Chapter 1

A millionaire’s son was dead. Every sign pointed to an accident.

But his father insisted it was murder.

Then I stumbled across a hypothetical scenario in the comments online.

“With single-pane glass like that, all you need is a tiny diamond chip.

Put it under a chair leg. Once someone sits down, the glass shatters.

The diamond falls into the ocean, and the murder weapon disappears.”

“I told you, my son’s death was not an accident!”

“This was murder.”

“I pay all those taxes every year just to support a bunch of useless idiots like you?”

Angry shouts kept coming from the room. Every colleague who walked past shook their head helplessly.

We had a difficult case on our hands.

A millionaire’s son had attended a party aboard a luxury cruise ship. An aging glass viewing panel in the floor had shattered, sending him plunging into the ocean.

By the time they recovered his body, he was long dead.

Everything suggested it was an accident, but his father was convinced someone had murdered him.

“Captain Harris, is this how your people do their jobs?”

Now that someone with authority had arrived, Graham Whitmore finally stopped verbally abusing me.

“This is obviously murder, and your people want to close the case as an accident?”

I rolled my eyes inwardly. Obviously murder? Then why couldn’t he tell us what was so obvious about it?

Besides, I was a rookie who had only been on the job for three months. I was following procedure. Why take it out on me?

Captain Harris offered a diplomatic smile. “Mr. Whitmore, my officers are following standard procedure.

“We take your concerns seriously. But our investigation has established that the glass had deteriorated.

“If you’re certain this was murder, do you have evidence? Or is there something you know?”

Graham blinked. For a moment, he seemed to be holding something back.

“Hmph. I’m not a cop. How should I know? That’s your job.”

Leave it to Harris. A few words, and the millionaire’s arrogance lost its edge.

“We’ll investigate thoroughly and consider every possibility.

“If you have any information, we hope you’ll share it with us.”

Harris was clearly showing him the door. This time, Graham didn’t throw another tantrum. He got up awkwardly.

“I hope you catch the killer soon and find out what really happened to my son!”

“Of course. Finding the truth and bringing killers to justice is our job.”

“Captain, that guy is completely unreasonable.”

Once Graham was gone, I followed Harris out, unable to hold back my complaints.

“He acts like the whole world wants to murder his family.

“Rich people can die in accidents too, you know. This case clearly—”

Harris shot me a look. I had enough sense to shut up.

After a while, he said, “That man has powerful connections. Don’t get on his bad side.”

Right. Rich businessmen and their friends in high places.

“It’s too much of a coincidence.”

“Sometimes, when enough coincidences pile up, they stop being coincidences.”

Harris was muttering to himself. I had no idea what he meant. “There you go being cryptic again.”

“Get back to work, smart-ass!”

He smacked the back of my head, and I made a quick escape.

Easy for him to say. Where were we supposed to find clues—or a killer—with nothing to go on?

The whole department worked overtime, combing through every possible lead.

There was too much ground to cover, from the victim’s social circle to everyone who had attended the party aboard the ship.

It was like staring at a tangled web with no idea where the first thread began.

Well, nature called. Time to hide out in the bathroom and give my fried brain a break.

I sat on the toilet, scrolling through my phone. Ethan Whitmore’s accidental death had caused quite a stir online.

Not surprising. He was a notorious millionaire playboy.

There were all kinds of theories. A lover’s quarrel turned deadly. His girlfriends realizing he was trash and teaming up to kill him.

The most ridiculous was the top comment. Someone claimed the killer had been reborn with memories of a past life and knew the cruise would end in disaster.

Absolutely absurd. People were already writing a novel in the replies.

“You know, it really could have been murder.”

“With single-pane glass like that, all you’d need is a tiny diamond chip under a chair leg…”

“Someone sits down without knowing, and the glass shatters.”

“Then… the victim dies, and the murder weapon vanishes into the ocean.”

“Doesn’t that rich guy love giving his girlfriends diamond rings?”

“Maybe…”