CHAPTER 513: CHAPTER 301_2

Selica was only sixteen, and the affair with the principal might have even started earlier. This sort of thing would undoubtedly deal a devastating blow to the principal. In order to protect his current life, he took the risk and killed Teacher Toddy. Unfortunately, Teague just happened to be near Toddy’s residence at the time, intending to peep, and then what happened afterwards occurred."

After she finished speaking, Nellie looked expectantly at Dean, but when she noticed that he was staring at her in surprise, she felt a bit embarrassed and lowered her head, whispering, "Detective Dean, did I say something wrong?"

Dean shook his head. "No, it’s pretty much in line with my reasoning. Your progress impresses me."

Upon hearing the praise, Nellie giggled foolishly. "I just think you’re very impressive, Detective Dean, so I consciously tried to mimic your way of thinking in my reasoning."

"But that’s already very impressive."

Dean thought of Harry and the others. Compared to Nellie, those guys were just a bunch of mud. Only Holz, the forensic scientist from the Criminal Identification Section, had a more active brain and had learned something from him.

Perhaps encouraged by Dean’s compliment, Nellie continued, "I think the principal’s suicide was due to the threat from the female student, Selica! The photo we showed scared her and the principal. I’ve read a saying before: ’The more you have, the more you fear losing.’ The principal must have thought that if he died, the investigation would end. At least he could maintain a good reputation and remain a good principal in the eyes of the students and residents, a good husband in the eyes of his wife, and a good husband in the eyes of his children, rather than a criminal who slept with Selica and killed his own colleague. So he committed suicide. If we now focus our efforts on Selica, we will definitely uncover the truth of this murder case and clear Teague’s name!"

Dean nodded noncommittally. "Let’s hope so."

Nellie, the young policewoman, had a keen mind but too little experience. She had overlooked a very important matter! If Dean was not mistaken, the case of Teague killing Teacher Toddy would end here! The suicidal principal would become the real murderer who killed the female teacher Toddy!

...

After a round of reasoning, Nellie indulged in the thrill of being a detective, just like in a detective novel. Just as she wanted to discuss the next steps in the investigation against the female student Selica with Dean, the chief of police’s call interrupted her chance to speak. It seemed the chief had made an important discovery.

"Go ahead," Dean gestured for Nellie to get busy.

"Alright, I’ll come find you at the hotel when I’m done." Nellie reluctantly ran off towards the administrative building.

Watching her departing figure, Dean pulled a cigarette from his pocket, placed it in his mouth, and turned to walk towards the school’s exit.

He couldn’t come back empty-handed. To earn the Experience Points he deserved, he needed to make some preparations in advance.

「Past eight o’clock at night.」

The young policewoman Nellie, with a face full of anger, finally arrived at Dean’s room. Upon meeting, without waiting for Dean to ask, she began to complain proactively, "Detective Dean, you’ll never guess what the chief found on the principal’s desk!"

Dean chuckled lightly. "A suicide note, and it’s a confession!"

That one sentence stopped all of Nellie’s following words in their tracks. She stared at Dean dumbfounded for a few seconds before exhaling in frustration and flopping onto the bed, listlessly saying, "Well, it seems I really don’t have a talent for reasoning. I just can’t understand, if the principal’s suicide was to protect his reputation, why would he leave a confession note?"

Nellie had previously surmised that the principal, burdened by his reputation and fearful of her and Dean’s investigation, had chosen to commit suicide. But reality had slapped her in the face. Her reasoning was wrong. Although the principal had committed suicide, he had left behind a confession note. Nellie felt increasingly that something was amiss.

She suddenly stood up, staring intently at Dean. "Detective Dean, since you could guess that the principal left a suicide note, you must know what really happened, right?"

Dean nodded slightly. "First, tell me what’s in the suicide note, and then I’ll tell you."

"Let me think." Nellie recalled for a moment before slowly continuing:

"The content is quite long.

It’s roughly about how, before Teacher Toddy was murdered, she discovered that the principal had been embezzling school donations, public funds, subsidies, and so on, and she threatened to report it.

Fearing exposure, the principal went to Toddy’s place, hoping she would keep it a secret. Unexpectedly, he found Teague lurking suspiciously near Toddy’s residence.

During the previous complaint from Teague’s father against Toddy, he discerned that the reason for the complaint was due to Teague, a young teenager, harboring certain X-rated fantasies and infatuations for Teacher Toddy.

So, the principal changed his mind.

Avoiding other people’s attention, he knocked on the door and entered. After confirming that Toddy had no evidence of his embezzlement, he took the opportunity to kill her when she was not paying attention. Then, he deliberately opened the door and hid until he saw Teague enter, and only then did he take a picture and leave.

The principal had planned that if the police couldn’t find a suspect, he would secretly provide them with the photo of Teague entering the house. It turned out that he didn’t need to lift a finger, as the police directly considered Teague the murderer.

After the incident, the principal, seeing Teague’s family’s plight and feeling a guilty conscience, was tormented and eventually harbored thoughts of suicide and turning himself in.

The latter part of the suicide note is filled with the principal’s confessions.

In short, a bunch of disgusting and hypocritical confessions."

As Nellie finished speaking, her eyes flashed with disgust. In this country, last-minute repentance is very effective. By the end of it all, many residents who only learn that the principal was the murderer might actually think he wasn’t so bad. After all, although he killed Teacher Toddy, at least he repented for his crime and was concerned about his wife and children before dying—ignoring the fact that he was a murderer, he was a competent husband and father. Chances are, there are quite a few who hold this perception.

After listening to Nellie’s account, Dean nodded. "It’s pretty much what I guessed."

Nellie snapped back to reality and pressed him, "I’ve told you the contents of the suicide note. Can you tell me where my previous reasoning went wrong?"

Dean shook his head. "Your reasoning was not wrong. It just lacked a bit of insight." He looked at Nellie, changing the subject. "You’ve never killed anyone, have you?"

Puzzled, Nellie shook her head. "No, but what does that have to do with my reasoning?"

"If you had, you would know it’s like opening a door!" Dean lowered his head, his tone growing more solemn. "If the principal really was the one who killed Teacher Toddy, then faced with the threat of our investigation, between committing suicide or killing another knowledgeable person, Selica, he would definitely choose to kill Selica. After all, with Selica dead, our investigation would be halted, and whatever happened between him and Selica would be buried too."

It always came down to this. In matters of life and death, there’s great terror. To stay alive, many would rather obliterate their humanity than choose the dead end of suicide. Only those who are truly desperate or cowards would opt for suicide. And if the principal were the murderer, he definitely wouldn’t be a coward. Nellie hadn’t considered this, which was the flaw in her earlier reasoning.

Nellie, naturally no fool to grasp Dean’s way of thinking so quickly, pondered for a moment, then lifted her head in disbelief. "Detective Dean, are you saying that it was actually Selica who killed Teacher Toddy?"

Selica, a girl who had only just turned sixteen—could she really do such a thing?

Dean nodded slowly. "Yes, even if it wasn’t Selica, it had to be someone close to her, like her father."

After leaving the school, he went out of his way to find Teague’s mother, inquiring about Selica’s home address and family circumstances. Selica was from a single-parent family, with only a lumberjack father.

"Then I’ll investigate Selica right away!" Nellie clenched her fists, ready to leave the room.

Dean did not stop her.

With the principal’s suicide note out, it meant the investigation was truly over.