❛𝐃𝐎𝐍'𝐓 𝐁𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐃, 𝐈'𝐌 𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐀 𝐃𝐎𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐑𝐈𝐗...❜ | 𝐍𝐨. 𝟏

Chapter 19- The Blood Is On Your Hands...

(DESCRIBES MURDER)
Would staring him down work? Any good law enforcement knows that making a suspect feel uncomfortable before interrogation is always a good idea. Petty, it may be, but it gives you the upper hand.

"Sorry about before. If i knew i was expecting a visit i'd have tidied up a bit."

"No matter. We're from Thamesmead Police Station in Abbey Wood. We've come to ask you some questions regarding the cold case on your late wife, Melanie Thorne?" instead of tensing up, he remains calm, "The last time i was asked about that case was 20 years ago."

"We're well aware, Mr Thorne. The case was passed onto us after London Police thought it wasn't investigated enough."

A lie, yes, but i can say whatever i damn want before we're in a courtroom.

"What do you wanna know?" he coolly sits down, relaxed.

"Explain to us what happened that night, in your own words."

"It was really late at night. My kids, Lauren and Rhett were in bed, me and Melanie were watching television downstairs. We heard a loud noise outside; a bang. There was a few scuttling noises that we heard, but we thought nothing of them. Until, before we know it, there's three men storming in with ski masks on with guns in their hands. We told them we didn't want any trouble, but they demanded that we turn out our pockets. Melanie begged them to leave, but they shot her in the head with no hesitation. They said they'd do the same to me if i didn't give them all my money, after they shot me in my upper arm."

I make a mental note of that detail, it wasn't recorded in the files. Suspicious.

He rolled up his sleeve to reveal a faded outline of a wound, and i've seen gunshot wounds before.

That's a real one.

I motion for Andy to snap a picture of it before Victor continues, "I gave them all the money i had, but it wasn't long after our security team came breaking in with their own weapons. The three bastards surrendered and were taken to prison and Melanie...I'd never do anything to hurt her."

I narrow my eyes at him. I haven't even classified him as a suspect and he's already defending himself.

I pull out a chair, letting it scrape loudly against the floor before lowering myself into the seat, "Could you tell me why the security cameras didn't find anything, Mr Thorne? You said they entered through...?"

"The back conservatory door. The wires got cut."

"It didn't say that in our files. In fact, the detective who interviewed you even said that there was no signs of a burglary attempt."

He begins to itch in his seat, angry.

"It was most likely an inside job. All of our workers were jealous of our billionaire lifestyle."

"They all had alibis for the night of the burglary. There were only two workers there that night, and that was your chef, Alessandro Alexis and your nanny, Everly Marley who was putting your children down for bed."

He looks for answers for each of my questions.

He'll run out of them eventually.

"Maybe they hired people to do it." Andy pulls out an information sheet, facts and figures dotted around it.

"This is a list of all your employees between the dates of 28th of March, and 12th of April, two nights after your wife's murder, and next to the names are their salaries. They were earning the ridiculously low wage of four pounds per hour, which was only forty pence more than the amount you were required by law to pay. They could barely afford to put a roof over their families heads, let alone hire anyone."

His nose twitches, side to side. Maybe that's his  tell, "What is your point? That i was a terrible employer?"

"My point is you haven't given me a truthful answer yet. There was no burglary, Mr Thorne."

"Really? Are you missing the giant bullet that was stuck inside her frontal lobe?"

"A shot wound to the head doesn't mean that the burglars did it." his nails scratch the surface of a cold, metal table our undrunken coffees lie upon.

"If you've looked over this case, you'd know that the neighbours said they heard screaming the night of the murder. If you think i'm going to kill my own wife, why would i let her make such a racket." he asks rhetorically.

"A burglary sounds like the perfect excuse in my book. Blame it on nobody then you don't get suspected. Why did you do it, huh? Did you think you'd get everything you wanted from the divorce?"

His body stills, silenced. It's as if blood drains from his face, "Divorce? We weren't having a divorce."

"Our records say otherwise. Melanie Thorne spoke with a divorce lawyer, Addison Carter about divorcing you, three days before you murdered her." i stare at his face a few moments longer, "You really didn't know, did you?"

"No. I did not. What is the point here? You're trying to pin a murder on me that happened 20 years ago that no one has talked about. You're not even from the Police Station i was interviewed at. Stop harassing me, or i'll call my lawyer."

"This is not considered harassment, Mr Thorne. We're simply asking you some questions."

"Leave my house. You have no right questioning me like this."

He leaves us to show ourselves out. I had a feeling it would end like this.

As Andy propels the front door open, i notice a young kid sitting on the stairs, a bored look on her face. She must be Lauren's sister.

"Hey, kid. You okay?"

"Fine. Who are you? My dad doesn't have anyone over except prostitutes."

I like this kid already. The one goddamn stranger today who hasn't accused me of sleeping with a man who is 40 years older than me.

"We're the police. How old are you? You shouldn't have to witness stuff like that."

"I'm 13. Trust me, i don't want to be here, but if i don't stay here, my mum gets in trouble with the judge."

"I don't think your dad will notice massively if you escaped for a few hours." i slip her a £20 note.

"Want a lift into the nearest town? Buy yourself something nice with that."

Having a 13 year old sister, i can tell she's fed up with the world. Mainly because of the painful expression that sits on her face.

"Really?! Thank you! The police rock!" at least i made the kids day, even if i couldn't pin anything on Victor for the murder.

But there's still evidence that is yet to be delivered.

I won't stop until Lauren has justice.

🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Thank you for reading!

Thanks to @doriankennway1 for adding my story to your reading list, it means a lot :)

The next Chapter is half way done! It'll be here soon :)