ONE

Three days ago~

The tension in the investigation room was sickening. Several people shouted loudly, pointing at the pile of papers lying on the table. Five people in investigator uniforms entered the room several times to deliver some evidence that had been secured from the shooting scene. There is a 9 mm caliber pistol wrapped in a clear adhesive plastic which is positioned on the main table. The gun is a murder weapon. At least that's what the investigative team said today, walking in and out of the room with various items brought from the Duffal family's stately home.

In addition to the 9 mm pistol, there is also a bloodstained handkerchief which has now turned brown. The shooting took place yesterday afternoon at seven o'clock, just as the billionaire's family was about to have a traditional family dinner. Unfortunately before the head of the family could sit in his chair, someone named Calvin McAdam suddenly burst into the dining room and shot them all blindly.

There were four people who became victims of Calvin's ferocity. They were the Duffal couple, Richard Duffal and Jane Duffal, then their twins, Simon Duffal and Steve Duffal, the four people died on the spot after the vicious bullets ripped their vital organs mercilessly.

"What is this?"

"Crystal glass," replied Mark, one of the investigative teams who were arranging various evidences on the table. His gloved hands carefully arranged the items on the table while occasionally frowning in disgust at the sight of the items which were all stained with the Duffal family's blood.

“I know, but this brown stain—”

"It's their blood. You can imagine how savage Calvin McAdam was when he killed them in the dining room. Almost all the cutlery there has bloodstains on it.”

“No wonder this table now looks more like a dining table than a wooden table in the investigation room. But what about witnesses? Have they interrogated them?” Richmond purposely pointed to another room that was directly in front of the room they were currently occupying.

There was an interrogation session going on since this morning by the office investigator with the witnesses, the majority of whom were servants at the billionaire's house, then a gardener, a babysitter, and a butler.

"Their alibis are perfect, that's what makes Calvin McAdam the only strong suspect in the murder case. During dinner, they were usually in their house, behind the main building. At that time they were getting ready for dinner too. And only Calvin wasn't there for dinner."

"Wait, does Calvin work in that house too?" asked Richmond, frowning. Since then he had not read Calvin's files which the other team was working on. All he knows is that Calvin was named a suspect because the murder weapon used to kill a wealthy family was found in the car Calvin was driving.

"He worked as a driver there."

"Apart from the murder weapon found in his car, what else is aggravating Calvin?"

Mark paused to take a look at the arrangement on the table which looked absolutely stunning. Then he turned to Richmond with a curt shrug. "Who knows. What is clear is that the man does not have a strong alibi to deny all the accusations leveled at him. I think he will soon be sentenced to death."

"That fast?" Richmond felt uneasy at the words of his teammates, but he himself couldn't help but look at the large amount of bloodstained evidence on the table. All of these items are silent witnesses of Calvin's cruelty when he spit out his bullets to kill all members of the rich family.

“The first trial will be held tomorrow. All witnesses and suspects will be placed in one room to avoid misunderstandings in this case.” While lowering his head, Mark then whispered in Richmond's ear who was now leaning on the table. "Don't billionaire families always have priority?"

"You are right. Some people definitely want this problem to be resolved so that they can deal with other problems more freely. Yeah, life isn't that innocent, is it?”

After Mark finished arranging all the evidence on the table, he then went to buy coffee downstairs. While Richmond chose to stay in the place longer while watching the people who were still passing around the room to talk about the shocking events that had just happened yesterday evening.

“Your Honor Hazel Hayes?”

Richmond turned towards the door and found a woman with shoulder length hair in a Hermes handbag talking to one of her comrades. There was no mistaking it, it was Judge Hazel Hayes whose name had recently become a topic of discussion among the government elite because she was predicted to be the next highest judge, replacing the previous judge who was too old to be a judge. And since Hazel Hayes was about to ascend the throne, this case would automatically fall into her hands, as well as to prove her credibility as the chief judge in the Seattle federation court.

“I came to ask for files related to tomorrow's trial. Since this is an extraordinary situation, I can't wait for the files to be sent to my email. All the city councils have demanded that I resolve this case immediately.”

“Your phone must have been very busy since yesterday.”

"Pretty much. I had to stay in my office until ten o'clock at night."

“It must be very troublesome,” the man muttered with a sympathetic face.

“Therefore this is designated as a special case. I am fully authorized to look at the evidence at the crime scene and see our criminals.”

“Ah yes, this case is indeed very shocking and troublesome, Miss Hayes. Today we are trying hard to collect evidence and various things that will be needed in tomorrow's trial. You can see all the stuff we found at the crime scene on that table."

