Chapter 45: Asher Is the Murderer

Chapter 45: Chapter 45: Asher Is the Murderer

Another victim has been found.

I stood up in terror.

’That lunatic... he’s killed so many people?’

’All the girls who were adopted back then... killed, one by one...’

’What could possibly be the reason for all this?’

’That lunatic dumped out the bodies of everyone else from the orphanage but kept mine. What is he planning to do?’

’Did he realize he killed the wrong person? Or...?’

"We’ve caught Asher. He didn’t run. He just stood there and let us arrest him..."

"This time, on the body, we found... we found..." The officer’s breath hitched, his voice raspy.

"What did you find!" Zeke Shaw demanded impatiently.

The young officer glanced cautiously at Madeline Quinn, hesitating.

Madeline Quinn was already trembling all over, her breathing faint. "Just... say it."

"The eyes..." The young officer took a deep breath. "Dr. Quinn took a look. She said the eyes in the victim’s sockets were placed there after death. They might not belong to the victim. We suspect... we suspect they belong to Cecilia Caldwell."

Madeline Quinn collapsed to the floor, trembling violently. Her face was ashen, utterly drained of color.

’Eyes...’

’That lunatic... he gouged out my eyes?’

I was terrified, too, trembling all over.

’What on earth is that lunatic trying to do?’

’What is he doing?’

"He’s a lunatic! A complete lunatic!" I shrieked, losing control as I crumpled to the ground, sobbing.

’It’s too cruel...’

Zeke Shaw’s expression was grim. He took a deep breath. "You take care of her. I’m going to check it out."

Zeke Shaw wouldn’t let Madeline Quinn go to the scene.

’She wouldn’t be able to handle something like this.’

"We don’t know for sure until the tests are done, so don’t worry." Not knowing how to comfort her, Zeke Shaw just scratched his head, muttered a curse, and left.

I stayed by Madeline’s side, staring blankly into space with her.

’Madeline... I’m so sorry. Now that I’m dead, I can’t keep our promise.’

I once promised Madeline that if neither of us found a man we wanted to marry, we’d just stay single forever and find a city to retire in together.

’Now, that’s impossible.’

...

Zeke Shaw returned quickly.

The body had also been brought back to the forensics department.

The medical examiners were still running their analysis, which would take time.

When Julian Fletcher heard the news, he rushed over too. He looked even more disheveled and haggard than he had that afternoon.

"I don’t believe it... I don’t believe it!"

He refused to believe that the eyes in the corpse could be mine.

But the autopsy results were a brutal slap in the face.

They were my eyes.

At this point, Zeke Shaw and the other officers were thoroughly convinced I had been murdered.

Even Madeline slumped to the ground, defeated, no longer fighting it.

She believed I was really dead.

Only Julian Fletcher acted as if he’d heard some kind of joke. He lowered his head and began to laugh, a crazed edge to the sound.

I no longer had the energy to confront him or slap him. It was pointless.

"The last person that killer wants to murder now is probably Erin Whittaker."

A female officer murmured.

Julian Fletcher’s eyes were bloodshot. "Fine... I’ll be waiting for him."

"So now you agree to use Erin Whittaker as bait? A pity... it’s too late," Zeke Shaw said meaningfully, shaking his head. "It’s tragic, really. People only realize what they had after it’s gone."

Julian Fletcher clenched his fists, saying nothing.

"What’s so important? Her being dead is for the best!" he roared at Zeke Shaw, his eyes bloodshot.

’I knew it. He thinks it’s better that I’m dead.’

Sighing, I looked at Julian Fletcher’s current state and couldn’t help but laugh.

’I’m dead, so now you’re free.’

"Captain Lowell, Asher... he confessed. He said he killed them. All of them."

A young officer at the door spoke softly, his eyes downcast.

"What about Cecilia Caldwell? Where’s her body!" Zeke Shaw yelled, losing his composure. "That son of a bitch."

"He won’t say..."

I slumped onto a chair, defeated. That lunatic still refused to say where my body was.

"He won’t talk? That bastard."

Zeke Shaw finally snapped. Even though he was a police officer, he couldn’t control himself any longer.

Zeke Shaw barged into the interrogation room, switched off the surveillance camera, and threw a punch at Asher, tackling him to the ground and beating him relentlessly.

His colleagues couldn’t hold him back, no matter how they tried.

Asher laughed like a madman, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were frighteningly red.

"Where is Cecilia Caldwell? She wasn’t from the orphanage, so why did you kill her? Why!" Zeke Shaw screamed at Asher.

"Soon... you’ll see her very soon," Asher murmured, his voice raspy.

’Soon, everyone would see Cecilia Caldwell’s body.’

"After Erin Whittaker... is dead."