novelraw Chapter 163: Did You Kill Sutton?
Chapter 163: Did You Kill Sutton?
Chapter 163: Did You Kill Sutton?
The news hit Brett like a physical blow. Sutton was dead. The woman who had been once been a vivacious, ambitious, spirited girl, the mother of his son, was gone. The brief, almost clinical news report flashing across the television screen in his mansion’s living room held him riverted. The details were sparse: Sutton Van Doren, a prominent socialite, had been found dead in her apartment. And the police were investigating the suspicious death.
There was no detail on what happened to her, no talk of who might have done it. Brett felt a chilling emptiness spread through him. He had just seen her, just a few hours ago. They had argued, exchanged harsh words, but he had never imagined... never imagined this. The realization that he had been the last person to see her alive sent a shiver down his spine.
He dismissed the initial shock, his mind immediately turning to the practical implications. This changed everything. His carefully constructed plans, his hopes of regaining control of The Van Doren group, were now irrevocably altered.
But as the initial shock subsided, a wave of suspicion washed over him. Sutton’s death felt... wrong. It did not just make sense. He had left her angry, yes, but he had not hurt her and she was not suicidal. She was a survivor, a woman who had clawed her way to the top of society. She would not simply give up.
His thoughts immediately turned to Levi. He had been the one to expose the truth about Brandon’s paternity, the one who had thwarted his plans. Could he be responsible for Sutton’s death? Had he tried to shut her up entirely so that there would be no threat to his reign as CEO?
The thought sent a chill down his spine. Despite wanting badly for Levi to be the culprit, he could not think of a single reason why Levi would want Sutton dead. He had no motive and it served him no purpose to kill Sutton when she was no longer a threat.
But the seed of suspicion had been planted, and Brett could not shake it off. What if Sutton had been killed because someone knew that Brett had gone to see her? Was this a set up? He needed to know what had happened to Sutton. He needed to find out the entire truth.
He immediately called Damien, his most trusted associate. "Damien," Brett said, his voice urgent, "I need you to get me everything you can on Sutton Van Doren’s death. Every detail, everyone who came to see her within the past hours. I want to know what happened."
"I will get right on it Boss," Damien replied, his voice professional and efficient. "Is there anything else you need me to do?"
"Yes," Brett answered hurriedly. "I want you to get rid of any evidence that I have come to that apartment ever. Get hold of a police officer working on the case and ensure that I am protected."
"Yes boss." Damien answered and Brett ended the call.
He paced the floor of his study, his mind racing. He replayed his last conversation with Sutton, trying to recall any detail, any clue that might shed light on her death. But there was nothing. They had argued, yes, but it had been a familiar exchange, a clash of wills between two equally ambitious individuals.
He could not help wondering who would want to have Sutton dead and why. He hoped wistfully that Sutton had decided to end her life rather than face the humiliation of what she had done. Brett however doubted that Sutton would do something like that but he waited impatiently for Damien’s report.
A few hours later, Damien contacted him with the information he had requested. The details were still preliminary, but they painted a grim picture. Sutton had been found in her apartment, with no signs of forced entry. The cause of death was still under investigation, but the police were treating it as a homicide not a suicide.
"I need the security footage from Sutton’s building," Brett told Damien. "I want to see who else went to her apartment."
Damien assured him he would get the footage as soon as possible. Brett waited anxiously, his mind consumed by suspicion and unease. He could not shake the feeling that Levi was somehow involved. He might have killed Sutton to put the blame on him and get him entirely out of his way.
The security footage arrived later that evening. Brett sat in his study, his eyes glued to the screen as he watched the grainy footage of the elevator in Sutton’s building. He fast-forwarded through the hours, focusing on the times surrounding his visit to Sutton’s apartment.
He watched himself enter the building, take the elevator to Sutton’s floor, and then leave a short time later. He scrutinized the footage carefully, looking for any sign of another person, any indication that someone else had visited Sutton that day.
But incidentally, there was nothing. The footage showed no one else getting off the elevator on Sutton’s floor during that time frame. Brett rewound the footage, watching it again and again, but the result was the same. He was the only one. The only angry person going into her room then she appears dead after, he could see exactly how that would look to anyone with a working brain.
The lack of any other visitors only deepened his suspicion of Levi. If no one else had been there, then how could Sutton have died? Unless... unless Levi had found another way in, Levi probably knew about private entrances to the apartment that did not have a secure camera positioned over..
He instructed Damien to dig deeper, to find out if there were any other entrances to Sutton’s apartment, any hidden passages or secret exits. He also asked him to investigate Levi’s movements on the day of Sutton’s death.
The information Damien returned with was even more unsettling. Phone records showed that Levi had called Sutton a few hours before her death. The call had been brief, lasting only a few minutes. But the fact that they had spoken at all raised even more questions. Also, conveniently, the security cameras overlooking the emergency entrance where someone could have gotten in were out of service and did not record anything.
Then came the final, piece of news, the only one that relived Brett. Damien informed him that Levi had been taken in for questioning by the police in connection with Sutton’s death.
He switched on the television and watched with satisfaction as Levi was led away by police officers and he beamed. It seemed that things were actually falling in place, he just had to find a way to ensure that Levi did not escape jail. At the end, Sutton had been entirely useless and something good was coming out of it.
He snapped out of it at the realization that there was no real evidence of Levi’s crime but there was a video of him getting to her apartment. Brett was unable to even relax, knowing that Levi was probably about to point finger at him as the murderer. Instead, a sense of unease settled in his stomach. Even though Levi was being questioned, he had no doubt that the slippery worm would get away with what he had done and place the blame at his feet.
He paced the floor of his study, his mind racing. He could not understand why Levi would want to kill Sutton. He had no apparent motive. But the evidence, the phone call, the timing of Sutton’s death, all pointed towards him. It was up to him to ensure that nothing came back to him.
*
The interrogation room was sterile and cold, the harsh fluorescent lights casting long shadows across Levi’s face. He sat across from two detectives, their expressions unreadable, their questions precise and relentless. He had been there for hours, answering their questions about his relationship with Sutton, his whereabouts on the day of her death, the phone call he had made to her.
He had been honest, providing them with all the information he could, but he could sense their suspicion, their unwavering focus on him as the prime suspect. The discovery of the DNA results, confirming he wasn’t Brandon’s father, had clearly shifted the investigation’s focus. Now, the revelation about Sutton’s apartment had further solidified their suspicions.
"Mr. Van Doren," Detective Miller said, his voice sharp and direct, "we’ve discovered that you were the one who paid for Sutton Van Doren’s apartment. Is that correct?"
Levi nodded, his expression calm. "Yes," he confirmed. "I provided her with financial support."
"Why?" Detective Miller asked, his eyes narrowing.
"It was a... complicated situation," Levi replied, choosing his words carefully. "I felt a sense of responsibility towards her."
"Responsibility?" Detective Miller repeated, his voice laced with skepticism. "Even though you knew that she was not the mother of your son?"
The detective narrowed his eyes and spoke haughtily, "You must see why everyone thinks that you killed her, did you kill Sutton because she defrauded you?"