Chapter 5: Interrogation
1063 Words
Two Days Later
The call came at 3:00 AM.
Maddy was half-asleep when her phone buzzed. She grabbed it, squinted at the screen: Unknown Number.
"Cole."
"It's Lin." The voice was sharp, awake. "Get to the morgue. Now."
"Why? What's—"
"Just come."
The line went dead.
The morgue was brightly lit when Maddy arrived. Vera stood by the autopsy table, still in her street clothes—jeans and a black sweater, hair pulled back, no makeup. She looked tired. Young. Nothing like the cold, polished woman from the courthouse.
"What's going on?" Maddy asked.
Vera pointed at the body on the table. Jenny Chen's body, still there, still waiting.
"I found something," Vera said. "Something I missed the first time."
She picked up a small flashlight and aimed it at the victim's neck. "Look."
Maddy leaned closer. At first, she saw nothing—just pale, water-damaged skin. Then she saw it. Faint marks. Almost invisible.
"Fingernail impressions," Vera said. "Someone held her under. Forced her down."
"But you said she drowned in the ocean. Waves would—"
"Waves don't leave marks like this." Vera's voice was flat. Professional. "These are from fingers. Human fingers, pressing hard enough to leave bruises that only showed up after the body started to decompose."
Maddy stared at the marks. Five of them. Like a handprint, frozen in time.
"This changes everything," she said slowly.
"It changes nothing." Vera put down the flashlight. "It just confirms what we already knew: someone killed her. Someone held her down and watched her die."
They stood in silence for a moment. The refrigeration unit hummed.
"Whoever did this," Vera said quietly, "they wanted her to suffer. They wanted her to know she was dying. To feel it. Every second."
Maddy looked at her. In the harsh morgue light, Vera's face was unreadable.
"You sound like you know something about that," Maddy said.
Vera met her eyes. Held them.
"Everyone knows something about suffering, Detective. Some of us just hide it better than others."
The Breakthrough
The next afternoon, Maddy got the call she'd been waiting for.
"We found it." It was one of the techs from digital forensics. "The husband's computer. He deleted some files, but we recovered them."
"What kind of files?"
"Photos. Emails. Looks like Mrs. Chen was having an affair."
Maddy's stomach dropped. "With who?"
"A colleague. Another teacher at her school. We're sending you the name now."
Maddy's phone pinged. She looked at the screen.
Name: Lisa Parker. Position: Guidance Counselor.
A woman.
Jenny Chen had been having an affair with a woman.
The Confrontation
Lisa Parker lived in a small house near the school. White picket fence. Flower boxes. The kind of place that screamed normal so loud it was almost suspicious.
She answered the door in sweatpants and a t-shirt, red-eyed, clutching a tissue.
"Detective Cole." Maddy showed her badge. "I need to ask you some questions about Jenny Chen."
Lisa's face crumpled. "I already talked to the police. I don't know anything."
"I think you do." Maddy stepped inside without waiting for an invitation. "I think you knew Jenny very well."
Lisa's eyes widened. "What are you—"
"We found the emails, Ms. Parker. We know about the affair."
For a long moment, Lisa just stared at her. Then she sat down heavily on the couch and buried her face in her hands.
"It wasn't supposed to happen," she whispered. "We didn't mean for it to—it just... happened."
"When did it start?"
"Six months ago. Maybe seven. We were working late one night, grading papers. One thing led to another and—"
She looked up, tears streaming. "I loved her, okay? I really loved her."
"Did her husband know?"
Lisa shook her head. "No. We were careful. We only met at school, or here. Never at her place. Never anywhere someone might see."
Maddy sat down across from her. "Where were you the night Jenny died?"
"Home. Alone." Lisa's voice cracked. "I didn't know anything was wrong until the next day, when she didn't show up for work. I called her phone a dozen times. Nothing."
"Did you go to the police when you heard she was missing?"
"No." Lisa wiped her eyes. "I wanted to. But I was scared. Scared they'd find out about us and think—" She stopped.
"Think what?"
"Think I did it." Lisa's voice was barely audible. "I knew how it would look. Secret affair. Jealous husband. They'd blame me, or him, and either way—" She looked up, desperate. "I didn't kill her, Detective. I swear. I loved her."
Maddy studied her. The tears seemed real. The fear seemed real.
But killers could cry, too.
The Husband, Again
When Maddy arrived at the Chen apartment, David was sitting on the front steps. He looked up as she approached, face blank.
"You found out," he said. Not a question.
"About the affair? Yes."
He nodded slowly. Stared at the ground.
"I knew," he said quietly. "I knew for months."
Maddy sat down next to him. "Why didn't you say anything?"
"What was I supposed to say? My wife's sleeping with a woman? That's not exactly something you put in a police report." He laughed bitterly. "Besides, I thought... I thought if I ignored it, it would go away. That she'd come back to me eventually."
"But she didn't."
"No." He looked up, eyes wet. "She didn't. And now she's dead, and I'll never get to ask her why. Never get to tell her—" His voice broke. "Tell her I still loved her anyway."
Maddy watched him for a long moment. Then she stood.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Chen. But I have to ask: where were you the night she died?"
He looked up at her. No anger. Just exhaustion.
"Here. With Lily. She had a fever. I was up all night taking care of her." He pulled out his phone. "I even called my mother at 2 AM to ask what to do. You can check the records."
Maddy made a note. "We will."
She walked back to her car, thinking.
The husband had an alibi. The lover had none, but no obvious motive. The student—Marcus—had been acting strange, but that didn't make him a killer.
The case was getting more complicated, not less.
- Writer
