Reborn In a Murderer’s Embrace

“Melody was number 37 when she was in the orphanage. The orphans were assigned numbers based on the order in which they arrived, age notwithstanding. Since kids of the same age were grouped together, the numbering was all over the place. We had pieced it together from an old group photo from the orphanage. The sequence was indisputable, and it was indeed Melody’s

turn.

Robin furrowed his brow and looked at Colin. “Can you pinpoint Melody’s location?”

“Why have the earlier victims all been women? Phoebe wasn’t even from the orphanage.” I was puzzled.

“Because the majority of abandoned orphans are girls, there are hardly any boys. That’s why the previous victims were all female,” Robin explained, then continued. “I think the murderer’s actions resemble some kind of sacrifice. The way Phoebe was killed, with an injection and no pain, was completely different from the others. Everyone else suffered immensely before they died, some literally scared to death.”

“The 28 constellations correspond to different locations. The last victim was found at South Bay Wharf…which aligns with the southeast,” Colin suddenly interjected, snatching Robin’s notebook and pen from his hands.

“Coordinates…taking the orphanage as the center…” Colin started sketching a circle in the notebook, then began calculating directions feverishly.

“South Bay Wharf…the next one, it should be… Northstone Street, Westlet Cove!” Colin deduced the murderer’s likely dump sites. “He’ll leave the body there, which means he’ll kill nearby. He wouldn’t risk

traveling too far. The only place suitable for murder around here is an abandoned pharmaceutical factory.” Material © NôvelDrama.Org.

With the expansion of the industrial area, many factories had been moved out, and that part had yet to be developed.

“Let’s go!” Robin looked at Cory. “What are you waiting for? To the pharmaceutical factory!”

Another officer Cory, still in shock, gave Colin a thumbs–up.

The guy was brilliant.

I stared at Colin, equally astounded.

His ability to pinpoint where the murderer would strike and dump the bodies was remarkable.

We followed Robin’s car to the pharmaceutical factory.

The dilapidated building loomed desolate and foreboding.

There, in a cruelly conspicuous spot, was Melody, tied to a beam, her eyes wide with terror and

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her complexion ghostly pale,

A rope was tied around her neck with a candle at the end. Once the candle burnt through the rope that was bearing her weight, she would fall and be hanged by the neck.

The murderer had designed this sadistic method to make the victim endure the most harrowing pain and mental torture before death.

“Dexter! Save me!” Melody cried out Dexter’s name as soon as she saw us.

I scoffed internally.

True love, indeed. She remembered to call for Dexter even at a time like this.

True to form, Dexter was there, his nose still bruised, rushing forward in a panic to untie her.

Colin watched Dexter with an indifferent gaze, neither speaking nor intervening.

Dexter was oblivious to the fact that if he tampered with the rope, Melody would fall and be hanged just the same. Her weight would be enough to break her neck instantly.

The murderer had planned it all.

I understood Colin’s intentions; he didn’t intervene because he resented Mélody and Dexter.

“Dexter, I’d advise you not to touch that,” I said.

Colin and I could hold our grudges in silence, but Robin wouldn’t let Dexter make a fatal mistake.

“What are you waiting for? Save her!” Dexter exclaimed irritably.

“You have a chance to save her before the candle burns through that rope,” Robin said, approaching and pointing at the myriad of complicated ropes, all tied to Melody. “In a warehouse like this, with beams as high as a three–story building, she’d be dead if she fell without any safety measures in place.”