"The couple lived alone. This kitchen is very spacious, and the fridge is huge. The victim loved cooking, and she was also a tall woman," Victoria explained.
"Take a look at the upper cabinets. Plates, glasses, cooking ingredients—all arranged there. Now, try opening the lower cabinets."
Aron quickly opened each door of the lower cabinets. Almost all were empty, except for a few that contained pots and pans used for cooking.
"Placing the important ingredients up top makes it easy for her to reach. That's all there is to it," Victoria continued, her voice calm but firm.
Detective Jordyn remained silent.
"Maybe after he found out his wife was giving him sleeping pills, he got angry. An argument broke out, which led to her death," Roland speculated.
Victoria didn't react. Her attention was suddenly drawn to the ringing of a phone.
"Can someone answer that call?" she said suddenly, causing Aron, Roland, and Jordyn to flinch slightly.
"A call?" Roland and Jordyn asked at the same time. They each pulled out their phones—Aron did the same. Yet none of their phones were ringing.
They exchanged confused glances. Aron had no choice but to continue feigning confusion.
"Didn't you check your phone? Maybe it's yours ringing," Jordyn guessed.
"I don't have a phone," Victoria replied curtly.
"What?!"
"She forgot to bring it," Aron quickly interjected, cutting in before the situation got even stranger.
"Forget about it," Victoria said, walking toward the spot where the victim had been found.
"I think there's a chance the killer's blood mixed with the victim's," she added.
"That's impossible," Roland replied sharply.
Aron lowered his body, pretending to examine dried blood on the mosaic floor. Slowly, he crawled toward another area, acting completely absorbed in the investigation.
At the same time, Victoria's hearing was again interrupted by the same ringing sound. The tone grew louder, increasingly distracting her. Unable to ignore it any longer, she began turning her head, searching for the source of the sound.
Roland and Jordyn were still focused on Aron, who was crawling across the floor.
They grinned, clearly entertained by Aron's comical behavior.
Suddenly, Jordyn turned her head. Her eyes caught sight of Victoria walking toward the master bedroom.
The bedroom door was already open. Victoria stepped inside.
The ringing grew louder. Sharp. Distracting.
Her eyes scanned the surroundings—vanity table, cabinets. She brought her ear close to a cabinet door, but the sound seemed to shift direction.
As she approached the bed, the ringing became even clearer.
Victoria grabbed the edge of the mattress, intending to lift it. Unbeknownst to her, Jordyn was heading toward the room.
"You…?"
"Found it!" Aron's voice rang out from the kitchen.
Jordyn immediately turned. Without a second thought, she retraced her steps and hurried back to the kitchen.
Victoria lifted the thick mattress high with just one hand.
Beneath the center of the mattress lay a vibrating cellphone.
Quickly, she grabbed it and carefully set the mattress back in place, as calmly as possible—as if nothing had been touched.
With an unbothered expression, Victoria returned to the kitchen once the phone was tucked into the pocket of her suit. Her steps were measured and composed.
"Maybe that's the victim's blood," Roland said. He had crouched low, almost touching the floor, examining the scratched leg of the table.
"But why is there a bloodstain here?" Aron asked, shining his phone's light on the table leg. The white beam reflected off the dried red stain.
Jordyn reached into her pocket and pulled something out. She handed a small plastic bag to Roland.
"Take this."
Roland turned, looking at the plastic in Jordyn's hand before letting out a soft sigh. He took the bag without saying a word.
"Step aside," Roland ordered firmly.
"Wait a moment, I want to take some pictures," Aron requested. He lowered his body and snapped several shots from different angles before standing up again.
"I'm curious," Jordyn said, watching Aron, "how did you think to look for other bloodstains?"
"Because this case involves a sharp weapon," Victoria replied from behind, her voice calm but firm. "There's no way the victim just stood there and let herself be stabbed."
Jordyn simply nodded, as if accepting the logic without argument.
"I think that's all the investigation we need here," Victoria said, glancing at the watch on her wrist. "Aron and I will leave first. Make sure you two send the blood samples to the lab for analysis."
"You don't need to worry about that," Jordyn replied succinctly.
"Then we'll be off. Thank you for your cooperation. I truly appreciate it," Aron said before following Victoria toward the door. Her pace was brisk, as if pressed for time.
