Trial. Alexander

　　The situation was becoming more and more complicated.

　　James had previously suspected Alexander, but later, due to evidence pointing towards Ethan, he had neglected Alexander.

　　Now that Ethan was accusing Alexander again, he had to rethink his position.

　　At this moment, he saw Benjamin giving him a signal with his eyes, so he followed Benjamin out of the room and into the adjacent one.

　　As soon as they entered the room, he said, "Brother, do you believe that guy's words? He actually said that he didn't expose Alexander earlier because Alexander had intimate photos of him and Sophia.

　　Is he more worried about those photos leaking than going to prison?" "We can't ignore this clue.

　　Don't forget, Alexander is a gambler.

　　A gambler is capable of anything.

　　What's important is that Alexander didn't tell us the truth before," Benjamin said.

　　"Brother, are you suggesting that we also consider Alexander as a suspect?" James was still undecided.

　　In his opinion, Alexander couldn't have killed his own wife.

　　"Yes," Benjamin nodded.

　　After careful consideration, James finally said, "Alright.

　　I'll have someone bring Alexander to another room, and we'll question him again."

　　"Alexander's eyes revealed cunning, once again displaying the sorrow of losing his wife.

　　As soon as he saw Benjamin and the others, he choked and said, 'Comrades, have you caught the murderer? You must seek justice for my wife!'

　　'Not yet, but we will,' James said sympathetically upon seeing Alexander's expression.

　　He had thought Benjamin would personally interrogate, but when he turned to look, Benjamin pretended not to notice and showed no intention of questioning.

　　So, James continued the interrogation, 'Alexander, when was the last time you saw Sophia?'

　　'I can't remember clearly, probably two weeks ago,' Alexander replied.

　　'Didn't you see her yesterday?' James asked.

　　'No.' As soon as Alexander finished speaking, he nervously exclaimed, 'Comrades, why are you asking this question? Good heavens, do you suspect that I killed my own wife? Why would you think that? How could I possibly harm her? I love her so much! Comrades, please, you must catch the murderer and bring justice to my wife, otherwise, I don't want to live.'

　　'Alexander, calm down.

　　Until we catch the culprit, anyone can become our suspect,' James revealed covertly that Alexander was indeed his primary suspect.

　　'But I didn't kill her.

　　The last time I saw her was two weeks ago!' Alexander appeared innocent, emphasizing once again the time of his last encounter with Sophia.

　　Suddenly, Benjamin asked, 'Do you remember the situation when you saw Sophia?'

　　'I do,' Alexander turned to glance at Benjamin.

　　Somehow, every time he saw Benjamin, he had a sense of uneasiness, believing that Benjamin was intentionally targeting him, looking for trouble.

　　'Then describe it to us, as detailed as possible,' Benjamin said.

　　'Fine,' Alexander reluctantly agreed and thought carefully.

　　'That morning, I went to her company to look for her and happened to see her getting into an SUV.

　　I tried to catch up but failed.

　　Afterward, I called her, but no one answered.'

　　'So, you're saying you didn't say a single word to her at that time?' James questioned.

　　'That's correct.' Alexander nodded, then looked at James again.

　　'Comrade, I think you're wasting time questioning me here.

　　You should be arresting that jerk, Ethan.

　　Yesterday, I saw him with my wife!'

　　'You saw Sophia yesterday?' Benjamin shouted, staring intensely at Alexander.

　　This guy had finally slipped up.

　　'No, I may not have expressed my meaning clearly.

　　During this period, that jerk Ethan has been pestering my wife.

　　Yesterday when I went to find her, I saw him with her.

　　Then this morning, I received news of my wife's death.

　　Don't you think he's highly suspicious?'

　　"Alexander immediately changed his tone and pointed the blame directly at Ethan.

　　'Have you talked to Ethan about my wife?' Benjamin knew that Alexander was already aware and that pursuing this question would not yield any results, so he changed tack.

　　'I talked to him twice.' 'What did you say?' 'Not much, I just hoped he would voluntarily leave my wife.' 'You didn't threaten him or ask him for money?' 'Absolutely not, how could I do such a thing? If I had done that, I would be worse than an animal!' Benjamin exchanged a glance with James and passed the floor to him.

　　'Alexander, I can honestly tell you that we have taken control of Ethan,' James pondered and said.

　　'You've caught Ethan?' Alexander appeared excited.

　　'That's great.

　　You should interrogate him immediately.

　　He is the murderer of my wife!' 'We did interrogate him and we found some evidence that proves Ethan dumped Sophia's body in the river.

