Chapter 10- What Happened

I bit my lips as I waited for Tristan to continue. I knew he shouldn't have been telling me any of this, but I wanted to hear, and maybe I could actually help too.

“He died from four stab wounds to his neck, back and shoulder, but that’s not what directly killed him. “ He said, confusing me beyond measure.

“What? What do you mean?” The dinner and candles were completely forgotten as I became more invested in the case. Perhaps it was a part of me that felt guilty, or it was the tad of remorse left in me that was forcing me to mourn him. But I really wanted the case to rest with the correct convict behind bars.

He shuffled with some documents before pulling out an autopsy report. He pointed to the cause of death which read, ‘Excessive loss of blood from wounds’. I waited for him to explain, since I had no clue what that meant.

“The doctor told us that the stab wounds were far too shallow to cause any crucial damage to his organs. So if he was found sooner, he could’ve been saved,” he explained valiantly with a pep in his voice. “And that only led me to one question, why were his wounds so shallow? Either the killer was reluctant or significantly weak” He rushed out before standing to grab the dummy.

I watched attentively as he got ready to explain more. It was really getting interesting. But the minute he said reluctant, my mind went to Mia. Surely she wouldn’t have been eager to kill the man she loved. Right?

“This is how I think it went down” He began again as he got the dummy ready to demonstrate. “Sheldon was in the shower, probably singing or something so he didn’t hear when the killer came in. His back was turned away from the door so he didn’t see the killer either”

He held the dummy facing away from him as he grabbed a butter knife from the table.

“When the killer opened the shower door, Sheldon heard and was half-way turned around when the killer jabbed the knife to the side of his neck. That was the first and deepest blow. “ He told me as he carefully demonstrated with the dummy.

“The height of the wound suggested that it was made by someone around the same height as Sheldon, so most likely it was a man” He added thoughtfully.

“But couldn’t a woman be aiming for his neck? “ I frowned, not ready to rule Mia from my list as yet.

“Could be. But the wound shows that the angle of the blow was close to 180°, so unless she aimed high and straight, which I doubt, it had to be someone at his height. However with the short time that Sheldon would’ve been turning, I doubt the person would’ve thrown a stab at a 180° angle while it is obvious this isn’t a pro” He explained further, causing my frown to deepen.

“Maybe she wore heels? “ From how it looked, it seemed as if Tristan was narrowing his suspects down to men. I didn’t understand it though.

Didn’t he see when she tried to kill me? She broke into my house, left a threat on my door and shot at me at a party for crying out loud!

Obviously, she killed Sheldon for ‘cheating’ and wants to take me out too.

“And maybe you’re right” Tristan affirmed as he put the knife back on the table. Did I say that out loud? “But I think she hired someone to do it—someone who probably didn’t want to go along with it, but she probably blackmailed the guy”

“So you think it’s a man for sure? “ I asked just to make sure.

“Positive. And You’ll see why soon” He rested the dummy aside before prepping to show me more.

I really channelled all my focus into what he was saying as I readied my mind to at least consider that Mia didn’t do it herself. But why would she hire someone to kill Sheldon but try and kill me herself? Did she actually hate me that much, or has she run out of people to blackmail as Tristan suggested?

Then again, she seemed like a person who possesses a lot of money, so hiring a professional to kill me would’ve been easier and maybe she wouldn’t have to be on the run. But maybe she simply wanted to feel the satisfaction of killing me herself. After all in her mind, I’m the reason her ‘love ‘ is dead. If I hadn’t been in their lives, they would’ve been happy together –as far as understanding a psycho person’s mind.

“So after the first blow to his neck, Sheldon doubled over a bit when the killer delivered another blow to his shoulder. By now, Sheldon was trying to fight back, so they tackled a while in the shower. The killer pushed Sheldon forward, and that when he stabbed him in his back twice—one closer to his shoulder and one near to the side of his abdomen.”

“Wow,” I mumbled in shock. That’s terrible.

He sighed as he sat back at the table to pull out more files. He really demonstrated the whole thing well to how he predicted it went down by just looking at stab wounds. He really is good.

“This is where it all starts coming together” He pulled out some papers that read something about forensic. I didn’t understand where to start looking, so I just listened as he talked.

“At the scene, there were trails of blood all over the house. “ He continued. “Forensic evidence shows that he went to dragged himself from the bathroom to his bedroom, where he got his phone to probably call for help, but the CSI found it on the ground in front of his bed”

“Oh my gosh he died there? “ I gasped, throwing my hands over my mouth. But oddly, Tristan just shook his head.

“Nope. The phone was collected as evidence to see who he last communicated with, that’s how we tracked you. But the phone was already dead”

“So he went to get the phone but it was dead so he didn’t get to call for help” I concluded, feeling a rush of sadness and sympathy for him.

“That’s right, “ He confirmed. “But he didn’t give up. He crawled on his knees to the living room, where he tried to use to landline”

“Wait how do you know he crawled on his knees? “

“It’s all in the evidence sweetheart. The hand print blood stains on the walls suggested that he held onto the wall for support, and the way how the blood was dragged against the floor showed that he was probably dragging his way there.” He sighed as he ran his hand through his hair.

I didn’t want to hear anymore, but I’d be asking myself questions endlessly if I didn’t hear how the rest went. I looked up when I felt Tristan’s large hand over mine. He offered me a comforting smile as he gently kissed it.

I shot him a grateful smile, encouraging him to continue.

“He made his way to the phone and called for help. The pool of blood around the area of the landline suggested that he was waiting there a while, but when help took too long to come, he crept over to the front door, where he attempted to open the door, but he must’ve been too weak, so he collapsed right there. That’s where they found him barely alive. He died on the way to the hospital “ He ended with a sad sigh.

“Oh my God” I managed to breath out as I rested my head on the table.

After all this time, I’ve never given much thought about how he died. But hearing it now made me feel like a terrible person.

“The only evidence the CSI got on the killer is his shoe size. They scanned the floor for footprints, where they found prints of size ten boots. No fingerprints but yours and Sheldon’s “ He told me, but my mind was nowhere near focused.

I knew my fingerprints were probably there for days before we broke up, but the killer was smart enough to wear gloves.

“He suffered” I whispered as I replayed everything in my head. “He must’ve been in so much pain. He died alone and so miserable. And I’ve been bad mouthing him all this time. “

My chest tightened as I pictured his house that night. I knew Tristan had pictures from the scene in his files, but I dared not to even ask.

“Hey look at me” He whispered as he sat beside me. “You were hurt. Don’t beat yourself up.“

“But I was so focused on what a horrible person he was for cheating, that I didn’t –“ I was cut short as my throat tightened and my eyes burnt with tears.

There was a time when I wished he had suffered for doing that to me, that alone with a psycho like Mia. But to find out that he actually did, it’s a terrible feeling. It even makes me feel in the smallest way that it was my fault.

I let all the thoughts and emotions swirl around in my head as I curled up in Tristan's chest and let it all go.

And for the first time since I heard about Sheldon’s death, I cried.