Richmond listened to one of his colleagues busy conversing with Judge Hayes who was currently—she was either stunned, or surprised to see all the evidence neatly arranged on the wooden table. But the most astonishing thing is of course the 9mm caliber pistol which is suspected as the murder weapon in the shooting of the billionaire family.

“I will introduce one of the field investigation teams to this case, Richmond Shelter. Richmond!"

Hearing his name being called, Richmond immediately stepped closer to his partner and judge Hayes who was now smiling gently at him.

"Richmond Shelter."

"Hazel Hayes. I was told that the public prosecutor assigned to this case was Charless Roger, is that true?”

Typical impatient, Richmond thought, glancing at Hazel behind his dark eyes. But that was precisely what Hazel Hayes added to her eyes, she didn't like small talk. She is agile, her eyes are also very careful to catch every situation that is seen in front of her. No wonder if she was prepared to become the chief judge in the federal court which for years has been presided over by Judge Moore Banock.

"Yes you are right, he is Charless Roger. All these investigations are under the control of Charless Roger as the public prosecutor.”

"What about the lawyer for the defendant?"

"Rick Arkenzie."

Richmond glimpsed the beautiful judge's lips thinning at the mention of Rick's name, but he didn't want to bother with the matter. After all, the rumors have spread everywhere. No one doesn't know about Hazel and Rick's past relationship. But so far the news has never affected Hazel's credibility in handling her cases.

“He got the right lawyer then. How many witnesses will be brought to the trial tomorrow morning?”

"There are nine people in total, consisting of five maids, one butler, one gardener, and two babysitters."

“The Duffal family has a baby?” asked Hazel, furrowing her brows. In the mind of a woman like her, of course, murder looks very heinous if it involves cute babies or minors.

"They have nine-year-old twins Simon and Steve and they have one six-year-old daughter."

"They're all dead?" Hazel's voice cracked a little as she asked that question. However, her heart would not have the heart to imagine that there were corpses of children among the corpses of adults lying on the floor.

"Simon and Steve yes, while their daughter survived."

“What a miracle. Where is the girl now?”

"Under state supervision. She is in the witness shelter accompanied by her babysitter.”

“Do Mr and Mrs Duffal have siblings?”

"Unfortunately no," replied Richmond concerned.

So far he has conducted an investigation into the origins of the Duffal family, and so far he has found no evidence that shows that Richard Duffal has siblings, nor does Jane Duffal. It is known if Richard's mother's father died long ago, when Richard was twenty-five years old due to complications. While Jane Duffal, her mother's father died in a bank robbery incident that killed them because at that time Jane's father was a bank director, while Jane's mother was the secretary of an influential board of directors. Both were shot by robbers while trying to save a safe that the robbers were about to plunder.

“Then this is a very precarious event. What about their killers? Has it been identified?”

"The man's name is Calvin McAdam, a family driver who allegedly has a grudge against the Duffal family."

“You look very sure, Mr Shelter. What about the other witnesses?”

“Their alibis are strong. It was almost impossible for them to commit murder. Calvin is the only one who doesn't have an alibi."

"That's why he was indicted for this murder case?" Hazel raised an eyebrow in surprise. Her eyes have been busy observing all the evidence one by one.

"So far I'm sure, but the trial must still be held to determine the motive. So far we haven't been able to identify the motive."

Hazel raised her eyebrows again, looking both surprised and odd about this shocking murder case. She felt she found a lot of loopholes in this case that made it difficult to solve.

"At least we found something wrong. One of the maids testified that she had seen Jane Duffal sneak into Calvin's bedroom at two in the morning."

"Affair?"

"You think so, Judge Hayes?" Richmond looked into Hazel's eyes meaningfully as he rubbed his chin casually.

"That's a very shallow guess. Don't think too much about it, Mr Shelter. May I see photos of today's investigation?"

"Sure. I hope you won't feel sick when you see pictures of their corpses."

Richmond then directed Hazel to another room next to the first room to show her various photos related to the murder case of the billionaire family, Richard Duffal.

As she stepped into the second room, Hazel felt that she could breathe more freely than she had in the first. The atmosphere in room two was quieter because there weren't many teams of investigators walking in and out to report the various findings they had. In room two there are only three women, all of whom are archiving officers whose job is to sort each photo based on the time and place where the photo was taken.

“The conditions when their bodies were found were like this.”

