Elsa's father snorted. "The Forresters will be held responsible for this. We won't let our Elsa suffer for nothing!"

He then turned to Grover. "Mr. Grover, my daughter wouldn't have attacked someone on a whim. The Forresters must have been behind it, pulling the strings! If you're talking about responsibility, they bear the most. They're the masterminds! My daughter was just an accomplice at best!"

Grover ignored him, his eyes scanning the living room. As a seasoned detective, his instincts screamed that something was wrong. He turned to his team. "Secure the scene!"

"Yes, sir."

Before Elsa's parents could react, they were escorted out of the apartment. The door was shut, and yellow police tape was stretched across the entrance.

Staring at the tape, Elsa's father narrowed his eyes and whispered, "See? I was right. This whole mess has the Forresters written all over it!"

A glint appeared in his wife's eyes. "In that case, does this mean we can ask for more compensation?"

Elsa's father nodded. "We'll get as much as we can. Our Elton's life abroad is expensive. The Forresters can afford it. If worse comes to worst, we'll make them sell that bracelet of Elsa's to pay us."

His wife readily agreed. She had long coveted the bracelet on Elsa's wrist, but since it was a Forrester family heirloom, she hadn't dared to ask for it. This was the perfect opportunity. She'd already had it appraised in her mind; it had to be worth over two hundred thousand dollars.

Inside, Grover had his team bring him a UV flashlight.

"Here you go, Mr. Grover."

The moment he switched it on, the living room lit up with the ghostly glow of massive blood spatter. Although someone had tried to clean it, the UV light revealed the hidden traces.

Looking at the sheer volume of spray, Grover's sense of dread deepened. "Notify the forensics department. Get them over here now."

"Right away, sir."

Almost as soon as he spoke, a voice called from the bedroom. "Mr. Grover, there's blood in here too."

Grover hurried over. The bedroom's computer desk, window, and carpet were all covered in the same tell-tale spatter.

Just then, an officer checking the storage closet shouted, "Mr. Grover! We've found something!"

Grover put down the UV light and went to the closet. "What is it?"

The officer, wearing rubber gloves, held up a pair of tweezers pinching a small, decomposing object. "Si, look at this Does this book like human tissue to you?"

Grover's eyes narrowed. "Bag it. Get it to the lab for analysis."

"Sir, look here! A drag mark in blood that wasn't fully cleaned!"

At that, the crime scene photographer immediately moved in to document the evidence.

After marking all the evidence, it was practically certain that at least one member of the Forrester family had been murdered here.

Grover immediately assigned his team to investigate the family's recent activities, including any travel records.

The Forresters had a relatively simple social circle, so information came back quickly.

"Mr. Grover, according to the employers of Egan, Frieda, and Xander Forrester, none of them have shown up for work in over ten days!"

"Also, prior to this, Xander and Elsa were in the process of a divorce. It had already reached the first hearing."

"Miss Gonzales was right. I checked Elsa's bank records. She does have a four- hundred-thousand-dollar loan in her name."

"None of the three Forresters have

any record of leaving the country railway department

and the

confirmed they haven't booked any tickets in the last ten days.

Soon, the forensics team arrived. All evidence from the apartment was taken for analysis.

It was two hours later when the medical examiner, Elijah, found Grover with the results. "Mr. Grover we have a preliminary report. Based on the data, we detected DNA from four individuals in the house Egan. Forrester, Xander Forrester, Frieda Forrester... and Elsa."