William reached the place where they had found the dead body of the man. The body had been dumped near a river.
"You came, sir," one of the other policemen approached him.
"What's the condition?" William asked, taking gloves and a mask from him.
"It's bad, sir. He was badly injured, must have died from excessive blood loss," the policeman replied.
"Who reported this?" William asked as he moved toward the dead body, which was already surrounded by a crowd and the media.
"An old lady," the policeman answered.
"Give me some space," William said as people stood around, whispering among themselves but not moving.
As William was about to step closer to the body, a young man, around 25 years old, stopped him.
"You shouldn't see this," the young man warned.
"I need to check if it's really him," William said, worry evident in his voice. He was mentally hoping it was just a copycat or a mistake.
Hearing William's words, the young man allowed him to move forward.
William removed the cloth covering the body. The sight made him close his eyes. The man was badly injured; his entire body was covered in blood, and the knife wounds were deep and extensive. His body seemed swollen from the stabbings.
"Where is his family?" William asked.
"He doesn't have any," the young man replied.
William sighed. "It seems to be him. The pattern of the murder, the victim selection, the method of abduction, killing, and dumping the body like this—everything matches," the young man said.
William remained silent, still looking at the body. He hoped it wasn't him, but his hopes were dashed when he noticed something on the man's chest.
William's eyes widened. The man's chest was covered in stabs and dried blood. William started cleaning it, but it was difficult.
"What happened, sir?" the young man asked.
"Bring me some water," William said.
"Sure, sir," the young man replied and went to get the water.
"Here, sir," the young man handed him the water bottle.
William quickly grabbed the bottle and poured water over the dead body.
"What are you doing? You'll erase the evidence!" another policeman exclaimed.
But William was too focused to hear him. As he cleaned the chest, the sight made him lose all hope. Even though he had seen the man in the CCTV footage and thought it was him, he had still hoped he was wrong. But the sight confirmed his worst fears.
He saw the name "Petal" carved into the man's chest.
.........
Flashback::
"Good morning, Pet—" William was saying as he entered Petal's room with morning tea and snacks in hand, but he went silent when he saw the empty bed.
"Petal, are you in the washroom?" he asked.
He placed the tea on the table and moved toward the washroom.
"Petal?" he was about to knock on the door when he heard her crying.
"Please get off, please," she sobbed desperately.
She harshly pushed her hands against the sink, making a loud noise.
YOU ARE READING
Stepdad's Obsession
Romance"Shh, do you want her to see us doing this" he said and pushed himself deep inside me. he pressed his hand harder on my mouth to stop me from making noise. My body shook with his sudden doing he smirked and came closer I turned my face in fear he w...