Hazel just pursed her lips slightly as she tried not to throw up in Richmond's presence. It turned out that what happened at the house was far more terrifying than she had expected. There's blood everywhere in every where the camera gets shot. All the bodies of the Duffal family were lying on the floor and close to each other. The bodies of two of Duffel's boys, Simmon and Steve, were seen holding on to each other. Even after they collapsed from being shot, their positions were hand in hand.

Just by looking at the photo, Hazel could feel how frightened the children were when a gun was pointed at them. Moreover, when they saw the condition of their parents who were allegedly killed before their children had a turn. If they were allowed to live, Hazel didn't guarantee that the children would be able to live normally like other children their age. The severe trauma will surely haunt their minds for life.

"We assume that Richard and Jane were killed first because of the position of their bodies on the right, and Jane's arms being crushed by Simon's legs. In such a position, it was highly unlikely that the twins would be the first to be shot by the evil one. And again—"

"Those parents would have acted even more brutally if they saw their children being shot first," Hazel interrupted suddenly voicing her assumption. "Parental instinct," added Hazel with a shrug.

“You are right Your Honor. When viewed from any angle, they all looked so resigned and there was no sign of resistance at all. It's clear that Richard and Jane were killed first under the killer's threat."

"Their blood is splattering everywhere," pointed Hazel at each of the photos neatly arranged on the table.

“That's why room one is so full today. We decided to bring every piece of evidence that had their blood splattered on them. And that's a lot."

Hazel looked at the photos one by one. Seen from various angles, the position when the bodies were found. Then in another photo, Hazel saw photos of the Duffal family's magnificent home. It seemed they were indeed very vulnerable to an attack like this, considering the wealth that the Duffal family had. But strangely, the Duffal family murder case was actually carried out by a family driver whose motive for killing them would be very shallow if it was related to the case of an affair between the employer and the driver. Hazel quickly pushed the thought out of her head. She seemed to be too affected by the drama she had recently watched that her judgment became so shallow and sounded stupid.

"What time were their bodies found?"

"Around forty minutes after it happened."

Hazel frowned deeply. "That long? Where are the people who should be in that house?”

“According to the testimony of the servants, the Duffal family never wanted their dinner to be disturbed by the back and forth of the servants. They prefer to be left alone while dinner so that they can more freely chat with their children. Yeah, so everyone was at their house in the other building in the back when it happened, except for one person.”

“Calvin McAdam,” Hazel said, looking Richmond in the eyes.

"Precisely. Calvin was found an hour later on the Aurora Bridge."

"What was he there for?"

"It's still a mystery. We suspect that he will take the youngest daughter of the Duffal family— Zinny Duffal, somewhere to be killed, while hiding his tracks.”

“Why did Zinny Duffal have to be brought that far to be killed?”

More and more Hazel felt that the murder case was actually much more complicated than she thought. Calvin's act of killing a billionaire family is a little strange if examined further. There are a lot of missing puzzle pieces here. And that of course makes a lot of people will be fooled if they don’t do a thorough investigation. But that man was also the only person who didn't have a solid alibi. It felt like Hazel wanted to pull her hair out now so she could find some clarity on the matter. Even though tomorrow she didn't have to decide on Calvin's sentence directly, but of course she had to be the careful side in solving this case.

"So far it's all a mystery. The suspect—” Richmond cleared his throat slightly to continue, “I mean the defendant in this case, Calvin McAdam, is unwilling to be cooperative in the investigation. His lawyers were even irritated by Calvin's behavior, who continued to swear instead of answering every question that was put to him.

“He did not even hesitate to use violence during the interrogation session. Until this moment, I received a report that Calvin had beaten up two police officers who had tried to calm him down. As a result of that action, of course, Calvin's hands had to be handcuffed behind his body so he couldn't attack anyone again. But still that can't make Calvin willing to give answers to all the questions put to him."

"He's a stubborn man." Hazel commented with a serious expression. Exactly as expected. This case will not be a simple case. The things that Calvin didn't reveal, it must be something important. Something that was key in this murder.

"May I see Calvin?"

Richmond slightly raised his eyebrows with a look of surprise, but that expression soon changed after Hazel gave another, more plausible reason.

“I need to see that man to study the case. You must know about facial expressions, right?”

Richmond nodded his head in understanding, “That is a very important component of the investigation.”

"Good, because I want to see how Calvin's face looks during this investigation."

"What about the witnesses? Would you like to see it too, Your Honor Hayes?”

"No need. I can hear their testimony tomorrow morning in court. Now please take me to see Calvin McAdam."

“Then this way, Your Honor Hayes. I'll take you to where Calvin is.