Stuck in a Deadlock

　　"Do you think Olivia lied?" Benjamin looked at James, whose veins were bulging and face was turning red.

　　"If she didn't lie, none of this makes sense.

　　She must have told Ethan and used money as leverage to make him clean up the scene.

　　No! It was planned between her and Ethan.

　　She wanted to confront Sophia and in the argument, Ethan joined in and they killed her together!" James expressed his thoughts, believing that this was the most truthful side of the case.

　　"You should calm down." "I am calm!" "If you were calm enough, you would remember William saying that he saw Sophia being pushed to the ground by only one woman.

　　What you just said about Olivia and Ethan killing Sophia together couldn't have happened.

　　If you don't remember any of this, I suggest you flip through the records.

　　They won't deceive you." James stubbornly exclaimed, "Damn it.

　　William must be lying.

　　He saw two people, not just one!" "William may have lied, but his description of the events matches exactly what Olivia said.

　　It proves that what both of them said about this incident is the truth." "Can't they collude on their testimonies?" James still refused to admit what Benjamin said.

　　Benjamin shook his head and sighed, "If that's what you insist, then I can't do anything about it.

　　You better find evidence of their collusion!"

　　"James sat angrily on the chair.

　　After finally finding the fourth person hidden behind the case, he thought that they would be able to solve the case, but it had once again reached a deadlock.

　　Sophia died of suffocation, and if what Olivia said was true, the most she could be charged with is assault, not murder.

　　After a full ten minutes, James gradually calmed down and softly said, 'I'm sorry, I was too impulsive just now.' 'It's okay,' Benjamin said.

　　'Brother, I have no clue at all now.

　　Who is the killer of Sophia?' James sighed, feeling exhausted from the past two days of running around.

　　'It has been two days, and besides becoming more and more bizarre, the case has made no progress at all.' 'No, we actually have many clues now, and the progress of the case is significant,' Benjamin said.

　　'First, we have clarified the identity of the victim and found several people related to her.

　　Secondly, Olivia, Ethan, William, and Alexander all visited Sophia during the time of her murder, and they are more or less involved in the case.

　　They each provided some testimony, and the case has become clearer up to this point.' 'But we still don't know who the real killer of Sophia is.' James didn't share Benjamin's optimism and even believed that he couldn't solve the case, that it would ultimately become an unsolved mystery.

　　'I believe the killer is among the four of them.' 'Then how can we determine who the real killer is?' 'It's simple, we analyze the entire case.' 'Analyze the entire case?' 'Yes,' Benjamin said.

　　'Before Sophia was murdered, the first person to come into contact with her was William.

　　According to William's confession, he met Sophia to threaten Ethan and try to get a large sum of money from him.' James nodded and said, 'The second person to have contact with Sophia was Olivia.' 'That's right.

　　It is not difficult to deduce the facts from the testimonies of William and Olivia.

　　When Olivia showed up, William hid in the closet and happened to witness the entire argument between Olivia and Sophia.

　　Olivia pushed Sophia to the ground, thinking she had killed her, and fled in panic.

　　William followed and left the crime scene.' 'Next, Ethan appeared.' 'Ethan went to the scene at Sophia's invitation, but he found her murdered.

　　He was worried that his affair would be discovered and feared getting into legal trouble, so he made a wrong choice.

　　He cleaned up the crime scene and disposed of the body.' 'I always feel that what he said is unreliable.' James had been suspicious of Ethan's lies.

　　If he didn't kill Sophia, it wouldn't make sense for him to voluntarily clean up the crime scene and dispose the body."

　　Benjamin continued, "Lastly, Alexander appeared.

　　He claimed that he didn't see the victim at all and just happened to see Ethan driving away when he arrived."

　　"So, he is the least likely to be the murderer," James said dejectedly.

　　The case reached a deadlock, as none of the four individuals seemed to be the culprit.

　　"This is merely an inference based on the testimonies of the four," Benjamin chuckled softly.

　　"If none of them were lying, then Alexander indeed seems to be the least likely to be the killer."

　　"Are you suggesting that one of the four lied?" James exclaimed, his eyes brightening.

　　He eagerly awaited Benjamin's identification of the liar so that he could conduct a targeted interrogation.

　　"That's just my intuition," Benjamin said.

　　"After excluding Alexander, we are left with three suspects: Olivia, Ethan, and William.

　　We already know that Sophia was suffocated, and after Olivia left, the only people who had contact with the victim were Ethan and William."

　　Emma had been listening to their conversation and pondering the case.

　　She now spoke up, saying, "One of the two of them lied, and that person must be the murderer."

　　"We cannot exclude Olivia as a suspect.

　　Although her testimony and William's confirm that she left the scene before Sophia's death, who can guarantee that she didn't return later? She may have come back, found Sophia alive, and then used her hands to suffocate her to death," James reminded them.

　　"The scenario you mentioned is unlikely," Benjamin said.

　　"Why?" James asked.

　　Benjamin explained, "Don't forget that when Olivia arrived at the scene, it was already past 7 o'clock.

　　She had an argument with Sophia, which wasted some time.

　　Then, it took some more time for her and William to leave.

