Chapter 749
They landed on the platform of the second floor.
The sound of sirens grew louder as police and firefighters quickly arrived at the bar. Vanessa sighed and said, “Aria, I’m sorry. I just wanted to take you out for drinks. Didn’t expect something like this to happen.”
Aria tried to cheer her up. “Hey, at least we had drinks. Cameras have caught everything in the corridor, so we won’t get blamed, but we’ll need to make a statement since we’re in the room next to Isaac’s.”
Sure enough, they were taken to the police station. While giving their statements, a young cop rushed into the room. “We’ve identified the victim.”
He lowered his voice and continued, “The victim is Isaac. The killer’s way of doing this is almost exactly like the recent serial murders.”
He killed him and burned the body. Since it happened in a public place, the impact was even greater.
The police officer said, “The surveillance shows that Ms. Saxon made eye contact with the killer. Mr. Ludwig wants to talk to her.”
Soon, Aria was taken to another room. A middle-aged officer with a stern face sat at a desk, the screen showing footage from the bar’s corridor.
“Ms. Saxon, please have a seat,” Ronald Ludwig said, gesturing to the screen. “The footage shows you made eye contact with the killer. Do you remember his face?”
The footage showed the bartender always keeping his head down on purpose, hiding his face from the camera. Even when it caught his face, it was too blurry and far away to see clearly.
Aria studied the screen carefully for a moment, then shook her head. “Too far to see clearly, but I can try to sketch him.”
Ronald, who was in charge of the serial murder case, looked up in surprise. “Can you draw?”
“A bit,” Aria replied.
Ronald immediately had someone bring over a sketchbook and pencils. Aria took them and quickly outlined a rough sketch.
One of the officers muttered, “Don’t you think she looks like Miguel when she’s drawing? She’s super serious.”
Aria finished the sketch quickly and handed it to Ronald, who ordered, “Go find him.”
Aria said, “Wait a second. This guy was wearing a mask.”
Ronald looked startled. “Are you sure? Did you hesitate for a few seconds just now because you discovered this?”
Aria nodded. “Yes.”
A young police officer couldn’t help but cut in, “If you felt something was off, why didn’t you call the police then?”
Aria said with a smile, “I wasn’t completely sure. If I told you I saw a guy wearing a mask, would you send cops?”
They surely wouldn’t. The officer was instantly left speechless, and Ronald glared at him to tell him to shut up.
Ronald turned to Aria, his tone serious, “Ms. Saxon, the killer saw your face. You could be in danger. We’ll have someone
protect you.”
Aria replied firmly, “No need. I’m from Mandino City, and I’ll be back by tomorrow afternoon. I’m not staying long.”
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Chapter 749
Ronald insisted, “We’ll contact the Mandino Police Station and have them send someone to protect you, just in case the killer tries to hurt you.”
There were multiple cases to investigate separately, and they needed to stop the killer from hitting again, so it was going to be a busy time.
Aria paused and said, “Actually, I know the victim.”
“What?” Ronald was stunned.
The officer beside him immediately grabbed a pen and started jotting things down.
Aria said, “Isaac served time in prison. My boyfriend was the one who put him there.”
Ronald was shocked. “Is your boyfriend Owen?”
Aria nodded. “Yeah.”
Isaac had a long record, and almost everyone at the police station knew him, and of course, they knew Owen, who sent him to jail.
Aria told Ronald about Isaac causing trouble after his release, and about his son with Eileen. It was a secret the Shaw family kept under wraps.
Ronald smiled. “You’ve been a big help. We’ll definitely follow up on this lead.”
Just then, an officer knocked on the door. “Mr. Ludwig, people from the State Security Bureau are here. Cathy happens to be one of the leads.”
Ronald turned to Aria. “You might have to come by a few more times later. We need your help.”
“No problem. I’ll try to help,” Aria replied.
Ronald went out to meet the State Security Bureau team, while Aria and Vanessa got ready to head out.
Cathy immediately saw Aria. “Aria, what are you doing here? Did Ms. Langford send you to check things out?”
Ronald looked surprised. “Do you two know each other?”
Cathy explained, “Mr. Ludwig, Aria is also with the State Security Bureau.”
Ronald was stunned, thinking, “That explains it.
Cathy was accompanied by two male teammates. One of them asked, “Cathy, is she the Aria Ms. Langford personally
invited?”
Cathy nodded. “Yeah, she’s also my sister-in-law.”
“What?” The two guys immediately straightened up and said in perfect unison, “Pleasure to meet you.”
Aria rolled her eyes at how dramatic they sounded.
Vanessa burst out laughing and said, “Hi, I’m Vanessa Ward, Aria’s close friend.”
Cathy shook her hand and said, “Oh, Aria told me about you. I’ve seen your performances. You’re quite talented.”
“Thank you,” Vanessa said.
After some quick introductions, Aria explained, “We were in the private room next door when Isaac died. That’s why we
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came to the police station to give statements.”
Cathy said seriously, “We were stuck before, but if it’s the same killer, we might start with Isaac. Aria, since you’re with the State Security Bureau, why not stay a few days and work with us?”
Many would be on vacation at the end of July. Collaborating now would be easier than scrambling to form a temporary team later in the Skills Evaluation. Cathy wanted to form an all-girls team and come out on top.
Aria shook her head. “I still have experiments to run, but if I can get the case details, I might be able to do something now.”
Everyone was confused, not sure what she meant.
Cathy turned to Ronald. “Can she get the details of the case?”
Ronald nodded. “Sure.”
“I’ll take my friend home first,” Aria said. She didn’t feel right about Vanessa going home alone after what had happened.
One of the police officers raised his hand. “I can do that.”
“Thank you,” Vanessa said. She turned to Aria. “Go ahead. He will get me home safely.”
“Okay,” said Aria.
Aria, Cathy, and Ronald walked into the office. Ronald projected the case files on the screen and began a detailed briefing. “Isaac was involved in too much shady stuff.
“We can’t say for sure the killer is the same as the last four cases, but the methods are similar, so we’re treating it as one big case. Here are the details from those four cases. Take a look.”
The previous four victims were all around their fifties. Including Isaac, there were three men and two women, all big shots in the city.
Aria skimmed through the files and noticed that, aside from one female entrepreneur, the rest had all done some bad stuff.
Everyone looked at Aria, wondering what exactly she was planning to do. After a while, she said, “I’m going to try sketching what the bartender looks like.”
