CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

At a psychiatric hospital, nurses and doctors escorted patients to their daily activities. But chaos erupted when a nurse stumbled upon a gruesome scene. A patient lay motionless in a pool of blood. The nurse's screams alerted others, who rushed to the scene.

The police were quickly notified, and a call was made to the police station where Ava worked. Officer Thompson briefed Ava, who was en route to the station, on the situation. Ava immediately contacted Ryan and Ethan,to join her at the crime scene..since she will be heading there.

As the officers began investigating, they reviewed the hospital's security footage.

Ryan and Ethan arrived at the scene and began investigating along with ava and other dectectives they met there,After reviewing the CCTV footage, they spotted a suspicious lady wearing a psychiatric uniform. She appeared to be a nurse. The hospital director was called in to identify the woman, but at first he initially claimed he didn't recognize her.

However, after further inspection, the director revealed that the woman was indeed one of the hospital's nurses.ava suspicions grew, and they decided to find her.

They found the nurse eating lunch with a friend and began questioning her. Initially, she claimed she had simply checked on the patient and helped with dressing. However, as the interrogation continued, inconsistencies in her story arose.

The investigators confronted her with the the suspicion footage if her, coming out of the patient room around the time of death, and eventually, she confessed to killing the patient. She was taken to the police station for further questioning.

Ryan and Ethan headed to the morgue to meet with the other detectives. They would be performing an autopsy to determine the cause of the patient's death.

Meanwhile, back at the station, Ava interrogated Anna, the nurse. "Why did you kill the patient?" Alva asked, her tone firm.

Anna remained silent initially, but as Alva's frustration grew,she banged her fist on the table and anna finally spoke up. "I was assigned to care for that patient, and she was always messing herself up. I couldn't take it anymore. Everything about her irritated me, so I killed her."

Ava's expression turned incredulous. "That's your reason for killing the patient? Why didn't you report your concerns to the hospital directors or request a reassignment?"

As Ava continued to interrogate Anna, Mike, the dectevive present there with ava, chimed in. "If you knew you couldn't handle caring for psychiatric patients, why did you take the job?" he asked.

Ava then asked "did you study nursing??"

Anna hesitated before responding, "I didn't exactly study nursing in school. My role was mainly to clean and care for the patients, not administer injections."

Ava pressed on, "We've established that. But why did you kill the patient?"

Anna repeated her previous response, "I told you, I just couldn't take it anymore."

Ava's expression turned stern. "Is that a sufficient reason to take someone's life? Don't you realize the patient had a family?"

Anna fell silent, and Ava continued, "You'll rot in jail for this. How many patients would you have killed because you didn't want to clean them up?"

The interrogation concluded with Ava stating, "That's all for today."

As they exited the room, Mike informed Anna, "You have the right to a lawyer. You can choose to have one present during future questioning."

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Julian was discharged from the hospital, and as he left, some men in black suits were seen lurking around. A midwife accompanied him, and they assumed she might be his mother. They helped Julian into a car and drove him home.

Once they arrived, Julian asked a passing maid for an orange juice. His mother warned him, "I've told you, Julian, that company is ruthless. They'll stop at nothing to eliminate the competition, even if it means taking your life."

Julian reassured her, "Mum, I've told you, it's not like that." But his mother seemed unconvinced.

Julian's mother said, "Since you're injured, I'll stay here for a while to take care of you." But Julian replied, "I don't think that's necessary. You don't have to stay."

His mother raised an eyebrow. "Oh? You don't want me to meet your father, or is he coming here?" Julian's expression changed, and he remained silent.

**********************

Ava received a call informing her that the autopsy results were in. Upon reviewing the report, she discovered that the patient had been stabbed. This new information shed more light on the circumstances surrounding the patient's death.

Julian's associate, tasked with monitoring Ava, called to update him. "For now, Ava is focused on investigating other cases. She's not making progress on the Shadow Killer case."

Julian asked, "What is she doing now? Is she getting close to the Shadow Killer case?"

The associate replied, "No, she's not investigating that case. She's working on other things."

Julian instructed, "Keep watching her. If she starts to snoop around, I'll take care of it. She's a lead investigator, and she's getting too close to things she shouldn't be involved in."

Julian ended the call, thinking to himself, "If Ava discovers the truth about the Shadow Killer, everything will point to me. I've been giving him contracts, and I need to protect myself."

He muttered, "Ava thinks she's just doing her job, but she's getting in the way. I'll need to take care of her before she becomes a problem."

Ava's mind was preoccupied with the ongoing case, but she couldn't shake off her doubts about Ethan. She wanted to investigate him to clear her suspicions. Standing in her office, Ava wondered where to begin.

A sudden thought struck her - she would secretly record Ethan's conversations. But how could she do it without him finding out? Ava looked around for a suitable place to hide the recorder and spotted Ethan's bag.

Ava's eyes widened as she gazed at Ethan's designer bag. She couldn't help but think about the contrast between his flashy possessions and his humble demeanor at work.

She recalled the party where she saw Ethan dressed to impress, looking every bit a wealthy individual. Her friend Kira had mentioned that the party was exclusive to the rich and famous, leaving Ava wondering what Ethan was doing there.

Without hesitation, Ava carefully placed the tiny recorder inside the bag, hoping to uncover some answers. What secrets will the recorder reveal about Ethan's life?