A Bystander's Final Confession

The slightest thing would set him off, and he’d belittle his wife with the foulest language imaginable.

But Professor Eleanor never fought back, simply enduring it all in silence.

We neighbors had tried to persuade her not to be so tolerant.

But she would just sigh and offer a bitter smile. "After a lifetime together, what's one more thing to endure? I'm used to it."

Over time, we stopped trying, offering our sympathy for the poor woman only in private.

And now this quiet, dignified woman had died so horribly.

A wave of sadness washed over me.

Passing through the lobby, I greeted the new building manager, Mr. Arthur. His expression was as grim as mine, and we exchanged a few hushed words about the horrors that had befallen our building.

My phone vibrated. It was a private message from Ryder, a resident on the second floor.

"Did you kill them?"

"What are you talking about? How could I?"

Icy dread coiled in my gut, and my denial was instant.

To be fair, his suspicion wasn't entirely baseless.

Since Blair's murder, the police had sealed off the building, concluding the killer was one of us.

The residents began to suspect one another.

At the community memorial service held for Eleanor, the residents gathered, but their eyes darted around, sizing each other up.

A room full of familiar faces, and suddenly everyone was a potential murderer, yet no one looked the part.

When you filtered out the residents who were rarely seen or weren’t currently living here, a handful of us remained: Marcus, the photographer from the first floor; the brothers Ryder and Jesse from the second; Mr. Finch from the third; me from the fifth; and Julian, the chairman of the homeowners' association from the sixth floor.

Both victims were women. I started to get scared.

The next one... could it be me?

I whispered the thought aloud, and Julian was quick to comfort me. "Don't be afraid, Nova. I'll protect you."

I forced a smile and didn't respond.

"The killer might be among us right now," Ryder said suddenly. His voice wasn't loud, but everyone heard him.

As he said it, his eyes were still fixed on me.

A surge of anger made me confront him directly. "Why are you staring at me? What gives you the right to suspect me? Do I look like I could do something like this?"

Before Ryder could respond, Julian stepped in front of me protectively.

"Ryder, don't you dare make baseless accusations. If we're talking about who's most suspicious, I'd say it's you!"

Julian's accusation infuriated Ryder. He cursed and lunged forward, ready to fight, but was held back by Marcus and Jesse.

The confrontation immediately drew everyone's attention, including the police.

Unsurprisingly, the police began to focus their investigation on those of us who had been arguing.

Although the police suspected the killer was one of us, I knew in my heart that it was none of them.

Everyone was exhausted from the endless police questioning.

I continued to work from home. An officer assigned to guard the building looked at me, a little puzzled, "Ma'am, there have been two murders in this building. How can you still be working?"

I spread my hands helplessly. "Bills don't pay themselves. If I stop working, I'll starve before a killer gets me."

I knew the police presence was meant to protect us.

Just when we thought things would quiet down for a while, that night, a man's bloodcurdling scream tore through the night, waking every soul in the building.