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Lust for Truth
Ch 92 – Terrorizing Testimony

Ch 92 – Terrorizing Testimony

“Ahh, my madam, there is indeed a fascinating foundation to my deduction. You see, during the investigation, my keen eyes fell upon a keychain containing various keys that were placed on the men’s restroom floor, under the sink. I got it, asked the guard if it was his keys, and indeed, it was. I gave the keys to the guard but took plenty of pictures of its original placement and testimony of the guard proving that it was his keys.” said Schreuder with a proud smile.

“Ahh, that’s what happened. The damn guard didn’t tell me that.” grumbled Galtomor.

“He probably just forgot.” said Juniper with a sad expression.

“This can only mean one thing. The culprit who committed the crime is amongst these suspects. The door was locked and only two keys that can lock the door like that exist and they were both inside the locked section of the museum. The guard’s key and the manager’s key.” said Yung.

“I guess that makes sense. Still, I have problems with that line of logic.” said Fushichin ponderingly.

“What do you mean to say?” asked Liu with seriousness.

“The culprit had to have gotten the keys by knocking out the guard. But if that’s the case, why did they lock themselves in? Were they trying to get suspected by the cops?” asked Fushichin.

“Maybe they are the daring types, aiming to challenge the intellect of the police and engage in a duel of wits!” claimed Schreuder happily.

“It is possible. But if that really was the motive it’s more likely that the culprit did it to frame the people inside this room. There has to be a trick to throw the key into the bathroom from outside the locked door.” said Fushichin.

“Hah, quite the imagination you got there! But I’m afraid that is impossible.” said Schreuder with a smug grin.

“No, it has to be possible.” said Hellen.

“Do you have any proof other than pure optimism and hope for the impossible?” asked Schreuder with a smirk.

“The guard’s wound.” said Hellen.

“What about the guard’s wound?” asked Juniper.

“The guard had a wound on the right side of his neck. According to him, he was sitting next to the entrance on a chair, looking towards his phone. In order for him to get shot on the right side of his neck, the attack had to have come from his right. The attacker has to have come from outside. The guard told us nothing about one of these five people passing him and going outside.” said Hellen confidently.

“Maybe he is just a fool and he didn’t notice one of them passing him and going outside.” said Schrueder with a smirk.

“Should we bring the guard and ask him?” asked Yung.

“Sure, I don’t see why not.” said Klancy as he raised his eyebrows.

The guard was quickly brought into the room by Janet and Juniper.

“Yeah, nobody passed by me, at least when I was awake. I was paying attention to my phone but I’m a guard. My job is to keep an eye on who goes in or out. The camera was down so I had to be more vigilant.” said Tim the guard.

“Yet he was still messing with his phone.” grumbled Juniper.

“But I was still useful. I even saw the shoes of the killer! It was actually quite similar if not exactly the same as that guy is wearing.” said Tim as he pointed towards Fushichin’s shoes.

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“Hey hold on a second. This is just very common ass plain shoes. I don’t dress fancy.” said Fushichin with a gasp.

“Nobody is suspecting you, idiot.” grumbled Galtomor.

“There you have it. I think it’s more than enough proof to prove that these five aren’t the primary suspects.” said Hellen.

“Hold your horsey, miss. You may have not known this because it wasn’t recorded. But Brad here has updated his testimony. He agreed to tell us what he has sawn so long as we don’t record him saying it.” said Scrueder with a proud smile.

“What is the meaning of this? Don’t go on and make private deals with suspects.” grumbled Klancy.

“It’s not their fault. They are just doing whatever it takes to reach the truth, right? And I merely did what I thought was right while also making sure to protect myself.” said Brad with a grin.

He jumped off from the couch and arrived next to Schreuder, his eyes darted towards Viva playfully.

“What did you do Brad? What did you say to them?” asked Viva with a frown.

“What I did? Is it okay for me to say it here? It would be troublesome if Viva jumped and killed me with a hidden weapon or something.” said Brad with a smirk.

“It’s fine. We made sure that the suspects weren't holding any weapons, remember?” said Yung.

“Oh, yes, yes. You’re right. In that case, I’ll repeat what I saw. I walked to the armory display at the entrance. There I saw Viva holding a sickle in her hand, standing next to the body. She looked panicked and guilt driven. But then she stabbed the sickle onto the back of the person on the ground and laughed maniacally. I was really shocked at what I saw so I dashed back.” said Brad.

This definitely was some revelation to the detectives. Klancy raised an eyebrow while Galtomor became serious.

“So, you’re saying that Viva is the killer?” asked Galtomor.

“Lies! I didn’t touch the sickle let alone stab him. It’s true that I was guarding the body at some point. But I didn’t touch the sickle!” yelled Viva with rage.

“See, this is why I was scared. Even if she doesn’t attack me now, who knows what she will do later.” said Brad with a smirk.

“But…even if Viva was lying here, that doesn’t mean she is the culprit, is she?” asked Juniper.

Klancy rubbed his chin and asked Brad “Did you see how Viva was holding the sickle? Was she holding it bare handed?”

“Yeah, she was holding it in her right hand.” said Brad.

Klancy gave a menacing frown towards Brad and said:

“I don’t think Viva is lying. Cause if I remember correctly the fingerprint check concluded that there were no fingerprints on the sickle.” said Klancy.

Brad’s eyes shot up.

“Ahh, well, maybe she wiped it off later?” asked Brad with a smile.

“You think fingerprints just disappear by cleaning it with water?” asked Klancy.

Klancy didn’t want to admit that it is possible to erase fingerprints. But this was a test in of itself. If he was confident in what he saw he should hold onto his testimony. But if all of this was a fluke…

Brad looked at the detectives awkwardly and scratched his head.

“Besides, I don’t think she has much time to clean up the fingerprints anyway.” said Galtomor.

“He is just acting this way because I dumped him when I knew that he was an asshole all along.” grunted Viva.

“Is that true? Did you really lie in order to frame her?” asked Hellen.

“I…it was just a mistake. Maybe she was holding something else in her hand. Hehe” said Brad.

“Fucking bastard. If you’re not sure, why did you testify? And we’re gonna take back the money we gave you” said Yung.

“Wait, you gave money to him?” asked Fushichin.

“It’s because he kept demanding money for giving vital testimony. Kept whining about how his life would be endangered if he told the truth and money would help to protect him.” said Yung.

“What a load of horse dong!” cried Schreuder.

“Ahh, give back the money!” yelled Janet.

“Nuh uh, finders keepers!” yelled Brad.

But howsoever strong Brad looked, Schreuder and Liu subdued the man easily by pinning his arms against his back while Janet pulled out his wallet and got the exact amount they gave to him back.

“You’re an embarrassment as detectives. Bartering with suspects like that, you think you can buy the truth with money?!” yelled Klancy.

“So sorry, mister Klancy. Our team will do better next time.” said Yung.

“You better.” said Klancy.

Klancy looked at Brad with anger and said “And hold up, how do you know about the stab wound on the back of the victim?”

Brad’s eyes shot up with fear.