young police officer rushed in, his face pale. "That Asher... he slipped out of the Lancaster house. We followed him... and in the moat behind the old orphanage, we found Jade Morgan’s body..."