Simon Forrester walked over, pulled the aunt aside, and asked in a low voice, "Which room number?"
"308!"
"Don’t say anything yet!" Simon quickly instructed.
Over there, Sienna Thornton was already on the phone calling for an ambulance.
Simon went to the front desk, found the spare key card for room 308, and grabbed two new towels from the supply room, dampening them with mineral water.
When he ca out, Sienna had already hung up, looking at him calmly and seriously: "Let’s go check it out."
"Let’s go."
The two of them quickly ran up to the third floor.
The door to room 308 was half-open, with a cleaning cart parked outside. There was a strong sll of burnt material and gas wafting out.
Simon handed the wet towel to Sienna and covered himself with another, "I’ll go in first, you wait outside."
"Let’s go in together!" Sienna’s voice was calm.
Simon looked at her, nodded, covered his face tightly, and entered the room sideways.
Sienna carefully entered sideways as well, not touching the door.
On the large bed, a young couple was holding each other. The windows were tightly shut, and a towel was stuffed under the door to block the gap. In the center of the room was a tal basin with a heap of gray-white ashes and a few unburned charcoal pieces.
Sienna carefully stepped forward, reaching out a trembling hand to check the girl’s breathing.
No breath left.
She suddenly felt a pang of sorrow, tears welling up as she glanced at Simon Forrester.
Simon, having also checked the boy’s breathing, looked at her and shook his head solemnly.
...
The cri scene was discovered at 8:50 in the morning, the ambulance arrived at 9:00, and the police arrived at 9:10. After more than three hours of evidence collection, the main building of the guesthouse was sealed around noon.
When Maeve rushed over from Brimfield, the main building had already been sealed.
Since it was a Sunday, there were many guests at the guesthouse. Simon arranged transportation and nearby hotel accommodations to relocate the guests. He, Sienna, and so staff from the guesthouse were also taken to the police station to assist with the investigation.
The investigation lasted the entire afternoon. In the evening, the local police released a statent. The notice stated that after on-site investigation, homicide was ruled out. The families of the deceased were already at the local police station assisting with the handling of the matter.
When Sienna exited the interrogation room, Simon was waiting outside. The mont she saw him, she went weak, trembling all over, barely able to stand.
Simon held her, whispering, "Let’s talk after we get back!"
"Back where?" she asked him, her eyes red.
"Back to my place, let’s go." Simon’s chest ached, but he couldn’t show it in front of her.
As they were about to leave the police station, they ran into the officer in charge of the case. The officer hesitated when he saw them heading for the main entrance and called out to them.
"You better leave through the back door," the officer said.
Simon was the first to react: "What’s going on?"
The officer glanced behind him and lowered his voice, "The family of the deceased is at the main entrance, be cautious."
He stopped there, and Sienna and Simon imdiately understood everything.
They exited through the back door, where Harrison Rowe had already driven the car over to wait for them.
Simon hurriedly ushered Sienna into the car, and as they passed by the main gate of the police station, they saw several Brimfield governnt licensed cars parked there.
The atmosphere in the car was heavy.
Sienna said softly, "The girl was fifteen, the boy was three months away from turning sixteen, both were minors."
Simon leaned back, closing his eyes, filled with regret and heartache.
Sienna felt the sa.
She chanically repeated the information she had gathered: "They checked in around six last night. The aunt was tidying other guest rooms in the morning and slled sothing when passing by the door. She opened it and discovered them."
Simon asked, "Was the front desk person from last night found?"
Sienna nodded weakly: "Paige Pemberton was on duty last night. Her statent is that it was late, the deceased were dressed maturely, and they used soone else’s ID. She got careless and let them check in."
At this point, she suddenly covered her face and burst into tears, "If I had been on duty last night, this wouldn’t have happened..."
She went from soft sobbing to crying uncontrollably, "They were so young... only fifteen... why did they choose this path..."
Simon’s heart felt like it was being sliced open, he turned and held her tightly in his arms, continuously kissing her hair, "It’s not your fault, it’s not your fault, don’t bla yourself..."
The car sped all the way to Brimfield, but Sienna didn’t want to go to Simon’s place, so he had to follow her ho.
She was completely silent, rarely speaking or smiling, constantly searching online for the scarce information about the incident.
Simon also contacted people to try and get more information from the police.
Maeve, who stayed at South Bay to handle the aftermath, called in. Since the main building was sealed, the other eight halls couldn’t operate, causing the entire guesthouse to cease operations. The staff was sent ho, and although confidentiality asures were taken, the incident still caused quite a stir locally.
After fernting for a night, the incident was posted on Weibo and shared by many influencers. Although Simon had sent people to manage it, traces of the incident remained online.
Sienna was in utter despair, unable to eat or sleep. Simon stayed with her, not going to the design firm, but staying ho with her all the ti.
Two days passed like this, and Sienna’s spirits were still down. Suddenly, Simon gravely told her so news, "That boy was the only son of a high-ranking official from Brimfield."
The phone in Sienna’s hand dropped instantly, and she fell onto the sofa, her face turning pale.
Her fingers were tightly intertwined, her brows furrowed, and after a mont, she suddenly rushed towards the computer on the dining table.
Simon followed her, "Tell your plan."
"I’m fine, don’t worry." She typed rapidly on the keyboard, and then suddenly picked up the phone to make a call, "Rochelle, bring all the case files related to hotel suicides from the archives and email them to by tomorrow."
After the call, she brought out several thick legal tos from the guest bedroom and began to look up related laws, marking them.
Simon watched her quietly, "Do you think the families of the deceased will sue the guesthouse?"
"Just in case," Sienna replied with determination, "I’m going to handle this case myself!"
"Can you do it alone?" Simon asked, "Should I call Thomas Reed back?"
"No need, I can do it. No one knows this case better than I do."
For the next few days, Sienna didn’t leave the house, only seeing Rochelle Linwood and Maeve, the other shareholder of the guesthouse.
Even her colleagues from the law firm, who were close to her, ca together to visit, but she turned them away.
User Comments
0 comments from readers