It was the night before my best mate’s wedding—his bachelor party, we made a deal to get blind drunk, but I arrived late.

When I opened the door, I was not met with cheers, but with three corpses stalled in motion.

My body went limp as my mind went blank. The only thought left in my head was that I had to call the police.

“I’m calling from Block 3, Unit 301 of Silkwood Gardens. My three friends are all dead!”

On the other end of the line, a female police officer responded calmly, “Please stay calm and don’t touch anything. Keep the crime scene untouched. A team will arrive shortly.”

This should have been a night of wild debauchery, but I was the only one left alive.

I slowly ducked my head and smiled.

Kellan Faust was the one who had organized this bachelor party. He had invited four of us: me and three of my good friends.

When I arrived, I found three people dead. Their twisted corpses were laid out within the room.

Kellan was the reason that this event came about in the first place. His eyes were wide open. He was lying by the television and gazing vacantly at the ceiling.

Lysette Thomas was slumped on the couch directly opposite the door. Her pretty face was bloodless.

Cynthia Wembley lay on her belly on the floor. One of her hands was outstretched toward the door. It looked as though she was calling for help.

There was the smell of food and something sour in the air.

I did not dare to look any closer. My stomach flipped, and I could feel the blood drain from my face.

Where I stood by the door, I let myself slide slowly to the floor with my back pressed to the icy wall.

Half an hour or so later, footsteps sounded in the hallway, along with the noise of walkie-talkies.

The ambulance, coroner, and police detectives all arrived at nearly the same time.

The coroner asked a few simple questions as he passed me by. After making notes about the condition at the scene and the state of the bodies, he had the corpses put into the ambulance to await further examination.

A few police officers appeared at the top of the stairs with some boxes and quickly walked over.

In the lead was a man in his forties. Though his face was kind, his eyes were sharp as his gaze swept over the room to land on me. I was still huddled on the floor.

He crouched down in front of me and said, “I’m Detective Jay Xavier from the criminal investigations team. You were the one who called the police?”

I nodded. My throat was constricted, which made it hard for me to speak.

“On the phone, you said that you were the last to arrive at the party and found these three bodies inside?”

My voice was hoarse as I replied, “Yes.”

“What’s your name? How are you acquainted with these people here?”

“Morgan Kimmerer.” I did my best to speak normally. “These are my good friends. Kellan is supposed to get married tomorrow, so he wanted to have some fun tonight.”

Jay nodded and stood up. He gestured to his colleagues and the crime scene team, who put on gloves and shoe covers before starting to catalogue the scene.

Jay did not proceed further into the room immediately. Instead, he stood by the door and observed everything within. He assessed every corner of the room with some curiosity.

Then, he turned to me again. His voice was as steady as before, but his questions became more directed.

“When was the last time you were in contact with them?”

“After 6 p.m. or so. I sent a message to our group chat saying that there was a work emergency, so I would be a bit late.” I took a hard swallow. “Kellan even replied and said that we would drink and chat when I got here.”

“What time did you arrive?”

I did my best to recall, but my head was fuzzy.

“I looked at the time when I got out of the car. It was a few minutes after 10 p.m., I think.”

Jay looked at me with probing eyes.

“The preliminary investigation shows that the three of them died between 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., likely because of carbon monoxide and cyanide poisoning,” the coroner said when he came over.

One of the police officers to the side added, “They seem to have been quite calm when they died, and there were no signs of a violent struggle.

“Their expressions must have only gotten pained after the symptoms started and stayed that way. It looks like they ingested the tainted food unknowingly and died when the poison kicked in.”

Jay asked in a low voice, “Is there any sign that someone forced their way into the room?”

“The window and door handle don’t show any signs of forced entry. There are also no clear clues that another person has been in here,” the police officer replied.

This made me feel uneasy, and I could not help but wrap my arms around myself tighter. I could see my knuckles going white.

How could this be? Who had poisoned the food if there was no sign of anyone forcing their way in here?

There was no way my friends could have poisoned themselves.

Kellan was supposed to marry Lysette tomorrow. Who could be so heartless as to do this?

I balled my fists so tightly that my nails were cutting into my flesh.

Jay shut his notebook and looked at me once more. “Was the door locked when you came in?”

“Yes. I used their house key.” I subconsciously patted my pocket. The key was still lying inside where I had left it. “I was wondering why they’d locked the door.”

Jay’s eyes narrowed. He seemed to be deep in thought as he asked, “Did you notice anything out of place when you arrived? For example, were there any suspicious people around? Did you hear any strange noises?”

I closed my eyes and tried my hardest to recall any details. “No. The hallway was very quiet when I got here. I didn’t notice anyone suspicious when I came up. However, it’s possible I wasn’t paying enough attention, because I was in a rush when I came up.”

Jay paused in his questioning.

Even after moving the bodies out, there was still a lot of work to do. As the first witness and the person to make the police report, I had to go to the police station to give my statement.

The lighting in the police station was surprisingly bright, and it made me a little dizzy.

Two hours later, Jay was back. He took out an evidence bag and placed a cellphone before me. It was Kellan’s cellphone. The phone’s background was a photo of him and Lysette.

“Listen to this.”

Jay clicked on something. He was scrutinizing me, as if he refused to miss a single microexpression that would cross my face.

What started playing was an audio clip from the voice recorder. Kellan’s voice shook a little. Clearly, he had been drinking. His tone was a little high.

“I did you wrong two years ago, Morgan. I know you’ve liked Lysette for a long time, and you probably aren’t very happy to be here tonight. But we’ve been such good friends for so many years already.

