Chapter 3
The lock clicked open.
The sound was soft, but it hit everyone like a sledgehammer to the heart.
The balcony was crammed full of people, but nobody made a sound.
The only thing one could hear was the steady hum of the freezer, still going.
The forensics guys, masked and gloved, took their positions on either side and each grabbed one side of the heavy lid.
They glanced at each other, then pulled hard together.
The lid creaked open.
A thick cloud of white mist, heavy with frost and a metallic, bloody smell, burst out from the opening.
I'd smelled that before.
It was the faint whiff that drifted out whenever Mom would sneak out late at night, open the freezer, and slam it shut again.
She always said it was the smell of rotten meat.
The freezer lid was thrown open all the way.
The forensics team blocked my view, so I couldn't see inside at all.
But I could hear everything.
I heard several people gasp, unable to stifle their shock.
Even Edward, who'd seen more than his fair share of horrors, had his gaze freeze in place.
Without thinking, he reached out and gently covered my eyes. "Don't look."
His hand was warm, with a lingering scent of tobacco.
But I managed to peek through the gaps in his fingers and caught a glimpse.
White frost covered everything inside.
Under the frost was a figure, curled up.
He was wearing blue cartoon pajamas, like mine.
The atmosphere on the balcony was so suffocating that it felt like the air itself had frozen solid.
The forensic experts got busy, snapping photos, gathering evidence, and being extra careful with every move.
Edward led me back to the living room.
He had a female officer stay with me, then headed back to the balcony to speak in low voices with the forensic experts.
The female officer poured me a glass of warm water.
"Lucas, don't be scared. We're here for you." Her voice was gentle, but I didn't look at her.
My eyes were fixed on the family photo hanging on the wall.
In the picture, Mom was smiling tenderly, holding me when I was four years old.
Dad stood behind her, his hand resting on her shoulder, his eyes full of love.
Back then, the boy was still part of our family. But he was never in any of the photos.
The living room was full of people coming and going, with cops searching every corner.
They grabbed a bunch of bags and clothes from Helen's bedroom.
They also took William's laptop from his study.
Suddenly, Edward came in from the balcony after working there.
He was holding something inside an evidence bag.
It was a tiny plastic Transformers figure, the kind one could get from those cheap claw machines on the street.
But on its chest, there was a little star drawn in red marker.
Edward's expression was grave. "Lucas, do you know this toy?"
I looked at the little Transformers figure and nodded. "It belongs to him."
"How do you know?"
"Mom would draw a star on every one of his toys. She said it was his special sign."
Edward squinted his eyes.
"Where did you find this toy?" he asked.
I looked past him, my eyes settling on a large suitcase in the corner of the living room.
It was the suitcase Dad used for business trips, and it hadn't been used in a long time.
"It's in Dad's suitcase," I said.
Edward whipped his head around, eyes locking onto the suitcase.
Two officers immediately stepped forward and popped it open.
Inside were Dad's business trip clothes, all folded up nice and neat.
The officers took out the clothes one by one, and at the bottom of the suitcase, inside a hidden pocket, they found another Transformers figure, identical to the first.
On its chest, there was the same red star drawn with a marker, like the other one.
Edward's expression became very complicated.
He picked up his radio in a low, firm voice. "Contact the interrogation team immediately. Focus on William.
"Check all his activities in the past six months, especially whether he had a business trip three months ago."