After Irene Lee protested with a banner on the pedestrian street, the investigation into Lillian Griffin's death was assigned to Henry Stark.
He drove to Villa 6 at Cresthaven Hot Springs and was surprised to see a familiar figure.
The woman was dressed in a long, black overcoat. She had a slender, tall figure, and her long, glossy black curls cascaded down to her waist.
"Miss Jennings?"
Renee Jennings looked over her shoulder, an eyebrow slightly arched. "Captain Stark. Fancy seeing you here."
"What are you doing here?" Henry Stark strode over to her, only then noticing the cat she was holding.
Renee Jennings's slender fingers gently stroked the cat's head. "I was just wondering," she said unhurriedly, "the security cameras here are working, so why is there no footage of Lillian Griffin at Villa 6?"
Henry Stark's mind went back to Old Man Wallace's fried food shop.
Renee Jennings's official statement said she had borrowed the restroom at Old Man Wallace's fried food shop and had accidentally discovered a human head in the freezer.
But when Henry Stark reviewed the security footage, he found that Renee Jennings had never borrowed the restroom or even entered the shop.
'So how did she know Old Man Wallace had hidden his wife's head in the freezer?'
Henry Stark's gaze darkened. "Have you seen the footage?"
"I haven't. Weren't you the one who told me?" Renee Jennings asked, her bright eyes fixed on him.
Henry Stark took out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and played a surveillance clip.
On December 29th, two men checked into Villa 6. They entered and exited together several times that day, and they also left together at checkout.
After the clip finished playing, Renee Jennings watched it again.
"See anything?" Henry Stark asked, looking up at her.
Renee Jennings frowned in thought. "If you were going away for a two-day trip, would you bring a suitcase that big?"
"No," he answered without hesitation.
Renee Jennings paused the video and tapped her finger on the suitcase on the screen. "If Lillian Griffin went inside like this, the cameras would never have seen her."
Hearing this, Henry Stark's dark pupils contracted sharply.
A few seconds later, he said urgently, "Miss Jennings, I have to get back to the station. Do you need a ride?"
Renee Jennings shook her head. "No, thank you. I drove."
She watched Henry Stark leave, then looked down at the kitten in her arms and chuckled. "Thanks for your help, little missy."
**
In mid-January, the Lillian Griffin case was solved. The two men who had checked into Villa 6 were the culprits.
One of them, a man surnamed Li, was Lillian Griffin's online boyfriend.
He specifically targeted young, attractive women, luring them out on dates and vacations under the guise of a relationship, only to exploit them for financial gain.
He had tricked Lillian Griffin into hiding in the suitcase to avoid being seen on camera.
He drugged her, causing her to have relations with the other man while she was unconscious, and recorded the entire act.
When Lillian Griffin regained consciousness, she was devastated. During the ensuing confrontation with Li, she suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and died before she could be saved.
Terrified, the man hid her body under the bed in a second-floor room of Villa 6.
The police found strands of Lillian Griffin's hair inside the man's suitcase, confirming her DNA.
During the interrogation, the man confessed to everything...
Renee Jennings let out a long sigh and turned off the news report.
She put down her phone, speared a slice of apple, and began to eat. "Sis, what time are we picking up Zane and Jasmine?"
"We can leave in about ten minutes," Diana Jennings said, emerging from the kitchen with a plate of egg tarts in one hand and chicken wings in the other.
Renee Jennings inhaled deeply. "That smells amazing."
"Eat them while they're hot," Diana Jennings said with a smile.
Renee Jennings took two egg tarts and handed one to her sister. "Let's eat together."
Diana Jennings took the egg tart and sat beside her, but before she could take a bite, the doorbell rang.
"Who could that be?" Renee Jennings asked, her mouth full of the warm egg tart.
"I'll get it." Diana Jennings found it odd as well. She set down her egg tart and went to open the door.
Her expression faltered when she saw the man standing at her door. She tried to close it, but he stuck out a hand to stop it.
"Diana, not going to welcome me in? Your place smells so good... just like you." His words were sleazy and disgusting.
Diana Jennings's face went cold. "Show some respect!"
"Sis, what's wrong?" Renee Jennings walked to the door and saw a man with a greasy middle part, a hairy mole on his nose, and a shifty, rat-like face that was instantly unlikable.
"Who the hell are you?" Renee Jennings asked with open disgust. "Sis, where on earth did you meet someone so ugly?"
The man with the mole had been stunned by Renee Jennings's beauty, his eyes greedily drinking her in. But her words made him flare up in anger.
"Watch your mouth! Don't act like you're so special!" the man snapped. "Diana, you better control your sister. I'll let it go this time, but if it happens again, I won't be so polite!"
Renee Jennings couldn't be bothered to listen to his yapping. She put an arm around Diana's shoulder. "Sis, who is this ugly creep, anyway?"
Diana Jennings frowned. "He's a manager at my work."
"Why would a manager from your work come to your home?" Renee Jennings gave him a hostile look. "It's after hours. If you have something to say, shouldn't you say it at the office?"
"If it weren't for me, do you think your sister would get special treatment, leaving work early at three-thirty every day?" the man with the mole sneered.
"And?" Renee Jennings pulled Diana behind her and crossed her arms. "What's your point? Spit it out."
The man suddenly broke into a grin. "Little lady, it's not easy for your sister, a single mom raising two kids. It breaks my heart to see. How can she possibly manage without a man around?"
Renee Jennings knew exactly what this creep was getting at.
She smiled back. "You're right. It's true she can't do it without a man."
The man thought he was getting somewhere, his smile crinkling the corners of his eyes. "So you're the sensible one."
"But the kind of man my sister is looking for is over six feet tall, as handsome as a young movie star, with a bank account balance longer than his ID number." Renee Jennings's smile grew even brighter.
The man was so angry his cheek began to twitch. "In your dreams! Your sister, with her two pieces of baggage? She should be thanking her lucky stars I'm even interested!"
The moment Renee Jennings heard him call the children "baggage," her brow furrowed and she swung her fist at the man's face.
Her fist stopped just inches from his nose, but it was enough to scare the life out of him.
"You... you..."
The man's legs went weak with fear, and he had to lean against the wall to stay upright. "Diana Jennings, I take it you don't want your job anymore!"
"Then she quits!" Renee Jennings sneered. "Now get out!"
SLAM—
Renee Jennings slammed the door in his face.
She whirled around to face Diana, furious. "Sis, has that creep been harassing you at work?"
Seeing how worked up she was, Diana quickly patted her on the back and said softly, "It's alright. He doesn't dare do anything too blatant at the office."
"How many times has he shown up?" Renee Jennings asked.
Diana lowered her gaze and whispered, "He used to just wait for me downstairs. I don't know how he got into the building today."
"Damn it!" Renee Jennings swore, then raised her voice to be heard through the door. "I'm going to boil a pot of water and scald him with it!"
The man outside, who had been thinking of lingering, heard this and scurried away in terror.