“We’re getting married tomorrow, so we wanted you to be here to have some fun. Let go of the past, okay?”

In the audio clip, I could even hear Lysette giggling in the background somewhere close.

The audio clip ended, plunging the interrogation room into silence.

My brain was mostly blank at the moment, with some memories of the past drifting through occasionally.

“How was your relationship with them?” Jay asked softly. He leaned slightly forward. “How was your relationship with Lysette, especially? Is what Kellan said true?”

I leaned into my chair. My voice was weak as I said, “Yes, he’s right. I had a crush on Lysette in university. I liked her quite a bit back then, but that’s over now.”

“And what about your relationship with Kellan?”

I hesitated a little before saying, “Kellan was my university coursemate. Kellan met Lysette at one of our club events and started pursuing her.”

“And what about Cynthia Wembley? What was her relationship with you both?”

“Cynthia was one of the underclassmen in our course. We met at a department event,” I explained slowly.

At this, Jay’s gaze turned sharp. “Some information has come up in our investigation.”

My nerves wound tighter.

“Firstly, there’s no sign of the door’s lock being forcefully tampered with. Our initial investigation tells us that it was opened with a key, and you have a key.”

“That doesn’t mean anything, right, Detective?” I wanted to explain things, but Jay raised his hand to stop me.

“Secondly, there were no signs of a struggle in the living room, but we found evidence that Cynthia slapped Kellan. This next bit is a little strange. We found no evidence of a fourth person being present in the crime scene or on the bodies.” Jay paused and glanced at me. His assessing gaze became more intense.

“It was as if the killer was very careful not to leave any sign of his presence.”

My brain burst into chaos.

Who would be able to poison my friends’ food? Why would someone do this? It looked like the person who did this was someone they knew.

Terror overwhelmed me. I could feel myself becoming scared and panicked.

When Jay noticed my reaction, he said, “We checked the surveillance cameras near your office. You left after 8 p.m. Can you tell me where you went in the hour before you arrived at the scene?”

I started to sweat at this. Hurriedly, I tried to explain. “I went home for a bit to freshen up and pick something up before going over.” The timing was so much of a coincidence that I even suspected something amiss myself.

“Do you have any conflict with them? Or maybe some small issues?” Jay changed the subject, but his eyes were still cold.

I ducked my head sheepishly. I mumbled, “The four of us went on a trip once. I slept in late and delayed our plans, and that upset Lysette a bit.

“Things were pretty awkward back then, but Cynthia helped me smooth things over, so we managed to go on the trip in the end.”

“Did Kellan and Lysette ever snub you?” Jay’s questions became more pointed. “Or did they ever mock you?”

I stayed quiet.

I slowly recalled some instances when I felt I had been intentionally left out.

While we were discussing the itinerary for the trip, my suggestions were often ignored. When we took photos together, I was always shot from a bad angle, so the photos came out ugly.

During university reunions, Kellan frequently brought up my crush on Lysette to make fun of me. I knew very well whether this was malicious or in good humor.

Jay zeroed in on my silence and took out another evidence bag. This one held Lysette’s cellphone in it.

He opened WhatsApp and found a group chat named “Teasing the Idiot.” One of the messages stood out to me.

It had been sent at 7:15 p.m. by Kellan.

[Morgan says he’ll be a bit late. What do we do? If he doesn’t come, no one will be here to witness my happiness with Lysette.]

After that, he sent an emoticon that was smiling sinisterly.

Some of Kellan’s pals replied simply below that message.

[Luke: Stop messing with him. He might be a simp for Lysette, but he has pride. He’s better than most guys.]

[Donny: You even made him help with your proposal. He was holding up the sign with the word “love” on it, and he looked like such a clown. You’re so ruthless, man. And now you’re doing this before you get married.]

Lysette replied with a cute, smiling emoticon.

I glared at the word “clown” and felt my body go cold.

So, that was what Lysette thought of me. To them, I was just a fool.

My expression darkened, and I pressed my lips tightly together.

Jay pointed at the screen. “Here, they privately made fun of you and did their planning. There are two group chats, and Cynthia’s in this one as well. Only you are absent. Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed the way they treat you?”

The screen’s cold blue light shone on my dazed face.

Of course, I had. There was no way I could overlook the small offenses they hurled at me. However, I still always considered these people my friends.

My voice was hoarse when I said, “I noticed.”

“Did you maybe wish, just for a second, that they would get into some sort of trouble? Or that their wedding would hit a snag? Maybe you even hoped that something terrible would happen?”

His questions were like a scalpel, unearthing the feelings I had hidden for so long with great accuracy.

I whipped my head up, meeting his calm yet intense gaze dead on.

“Maybe I was a little unhappy with how they treated me, but I never did anything to hurt them! Don’t start accusing me out of nowhere just because you can’t find the killer!”

My voice was sharp in a way I had never heard before.

“But I have proof that you’re not so innocent.” Jay chuckled. He played a clip caught on a surveillance camera in Kellan and Lysette’s neighborhood. I was at the entrance to their building, bundled up in a coat, when I went in. My face was unsmiling, and my gaze was a little distant.

My footsteps were hurried. It looked as if I was hiding from something.

“You said you only arrived after 10 p.m., but this footage shows that you arrived at 8 p.m. You were with them, and you spent time with them tonight. You weren’t doing overtime for that long!

“Morgan Kimmerer, you’ve been lying from the start! You killed these three people!”