LAW SHADOWS

CHAPTER 3

Edward's POV

"He was so young! What did he do to deserve this?" Mom wailed, her voice breaking with grief.

When I reached everyone was already there, mom was in a bad state, Ammy told me everything.

"Mom, please, hold on," I pleaded as I held her tightly.

"I need to see him... Ed, I need to see my son," Mom sobbed.

"Mom... we can't. His body is... burnt," I whispered through tears was coming out unstoppable

"I don't care, I need to see him! He is my son, Ed! I can't believe it until I see him!"

"Okay, okay, Mom. He's in the morgue. We can go."

We went to the mortuary to view William's body, but the sight was unbearable. His once vibrant, charming presence had been reduced to a charred, lifeless shell. The circumstances surrounding his death felt too strange, almost as though something had been planned. How could this have happened to someone like William?

"No... no... this can't be happening. John, do something. Wake him up!" Dad was already in a mortuary. Mom cried out, unable to accept what had just happened.

"Edward, we need to go. We have to start preparing for the funeral," Dad's calm voice attempted to bring me back to reality.

"Mom, stay strong, please," I whispered, trying to comfort her.

"I wasn't there for him... He'll never forgive me," she cried.

"No, Mom, William loved you. He left because he needed his own space, his freedom. He told me that himself," I reassured her.

"Yes, Agnes..." Dad's voice cracked as he fought back his tears, trying to remain strong for us.

"I'm feeling dizzy... I can't take this anymore," Mom said, her face drained from hours of crying.

"Edward, I'll take your mother home. You stay and handle things here," Dad said.

"Alright, Dad. Take care of her."

I helped him take Mom outside, leaving me to focus on the grim task at hand. As I stood over William's body, a surge of emotions overwhelmed me, but something else gnawed at me—something didn't feel right. I had to get to the bottom of this. The autopsy needed to be done as quickly as possible.

"Ed, are you okay?" Amelia asked gently. I had almost forgotten she was there, but her concern brought me back to the present.

"Something isn't right here, Amelia. I can feel it," I said, trying to keep my composure.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her brow furrowed with concern.

"I think he was murdered. We need autopsy results."

"Murdered? Why would you think that?" she questioned.

"I know William's routine. He would never have been cooking at that time, and you know that too."

"Did you talk to him before this happened?" Amelia asked.

"Yes. He told me he needed to talk to me after work. I asked if something was wrong, but he said he was fine and still at work."

"What did he want to talk about?"

"I don't know. He said it couldn't be discussed over the phone."

"You're right. Something does seem off," Amelia agreed.

"I'm going to examine the body now," I said, steeling myself for what was to come.

"You don't have to take this case, you know," she reminded me.

She was right; the case would break me emotionally. But I couldn't let anyone else handle it—I had to do this for William, one last thing for my brother.

"I know, but I need to do this," I said, determined.

"Okay. I'll wait for you outside," she replied softly, understanding.

Amelia's POV

My phone rang. It was Detective Harris, a family acquaintance through Edward.

"Hello, Amelia," he said. His tone was off.

"Harris, what is it? What's wrong?"

"I thought I should tell you first before Edward finds out."

"Tell me what?"

"I'm afraid it looks like William was murdered. And we found something else."

"What? Murdered? What else did you find?" So, Ed was right, this is bad.

"We found a watch at the scene... and we believe it belongs to Mr. Anderson."

"His uncle?" I gasped.