Ashes of Longing

"They’re definitely working together!"

A blond-haired young man holding up his phone suddenly pushed his way to the front. He aimed the camera straight at Mr. Keller’s face and shouted, "How much did he pay you?! You’re actually helping a murderer fake evidence!"

Mr. Keller’s face flushed red. "That’s nonsense! We have full surveillance footage—"

"Who says surveillance footage can’t be fake? Everything can be fabricated these days!" a middle-aged woman beside him chimed in, her phone nearly shoved into my face.

Detective Taylor raised a hand, signaling for silence. "We will investigate this thoroughly." His sharp gaze swept over Mr. Keller and me. "Providing false testimony carries legal consequences."

"I didn’t lie," Mr. Keller insisted. "The footage is real."

Detective Taylor glanced at me. "If it’s just one piece of surveillance footage, it doesn’t prove much. But at the crime scene, we found a number of items connected to you, including a surgical scalpel—the kind you would use in your procedures—and a strand of hair."

Detective Taylor turned toward the forensic staff, Dr. Hannah Reeves. "Are the test results ready?"

"Almost." Dr. Reeves checked her watch. "DNA testing will take another twenty minutes."

Those twenty minutes were pure torment. I stared at the clock on the wall, listening to the waves of curses echoing from outside the door.

Ellie stood to the side, gripping a critical condition notice in her hand. The paper crinkled softly under the pressure of her fingers.

Twenty minutes later, Dr. Reeves walked in. Everyone’s eyes were fixed on her gloved hands.

"The results are in." She raised a report. "The hair found under the victim’s fingernails..."

My heart nearly stopped.

"...is a complete DNA match with Bentley Cooke."

The moment I heard that, despair swallowed me whole.

If it weren’t for the fact that I had been in Ashford Hollow that night with a solid alibi, the police might have taken me away on the spot.

The hallway exploded.

"So it really was him!"

"Murderer!"

"Death penalty!"

Ellie suddenly collapsed to the floor, letting out a heart-wrenching cry.

"Dr. Cooke…" Detective Taylor’s expression turned complicated. "Do you have anything else to say?"

I stared at the report, then suddenly laughed. "I’m a senior attending physician at a top-tier hospital, making $600,000 a year. Why would I kill a cancer patient?"

The room fell silent for a moment.

"That’s true…" Dr. Brown muttered under his breath. "He doesn’t have a motive…"

Detective Taylor nodded thoughtfully. "Dr. Cooke isn’t lacking money or reputation. The motive doesn’t add up."

"I know why!" Ellie suddenly rushed forward from the crowd. Her makeup was smeared by tears, revealing her pale face underneath. She dropped to her knees with a thud, her voice trembling as she said, "Dr. Cooke… forced me to sleep with him…"

The words exploded through the crowd like a bomb.

"He said if I didn’t, he wouldn’t treat my dad…" Her voice shook violently. "When I refused, he… he…"

The hallway erupted into furious shouts.

"Animal!"

"Scumbag doctor!"

"He deserves the death penalty!"

"Shooting him would be too lenient!"

A plastic water bottle flew in, striking my forehead. Cold liquid mixed with blood streamed into my eyes, but I couldn’t feel the pain anymore.

Detective Taylor’s expression turned grim. "Miss Wilson, such accusations require evidence."

"Evidence?" Ellie let out a bitter laugh. Suddenly, she yanked open her collar, exposing a bruise along her collarbone. "This is what he left when he forced himself on me the night before last!"