Chapter 19

Elaine's face turned serious as she pulled tools from her kit.

She began inspecting every corner of the room.

The results were in.

It was the scent of a new drug on the market.

Travis's face darkened. As a detective, he never imagined his neighbor would turn out to be a drug dealer.

The irony was almost laughable.

Elaine put on white gloves and examined the victim's body.

"Time of death is around 3 AM," she said, standing up and looking at Travis. "We'll need to take her back for an autopsy to determine the cause."

Travis nodded. "I've already notified Jerry. He'll be here soon to take over."

"Kelvin, secure the scene! Identify the victim and contact her family."

"Got it!"

After finishing up, Travis escorted Elaine downstairs.

"So, why'd you transfer to the narcotics unit?" he asked.

Elaine glanced at Travis. "Do I need a reason? It's just for a few days. I'll be back soon."

"You treat the police department like your home, going wherever you please."

Elaine chuckled and waved at Travis. "I'll let you know when I have the autopsy results."

Watching Elaine's retreating figure, Travis shook his head with a wry smile.

She was a consultant for the department, yet she often took on tasks outside her role.

Kian stood in the chaotic apartment.

The mess left him at a loss.

Travis stepped over the clutter on the floor and approached the bed, deep in thought.

"Kian, where's her phone?"

"Phone? What phone?"

Travis turned to Kian. "She was a streamer. What phone do you think?"

Kian smacked his forehead. "Captain Smith, can you give me a minute?"

He gestured to the mess around them.

"Let me know if you find anything," Travis said, leaving the room.

Kian and the other officers were left behind.

"God! Kian, I just remembered, there's a lead on Tony's case."

"My mom wants me to go on a blind date!"

"Hey! What? My mom just had a baby brother for me. I need to go!"

One by one, the officers found excuses to leave the crime scene.

When Kian snapped out of it, there was no one else left.

"Shit! Those jerks! How am I supposed to do this alone? Get back here!"

Kian stood at the door, shouting into the hallway.

But no one responded.

He put on gloves and, with a dejected expression, began sorting through the mess.

For five whole hours, Kian endured the task in agony.

By the time he returned to the station, it was already dawn.

He was sitting in his chair, contemplating life, when Travis approached. "Did you find the phone?"

Kian shook his head, his eyes vacant. "I turned that woman's place upside down and didn't find a phone."

"I did find a computer, though. It's already with Charles."

"I also found something that doesn't belong to the victim."

Kian pulled out a sealed bag.

Inside was a men's razor.

"Good work. You can take half a day off."

"Really? Thanks, Captain Smith!"

Travis stifled a laugh as he walked away.

"Captain Smith, we've identified the victim."

Kelvin handed Travis the victim's file."The victim is Aurora Rivera, female, 25, worked at a financial company, and was also a streamer."

"I asked around at her company. She didn't have a great reputation. Some say she was involved with her supervisor."

"She graduated college two years ago and moved to Hillcrest. Within a year, she bought a house here."

Travis looked at Aurora's file. She was about an eight out of ten in looks.

"Did you contact her family?"

"Yeah, she only has her father left. Her mom died in a car accident a year ago."

"But..."

Kelvin sighed. "From the way her dad talked, their relationship wasn't great."

"When he heard about Aurora's death, he didn't show much emotion. He even said she deserved to die out there and made it clear he wouldn't come to Hillcrest."

Travis put down the file. "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure. We'll need to talk to her dad to find out."

Travis thought for a moment. "Find his location. We'll visit him tomorrow."

"Got it."

Kelvin left, and Travis headed to the forensics lab.

Charles was working on cracking the computer's contents, but his face was a bit flushed.

Travis stood behind him unnoticed.

"Ahem."

Travis cleared his throat, startling Charles.

Charles glared at Travis. "Captain Smith, can you make some noise when you walk?"

"You were too engrossed. Watching adult films during work hours?"

Travis teased. "Is this the pure-hearted guy I remember?"

Charles blushed. "Captain Smith, this is from the victim's computer."

Travis sat beside Charles.

"I have to say, this woman's private life was a mess."

Charles clicked his tongue. "Her computer is full of these videos, and the angles are very sneaky. Those men probably didn't know they were being filmed."

"I counted, and the videos span about seven days, featuring around ten different men."

Travis's face grew serious. "Any other findings?"

Charles shook his head. "Not yet."

"I'm working on it. It'll take about two more hours."

The phone rang suddenly.

Elaine's voice came through. "Come to the narcotics unit."

Travis gave instructions and headed to the narcotics unit.

Elaine stood by the body, deep in thought.

Travis put on a mask and joined her. "What's the situation?"

"The victim had injuries before she was attacked. Multiple bruises on her skin, and she had the semen of three different men inside her."

"I've sent it for analysis."

"Three men!" Travis looked at the body in disbelief.

"The key point is, Aurora consumed a large amount of drugs before she died. I checked, and she's been using drugs for about three years."

"And there's no record of Aurora in the narcotics unit."

"Jerry found that Aurora frequently dealt with Ethan's café."

Elaine crossed her arms. "Too bad Ethan's dead. We could've learned more."

"Any other findings?"

Elaine shook her head. "That's all from the body examination."

"What about her family?" Elaine asked, puzzled.

The crime happened hours ago, yet none of Aurora's family had shown up.