Innocent Until Proven Guilty

Chapter 5

"DAMN, that woman!" Illinois' gravel and husky voice surfaced with his teeth gritting, showing the temper he has for that woman who stole his wallet. However, realizing his situation have him decided not to bother chasing after her, after all, that wallet only contained with a few cards including the identification one.

There's no way he could use his credit cards either, as he will be traced down with it once he does. Good thing, he brought an ample cash with him that he could spend for being a runaway, and probably until he proves his innocence.

Meanwhile, the old bulky man continued chasing and looking for her.

"Was she lying...?" Illinois murmured pertaining to the crime that the woman said. She seemed definitely scared of it. But considering now that he was stolen by the very woman, he couldn't help but to think that that must be also a part of her scheme.

"Well, it won't hurt to just check it out." And then he strode off to the area which the woman pointed at, and where the white car is. He immediately examined the car with his keen eyes, while the light from his phone illuminated the area he opted to check. His knuckles knocked on the tinted window in hopes for someone to respond.

"She said she saw it..." his brows sank, and questions started to stack up on his mind. "But the window is tinted, how?" he paced around the car, carefully observing each side of it.

"The area is secluded enough... very convenient for a crime..." he murmured and halted right beside the driver's seat. Evening cold wind flew past to him. While his eyes traveled to the slightly opened door, making his brows furrow. Slowly, his fingers covered with a hanky touched the edge of the opened door, to reveal what does this car contain inside.

But before he could even open them widely, a force from inside pushed the car to open by itself. His mouth gaped open while his feet stood frozen to the ground. What met his eyes woke up the urge inside him. His hand gripped tightly on his phone when the light illuminated a head covered with its own blood that is barely hanging on the neck while laying down on the seat.

"I didn't see this coming..." he whispered as his eyes met the eyes of the dead head. He was told that the victim was stabbed, and so he mostly expected a stab on the abdomen, just like the cases he had encountered before.

But no... as he checked the corpse, it was the neck that has been slain many times.

"This kind of seem done with madness..." he muttered as he looked closely to the torn neck unstoppably oozing out with blood as the flesh peek out from the skin. "Too brutal, unless this man is a psychopath." He talked as though with another person, which is known to be a habit of his since then.

And now, his unenergized consciousness were brought to the peak of motivation as he feels the push to proceed further with the case. However, he halted upon considering he wasn't prepared for this; he didn't have the tools to begin with the investigation. He doesn't have a pair of gloves with him. But his eagerness came up with another way to find trails and pieces.

"That woman said it was done by a man in a suit... That mysterious eye masked dude seems really suspicious as well, knowing how rural this area is... So, what was he doing here?" his eyes squinted into slits as he was reminded by that man he fought with. "I have to get a hold of him—" he cut his words short when a realization dawned on him.

He closed his eyes earnestly upon remembering his situation right now. He let out a sigh, and still continued searching and forming deductions. After all, his situation doesn't go on his way to do such. He's just cut out with connections.

A few moments later on, he spoke once again. "Perhaps the culprit rode together with the victim. Considering how secluded this area is, no man in a suit would appear out of nowhere just to kill." His face lightened up upon hit by eureka.