Neglect

2

A Maple High School female student died.

I was a criminal police officer named Quinton Coop. I rushed to the house of a little girl named Lily after receiving a call from the citizens.

The residential area where she lived was a budget apartment, and the walls were covered with red paint and the word: [Demolished.]

The trash in the residential area's garbage station was piled high and emitted a foul odor. When they saw the police car, several old ladies gathered downstairs in the residential area and began gossiping.

We gently pushed the onlookers away and hurried upstairs to inspect the crime scene.

The little girl's father owed gambling debts and left the city to hide from the debt collectors, leaving the little girl to live at home alone.

The little girl lived in an old budget apartment. She would bring newspapers to the neighbors of the entire budget apartment every day after school at 6:00 p.m. to earn some money. However, the neighbors discovered that she hadn't delivered the newspaper for two days. Hence, they knocked on the door when they suspected something was wrong and were met with silence. Some bold neighbors broke in and found that the little girl had died at home.

The clothes on the victim's upper body were messy, almost revealing her chest, and her lower body was partially clothed. The body was lying on the couch, and the cause of death seemed to be suffocation. It was a case of sexual assault. There were obvious signs of a fight all around, and it could be seen that the victim had struggled frantically before she died.

We couldn't find any clues because the surveillance cameras in Lily's residential area happened to be broken recently.

Lily's body had been sent to the forensic department for examination, and it would take a few days before the examination results were available.

I looked at the case file and was lost in thought.

Throughout the investigation, I visited Lily's father, neighbors, and classmates, all of whom had a plausible alibi.

Lily's father cried sadly. He took my arm and murmured, "Lily, my daughter... Oh, officer, you must find the killer as soon as possible. I don't know which jerk killed my daughter. My daughter is so beautiful. How could she die at such a young age? It's so tragic. My daughter had no enemies. She goes home as soon as school is over. She seldom stays at school and doesn't participate in school activities frequently. How could she have enemies outside?"

Lily's father paused before continuing, "My daughter seldom talks to me about her affairs at school. Yeah, I argued with her that day. Wasn't I in a lot of debt? My family is not well-off either, but my daughter unexpectedly requested material fees from me. I didn't have any money, so I lashed out at her because I was hot-tempered. I told her I don't have money and that she can find a way to settle it herself. She yelled at me, saying I didn't care about her. How could I not care about her? If I didn't care about her, I would have thrown her away after her mom ended her life."

He then said, "I didn't want to listen to her. It was really insensible of her. Her classmate came to look for her and knocked on the door outside, yet she was still yelling at me. The classmate's name was Julian. He came to send my daughter study materials. I happened to receive a debt collection call. The boy didn't stay and left after delivering them. Not long after he left, I also went out of town to hide from my debts."

When it came to money, I clearly saw that Lily's father's eyes were bright as if a wild dog had found food.

His eyes were wide open. After he paused for a while, there was a trace of flattery on his tear-stained face. He lowered his head and asked me, "If the killer is caught, how much compensation can I get, police officer?"

Lily's neighbor, an old lady, seemed really upset. She kept sighing and telling me about Lily, "Lily and her father, Zachary Watsons, are such a disastrous family. Her father is a piece of scum. I've been neighbors with their family for almost ten years. When Lily's mother was alive, her father always beat her mom. At that time, Lily protected her mother and quarreled with her father. She was so young. We felt uncomfortable watching the child defending her mother."

The old lady paused before continuing, "Zachary is a scumbag. He beats his wife when he drinks, gambles, and has no money. In the end, his wife jumped off the building. Not from this building. There used to be a budget apartment behind us, but now, it is abandoned. Many people have moved away. There was a wasteland behind it, and her mom jumped from that building. After her mom jumped off the building, nobody lived in that budget apartment anymore. It was so miserable when someone found out at that time. Lily was crying and calling out for her mom. We all felt even worse when we saw it... Officer, please tell me if you find out what happened."

The old lady emphasized that I must inform her of the outcomes of the case. I knew this would be the talk of the residential area for a long time.

When I found that classmate named Yvette Carter, she was the last female student who met Lily. Although she pouted, she cooperated with my investigation. "I really don't like Lily. It's not that I'm not kind. Everyone doesn't like her. Isn't that her problem? If it's just me who didn't like her, then it's probably my problem. However, everyone hates her. There must be something wrong with her, right? I heard from the homeroom teacher that she was dead. It was a homicide, and the killer hadn't been caught. What a pity. Who would kill her? Everyone was bullying her. Who had so much hatred for her that they wanted to kill her?"

Yvette paused before continuing, "It would be great if Lily wasn't so high-profile. She loves to flaunt herself. Something terrible would happen to high-profile people like her sooner or later. She should have kept a low profile. She was bullied because she always fooled around with boys. We were just joking with her behind her back! Although they crossed the line sometimes, I didn't dare to say anything or intervene. What if I tell everyone not to bully her, and everyone isolates me? Besides, being bullied by everyone else was her own problem. Otherwise, why would others bully her rather than someone else? As the saying goes, it takes two to tango."

She added, "I was afraid to approach her because I heard she was an escort. Lily would encourage you to become an escort if you hung out with her. I suspect Lily's gangster boyfriend was the one who did it. At first glance, he did not appear to be a good person, and I have seen him arguing with Lily at the school gate. Julian is also very likely. He seems to like Lily. I've seen him sitting in Lily's seat in the classroom and touching his private parts. I think he's a bit of a pervert. However, he was usually very timid in class, and I'm not sure if it was him."

Yvette mentioned a few people related to Lily to me, which was very helpful. I thanked Yvette, who seemed very excited. The reason for her excitement was simple. She could brag to her friends that she was helping the police investigate the case. I had met a lot of little girls like her in my career.