　　In addition, Ethan himself admitted to these things, but he vehemently denies killing Sophia,' James said.

　　'This bastard!' Alexander gritted his teeth and exclaimed.

　　His emotions were extremely agitated, and his whole body trembled.

　　If Ethan were standing in front of him right now, he would definitely rush up and tear him to pieces.

　　'Indeed, he killed my wife.

　　This bastard, you should execute him now and make him pay for his evil deeds!' 'We have a complete set of procedures for handling cases.

　　We won't determine someone's guilt when the evidence is insufficient,' James reminded.

　　'Please listen to me carefully.

　　He admitted to dumping Sophia's body in the river but steadfastly denies killing her.

　　Moreover, he revealed some information to us that we consider to be very important.

　　To be cautious, we have to thoroughly investigate this case.' 'What did he tell you?' Alexander asked.

　　'He said you had some intimate photos of him and Sophia, and you used his relationship with Sophia to extort money from him, even threatening to kill them,' James noticed that Alexander became even angrier after hearing this, and his face turned red.

　　'Bastard, this is slander! I absolutely have never done such a thing! Officers, you wouldn't believe this bullshit, would you? Oh my god, you really believe his nonsense, otherwise, you wouldn't be interrogating me.

　　I swear, I have never done such a thing, and if I had, let heaven strike me down! Officers, this is that bastard's scheme, deliberately tarnishing my reputation to confuse your judgment.' 'You didn't extort him?' 'No!' 'About the photos...' Alexander didn't let James finish and exclaimed, 'No, those are all lies fabricated by that bastard Ethan!

　　"James turned his head to look at Benjamin.

　　The case reached a deadlock here, and if Alexander continues to deny, they have no evidence to accuse him unless they can find those photos from him.

　　'Where were you yesterday?' Benjamin asked.

　　Alexander's mood eased slightly, 'I was at home.' 'All the time, without leaving?' 'I left once, I said I went to the North Shore District to find my wife.' 'And then?' 'I went back home.' 'What did you do after returning home?' 'What do you think a man who has failed in business and whose wife has run away can do? Besides watching TV, the only thing left to do is to drink and kill time.

　　After coming back from the North Shore District, I drank some more, then slept until this morning, and then I came here!' 'What time did you go to the North Shore District?' 'Around 8 o'clock.' 'What time did you leave?' 'I can't remember clearly.

　　I didn't stay there for more than half an hour.

　　I got back home just before 9 o'clock.' 'Is there anyone who can prove what you said is true?' 'No, I don't need anyone to prove it!' Alexander showed his anger again.

　　'Then is there anyone who can prove that when you went to see Sophia, you did not meet her?' Benjamin continued to ask.

　　'No!' Alexander got angry again and shouted, 'What, just because I don't have an alibi, you say I killed my own wife, but Ethan, that bastard, clearly admitted to throwing my wife's body into the river, and you don't suspect him of murder? Bastards, I'm so disappointed in you, how do you handle cases?!' 'It seems like you need to rest.' Benjamin turned to James and said, 'We'd better let him calm down a bit before talking to him again.' James had no better solution.

　　Alexander's emotions were almost out of control now.

　　If they continued to ask him, they might drive him crazy.

　　He had someone take Alexander away and then asked Benjamin, 'Big brother, who do you think is telling the truth between Ethan and Alexander?' 'They have both concealed some facts,' Benjamin said, pondering.

　　'Such as?' James asked.

　　'I don't have evidence to prove my judgment yet, but we can't completely believe what these two say.

　　We must continue to search for strong evidence.

　　The real killer may be between them.' 'I also think so.' James nodded.

　　At this moment, there was a knock at the door.

　　'Come in.' The forensic doctor, Li Liang, walked in and said to the three of them, 'The autopsy report is out.

　　The victim died from suffocation.

　　Based on the residual food in the stomach, the time of death was between 6 and 8 in the afternoon.' 'That's great.

　　You have at least narrowed down the range of investigation for us.' Benjamin smiled, locking in the time of the victim's death was more advantageous for solving the case.

　　'Thank you for your hard work.' 'I just did my job.'"

　　"Li Liang humbly said that in order to solve the case as soon as possible, he hasn't even had a sip of water since morning.

　　'I have other work to do, so if there is nothing else, I'll leave first.' 'Goodbye,' Benjamin said.

　　Li Liang waved goodbye to James and left.

　　After Li Liang walked out, James sighed and said, 'Even if we know the time of death, we still can't determine the killer.' 'No, this is very helpful for us.

　　Let's go and talk to Ethan again,' Benjamin said confidently, as if everything was under his control.