NInety Eight

CHAPTER 98

In the midst of despair, Alicia heard a familiar voice enter her ears.

"Alicia!"

Alicia's vision had begun to blur. Her breathing was labored. She was losing a lot of oxygen due to the smoke that filled the room. Her vision was only filled with gray. She struggled to open her eyes as her body fell to the floor, right next to her mother's body which was also lying there.

"Help!" Alicia's voice began to fade. She reached out, then muttered, "Please save us."

Before Alicia completely lost consciousness.

****

After some time had passed, Nicholas removed the mask covering his face and entered the emergency room at the hospital. He walked over to Alicia who was lying there weakly, along with a senior doctor named Harris. Harris was a thin doctor who had a birthmark on his right hand, and Nicholas could see Harris' birthmark whenever the man was writing or using a tablet with his hand.

Harris showed Nicholas Alicia's condition. "She had respiratory problems from breathing in too much smoke. We've given the girl some medicine, but it looks like it's going to take some time before she can fully recover." Harris examined the tablet in his left hand, moving it up and down quickly. He was already familiar with it. "After conducting a scan, we did not find any severe burn marks, nor any bone injuries. The patient lost consciousness due to pure smoke inhalation. There are signs of irritation and infection in the throat, nose and eyes and that reinforces the medical team's opinion."

Nicholas nodded in understanding, then continued. "What about the burns?"

"She only has one burn on her hand, it's not severe, it will go away with regular use of the ointment we gave her," Harris said. He was very confident every time he spoke. And Harris took a deep breath, "What about the other two victims? We just moved them to the autopsy room, the autopsy will be done in twenty minutes and we will be ready."

Hearing Dr. Harris' detailed explanation, Nicholas was satisfied. He nodded his head, signaling that he had understood enough and immediately replied, "Then, I will go to the autopsy room now."

"Alright, follow me."

In the fire that had occurred, Alicia's new adoptive parents had died. The two victims were Michelle Baker and Edward Pattinson. Their identities had already been confirmed by the police before they were moved to the autopsy room.

The autopsy process lasted quite a long time, before Dr. Harris came out of the autopsy room and delivered the results of their examination.

Nicholas who was sitting waiting immediately stood up when he saw Dr. Harris approaching him. "Detective?"

"Doctor? How was the autopsy?"

Dr. Harris handed over a brown envelope containing the autopsy report that his team had completed. The face of Dr. Harris, who was forty-eight years old this year, looked sad. He sympathized with the victims. "They died from impact, not fire. We didn't find any soot on the victims, which means the fire happened after they died. Injuries or hard impacts in vital areas such as the head and chest are what caused their deaths.

First, Michelle Baker, died from skull bone injuries and head bone fracture damage. There was bleeding inside her head and during the fire, it must have been difficult for her to call for help. The second victim, Edward, suffered trauma to his left chest which was located right at his heart. We saw that this trauma caused pressure and the victim went into cardiac arrest on the spot. Death was quick. He died before the fire broke out."

The man named Nicholas Gray took the paper out of the folder after listening to Dr. Harris' explanation. He thought that the doctor's explanation in front of him actually led to the suspicion of premeditated murder. Because if the two victims died from the impact, who started the fire and caused the fire in the house? A fire can destroy a house and its belongings. Did the criminals hiding in Alicia's parents' house also want to destroy the evidence by setting a fire there?

Or was everything... just a coincidence?

"If the two victims didn't die in the fire, does this mean they were killed before the fire broke out?" Nicholas looked up, staring into the tanned eyes of Dr. Harris who stood in front of him.

Shrugging, Dr. Harris said, "Dead bodies never lie, Detective. And an autopsy, will help you speak to the situation before the death happened."

****

Something was stuck in Alicia's throat, and she had to clear her throat to get it out. The clearing of her throat woke Nicholas from his sleep. An hour ago, Nicholas had fallen asleep there, next to Alicia who was still unconscious.

And when he heard Alicia's voice, Nicholas immediately got up and called the duty doctor.

"She's looking better, she seems to be waking up," said Dr. Andrew, who then helped Alicia and tried to make sure. "Alicia, do you hear my voice?"

Slowly, Alicia blinked her eyes and tried to get up from her bed. Nicholas quickly reached out, helping Alicia to lean against the top of the bed using a pillow. Her pale face looked at the two men in front of her confused. She remained silent for a while, until she finally remembered what had happened to her and asked,

"Nic, are you... coming to my house?"

And Nicholas nodded in the affirmative.

Alicia's hand immediately grabbed Nicholas' long shirt sleeve. She looked up because of Nicholas' tall body. "What about my parents? You saw them, didn't you? You already know who they are, don't you?"

Dr. Andrew looked awkward between the two of them. So he immediately cleared his throat and looked at Alicia, then Nicholas in turn to leave the place. "It looks like I have to go check on my other patients. The nurse will come to give you some medicine, but so far your condition is fine, Alicia."

But Alicia did not care about Dr. Andrew, she chose to tug Nicholas' clothes again and raised her voice. "Nic, tell me the truth! What happened to my parents?"