Chapter 19: Virgin

After a moment of silence, Sophia spoke up again. "So, that night, you had an ether-soaked towel and a rope ready. Do you remember where you put them?"

Harper, looking a bit defeated, replied, "I left them in my bedroom, but when I went back to get them, they were gone. I still can't figure out what happened."

Sophia jotted this down in her notebook. It was definitely suspicious.

There weren't many people in the villa. By questioning everyone, someone was bound to slip up eventually.

As long as they were questioned separately, even if they were in cahoots, their stories would start to diverge under pressure, revealing clues.

It was like the prisoner's dilemma in criminology.

Sophia asked a few more quick questions before letting Harper go.

Just as she was about to call Matthew over, James walked in.

"Why are you in such a hurry? I wasn't done talking," James said calmly. "Don't you want to know the real cause of Bianca's death?"

Sophia looked up, surprised. "You mean she didn't die from the fall?"

James nodded seriously. "The autopsy shows she died from suffocation."

"Suffocation?" Sophia gasped.

'Could it be that Bianca was really smothered by Daniel? But if that's true, then everything Chase said is wrong. And Daniel clearly said he only covered her for a few seconds. That can't kill someone. Unless...' Sophia thought, gasping again.

A shocking idea hit her. She looked at James, stammering, "Could it be that Bianca didn't die from the fall and was suffocated alive in the coffin?"

James nodded heavily. He hadn't seen this coming, and it was likely Matthew and the others hadn't either.

But no one could be sure if Matthew knew Bianca wasn't dead and deliberately put her in the coffin.

James said, "The autopsy shows Bianca's time of death was within 48 hours."

Today was the fifth day since Bianca's fall.

So, that night, Bianca was badly hurt but didn't die. Maybe she passed out, and they put her in the coffin.

No one expected that the housekeeper, who was peeing in the backyard, heard noises from the coffin, which turned out to be someone inside knocking on it. The housekeeper even thought he had seen a ghost.

Everything was so coincidental, yet so absurd.

James hesitated, "I have more bad news. Actually, Bianca could have lived longer, but your arrival sped up her death."

Sophia's eyes widened. She quickly connected the dots. "Is it because I went to Matthew's villa to investigate, making them panic? Was the coffin not sealed at first? Did they seal it after I went there that day?"

James nodded, "Do you remember what I told you when we got back that day?"

That day, James had said, "Usually, the coffin is sealed when the body is buried. In Emerald City, it's typically sealed on the seventh day; his rush to seal it was unusual."

James had always been puzzled by why Matthew would break the rules to seal the coffin until the autopsy results came out. He contacted the people who sealed the coffin that day and confirmed the exact date, finally understanding.

Sophia helplessly held her forehead and leaned against the wall, feeling very dejected.

James patted her shoulder. "It's not your fault. What you need to do is get to the bottom of this and bring the real culprit to justice."

Sophia nodded heavily.

James looked around, "I think there's one more piece of news that might be useful to you. It's about Bianca."

Sophia was shocked again after hearing this. She glanced incredulously at the room next door, quickly walked over, and called Matthew in.

In a separate room, the two sat facing each other.

Sophia picked up her notebook, looking calm. "Mr. Moore, the autopsy results are out. I have some questions for you, and I hope you can answer truthfully."

Matthew stared at the ceiling, saying weakly, "Go ahead."

Sophia spoke, "On the night Mrs. Moore died, did you really not notice anything unusual?"

Matthew scratched his head. "There was indeed something very strange. I always have a habit of using a face mask before sleeping, but for some reason, that night, I fell asleep while using it. When I woke up, there was a thick piece of rope next to my pillow."

According to Matthew, he shouldn't have fallen asleep that night because he was very excited, and there was thunder and lightning outside. He was a light sleeper, but he slept very soundly that night, which had always puzzled him.

Sophia noted this down in her notebook and asked, "Did you instigate the murder because you were afraid Bianca would divorce you and take your assets?"

Matthew denied it. "Her death has nothing to do with me. I didn't ask anyone to kill her. Don't frame me."

Sophia sneered, "Ms. Anderson has already confessed."

Matthew grinned, "That bitch dares to frame me. She must be retaliating against me."

Sophia asked, "Why would she retaliate against you?"

Matthew suddenly fell silent.

Sophia closed her notebook, saying angrily, "Because you abused her and subjected her to inhumane torture. Her back is covered in wounds, all caused by you."

Matthew said seriously, "She did all of that willingly. I paid her a lot of money."

"Does money give you the right to abuse her?" Sophia clenched her fists. "And Mrs. Moore had over five hundred wounds on her body. Did she do all of that willingly too? Are you even human?"

Matthew angrily said, "Bianca was a bitch. She betrayed me and had to pay the price. If it wasn't for the fact that she didn't bleed the first time we had sex, I wouldn't have turned out like this."

Sophia slammed the table. "You have sexual dysfunction and took it out on others, so you chose domestic violence. Don't put all the blame on Mrs. Moore."

Matthew also slammed the table. "If it wasn't for the fact that I was traumatized on our wedding night, causing psychological issues, would I have sexual dysfunction? It was all her fault. She made it impossible for me to have sex."

Sophia sat down weakly, exhaling, "Mr. Moore, Mrs. Moore is still a virgin."