As Alex finished reading the order from headquarters, the conference room immediately filled with murmurs of doubt.

He raised his hand for silence, then summarized the victim’s file,

“Gavin Moore, forty-two. Former manager of several well-known artists. Has been under treatment for depression for more than two years. Attending physician: Julian Wills.”

The air froze on the spot.

Julian Wills again. Too much of a coincidence to be chance.

“Let’s get to it,” Alex said crisply, moving straight into assignments.

“Elijah, head to forensics and collect the autopsy report.”

“Silas, dig into the connection between both victims and Julian Wills - his background, where he comes from, everything.”

“Marco, compile a list of Gavin’s family and friends for interviews.”

“Lucy, assist Marco. We’ll head out together afterward.”

“Adrian, my office. I need a word with you.”

His voice was clear, firm. One by one, the team took their tasks and quickly dispersed.

Inside his office, Alex found Adrian already seated. He didn’t waste time circling around the issue, but went straight in.

“I want your take. If Julian Wills really is the mastermind behind these deaths, does that mean there’s no way we can pin any evidence on him?”

Adrian didn’t answer right away. He tilted his head slightly, fingers tapping the desk, then slowly shook his head.

“It’s going to be very difficult.”

Alex frowned. “Why?”

“If he used a weapon to kill, there might at least be some trace left behind. But if what he used were words in every casual therapy session, dropping hints here and there, over months, over years, it’s enough for the seed of death to take root in a patient’s mind. Nobody’s going to record every single word between a doctor and their patient. And if the victim already had a history of mental illness, everything gets dismissed even more easily.”

He paused briefly, then went on,

“Last year in New Jersey, there was a similar case. A fitness coach suspected of driving his trainee to suicide after prolonged psychological abuse. Text messages, voice recordings, witness testimonies from friends of the victim, they all pointed to intimidation. But since the victim had prior suicidal tendencies, the court ruled there wasn’t enough to convict.”

“And another case in Chicago: a psychologist exploiting patients’ trust, planting negative suggestions over a long period of time. Three people ended up dead, yet no direct evidence was ever found. In the end, he lost his medical license, but he was never prosecuted.”

Alex’s brows knitted tightly, his expression darkening.

“So what you’re saying is - if someone’s a psychologist, they can just kill whenever they want and never be held accountable?” His voice carried a shadow of gloom.

“Pretty much,” Adrian replied. After a brief pause for thought, he added, “Julian Wills is clever. He won’t leave a weakness behind.”

The short conversation ended in heavy silence. Alex was unwilling to accept it, but everything Adrian said was true. For now, he could only hope that the two consecutive deaths were nothing more than coincidence, that this wasn’t a deliberate string of murders, and that a third victim would never appear.

That entire day, the SCIU team split up to question Gavin Moore’s family and close friends. Yet by evening, they still hadn’t uncovered anything unusual in the information they had gathered.

Back at the office, the members regrouped to refine their findings.

“Gavin Moore suffered frequent insomnia. Lately, his work had hit rough waters. Three of the artists he managed were embroiled in scandals, facing lawsuits, and possibly enormous contract penalties. As their manager, the pressure on him was crushing. It’s clear that before his death, he was going through a very difficult period,” Alex summarized, glancing at his notes.

“The coroner’s report confirmed death from an overdose of sleeping pills. No external injuries. The victim died in his own home, with no signs of forced entry. Everything points to suicide,” Marco concluded after reviewing the forensic and crime scene reports.

“Gavin Moore was a mild-mannered person, rarely in conflict with others. But the entertainment industry is riddled with power struggles, so it’s hard to say whether he might have had enemies,” Elijah added.

“The victim was busy, single, and lived by himself. That pretty much rules out any romantic disputes,” Lucy said.

Adrian flipped quickly through a freshly printed medical file, still warm from the copier, before joining the discussion,

“According to the records sent over by Julian Wills’s assistant, Gavin Moore had been battling sleep disorders for two years. His condition never improved. In fact, it worsened into clinical depression, with occasional emotional breakdowns. The medical file is airtight. No flaws to pick apart.”

Alex nodded, then turned to Silas.

“What about your end? Did you find anything?”

