Caitlin arrived at the police station, where Blake was already waiting for her outside the entrance. He was dressed in a black casual outfit, his expression deep and sad, as if he had been waiting for her.
“Blake.”
“Caitlin.”
They exchanged a few words, but before they could talk further, more cars pulled up at the station.
Blake glanced over and warned, “It looks like Mr. Vanderbilt is here!”
Caitlin turned her head and, sure enough, saw the imposing figure of Sebastian stepping out of a luxury car.
The moment he got out of the car, Sebastian’s eyes locked onto Caitlin, watching her talking to Blake. He walked straight toward them.
“Mr. Vanderbilt,” Blake greeted him politely.
Sebastian nodded at him before turning his attention to Caitlin. Caitlin didn’t even look at him directly, just turning her face and saying coldly, “Let’s go inside.”
She didn’t even spare him a glance, only offering him her back as she walked away.
Sebastian, who had come here with excitement, felt as if a cold bucket of water had been poured over him. His mood soured, and with a deep breath, he followed them inside.
The autopsy report had already been completed. Sebastian picked it up and skimmed through it, furrowing his brows.
“It says here that the cause of death might not have been heart failure triggered by stomach cancer!” he said, looking at Caitlin and Blake.
Caitlin and Blake exchanged a stunned look, both clearly taken aback.
“What do you mean? Let me see!” Caitlin demanded, taking the report and scanning it herself.
The report clearly stated that the forensic examiner had found an excessive amount of quinidine in the deceased’s blood samples.
Quinidine wasn’t unfamiliar to them. It was a Class A anti-arrhythmic drug that could suppress the self-contractility of heart muscles, slowing the conduction of signals between the heart’s chambers. It was used to treat heart conditions, and it should not have been present in Xavian’s body.
Yet, the amount found in his system was excessive, which led to his heart failure and death.
Seeing this, Caitlin was both furious and saddened. “Didn’t I tell you? I knew there was something suspicious about his death! Someone must have injected him with this drug before we got there!”
Blake, his eyes red with anger, clenched his fists. “It’s them! They killed my father!”
As Blake spoke, he punched the wall in rage, blood quickly trickling down as his fist made contact.
“Blake!” Caitlin rushed forward to stop him from injuring himself. She could understand his anger, but she didn’t want him to harm himself.
“You said ‘they’ killed your father? Who are they?” Caitlin asked urgently.
“I don’t know! I don’t know…” Blake was lost in grief, unable to hold himself together.
Just then, Sebastian spoke up. “If this is a murder, then we need to find out the truth! We can start by going to the hospital and investigating who might have tampered with him.”
Sebastian hoped to accompany Caitlin to the hospital, hoping to spend more time with her.
“I think we should report this to the police first. We’re already at the police station, so we can have the police file the case and investigate,” Caitlin said, taking out her phone.
She immediately dialed Felix’s number, and within minutes, Felix arrived from the criminal investigation department.
“Caitlin! You called for me?” Felix asked as he approached. When he saw Sebastian, he nodded. “Mr. Vanderbilt is here too.”
Sebastian didn’t say anything, his expression slightly displeased. Was it really necessary for Felix to come running just because Caitlin called? Did he get so excited just from seeing her?
“This is Blake. His father, Professor Xavian, passed away yesterday. We had the forensic examiner look into the cause of death, and it seems it might have been a murder. We want the police to open an investigation,” Caitlin explained as she handed the autopsy report to Felix.
Felix reviewed the report and nodded. “Alright! I’ll get my team on it immediately.”
Felix quickly made calls to inform his colleagues and get the case officially opened, then they all headed to the hospital.
At the hospital, Felix showed his credentials and began the investigation. They requested the hospital’s cooperation to access security footage from the time leading up to Xavian’s death. They also began interviewing Xavian’s attending physician and the responsible nurse.
Everyone who had entered or exited the patient’s room was questioned, including Sebastian’s staff.
After hours of investigation, they found something suspicious. An unknown nurse had entered Xavian’s room an hour before his collapse to change his medication.
“What was the situation like at that time?” Felix asked Sebastian’s men.
“We verified her identity. She had a nurse’s ID, so we allowed her to enter the room,” one of Sebastian’s men replied.
“What name was on the ID?” Felix asked.
“Julia,” the man answered.
Coincidentally, Nurse Julia was present at the scene. When Felix questioned her, she responded, “I wasn’t working yesterday. You can check my attendance record.”
The attendance records confirmed that Julia had indeed taken the day off. This meant that someone had likely used her ID, sneaked into the nurse’s break room, and impersonated her to inject Xavian with quinidine.
This confirmed the case as a malicious, premeditated murder.
Caitlin, who had been watching the investigation unfold, now knew the identity of the fake nurse. However, the person behind this impersonation was still unknown.
Luckily, Sebastian’s team was helping, and Tyler used reverse tracking of the timeline to locate footage of the fake nurse entering the nurse’s break room.
Following the footage backward, they finally found a clear shot of her face as she entered the hospital.
“We found her! Quick, go tell Caitlin!” Sebastian ordered.
Caitlin, hearing the news, rushed to the monitoring room.
“Did you find out who she is?” Caitlin asked anxiously.
After looking at the footage, she saw a young woman in her twenties.
“We don’t know her full identity yet, but her face is very clear. With this image, we should be able to find out who she is,” Sebastian explained, looking at the woman’s cold, beautiful face, waiting for Caitlin to praise him.
“Copy the pictures and videos and send them to Felix. The police can issue a reward to track down the suspect!” Sebastian continued.
Caitlin, however, remained cautious. “It’s not that simple. She may not be the main culprit. She could be a pawn in someone else’s game. We need to find her to uncover who’s really behind this.”
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. “What evidence do you have?”
Caitlin looked certain. “No evidence yet, but Xavian told me himself that someone had been watching him for years. And Blake mentioned earlier that ‘they’ were responsible for his father’s death. I think Blake might know who ‘they’ are.”
“Then let’s go find Blake and ask him!” Sebastian said, already taking the lead.
Without hesitation, he reached out to put his arm around Caitlin’s shoulder, but Caitlin swiftly shrugged him off. “Keep your hands to yourself. If you don’t, I’ll make sure to remove your claws.”
“Ugh-so harsh with me?” Sebastian grumbled, but deep down, he couldn’t help but admit that Caitlin’s straightforward attitude was exactly what he liked.
Maybe he truly had a tendency toward self-destruction.
Caitlin and Sebastian found Blake in the hospital garden. Caitlin approached him and asked, “You said before that ‘they’ killed your father. Who are they? Do you know something?”