Returner Fantasy-Chapter 176: Murder - Part 9

Among the three remaining suspects;

One is a fool who keeps silent—not because he committed the crime, but because he is hiding something else and wants to save himself, whatever the cost;

Another is the true killer, who believed he had committed the perfect crime until he realized the mistake he made—or so he thought;

The last is the one burdened by a guilty conscience, who would provide the single piece of evidence needed to solve Cindy’s murder;

"Isn’t that you, Ms. Rose?" Luke said, ending his speech while remaining seated on the sofa in front of the three suspects.

"Eek!"

A frightened shriek escaped Rose’s lips as she continued to cower in her seat.

Her reaction only confirmed Jeff’s and Luke’s assumption—that she knew something about Cindy and hopefully about the killer.

"Are you saying that one of us is the killer?!" Gary shouted angrily.

By simple process of elimination, yes—or so everyone watching the interrogation thought.

"We don’t even have a reason to kill her," Jaxon added, struggling to maintain his poker face.

Luke, however, ignored them both. Instead, he continued questioning Rose about Gary and Jaxon.

"You were Cindy’s assistant, right, Ms. Rose? That at least makes you aware of what she was doing for the sake of her career as a model. So tell me—was Cindy sleeping with both Mr. Gary and Mr. Jaxon?"

"How dare you accuse me of sleeping with our company’s model!"

"I’m a married man, you bastard!"

It was Gary and Jaxon who reacted to Luke’s question, while Rose simply stared at him, stunned that he had figured out Cindy’s relationship with the two men.

"Was Cindy blackmailing both of them? Threatening Mr. Gary’s career and Mr. Jaxon’s marriage?"

"Don’t answer him, Rose!"

"You’re not required to tell him anything!"

Gary and Jaxon’s panicked shouts only pressured and frightened Rose even more.

Seeing her terrified expression as she looked at Gary as if silently asking what to do, Luke decided to lay down his final card and call another bluff.

"Like Mr. Jaxon said, I won’t be able to arrest you if you follow Mr. Gary’s instructions and keep silent. But that also means I won’t be able to protect you. After all, the killer might target you next—just like Cindy’s ex-boyfriend."

The last part of Luke’s remark caused Rose to stand abruptly and back away from Gary and Jaxon.

"Don’t be an idiot, Rose! Even if Rico is dead, that doesn’t mean the killer is after you next!" Gary shouted as he stepped toward her, only to be stopped by two police officers.

Jaxon, on the other hand, stopped addressing Rose and turned his desperation toward Gary.

"It’s you, isn’t it? You killed Cindy! That’s why you’re so desperate to keep her silent! That’s why she’s so scared of you! The rumor about you sleeping with the female models you manage was probably true!"

"And what about you?!" Gary shot back. "If Cindy was sleeping with you, then you’re the one most likely to have killed her to hide your affair!"

Despite Gary and Jaxon beginning to lose their composure, Luke had also run out of cards to play.

Which was why it was Lena’s turn.

She approached Rose from behind and whispered to her, calling her bet.

"You’ve been sleeping with Mr. Gary, haven’t you?"

As Nubia’s assistant, who also reported directly to her father—the Vice President Executive of PoruMerc’s Women’s Division—Lena was well aware of the rumors about Gary.

She had personally investigated him before, yet none of the models under his management had spoken up.

Regardless, if Cindy had indeed been sleeping with Gary to secure her position as an official model, then a newcomer like Rose was likely doing the same.

Gary might have promised to hire Rose if she slept with him—and now he was threatening to break that promise if she broke her silence.

"However, if you don’t speak up, I will personally make sure that neither of you will ever be part of PoruMerc again. But if you do, I will guarantee Gary’s promise myself."

"He wasn’t in his room—"

"Rose!"

Gary became enraged, shouting in an attempt to stop her from confessing. But Rose would not risk losing all her efforts and the career she had worked so hard for—even if it meant enduring humiliation and sleeping with Gary.

In fact, her fear suddenly vanished. She responded to Gary with a mocking grin, knowing her confession would be her way of getting back at him.

"—Mr. Gary wasn’t in his room at the time of Cindy’s death. I know, because I was there waiting for him."

With Rose breaking her own alibi—that she had been at Cindy’s room—and testifying against Gary’s claim that he had been in his room during the estimated time of Cindy’s death, Gary became the prime suspect.

"So what if I wasn’t in my room?! That doesn’t prove I’m the killer!"

"Just admit it already, you disgusting producer!"

Jaxon joined in accusing Gary, but Rose had something for him as well.

"I also know that Cindy secretly recorded every time she slept with a man to gain his favor. She stored all the videos in her online account."

Rose’s testimony about Cindy’s recordings did not directly advance the investigation. However, it gave Luke another card to play—and an offer to make.

Luke glanced at Jaxon, and a silent agreement was reached at that moment: the video of his affair with Cindy would remain buried—even if the police recovered Cindy’s files—if he confessed the truth.

"I didn’t kill Cindy. I only followed her instructions to access the hotel’s computer system and erase the camera footage. I even have her messages saved in my online storage account!"

Jaxon’s confession removed him from the list of suspects, as he would have needed to be in the hotel’s control room to delete the footage.

"Which means you’re the only suspect left, Mr. Gary," Luke said after ordering the officers to handcuff him.

"This is ridiculous! Rose could be the killer herself! She had a motive—Cindy treated her like a slave! She could be lying just to frame me!"

"Even if she doesn’t have an alibi, I doubt she’s strong enough to wield a heavy metal greatsword, stab Cindy with it, then overpower a grown man and kill Cindy’s ex-boyfriend."

"Then why aren’t you arresting the owner of that greatsword?!"

—Got you!—

They had no solid evidence. They didn’t even know why Cindy had been at the villa that night, much less how the killer had turned her death into a locked-room case.

But what Jeff and Luke did have was the murder weapon—and the fact that the killer was trying to frame Jess.

That was why Luke had not announced that the murder weapon was Jess’s greatsword, nor that she had been the main suspect.

Only the killer would know that. And once cornered, he would take the bait—and trap himself with his own words.

"Mr. Gary, you’re under arrest."

"Wait! I’m telling you, that girl’s fingerprints should be all over that greatsword!"

"You have the right to remain silent—and get fuc’ up in jail."

---

[RETURNER FANTASY SYSTEM]

[Current Intimacy Point – 90]

[Quest 30 – Murder Mystery (Complete)]

[Reward – Murderer’s Archive]

[Objective – Solve Cindy’s Murder]