Silas went straight to the point,

“No connection whatsoever between the two dead men. Gavin Moore was a talent manager at Nova Peak Media. Nathan Greer was a film superstar with his own independent studio. The two never worked together, and there’s no overlap in their business interests. As for Julian Wills, what I dug up was very interesting.”

Silas paused for a beat, clicked open all the information he had dug up today, and began his report,

“Julian Wills, his real name is Lucian Drake. He used that name until he was twenty years old, which was ten years ago, before changing to his current one. Lucian Drake was born and raised in a small town in Arizona, far from any metropolitan area. He had an older sister, seven years his senior, named Helena Drake. She’s deceased.”

At that, everyone else in the office instantly sat up straighter.

Alex immediately asked,

“Any information on Helena Drake?”

Silas nodded and continued,

“Sixteen years ago, Helena Drake was twenty-one when she came alone to Los Angeles to chase her dream of becoming a star. Two years later, she was found hanged in her rented room. No suicide note was left at the scene, and the cause of her death remained unclear.”

Another suicide. No one said a word. For a moment, the only sound in the room was the weight of their own breathing, thickening the air with heaviness.

In just a matter of days, two suicides had already shaken the entertainment world. By now, even hearing the word “suicide” left them all with the sting of trauma.

Several seconds passed before Lucy finally broke the silence,

“So she was an actress too? Doesn’t seem like she was famous, I’ve never heard of her.”

Silas nodded. “That’s right. Helena Drake never signed a contract with any agency or independent manager. She only played extras, no name, no recognition.”

Alex asked,

“Did you find any link between Helena and the two recent victims?”

Silas shook his head. “Nothing. Time was too short; this is as far as I got. Nathan Greer and Gavin Moore never mentioned Helena, not in any record, interview, or public connection.”

Alex gave a silent nod, then after a moment’s thought, rose from his seat. Picking up a marker, he walked to the whiteboard mounted on the wall. He wrote down four names, arranged in a square:

Nathan Greer

Gavin Moore

Julian Wills (Lucian Drake)

Helena Drake

After that, he drew arrows connecting Julian’s name to the other three.

Julian was Helena’s younger brother, and at the same time, the psychiatrist treating both Nathan and Gavin.

Julian Wills’ name was circled, the single link between three people who seemed to have nothing in common, yet had all died the same way.

The diagram was complete. The room fell silent as everyone studied it. From scattered fragments, the bigger picture was finally starting to emerge.

Alex pointed to the three deceased names, his voice grave,

“As long as we find the thread connecting these three, everything will come to light.”

Silas thought for a moment, then asked,

“Captain, if they really have no connection, wouldn’t that mean everything is just coincidence? Which also means we’re wrongfully suspecting Julian Wills.”

Lucy shook her head, immediately countering,

“Not necessarily. Say the three victims truly had no ties to each other, but what if Julian, because of his sister’s death, developed a mindset of lashing out at society? What if he chose his victims at random just to feed his own bloodlust?”

Elijah shot her a look tinged with mockery.

“Lucy, so you read crime novels too? I thought romance was your thing.”

Lucy glared at him, ready to snap back, but at that moment Adrian spoke instead.

“A young woman leaves her hometown, comes alone to the film capital of the world, for what? Dreams, fame, money, or all of it. Yet only two years later, someone so full of ambition chooses suicide as her way out. What does that tell us?”

“She was bullied,” Lucy answered quickly.

Alex nodded, adding, “It must have been a major injustice to drive someone to end their life, in just two years.”

“Or it could have been murder. Silas mentioned there was no suicide note at the scene,” Marco interjected.

Adrian nodded, continuing,

“Fourteen years later, her younger brother adopts a new name and enters Hollywood as a psychiatrist. Then two of his patients die by suicide in succession. Why change his name? Why Los Angeles of all places, the very city that destroyed his sister’s youth?”

“So what you’re suggesting is, this is a premeditated revenge plot?” Alex asked.

Adrian shook his head. “That’s only one hypothesis. We don’t have enough evidence to make that claim. We’ll have to wait until we interrogate Dr. Julian Wills before drawing any conclusions.”

Alex agreed, rubbing his temples lightly as he said,

“The data is too thin. We need to gather more information about Helena Drake and her death. I have a strong feeling she’s the key figure in this case.”