“Melody was number 37 when she was in the orphanage. The orphans were assigned numbers based
on the order in which they arrived, age notwithstanding. Since kids of the same age were grouped
together, the numbering was all over the ce. We had pieced it together from an old group photo from
the orphanage. The sequence was indisputable, and it was indeed Melody’s
turn.
Robin furrowed his brow and looked at Colin. “Can you pinpoint Melody’s location?”
“Why have the earlier victims all been women? Phoebe wasn’t even from the orphanage.” I was
puzzled.
“Because the majority of abandoned orphans are girls, there are hardly any boys. That’s why the
previous victims were all female,” Robin exined, then continued. “I think the murderer’s actions
resemble some kind of sacrifice. The way Phoebe was killed, with an injection and no pain, was
completely different from the others. Everyone else suffered immensely before they died, some literally
scared to death.”
“The 28 constetions correspond to different locations. Thest victim was found at South Bay
Wharf…which aligns with the southeast,” Colin suddenly interjected, snatching Robin’s notebook and
pen from his hands.
“Coordinates…taking the orphanage as the center…” Colin started sketching a circle in the notebook,
then began calcting directions feverishly.
“South Bay Wharf…the next one, it should be… Northstone Street, Westlet Cove!” Colin deduced the
murderer’s likely dump sites. “He’ll leave the body there, which means he’ll kill nearby. He wouldn’t risk
traveling too far. The only ce suitable for murder around here is an abandoned pharmaceutical
factory.”
With the expansion of the industrial area, many factories had been moved out, and that part had yet to
be developed.
“Let’s go!” Robin looked at Cory. “What are you waiting for? To the pharmaceutical factory!”
Another officer Cory, still in shock, gave Colin a thumbs–up.
The guy was brilliant.
I stared at Colin, equally astounded.
His ability to pinpoint where the murderer would strike and dump the bodies was remarkable.
We followed Robin’s car to the pharmaceutical factory.
The dpidated building loomed deste and foreboding.
There, in a cruelly conspicuous spot, was Melody, tied to a beam, her eyes wide with terror and
09:36
herplexion ghostly pale,
A rope was tied around her neck with a candle at the end. Once the candle burnt through the rope that
was bearing her weight, she would fall and be hanged by the neck.
The murderer had designed this sadistic method to make the victim endure the most harrowing pain
and mental torture before death.
“Dexter! Save me!” Melody cried out Dexter’s name as soon as she saw us.
I scoffed internally.
True love, indeed. She remembered to call for Dexter even at a time like this.
True to form, Dexter was there, his nose still bruised, rushing forward in a panic to untie her.
Colin watched Dexter with an indifferent gaze, neither speaking nor intervening.
Dexter was oblivious to the fact that if he tampered with the rope, Melody would fall and be hanged just
the same. Her weight would be enough to break her neck instantly.
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The murderer had nned it all.
I understood Colin’s intentions; he didn’t intervene because he resented Mélody and Dexter.
“Dexter, I’d advise you not to touch that,” I said.
Colin and I could hold our grudges in silence, but Robin wouldn’t let Dexter make a fatal mistake.
“What are you waiting for? Save her!” Dexter eximed irritably.
“You have a chance to save her before the candle burns through that rope,” Robin said, approaching
and pointing at the myriad ofplicated ropes, all tied to Melody. “In a warehouse like this, with
beams as high as a three–story building, she’d be dead if she fell without any safety measures in
ce.”