"Have you ever seen her before?" Jordyn asked as soon as Aron and Victoria stepped outside.
"Never," Roland replied, continuing to scrape dried blood from the table leg. "But… she's really beautiful. No—no, that's not what I mean. She seems smarter than that lawyer."
Jordyn let out a soft huff. "Sometimes I feel jealous of women who are not only beautiful… but also smart."
"You're beautiful too," Roland said as he stood up.
Jordyn tilted her lips in a smirk. "You'd better go to an eye clinic. Maybe your eyes are broken."
"Hey… can't even give a compliment without it being wrong," Roland muttered half in exasperation.
"Enough," Jordyn said. "Let's go."
**
"Hey, why are you in such a hurry?" Aron asked, almost running to catch up with Victoria, who was striding quickly toward the elevator. Yet the woman didn't answer at all.
The elevator button was pressed. Victoria glanced briefly over her shoulder, making sure Roland and Jordyn hadn't left the unit yet.
"What's gotten into you, Victoria?" Aron asked again, clearly puzzled by her sudden cold behavior.
The elevator doors opened.
Without warning, Victoria grabbed Aron's arm and pushed him into the elevator. The doors closed tightly before she pressed the button for the lobby.
"I found a cellphone," Victoria said as the elevator began to descend.
Aron turned sharply. "Where did you find it?"
"Under the mattress. But it was right in the center," she replied calmly. "As if it was deliberately hidden."
"Where's the phone?"
Victoria reached into the pocket of her suit, pulled out a cellphone, and handed it to Aron.
"You'd better keep it for now. We need to find a suitable place to check its contents," she said.
"How about we go to my office?" Aron suggested.
Victoria let out a short sigh. "But I'm hungry."
Aron gave a faint smile. "We'll eat first."
"I want a burger."
"No problem," Aron replied confidently. "I know a good place."
An hour later, as they stepped out of the taxi, Victoria looked up at the old building in front of her. Its walls were dull, as if they hadn't been maintained for years. Beside her, Aron stood with a smile on his lips, both hands carrying several packages of food they had picked up from the restaurant.
"Why don't we just eat in there?" Victoria grumbled, glancing toward the building.
"Eating in my office is quieter," Aron replied casually. "No one will bother us. And after we finish, we can relax."
"But I want to enjoy eating at a restaurant," Victoria countered, still dissatisfied.
"Okay… I promise that once this case is over, I'll take you to any restaurant you want," Aron said.
"Really?" Victoria looked at him skeptically.
Aron tried to raise his hands, but both were already full. "I promise."
"All right. Remember that promise."
"Of course."
The two of them then stepped into the building, the door closing slowly behind them.
**
"Umm… umm," Victoria savored the burger in her hands. Every bite, every chew seemed to trigger a different reaction, making her momentarily forget the world around her.
Aron ate while keeping his eyes on the screen of the cellphone Victoria had found earlier. His fingers occasionally tapped the screen, trying to unlock the device.
"This phone is locked," Aron said—for the fourth time now.
Victoria didn't pay him any attention. Her full focus was on the delight of the burger, as if nothing else mattered at that moment.
Time passed until the last burger in her hands was gone.
"This burger is really delicious," Victoria said, politely wiping her mouth. "So good."
She looked at Aron. The lawyer sat propping his chin with a bored expression, though his fingers continued working rapidly to unlock the phone.
"Give it to me," Victoria said curtly.
Aron straightened up and handed the phone over. Victoria stared at the screen for a moment, then her thumb moved swiftly.
"Done."
"Already?" Aron asked, clearly surprised.
Victoria didn't answer. She handed the phone back to Aron.
"Yes!" Aron's face lit up again. His thumb swiped and tapped across the screen… before suddenly stopping.
A few moments passed.
"Yes! Yes!"
"What was that sound!?" Victoria asked, her face tense.
Aron panicked. "His finger pressed the screen repeatedly, as if trying to hide something. His face turned increasingly pale.
"Huh…" He looked up at Victoria, his lips trembling. "Th-there's a recording."
"Give it to me!" Victoria commanded angrily.
Without hesitation, Aron quickly handed the cellphone over.