Chapter 13: Curiosity of Dad's Death

"Dad… was killed the exact same way!" Caspian gasped at the realization. It felt as if it wasn't real, but Caspian remembered that day clearly; the day he lost his father.

Just thinking about it made him mentally exhausted, so he turned the computer off and lay on his bed.

Caspian stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes with dreary eyes. He just waited for the feeling of sleepiness to overtake him. As it did, he just whispered, "What the hell is going on…."

He then fell into slumber. But just outside his room, Abby was leaning her back against the door while sitting on the floor, one arm lying on her knee. A small frown appeared on her face.

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As Caspian woke up, it was still dawn. He couldn't help but rub his eyes as he whispered, "I'm too used to waking up early…."

He sat down and stared blankly at the wall. After a while, he scratched his chest as he laid back down again. Caspian just couldn't forget his realization yesterday.

Remembering what had happened, Caspian couldn't help but think, 'So maybe that's why mom is so adamant about chasing that murderer.'

Caspian lazed around the room for a few hours, not even realizing that he had dozed off. After that, he stood up and headed to the living room.

Since the living room and the kitchen didn't have a wall to separate them, Caspian immediately saw Abby preparing breakfast. He smiled as he greeted her, "Good morning, Abby."

"Good morning," Abby said with a charming smile. Caspian was a bit surprised, but he tried to shake it off as he sat down on the sofa and turned the TV on.

Just then, the sound of a news broadcast echoed throughout the room as the news anchor loudly said, "Another murder had been committed approximately two hours ago. Police believe that it was done by the same person responsible for the recent murders as it seemed that the way they died was exactly the same as the recent deaths."

Caspian frowned deeply as he said, "That feeling was right…. I knew that the criminal organization we captured wasn't the people who did it, but I just couldn't accept it… they even had the information about the victims listed in a folder labeled 'eliminated,' but somehow they weren't the ones who did it."

Abby then set the table and said, "Let your mom and her team handle it. Don't stress yourself; after all, you still have an injury. Let's eat~!"

Caspian sighed with exasperation as he stood up, walked up to the table, and sat down.

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A few hours ago, in an interrogation room stood Grace, who was interrogating the head of the criminal organization that Caspian and Abby caught.

Grace then spoke in a commanding voice, "Do you understand my words? Tell me, are you guys responsible for the recent murders!?"

Grafe shouted as she slammed her hand on the table, scaring the man. The man then spoke with a rigid tone due to fear, "N-no, ma'am! We were just told to compile the information!! I really don't know anything aside from that!!"

"Who was the one responsible for it then!?" Grace shouted as she leaned her head toward the man. Despite Grace being incredibly attractive, the fear the man felt overpowered his attraction, so he leaned back, afraid that he was going to get killed.

"I really don't know anything!!"

"Who's ordering you to compile that information?"

At this point, despite the fear, the man bit his lip and kept his mouth shut, arousing Grace's suspicion.

"Tell me, you bastard!" Grace clenched her fist and glared at the man. To the man, what he saw in Grace's eyes was akin to a demon, so he shriveled.

The man was trembling as beads of sweat covered his entire body. Tears also welled in his eyes due to fear as he stuttered. "O-officer, I r-really don't know! T-they never revealed t-their information, they just provide us w-with tasks, and we get p-paid accordingly! We really don't know anything!"

Grace sighed tiredly as she continued asking, "How did you manage to renovate the factory without alerting the authorities?"

Afraid that he would see the terrifying presence within Grace, the man immediately answered, "W-we were given protection by the same people who w-wanted us to compile the i-information. They even lent us the people for it, and we managed to renovate it without alert since that person probably has high authority!"

The interrogation continued for a while, but Grace realized that she could no longer get any more information from the man, so she just palmed her forehead. She wasted so much time as well by using this interrogation method.

Grace was somewhat annoyed, but she steeled herself with a sigh. Grace wanted to use some means that ordinary people would define evil, so she just sighed as many officers were observing the situation. She also had more ways, but she just wouldn't use them unless all the people here were from her organization.

