Chapter 25 - Case Closed

Meanwhile, outside the interrogation room, Halia was starting to sober up.

"Here have a glass of water," the police chief offered.

Halia held the glass in her hands and took a sip. "I hope you didn't spike this," she joked.

"I need to restrict you from eating and drinking next time you're undercover," the police chief said.

Halia shook her head, "I'm hoping there's no next time."

"What? You're retiring already?" the chief asked.

"No, I meant, I hope there won't be another serial killer," Halia replied.

"I'm glad you said that. There's something I need to discuss with you later. But, I'll let you go home and get some rest first."

Halia looked at the police chief curiously but nodded her head.

"I'll get Dr. Ren to escort you home."

Halia glanced at Dr. Ren who was standing near the door and smiled, "Thank you."

...

Back inside the interrogation room, the detective pointed to the last photo. "What about your last victim, what happened to Sara Yu?"

Alex smirked.

"That woman arrived at the hospital with a clear motive. She walked straight up to the doctors and started talking to them the moment she arrived in the emergency ward."

"But...there was something different about her. She did not seem like a flirt, instead, I could sense the doubt in her voice when she talked to them. I remember speaking to her one day and she told me to be careful around them. It made me feel like we were on the same page, so I began to develop feelings for her."

"Then why did you kill her?" the detective asked.

"Because I was wrong. I invited her to a bar one day and decided to confess to her, but do you know what she did? She dropped my flowers on the floor and rejected me!"

"I asked her why and she told me I wasn't her type."

"I knew what that meant. She rejected me because I wasn't a doctor! I was certain of it! After she rejected me, I heard her talking on the phone and she said 'I'll see you tomorrow, doc' with the most flirtatious giggle. I knew at that point that she wasn't different, she was just like the 5 other women I already killed. So, I followed her the next day and killed her too."

The detective shook his head and sighed. "Did you ever find out who she was supposed to meet?"

"No, and I don't want to know."

"She was meeting with Dr. Lily Lin. Dr. Lin was meant to help her with her furniture shopping, but she couldn't make it. I think you misunderstood," the detective sighed.

Alex looked down at Sara's photo and his hands began to tremble; he suddenly felt a rush of guilt. If the detective was telling truth, then what had he done?

...

The senior detective reported to the police chief afterwards and told him how the killings took place and explained the motive. But, after he told him about Sara, the police chief sighed, "So her cover wasn't actually blown...She was honestly a victim..."

"What do you mean?" the detective asked.

"Well, now that the case is closed, I can finally reveal the truth. Sara was one of our own..."

The detective looked at the photo of the young woman and gave her a salute.

"I assume Halia was her replacement?" the smart detective guessed."I saw how anxious you were earlier."

The police chief nodded.

"You know, Alex Li told me something really odd..." the detective suddenly added. "He said Jackson Wu saved Halia."

"Isn't he the suspected boss of a huge crime syndicate? Why did he save her? And what was he doing in the abandoned warehouse?"

The police chief did not answer. He simply stared down at his desk in deep thought.

...

Meanwhile, Halia sat in silence as Dr. Ren drove her home. She was happy that the killer was caught, but she was heartbroken that so many woman died.

At that moment, she turned to Dr. Ren and asked, "Eric, do you need to be anywhere after you drop me home?"

The man shook his head, "No, I was planning to go home and get some rest."

It was already 1am in the morning and it had been a long day, so he was quite tired.

"Do you mind dropping by the cemetery for a bit. I want to pay my respects to Sara and tell her that her killer has been caught," Halia said.

Eric smiled comfortingly, "Sure."

It didn't take long before Eric's car pulled up at the cemetery. It was dark, but there was a bit of lighting from street lamps that dotted the place.

Halia got out of the car and started walking down the path towards Sara's grave and Eric followed behind. But, as they got closer, they noticed that Sara already had a visitor: it was a man! Halia immediately pulled Dr. Ren behind a tree. Why was someone visiting so late at night? Halia peered out from behind the tree and spotted the man's face.