Nick Spitz and Audrey followed Susie all the way from the hotel to the beach. Hiding behind some rocks twenty meters away, they waited for over ten minutes.
Watching Susie sit still on a tall rock, Audrey grew puzzled. "Nick, why is she just sitting there?"
Nick thought for a moment and replied, "She's probably waiting for someone."
"Waiting for someone?" Audrey was about to ask more when Nick suddenly hushed her. "Shh, someone's coming. Get the camera ready."
"Damn it, there's not enough light here," Audrey muttered. Despite her complaints, she obediently pulled out their small camcorder and started filming.
Unfortunately, the basic handheld camera lacked night vision, leaving Audrey frustrated. "I told you we should've spent more money on a better model with all the features, but no—you had to go for the cheapest one. Now look, all the footage is blurry."
"Do you know how much extra the night vision feature costs? Almost double the price!" Nick rolled his eyes. "Besides, you didn't object when we bought it, did you?"
"Stop bickering," Audrey snapped. She squinted at the small camera screen and then said, "Wait a second, Nick. What's that in the guy's hand?"
"That thing?" Nick stared at the figure for a moment before shrugging. "A stick, maybe?"
"A stick? Seriously?" Audrey sighed, exasperated.
As the couple whispered back and forth, they saw the figure in black lift the so-called "stick" to his lips and blow towards Susie's back. Susie immediately yelped in pain, standing up and turning towards the figure. But within seconds, her movements grew unsteady. She swayed, then collapsed backward into the sea.
"Is this... is this murder?" Audrey gasped, one hand holding the camcorder while the other covered her mouth in shock.
Nick, acting on instinct, grabbed a rock from the ground and hurled it as hard as he could in the direction of the figure.
Thud! The sound of the rock striking another stone startled the figure, who turned to see Nick charging at him. The man quickly pulled another dart from his pocket, loaded it into his blowgun, and blew it toward Nick.
Whoosh! The dart zipped past Nick's ear, causing him to freeze in terror and drop to the ground.
Another whoosh! came as a second dart embedded itself in the dirt just inches from Nick's face.
"F***!" Nick swore. Realizing the assassin had the high ground and could fire at will, Nick knew his luck wouldn't hold out forever. Desperately, he grabbed another rock and hurled it with all his strength.
Amazingly, the rock struck the assassin's head, causing him to clutch his head in pain and stagger. Taking advantage of the moment, Nick grabbed another rock and shouted, "Don't you dare run!" as he began chasing the figure.
Audrey, seeing the assassin flee, called out to Nick. "Stop chasing him! Come back and help Susie!"
After dragging Susie out of the water with great effort, Nick and Audrey found that she was already lifeless.
"Police! Who's there? Show yourselves!"
Hearing the shouts and seeing flashlights approaching from the distance, Audrey breathed a sigh of relief. "Nick, it's the police. Great! Let's go to them."
But Nick paused for a moment, then grabbed Audrey's hand and started running in the opposite direction.
"Wait, Nick! Why are we running?" Audrey exclaimed in confusion.
"Listen, Audrey. We can't go to the police right now," Nick said, pulling her along as he explained. "Remember what Charles told us earlier? All the heirs are supposed to gather tomorrow at a law firm near Lake Como in Italy for the reading of Marco's will.
"The French police don't trust us. If we report this to them, it'll take forever for them to act. What we need to do now is head to Lake Como ourselves. We'll show the footage to the lawyers and report this to the Italian police. That way, we can stop the killer from inheriting the fortune."
"Oh... okay, okay," Audrey agreed, though she still seemed a bit confused. After running for a bit, she suddenly asked, "But Nick, do you know who the killer is?"
Once they were inside a taxi, Nick finally explained. "That guy with the blowgun? I hit him with a rock before he escaped. If we can figure out which heir has a head injury, we'll know who killed Susie."
"But what if he was just a hired hitman?" Audrey countered.
"God, honey, do you really think that guy was a professional assassin? If he were, would I still be alive right now? He would've killed us both to eliminate witnesses," Nick retorted.
Audrey thought back to how the assassin had missed multiple times and reluctantly nodded. "Fair enough. So, what do we do now?"
"Sleep," Nick said as he leaned back in the taxi seat and closed his eyes. "We'll call the police when we're closer to Lake Como. That way, no one will have the chance to intercept us on the way."
An hour after Nick and Audrey fled the scene, William listened to Sunday's report. A sly smile played on his lips as he deliberately pressed his hand to his ear, pretending to take a call.
After a moment, he turned to Detective Louis Delaware and said, "Can you take me to where Susie was found?"
Louis noticed William's gesture and quickly pieced things together. Though he didn't know how William had obtained the information, or whether he had people secretly monitoring the other heirs, he didn't question it. In fact, he found it perfectly reasonable for someone as wealthy and influential as William to take precautions.
"Did you find something?" Louis asked.
William nodded. "Yes. My people discovered scattered blood traces at the scene. It looks like there was a struggle, and someone was injured."
With this lead, Louis seemed to forget his earlier suspicions about William. "Well then, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
At the beach, William followed Sunday's instructions and headed straight to the rocky area. Equipped with smart glasses featuring a built-in flashlight, it didn't take him long to find a bloodstained rock.
"Finally, we've got a clue," Louis said, holding up the rock in an evidence bag. "If we can catch the Spitz couple and test this blood, we'll know if they're the killers."
William, however, was growing impatient. With Susie dead, Charles had eliminated his biggest rival, and William wanted this ordeal over with.
"I think you should gather all the heirs and see who's injured," he suggested.
"Hm?" Louis hesitated, but since the Spitz couple was still at large, it seemed like a good idea to check the other heirs. "Alright. Let's head to the French Hotel."
At the hotel, it took Louis and his team half an hour to summon all the heirs. Meanwhile, under Sunday's direction, a helicopter had already been dispatched to track the taxi carrying Nick and Audrey along the highway.
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Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
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