　　Ethan arrived at the scene at 7:30, so Olivia didn't have enough time to return to the scene and commit the murder."

　　James nodded, realizing that based on the timeline, Olivia couldn't have gone back to the scene to commit the murder without encountering William or Ethan.

　　"So, the real culprit must be either William or Ethan?"

　　"Perhaps," Benjamin replied without giving a definite answer.

　　"That's great! We'll interrogate these two again, and we'll surely find inconsistencies.

　　Once we prove that one of them lied, that person will be the murderer!" James exclaimed excitedly.

　　"The question is, how can we prove that one of them lied?" Emma asked.

　　James dismissed it casually, "That's not a problem.

　　As long as we interrogate them, we'll definitely discover which one of those guys is lying!"

　　"Benjamin did not dampen James' enthusiasm.

　　He actually wanted to interrogate William and Ethan again.

　　If he could find someone lying, that would be ideal.

　　If not, there would be no harm in re-examining the case.

　　The first person to be interrogated was William.

　　Because William was timid by nature, James used intimidation as a tactic.

　　He slammed the table and shouted, 'William, you better tell the truth!'

　　'What...what do you want me to confess?' William was indeed frightened by James' actions.

　　James snorted and continued, 'Confess to the fact that you killed Sophia!'

　　'What?' William's eyes widened in fear.

　　Nervously, he exclaimed, 'I didn't kill her! She wasn't killed by me!'

　　'If it wasn't you, then who killed her?' James asked.

　　'I don't know.'

　　'Don't know? Hmph! We have ample evidence, yet you still want to plead innocence?'

　　'I...I really didn't kill her.

　　Everything I said is the truth.

　　Why would I want to kill her?'

　　'If it wasn't you, then why did you flee the scene? Why did you hide your identity and the victim's identity when reporting the case?'

　　'I...I was scared.'

　　'Scared?' James suddenly stood up, slammed the table, and glared at William.

　　He shouted sternly, 'I can see that you're lying!'

　　'No, no, I'm not lying.' William didn't dare to look at James and quickly lowered his head.

　　'No? Then how did Sophia die?'

　　'She was killed by Ethan's wife.

　　I already told all of you.

　　I personally saw his wife push Sophia down, and as a result, Sophia's head hit the tea table and she died.'

　　'Nonsense, Sophia didn't die at that moment.

　　She just fainted.'

　　'Didn't die?' William was stunned, then shook his head.

　　'That's impossible.

　　She was lying motionless on the ground with a broken head, blood flowing everywhere.

　　I personally saw her being killed!'

　　"According to the forensic report, Sophia died from suffocation.

　　This means that when Olivia pushed her down, she didn't die immediately but was later killed by someone."

　　"What? Then who killed her?" William looked at James in astonishment.

　　He had always believed that Sophia died after hitting the tea table.

　　It was the first time he heard that she died from suffocation.

　　"You!"

　　"Me?"

　　"Yes." James stared into William's eyes.

　　"When Olivia left the crime scene, Sophia was not dead.

　　She just fainted but soon regained consciousness.

　　Sophia woke up and blamed you for not standing up for her.

　　I believe she cursed at you and even threatened to expose your extortion of Ethan.

　　In a fit of anger, you killed her."

　　"No, it's not like that!"

　　Facing such accusations, James was so frightened that he trembled all over, shaking his head and shouting, "Things are not like that, I didn't kill her.

　　I left after Ethan's wife left, and I thought she was already dead at that time." "You did it! You pinned Sophia to the ground, covering her mouth and nose with your hand.

　　She struggled on the ground, but you didn't care until she died.

　　After killing her, you were very afraid, fled in panic, but unexpectedly, her body was accidentally caught while fishing on the shore." William completely panicked, and he questioned loudly, "No, it's not like that! If I really killed Sophia, why would I report it? I could have just thrown her body in the river and ignore it.

　　That way, you wouldn't have discovered the body, and wouldn't suspect me of killing her!" "That's your cunning." James cunningly smiled, like an experienced hunter seeing through the tricks of a sly fox.

　　"When you saw Sophia's body again, you must have been very scared, thinking it was her ghost seeking revenge.

　　In an instant, you changed your mind and saw it as an opportunity.

　　As long as you called the police, no one would suspect you, and you could push everything onto the person who dumped Sophia's body." "No, that's not true, you're framing me!" William shouted, his face turning red from desperately trying to defend himself.

　　"You did it, you killed Sophia!" James continued to pressure him.

　　"No, I didn't, I didn't kill Sophia." William was completely crushed, facing James' repeated accusations, he sat weakly on the chair, continuously repeating the same sentence.

　　Benjamin thought that continuing the interrogation like this would not yield any results.

　　He coughed lightly and signaled James to stop the questioning.

　　After hearing Benjamin's signal, James had William taken away, and then he complained, "Big brother, why did you stop me from questioning further? I've already broken his will, if I continue questioning, he will confess everything." "Continuing like this will only drive him crazy," Emma disagreed with this coercive interrogation method.

　　"Then what do you suggest?" James glared at Emma and didn't think there was anything wrong with his approach just now.