The door was open wide, causing a loud thud as Grace left the room, dissatisfied with the interrogation. She didn't gain much information, but it was enough to give them a small trace.

Grace then called her subordinates over as she said, "Investigate all the politicians and police captains. Make sure that you do it quickly."

The four figures that she called over quickly nodded in agreement. Before they could leave, however, Grace told them, "Call over Gecko after he finishes his mission. We need him to infiltrate possible suspects' areas."

After she said that, one of the figures who wore a hat lightly tugged it as they quickly left the scene. Grace then grabbed a stick of cigarette out of the pack of cigarettes she pulled from her pocket and lit it. "I'll fucking find you, you bastard."

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Caspian was bored out of his mind as he couldn't do anything except sit around or lie on the bed. He was also bored from the videos he saw online on his phone, so he just smiled bitterly. Currently, he was just watching some TV shows that weren't even that interesting.

Abby was currently working out just right next to the couch as a way to spite Caspian, who told her to exercise in her room. Of course, Caspian was unable to avoid looking at Abby, which made Abby grin.

The uninteresting show on TV made Caspian pick up his phone. Although it was only a day since being suspended, he absolutely loved reading novels online. Just as he started reading, Abby jumped right next to him and swung her arms around Caspian's shoulder.

"What're you reading?"

"Abby! Stop, you smell like sweat!" Caspian exclaimed as he tried to avoid her.

The landlord sat on the porch of the house just in front of Caspian's apartment. Hearing the noise, he couldn't help but smile as he said, "Ah, youngins' always going at it."

After the uninteresting day was the same old night. Caspian was lying on his bed, unable to shrug off his thoughts about his dad's murder and how it's connected to the recent ones. He felt that it was a coincidence was unlikely. 'Should I contact mom?'

Despite feeling a bit drowsy, he picked up his phone and texted his mother.

[Mom, I have something to ask you.]

…..

.....

...…..

[What is it?]

'Finally, she replied,' Caspian sighed as he felt that he should just go to sleep rather than wait for a reply.

[Mom, I just realized.]

[What?]

[Dad's death. If I remember correctly, it looked exactly the same as the recent murders. Is that why you're so adamant about finding the killer?]

As Caspian sent that message, he didn't get an immediate reply. He felt as if he had struck his mother's nerve, so he immediately sent a follow-up message.

[If you dont wanna bring dad up, it's fine.]

What Caspian didn't know was that Grace was already biting her fingernail as she looked at the phone with extreme guilt. After all, she felt like every murder that the culprit committed was her fault.

[Lets talk about this tomorrow]

She just decided to stop the conversation as she put down the phone. She was visibly stressed as she sat down on her chair while leaning against the desk. Tears were already welling up in her eyes as she whispered, "If I just… If I didn't reveal what I was,,, would things have been different…?"

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Caspian had a bitter expression seeing the reply. 'I knew I shouldn't have mentioned dad. Every time I talk about him with mom, all she is is a face full of guilt and sorrow.'

He then placed the phone on his side table as he stared at the ceiling, contemplating what he should do next. Albeit already telling his mother he would give up the case, now that he knows the murders were done the exact same way as the murder of his father, he just couldn't leave it be.

Caspian switched his position as he closed his eyes, his consciousness fading away. Outside the apartment was a figure who lightly tapped on his ear, saying, "Should we make a move?"

"Go."

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Somewhere unknown, a figure slowly placed its phone on the desk right before it. It then smiled as it tapped on the glass of red wine. As it took a sip, the area around it seemed to have slightly warped.

A gentle, undiscernible voice, undistinguishable between a man and a woman, came out of the figure as it looked at the phone on loudspeaker, "Make sure he has no damages. He has the purest blood yet."

"Affirmative."

The gentleness of the undiscernible voice suddenly warped as a terrifying and ear-scratching voice resounded.

"It's your turn, my little detective~!"