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"Yeah, it must have," she mused aloud, tilting her head slightly. "Could Lily’s unexpected presence have caused a deviation in the plan, too?"
"Lily..." Finn echoed. "Perhaps the killer wanted to break into the castle and kill Thomas in a way that looked like an accident. I bet that library study was somewhere he often sat at night, and the killer knew that. Maybe he had cased the castle out beforehand, or he had been here before. But it didn't go to plan, Thomas fought back and the killer had to resort to stabbing him. Lily's appearance forced the killer to improvise. It's messy work when plans change last minute. Then the killer moved the bodies together perhaps out of anger. He almost wanted the person who found the bodies to know that he had destroyed their lives and broke the couple apart forever. I wonder if the anger is because they didn't act the way Vilne anticipated. I could see Vilne being angry about that, he prides himself on being a mastermind."
"Possibly" Amelia's lips pressed into a thin line, her eyes scanning the expanse below.
Finn could sense that she wasn't entirely buying his line of thought. He had to admit that he wasn't firing on all cylinders. He was tired. He was still struggling physically from the drug Vilne had given him. And the stress was getting to him, despite always trying to crack a joke whenever the opportunity arose.
"Let's keep looking," she then suggested, her tone firm, yet not without a note of encouragement that seemed to beckon him back from the edge of his introspective abyss.
"Lead the way," Finn acquiesced, gesturing with an open palm. They moved in tandem across the scaffolding, which groaned under their weight, a disquieting soundtrack as Amelia hesitated and Finn now took the lead in their descent. His boots hit the soft earth with a muted thud, and he immediately noted an anomaly—the ground. Although there was no debris directly under the scaffolding, he could now see from his vantage point that the ground to the side was littered with planks of wood and a scattering of stones that seemed almost strategically placed.
"Look at this," Finn called up to Amelia, who was a few rungs above him on the ladder. He knelt beside the debris, his fingers running over the rough texture of a wooden shard. "Not just random fallout from the construction."
Amelia joined him on the ground, her gaze sharp as she surveyed the scene. "The killer placed them here?" Her voice carried a note of skepticism mingled with intrigue.
"Too clean for a collapse," Finn replied, standing and gesturing toward the untouched mud around them. "Whoever came through here didn't want to leave tracks."
"Precautions," Amelia murmured, nodding slowly. "This killer thinks steps ahead. They knew we'd look for prints. We shouldn't walk on that piece of ground in case there is a trace. Let forensics do their thing. But it does look like the killer has hidden any marks." She paced the perimeter, her mind visibly sifting through scenarios.
"Exactly," Finn said, feeling the familiar rush of adrenaline when pieces began to align. "He covered his trail, but he can't cover everything. Not forever."
"Should we go further out from here?" Amelia suggested, her eyes already scouting the treeline beyond. "There might be more to find beyond the immediate scene."
"Agreed." Finn clung to the side of the castle for the moment and checked the stability of his footing on some brickwork that jutted out before they proceeded. Once far enough from the scene, he made his way over the frozen ground. The desolate frozen grass soon gave way to dense bushes and marshy terrain, the air thick with the scent of wet foliage and earth. As they pushed through the greenery, the squelch of mud beneath their boots betrayed the sodden nature of their path.
"Careful now, Amelia," Finn said, half-joking, "if you fall and get stuck, I might have to use you as a bridge.”
"There would be another murder if that happened," Amelia retorted with a wry smile. "Let's fan out a bit," Amelia instructed, her eyes scanning the uneven terrain. "We'll cover more ground that way."
"Copy that," Finn replied, taking a parallel path to Amelia's as they continued their search. With each step, he felt the urgency of their investigation pressing upon him—time was slipping away, and with it, the killer's trail grew colder.
Amelia paused, her boot resting on a firmer patch of earth that seemed out of place amid the squelching morass. She crouched down, brushing aside a cluster of wet leaves with a forensic delicacy that Finn admired despite the urgency clawing at his insides.
"Look at this," she said, her voice low and steady. "Ground's been disturbed here, but not like the rest. It’s too... even."
Finn joined her, his knees sinking slightly into the cold ground as he examined what she had uncovered: a narrow path, the undergrowth trampled in a way that suggested careful, repeated passage.
"Someone's been using this," Finn murmured, his eyes tracing the line of the trail as it weaved through the thicket. His pulse quickened—not from fear, but from the thrill of the chase. This was a tangible clue, a thread they could pull.
"Whoever it is might have left more than just a trail," Amelia replied, already moving forward with purpose. "Let's see where this leads."
Their footsteps were soft on the compacted earth, senses heightened as they advanced now through woodland. The canopy above filtered the light into a cool, dappled pattern that played tricks on the eyes. Finn took in every rustle, every bird's call that sliced through the stillness, cataloging potential threats.
"Watch your step," Amelia cautioned as they approached a break in the foliage. “There’s something up ahead.”
The trail opened onto a small clearing, and there, cutting across the muddy terrain, were the unmistakable impressions of tire tracks—deep and defined, recent enough to have avoided being washed away by the elements.
"It must be those green eyes," Finn said. "You picked that up quickly." A vehicle in this remote location was no coincidence; it was a lead, one that connected the castle to the outside world, to an escape route.
"It's a super power,” Amelia joked as she took some photos on her phone of the tire tracks. "Forensics will have a field day with these," she commented, pocketing the camera once she was satisfied with the shots. "Tyre treads can tell us make and model, maybe even point us to a specific vehicle if we're lucky."
"Or at least confirm someone had reason to hide their visit," Finn added. He stood beside Amelia, surveying the tracks that disappeared back into the woods. "These look like the type of tracks an SUV would leave. It might tie into my theory that the killer cased the castle first and chose their point of entry carefully. Maybe he visited here more than once. If it is Vilne, he is meticulous."
"Let's get these measured," Amelia said, determination sharpening her features. "It's at least a lead of sorts.”
A mist was slowly forming on the cold air like a prowling animal, creeping along the castle's ancient stones as Finn cast his gaze towards its towering silhouette. "We should head back," he said, his voice cutting through the damp air with the decisiveness of a man who had learned to trust his instincts above all else.
"Back inside?" Amelia asked. Her eyes were still fixed on the tire tracks that dwindled into the forest, but her stance suggested readiness for whatever came next.
