“Stella, don’t come up,” Jasper said solemnly. As he surveyed the situation inside, his gaze became sharper and sharper.
Stella Grace was puzzled. “What’s wrong? What’s up there?”
“Don’t go up if you’re told not to. Stop spouting nonsense.” Benjamin Levis pushed Stella away and climbed the ladder.
He had a lot of experience in criminal cases. But when he saw the scene inside, his expression didn’t look good.
Tommy followed after him. After a while, he quickly got down from the ladder and slumped against the wall, nauseous.
When Stella Grace was about to go up, Jasper’s subordinates stopped her. “Mr. Milton told you not to go up.”
“I’m not scared,” Stella said and was about to go up.
Benjamin came down and called the police.
Jasper jumped from the ladder too.
“What’s going on?” Stella asked Jasper..
“I took a brief look, there are six bodies there,” Jasper explained.
“Six? Shouldn’t there only be two? Let me go and have a look.”
Jasper held Stella’s arm and said, “The bodies have been found. We need to figure out who they are through DNA analysis first and identify the time of death. Let’s go to the hotel now to sort things out.”
“Are you worried that I can’t handle the bodies? Don’t worry. When I was abroad, I watched autopsies, so I am not scared.” Stella turned to climb.
“I would advise you not to,” Benjamin warned as he ended the call.
“I want to go up. I used to be a doctor, what else have I not seen,” Stella insisted.
Jasper looked at Stella.
She was not only cool and arrogant, but also stubborn.
“I’ll go up with you.” Jasper took the military torch, adjusted the light intensity and placed it in the middle of the secret chamber. The whole room was lit up.
Stella prepared herself mentally and climbed up the ladder.
There was a distance between the ladder and the entrance.
Jasper stretched out his hand toward her.
For a moment, Stella thought of the past.
He used to do that too – never failing to offer his hand to her.
But she wanted to do it herself this time.
She climbed up on her own.
Jasper’s face turned dull.
She saw many glass tanks in the secret chamber.
She surveyed the room from the entrance.
The largest glass tank was as tall as a human. Inside were naked men and women suspended in a tawny fluid.
Stella saw the woman’s face and said, “Jasper, it is the woman in the video.”
Jasper had recognized her at first glance.
He was worried that Stella would be afraid, so he put his arm around her waist and said softly, “I will always be by your side.”
She was not afraid. She had seen these in the laboratories.
Those she had seen in the United States were way scarier.
She did not push Jasper’s hand away. She analyzed the humans in the tanks. “A female, wounded on the body, neck, and limbs. Her private part was injected with some foaming agents or something similar. She was tortured to death and then placed into the glass tank. If we are lucky, we may find male DNA on her body”.
A man, purple and swollen face, eyes wide open, and a bulging abdomen. He was thrown into the glass tank when he was alive.”
She looked at the two glass tanks next to it. One of them contained dismembered segments of a man and a woman.
In the last glass tank were the bodies of a woman and a newborn baby.
“The murderer is very cruel,” Stella concluded.
“Let’s go down. The police will arrive in a while to take pictures. We can study the details from the photos,” Jasper said.
Stella nodded and said, “Have you noticed that this secret room looks squeaky clean?”
“This should be the first scene of the murder. The forensic department will find more clues and evidence here..”
“By the way, Jasper, I remember that the ceiling is triangular but it’s flat here. Is there another section?” Stella guessed.
“I guessed so too. Let the police deal with it later.” Jasper stepped down the ladder first.
Stella carefully climbed down. Before she reached the ground, Jasper picked her up and placed her on the ground.
He did it in front of so many people.
Stella started palpitating, but she quickly calmed herself down.
Benjamin looked at Stella’s calm face. “You’re not afraid of what you saw at all. Are you still a woman?”
“Didn’t she get scared by your jumpscare?” Jasper retorted.
“Why are you defending her all the time?” Benjamin was unhappy.
“I think it’s the same reason why you’ve been bullying her,” Jasper replied casually.
Benjamin was speechless. He rolled up his sleeves and looked at the Patek Philippe watch on his wrist. He said to Jasper coldly, “It’s already twenty past two in the morning. The police needs at least an hour to arrive. Someone has to guard the evidence here. Who’s staying, your team or mine?”
Jasper looked at Benjamin. “My team will stay here. You can leave first.”
“I’ll leave this to you then. Stella, let’s go.” Benjamin turned around and walked down the stairs.
Stella looked at Jasper, nodded, and followed Benjamin.
Jasper held her arm and said in a low voice, “Send me the hotel name and your room number after you get there.”
Stella : “…”
Why did she have the feeling that he would look for her at midnight?
“I’ll go first.”
She felt that if things continued this way, their relationship would be exposed.
She didn’t know if Jasper only cared about her because he needed to retrieve his memory or if it was because of something else.
She did not want to fall into the same trap again.
Stella went out of the castle and got into a car.
Four of them sat in the same car.
Stella and Benjamin both sat at the back.
When she was about to close her eyes, Benjamin suddenly turned around and held her in his arms.
Stella was startled and pressed her hand against his chest. “What are you doing?”
Benjamin squinted his eyes. “You’re good at attracting men, aren’t you?”
Stella blushed as she guessed that he was referring to Jasper.
She didn’t want their relationship to be exposed. Benjamin was very observant. “I have been married, divorced, and had a child. I have no confidence in love at all. I don’t want to fall in love anymore.”
“Then watch your behavior. Don’t be like a butterfly swaggering around, teasing everyone around you.” Benjamin returned away and frowned again. He looked at Stella and said, “Have you really had a child?.”
Stella did not deny it. “Yes.”
“Such an old woman,” Benjamin said to himself.
Stella: “…”
She checked into the hotel and came out of the bathroom after taking a shower. She saw Jasper sitting on the sofa in her room.
Stella stunned.
She couldn’t recall informing Jasper about her whereabouts.