Bone-exposing cut on the wrist!!!

The squad car sped all the way to the front gates of Riverside Middle School.

Ethan glanced out the window.

He noticed quite a few cars already parked at the school entrance.

There were several official vehicles with East End School District passes, a few media vans, and the rest... mostly parents who'd rushed over, worried sick about their own kids.

It was clear.

This incident was slowly brewing into something bigger.

...

The police car also stopped at the entrance.

Riverside Middle School's Vice Principal, Benjamin Graham, was already waiting and quickly ushered Ethan and his team inside, giving no chance for the eager media to snag an interview.

As he led them toward the crime scene in the abandoned school building, he sighed with mixed emotions, "Man, I just don't know how things got to this point."

"Riverside has always been a top-tier school in the area, leading in both academics and school culture."

"Now, with the school district's bigwigs and all the major media paying more attention, it's getting a lot of heat."

"Thanks for coming all this way. If you could just help us get to the bottom of this quickly and keep the fallout to a minimum, maybe we can still save the school's reputation."

Lucas nodded expressionlessly, his response betraying no emotion, "Don't worry, Vice Principal Graham."

"Chief Colt sent us here for a reason, and we'll do everything we can to clear up what happened with this fall."

"But, while we're on our way to the scene, I'd like to ask..."

"Do you have any detailed information about the victim, Ella? Like her family background, academic performance, social circle?"

"Do you know anything about that, Vice Principal?"

Benjamin wiped the sweat from his forehead, clearly uncomfortable, and sighed again, "I wish I knew."

"If I had noticed something was off with her sooner, I could've possibly prevented this tragedy. It wouldn't have escalated like this."

"But if you need it, I can have Ella's advisor come over to help with the investigation."

"After all, no matter what the outcome, we need to figure out why Ella chose to jump."

Just then, Riley, who was wearing half-rimmed glasses, raised an eyebrow and scoffed, "Oh? Quite sure of yourself, aren't you, Vice Principal?"

"We haven't even seen the scene yet, and you're already calling it a suicide? You're ruling out foul play?"

Benjamin was taken aback, unsure how to respond.

Lucas coughed into his hand to ease the tension, "Don't sweat it, Vice Principal."

"Medical Examiner Hill from our East End Detective Bureau is a top-notch forensic pathologist. She always says the dead don't lie."

"So she's skeptical about the cause of death until she sees the body herself."

"Anyway."

"Let's get the victim's advisor here. We'll probably need to ask about the specifics and details."

Benjamin nodded quickly, then pointed to the police tape ahead, "Understood, understood."

"It's better to be thorough, indeed."

"The abandoned school building is just up ahead, and that's where the fall happened. Principal Reed is already there handling things."

"Officers, you can head straight there."

"I'll go call the victim's advisor now, hoping we can uncover the truth soon. The pressure from the school district is really mounting."

With that.

Benjamin stopped, stepped aside, and pulled out his phone to contact the victim's advisor.

Lucas, unfazed, gestured forward with his hand, "Time to get to work."

"Even though these school officials probably hope..."

"That the investigation concludes it was a suicide to preserve their school's honor, we can't let that expectation sway us."

"Finding the truth is what we're here to do!"

As Lucas led the way into the cordoned-off area, Principal Samuel Reed, surrounded by concerned staff and looking visibly distressed, turned his attention to the approaching officers upon being nudged by someone nearby.

Upon seeing Lucas, Ethan, and Riley in their uniforms, he quickly approached, relief washing over his face. He grasped Lucas's hand firmly, "Captain Lucas, right? Chief Colt mentioned you're quite the detective. We really need your expertise on this one. The pressure to figure out why this student fell is immense."

Lucas withdrew his hand smoothly, his face betraying nothing about the mention of Derek, and simply nodded, "Rest assured, Principal Reed, we're here to uncover the truth."

"But for now..."

"Please clear the area of anyone not involved. We can't have the scene compromised or our work disrupted."

"Once we've examined everything and reached a conclusion, you'll be the first to know the unvarnished truth."

"Of course, just the truth is needed," Samuel quickly agreed, signaling his integrity, then shouted to those around, "Everyone, clear out! Don't interfere with the police work."

...

As Samuel handled the dispersal of the security and school officials.

The trio, focused on their task, paid little attention, their eyes fixed on the scene of the fall a few yards ahead.

Though hours had passed.

The dried blood, flowing like a small river at the scene, spoke volumes of the tragedy that had occurred.

Nearby, a black body bag lay, containing the remains of the victim.

Clearly, the integrity of the original scene had been compromised.

If not for Derek's insistence, the body might have already been moved to the morgue.

Riley approached the body bag.

She knelt on one knee and opened her forensic kit, pulling on rubber gloves, preparing for a preliminary examination.

Normally.

Autopsies would be conducted in a morgue or at the police station, with video recording for transparency.

But given the urgency of the case and the involvement of a minor, they had to proceed here, under exceptional circumstances, relying on experience to determine the cause of death without a full autopsy.

Ethan and Lucas stood by Riley's side.

They planned to first assess the victim's condition before thoroughly examining the scene, aiming to gather targeted clues.

...

Seconds later.

Riley was ready and unzipped the body bag.

Revealed was the young face of the victim, cleaned of blood by paramedics earlier, though the fall had left the skull visibly deformed and limbs grotesquely twisted, with bone shards piercing the skin.

Had it not been for the initial medical intervention, the sight would have been even more ghastly.

Yet, the three officers showed no sign of distress, accustomed as they were to such sights, their attention drawn instead to a deep, bone-deep cut on the victim's left wrist...

Because.

There was a severe laceration that suggested something more than a simple fall.