"It's really not my fault." Serena's tears cascaded down her cheeks uncontrollably, "I swear | didn't know him. | have no idea why
he wanted to see me. He even said it himself - he was looking for Miss Collins, my sister, not me. It was the maid who got it wrong.
As for what he called the truth, how he died, I'm totally clueless. Aunt Eunice, you have to believe me. How could | possibly commit
murder!"
Serena seemed to be traumatized, sobbing without any regard for her appearance. She looked utterly pitiable.
However, Eunice watched her with a complex expression in her eyes. Logically speaking, Serena simply didn't have the nerve to kill
someone. But that man wanted to see Miss Collins, which meant he had figured something out and wanted to confess the truth to
Bella, hoping she would help him create a new identity to start over.
But upon seeing Serena, did he hesitate? Change his mind?
If it was a homicide, the most likely suspect was this weeping girl before her, wasn't it?
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"I'm going down to the basement."
Arabella left the study to inspect the man's body for wounds. Aside from the bruises from a beating a couple of days earlier, there
were no new injuries.
After a thorough examination, Arabella returned to the study.
The study, lit with a warm glow at one in the morning, seemed somewhat eerie against the pitch-black night outside and the
occasional rattling of the windows in the wind.
"Did you find out anything?" Eunice was the first to ask.
"There were no signs of a struggle or a fight, nor did he ingest any lethal poison. His hands and feet were bound just as they were
before he died, but he definitely died of suffocation."
At these words, Serena's tears flooded again, "It really wasn't me. He said he wanted a quick end - could he have not wanted to
live anymore? Maybe held his breath until he suffocated himself."
Arabella had to clarify, "It's impossible for a person to commit suicide without external help, including holding one's breath."
When pushed to the limit, the brain stem and autonomic nervous system, which control breathing, automatically kick in. They are
not governed by conscious thought. It's not like the brain can tell the body to stop breathing indefinitely without it eventually
taking a breath.
In simpler terms, if one holds their breath to the point of brain hypoxia, muscle relaxation would naturally occur, interrupting the
breath-holding and preventing death.
"Could it be that he had skind of disease, a sudden death?" Serena speculated, looking pale with fear.
"I checked. It was mechanical asphyxiation, plain and simple. In other words, someone smothered him."
Serena turned even paler, "Not me. When | saw him covered in blood, | was so scared | went weak all over. How could | have gotten
close to him, let alone have the strength to smother him?"
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Arabella's gaze also turned complex. Logically, Serena didn't have the courage or strength to kill a grown man, especially an
assassin. If he had wanted to resist, even with his hands and feet tied, he could have easily overpowered a frail girl.
But if not her, could there be a mole inside the house? Or had someone else infiltrated the estate unseen?
However, this possibility was quickly dismissed by Arabella.
The crscene still had Serena. If someone had cin with the intent to kill the man and done so in front of Serena, she
wouldn't have survived either, not to mention still being here to weep and wail.
Moreover, if someone had wanted him dead, he would have fought back, yet there were no signs of a struggle.
If he was intent on dying, why would he want to see Miss Collins? It seemed like he wanted to reveal the truth to her - not like
someone desiring death.
What on earth was going on?
Arabella was deep in thought.