27. Brutal and bloody

"So, what do you think?" Kai looked at Elise the moment they hit the roads after interrogating Rowen. He hadn't missed the barely noticeable smile on her lips when she had finished asking him the questions. It was an indication that she had found something, a hint that could help them crack the case.

"Rowen is lying." Elise declared and Kai's head snapped to her so quickly that Elise was damn sure she heard a crack. 

"What?" Kai was flummoxed. He wanted to stop the car and ask more. But they were in a no-stopping lane and he could only continue driving.

"Yes. He is lying. He didn't attend any party yesterday and if my assumptions are right, he was here, in the city." Elise stated her analysis as she stared out of the car thoughtfully.

"Why would he lie to us then?"

"Maybe he has something to hide." Elise speculated and that got Kai thinking.

"Do you think we are going in the wrong direction?"

Elise gave him a questioning look, prompting him to continue.

"With the Sephyr twins. Did we misunderstand them?"

"Probably. But I won't remove them from the suspect list unless I have the proof." Elise declared. They didn't have any evidence to point their fingers at the culprit. They could only assume based on their observations. So, unless they had something substantial, Elise wouldn't let go of any of them.

"What are we going to do now?" 

"Since Rowen Andrews asked us to verify his itinerary, we are going to do just that." Elise tapped her fingers thoughtfully against the car window.

Although Kai wanted to ask more, he stopped when he heard Elise's phone ring.

"It's Officer Blake. Why is he calling me?" She wondered and looked ahead at the police car they were following.

"Officer Winslow." They heard Daniel's excited voice on the other side once she accepted the call. 

"Yes, Officer Blake?" Elise glanced at Kai who held a similar expression as hers.

"We have some updates from our men. They have found Craig Tyrell." 

Elise's brows shot up in surprise. 'That was quick.' She thought. 

"Where?"

"In his villa. Craig has a lot of houses in his name. So, it took us some time to search all of them." Daniel explained and Elise pursed her lips slightly.

"We will have to make a detour at the next intersection. His villa is located near the Northgate Bridge."

"Got it, Officer. We are right behind you." Elise glanced at Kai who nodded at her and prepared to take a detour as they approached the intersection.

"Well, that was quicker than I thought," Elise mumbled, her words barely coherent for Kai to hear.

"Did you say something?"

"No. I was speaking to myself." Elise shook her head, her gaze not moving away from the view outside the window.

'Who killed Craig?' She wondered and bit the inside of her cheek. 'In just a few hours after meeting the Sephyr twins and barely a few minutes after meeting Rowen Andrews, we have found Craig. Is this a ploy or...' Elise narrowed her eyes, her forehead creasing with worry lines.

'Who killed Craig? If I find this answer, will I be able to solve the case?' She started her analysis from another angle. 'Is that the only possibility or is there something I'm overlooking?'

"I have a feeling that the case is going to be ours soon," Kai muttered, snapping Elise out of her thoughts.

"It's going to ours soon, there's no doubt. The sooner the better, to be honest." Elise pushed her thoughts to the back of her mind and decided to think about them later. 

"Yeah. We can do things on our own rather than follow others' decisions." Kai agreed.

Since they were assisting the police in the investigation, they didn't have much say. They could only put forth their opinions. However, the decision all lay in Daniel and Derek's hands. 

Fortunately for them, the two police officers were friendly and understanding and didn't have an ounce of ego. They were willing to listen to any suggestions others had and implement them in the investigation if feasible rather than forcing their orders on them.

"It's going to happen soon. Just wait and watch." Elise asserted.

By the time they arrived at Craig's villa, quite a few policemen were already present along with the forensic team.

Elise nodded at the few familiar faces in the team as she made her way inside. 

"Holy fucking hell!" Kai exclaimed when he saw the bloody scene inside. It was anything they had imagined.

Craig seemed to have been badly mutilated and his blood was flowing everywhere. Other than his face, there seemed to be no body part of his that had not been disfigured.

"What in the hell hole is this?" Derek held a similar expression, the gory sight making his head spin.

It wasn't the first time Elise was dealing with a brutally battered body. She had dealt with worse. But the one before her still made her uneasy and it took a few minutes before she could start examining.

"What have we got here?" Elise asked no one in particular and Daniel glanced at his junior who had informed him of the dead body.

"Officer, we found the body more than an hour ago and we are yet to find out what exactly happened. He was shot, that's for sure, once in the knee and the other in his heart." The officer revealed all that they had found out in that one hour.

'An hour ago? Wasn't it just a few minutes after we met the Sephyr twins? But why do I feel that this is not their style?' Elise couldn't ignore the nagging feeling in her heart.

"The bullet in his heart killed him." Elise mused to herself. Putting on the gloves, she walked around the living room, taking a meager glance at the luxurious interior before returning to Craig's dead body.

Squatting beside him, she turned his head, searching for any clues of being choked. There was none. 

"Did you find fingerprints on him?"

"The forensic team is on it."

Elise nodded and stood up. 'Interesting. His face is spotlessly clean. But his body is battered beyond belief. He has been shot twice. What does all of this say?'

Elise couldn't fathom what the culprit wanted to achieve by not injuring his face. But she was sure of one thing - Craig was first shot, in his knee and heart. And it was only after he died, that his body had been thrashed.