Chapter 660: One Wave Subsides, Another Rises

Cecilia Vaughn heard the words of the gray-blue eyed female officer and almost doubted her own ears.

"Are you saying that the real murderer might be inside Stellerton University in Veridia?"

"It’s a possibility."

The gray-blue eyed female officer nodded lightly, even solemnly warning Cecilia Vaughn.

"Ma’am, although during our case handover we always analyzed that the bride at the ferry wedding that day, your sister Fiona Vaughn, had no major suspicions."

"But after this investigation, we found out that Ms. Fiona Vaughn has a close relationship with the lab manager who frequently enters and exits that facility. If I remember correctly, that male manager seems to be a fan of Ms. Fiona Vaughn."

"Moreover, within a month of the material being transported there, Stellerton University’s lab surveillance captured footage of Fiona Vaughn entering and exiting the lab together with the male manager."

...

Cecilia Vaughn felt even more puzzled.

She indeed had no fondness for Fiona Vaughn.

But now, when these pieces of evidence are pointing blatantly at Fiona Vaughn, there’s a voice inside telling her it shouldn’t be this way.

At the very least, Fiona Vaughn lacks the motive to kill.

And at the wedding scene that day, right after Chloe Alden was found suddenly dead, Fiona Vaughn vomited immediately. For someone so proud and concerned with appearances, no matter how malicious, she wouldn’t turn her cherished wedding into a joke, or even worse, into the date of a former friend’s death.

Even if she were to remember the wedding anniversary day in the future, it would be filled with endless distress, rather than joy.

...

Cecilia Vaughn pressed her lips together, and her voice suddenly became slightly hoarse.

"Okay, thank you for the reminder, I will be cautious of my sister in the future."

"But... officer, I want to ask, have you and the Isle of Whispers’ case agents managed to determine the real identity of the woman who wore a dress identical to mine that day, impersonated me, and committed the murder, through video or body analysis?"

"..."

The female officer smiled apologetically.

"Sorry, because the surveillance from that day was destroyed, even though there’s a cloud backup for reconstruction, that female killer seemed very cunning and appeared to have been trained on the location beforehand to completely avoid all face-capturing cameras on the ferry."

Listening to these words made cold sweat trickle down Cecilia Vaughn’s back.

—If not for the fact that it was her dress that Chloe Alden stained during the struggle, she wouldn’t be able to clear her name even if she jumped into the River Holloway.

...

Adrian Law sensed Cecilia Vaughn’s increasingly cold palms. He frowned slightly and confidently took Cecilia Vaughn’s hand to solemnly question the female officer.

"During our previous clue analysis, I provided the number of Mr. Walter Sinclair, who tailored my wife’s dress. He also sent you a list of the wealthy women who purchased the same dress. Haven’t you found any suspicious individuals on that list?"

The female officer shook her head, somewhat embarrassed.

"Sorry, firstly, all those women have alibis. Secondly, upon investigation, those dresses are still perfectly kept in their homes. One dress was damaged, but it was during a high society party where it was accidentally spilled with hot tea, so they simply threw it away."

In summary, no suspicious individuals could be found.

...

The more Cecilia Vaughn listened, the more unsatisfied she felt. At this juncture, this was the most useful breakthrough.

An idea flashed through her mind, but she couldn’t grasp it immediately.

After hesitating for half a second, she finally asked.

"Then... is it possible that the suspect deliberately spilled something on that woman’s dress, took it from the trash, and meticulously replicated it?"

"Not very likely..."

To Cecilia Vaughn’s surprise, Adrian Law was the one to shake his head first this time.

"Not to mention the difficulty of mimicking Walter Sinclair’s tailoring work, we conducted high-resolution analysis on the girl’s attire from the ferry surveillance that day. It looked completely genuine, without a single fault. You must know that the materials Walter Sinclair uses are very precious."

The opponent probably didn’t anticipate that because it was too perfect, the flaw in Cecilia Vaughn’s dress would reveal that the perpetrator was someone else entirely.

"If the person wanted to replicate it, sourcing the materials alone would be very expensive, and anyone not a professional tailor would find it hard to acquire the appropriate materials."

Cecilia Vaughn gently squeezed Adrian Law’s palm.

Her expression was resolute.

"What if the person has no shortage of money and happens to have the right fashion connections? Even if replicating is difficult, it’s not impossible."

"Just like Fiona Vaughn’s wedding, even though the internal security and catering attendants were carefully selected, there was still a mole among them."

"I really suspect that the murderer was an internal female attendant, which you’ve proved, she knew the surveillance points so accurately because she scouted them in advance."

...

Listening to Cecilia Vaughn’s deliberate discussion, the female officer sighed slightly.

"But... Ms. Vaughn, you should know that all the female attendants present at the time were thoroughly investigated. Their backgrounds, appearances, and everything were checked, yet it yielded nothing. According to your theory, unless it was a man with such a slender build who was cross-dressing as a woman."

"That’s impossible. It must have been a woman!"

If it weren’t for the domestic police telling her that Katherine North had committed suicide by jumping into the river months ago after returning to the country, Cecilia Vaughn would suspect Katherine North.

Even now, she still believes the back view of the girl she saw looked so much like Katherine North, and coincidentally, Katherine North’s build is also somewhat similar to hers.

As Cecilia Vaughn argued her case, a flash of contemplation crossed Adrian Law’s eyes.

"Could it be that there was more than one female attendant arranged by the perpetrator, and the one who committed the murder was temporarily swapped in?"

"At the time, they were at sea. If someone swam from underwater to the surface temporarily, it’s not without opportunity."

...

This answer undoubtedly provided a new direction for the investigation.

However, the female officer still insisted that Fiona Vaughn remained the prime suspect. In the end, Cecilia Vaughn and Adrian Law left the Zentaria police station hand in hand.

...

Cecilia Vaughn rubbed her aching temples.

"It feels like we’re reaching a dead end. Whether it’s sixth sense or something else, it keeps making me feel like Fiona Vaughn was framed, and the real villain is watching from the shadows."

Unless there’s stronger concrete evidence, Cecilia really believes it’s not her.

Adrian Law put his arm around Cecilia Vaughn’s shoulder.

"Cecilia, let’s go to Vessaria."

"Why?"

This change of thought was so abrupt?

Adrian Law pressed his lips together.

"I’ve inquired, the socialite party that the dress, identical to yours, but damaged, belonged to was exactly in Vessaria."