NovelEnglishChapter 144
Colin said Stella was one of the innocent ones.
That meant Colin had an inkling of who the real murderer was-one who didn’t kill the innocent. The bedroom
door swung open, revealing a void of emptiness.
Not a soul in sight.
| scoured every room in the house, but it was as if the world had swallowed everyone whole.
“Bang!”
The bedroom erupted with noise once more, this tfrom the depths of the closet.
Exchanging a glance with Robin, we dashed over and flung open the closet door.
Stella was bound and gagged, a makeshift prison of hanging clothes and darkness.
Thankfully, her life wasn’t in danger; she was just a bit dehydrated.
“Stella!” Robin unwrapped her bindings and yanked the cloth from her mouth.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt
“That bastard... he’s warning us...” Stella’s voice was tinged with shock and panic before she slumped into
Robin’s arms.
“I'm taking her to the hospital!” Robin hoisted her up and bolted for the door.
| tried to follow, but suddenly, a chill raced up my spine. | whipped around, facing the portrait hanging in the
living room.
A scream pierced the air.
My once beautiful ballet photo had been replaced... replaced with a photo of me, taken when the psychopath
murderer posedas a marionette in a glass display case.
Robin halted, finally noticing the switch.
They had been too preoccupied with the bedroom when they first walked in, lights flooding the dark, to notice
the photo had already been tampered with.
Colin instinctively covered my eyes, his voice quivering. “Let's go.”
| was frozen in place, my body refusing to move, as if rooted by fear.
Robin quickly called his colleagues, telling them to secure the scene.
“The frame... it's dripping blood,” | whispered, trembling.
Despite Colin’s hands over my eyes, the coppery scent of blood was unmistakable.
Chapter 144
The red dress in the photo was freshly painted with blood,
“The blood hasn't clotted; the murderer is still nearby,” Colin's voice was hoarse as he surveyed every corner of
the room.
“He’s meticulous, calculated. He knew exactly when we’d chere, when we'd see this photo, A mind that
brilliant would be lurking in the shadows, basking in his own twisted masterpiece...” Colin kicked open the
bathroom door, barely holding it together.
Robin set Stella on the couch, tellingto watch over her, and followed Colin in their frantic search.
“He puts his victims in glass cases, monitors their vital signs. He's got a mind for math, for medicine...” Colin
muttered to himself, then turned his gaze to the shoe cabby the door.
That shoe cabinet, it shouldn't fit an adult. But Colin moved toward it nonetheless.
“What are you doing?” Dexter's voice, laced with irritation, filled the doorway. He had brought a crew with him,
looking more like movers than anything else.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm
“Get out...” Colin told Dexter to back off, not to let anyone in, that they'd contaminate the scene. But Dexter's
animosity towards Colin was palpable. “This is Phoebe’s place, my fiancée, and this house is in my nnow.
The ones who should leave are you!”
Dexter eyed the movers. “Take all this stuff away, and be careful with it.”
“Don’t touch anything here!” Colin erupted, lunging at Dexter, ready to cto blows.
But Dexter's bodyguards were quick to restrain Colin.
“Dexter!” Robin and I shouted his nin anger. “Don’t let them in! Protect the scene!”
But it was too late; Dexter's men swarmed in, pushing past Colin and us.
“There's someone in the shoe cabinet!” | watched helplessly as they lifted the cabinet, blood spilling out onto
the floor.
A body, twisted into a grotesque shape, had been crammed inside.
With a “crack!” it tumbled out.
In that moment, a hush fell over everyone, followed by the sound of someone retching.
“Before it fell, the person was stuffed in there, kneeling...”
| caught a glimpse and wished | hadn't.
Visit our social media platform to read fascinating stories every day and connect with the community!
