THE COLD CASE (Completed)

HENRY MILLS

Stentley and Maguire took Bruce to Roseanne's house. There were 2 men guarding outside the door to make sure nobody without authorization could enter or tamper with the evidence.
"The gate had been dented, signifying that the perpetrator used some sort of a heavy object, or maybe a rock to break the latch that was on the inside. That doesn't make sense at all. No object could be hit from the outside and break the latch on the inside. He'd have to possess some super strength to do that. The killer did this after he killed her. He's done a lot to make sure it looks like a robbery." Bruce said.

Bruce continued to look around, while Stentley and Maguire went up on to the first floor to look over if they had missed anything. The room was filled They searched every drawer, every cabinet, every opening they got, but they found nothing that could be related to the murder. They went back downstairs to see a surprised look on Bruce.
"Found anything?" Maguire asked.

"A lot, but still not enough to ensure who killed her. She seems to collect old victorian dolls, coins, and weird artefacts. She wouldn't go through the pain of collecting them all with a schedule like hers, so I think she must buy them from collectors. This package here was dated on the day of her murder. Last package she ever received. She was found by the housekeeper 2 days after the murder right? She was on leave the day after her murder, and she had already left for the day she died. That gave the killer enough time to clean out the house. Could you take me to the house of the next murder now? I hope it'll make me more clear."
Bruce, Stentley, and Maguire were about to leave, when a man came running through the door, with shoes in his hands, panting and heavily breathing.

"My... My wife." He said.

"Hello Mr. Mills. You seem to be about... One week late to your wife's death. Where have you been all this while? Oh, and let me introduce you to our consulting detective, Bruce Williams. Hey Bruce, meet Henry Mills, Roseanne's husband."

Bruce leaves what he was looking at and comes up to meet Mills. They shake hands, and Bruce asks,
"May I ask you what took you so long to reach us, Mr. Mills?"

"I was in the Caribbean, on a business deal. I was there to sign a contract to produce a movie, and on a little vacation too. I asked Marilyn to join me, but she fell sick at the very last moment. She had been shooting for 3 movies in the past year, and she was really tired because of it. I hardly even got a chance to see her. I suggested she sit this one out and not come with me. If only I'd stayed back too."

"That still doesn't answer my question, Henry"

"As soon as I heard about her death, which was only a couple days ago when her assistant contacted me, I wanted to come running to her. But, my flight had been cancelled due to bad weather. I took the flight a day later, I ran from the airport because I couldn't find a cab, and now I'm here, in front of you."

Bruce gave him a stare, and then said, "Captain? I think we're ready to go to the other house now."

They took the captain's car to get to the witness's house, but throughout the car ride, Bruce wasn't able to shake off a feeling he had. Henry wasn't panicking at all. He didn't fumble for a second. It felt like he knew this question was coming a lot before. It seemed like he had rehearsed his answer. It was a little too suspicious, and he started doubting Henry too.

They reached Adrian's house, and this wasn't like the other house. It looked like a murder that was made to be in a movie. Tons of evidence lying around.

"Looks like the killer was in a bit of a hurry." Bruce said.

"When did you say he had been murdered?"

"Last night. He was supposedly a witness to Marilyn's murder. We ran the records on both her and him, and there's no way their paths could've even crossed paths. We checked everything, and it doesn't add up. There's no way he should've known about her murder."

"What was his occupation?"

"He was a carpenter, but never hired by Marilyn."

"Huh, that's weird."

Bruce continued to look around the house, and came across a set of shoe prints that were strikingly similar to ones he had seen before.

He took a look at them, and then came back up with a smile on his face.

"You guys aren't going to believe me. I don't know how he did it, or why he did it, but he did it all right."

"He? who? Adrian did something?"

"No. I'm talking about Henry Mills. Marilyn's husband. He's the murderer."