Chapter 107

"Don't lie to me!" Ava shouted. "I heard someone say you dragged Evan here!"

Zoey glanced towards the church entrance. "Who told you that?"

Ava turned and called out, "Gemma, get in here."

Gemma heard her name but hesitated. Instead of entering, she shouted from outside, "There are dead bodies in there. I'm not going in. I don't want to attract any bad luck."

Charles thought to himself, 'This superstitious nonsense is ridiculous. If everyone thought like her, we'd have no detectives or coroners. According to her logic, everyone would be covered in bad luck.'

Ava, determined to prove her point, huffed, "Fine, let's go outside then!"

She pushed Olivia, who was supporting her, aside and dragged a bewildered Evan towards the door. Zoey and Charles had no choice but to follow.

As soon as they stepped outside, Ava confronted Gemma. "Gemma, tell them! Didn't you say they forced Evan to come here?"

Gemma avoided eye contact with the cops and tried to shake off Ava's grip, but Ava's strength, honed from years of farm work, was too much. Reluctantly, Gemma sided with the village chief's family. "Yes, I saw them. They were all together, bringing Evan here."

Zoey wasn't about to let Ava twist the story. "Gemma, be clear. Wasn't Evan walking ahead while we followed?"

Gemma thought back and couldn't find a flaw in Zoey's words. "It seemed like that..."

Ava, feeling betrayed, snapped, "Gemma, that's not what you told me! You said they were dragging Evan, and he was struggling!"

Gemma hesitated. "Well, yes, but..."

Zoey cut in, "Gemma, just a friendly reminder: falsely accusing cops can lead to charges of obstructing justice. You could go to jail, and it could affect your family's future."

Gemma had only wanted to help her neighbor, who was the village chief's wife. After hearing she would go to jail, Gemma quickly distanced herself from Ava. "No, Ava, you must have misunderstood. I just said they were walking together. After that, I went back to my chores. I never mentioned anything about kidnappers. What are you talking about?"

Ava was stunned. "What?"

Furious, she turned to Olivia. "You say something!"

Olivia, looking down and appearing frail, murmured, "Mom, I don't know. I wasn't paying attention when you were talking."

Ava's anger boiled over. "You all! You're too scared to speak up in front of the cops! It's not your child who's missing, so you side with them to bully me, right?"

Zoey, not wanting to waste more time, said, "Ava, Evan is right here in front of you. If you're so worried, why not tie a rope around him and hold onto it even while you sleep? That way, he'll always be safe."

With that, she turned and walked back into the church, ignoring Ava's angry shouts.

Charles had considered backing Zoey up, but seeing her walk away, he decided against it. If she didn't feel the need to respond, neither would he.

Zoey was curious. "How did they know Evan was here? Even if they saw us on the way, they wouldn't have known to come here."

Charles replied, "Didn't Gemma say she saw us bringing Evan here?"

"No," Zoey shook her head. "She said she didn't know where we were coming from or going to. I paid attention to everyone we passed on the way here. Gemma couldn't have known we were heading to the church. She wouldn't have followed us, especially since she's so superstitious about places with dead bodies."

Charles added. "Maybe Ava's family had been here before for questioning, so she assumed we brought Evan here too?"

Zoey, recalling her argument with Ava, doubted it. "Ava accused us of kidnapping. If we were kidnappers, why would we bring Evan to the church in Willowbrook Village? Wouldn't it make more sense to leave the village?"

"Zoey, you're really sharp. That makes sense," Charles said, impressed. "But they got here so quickly. We hadn't even started questioning Evan when they arrived. If Evan saw the crime scene and possibly the killer, and maybe even the crime itself..."

Zoey nodded. "Exactly."

"If our theory is correct, the most likely suspect is Hugh," Charles speculated. "If Hugh committed the murder, Evan might help cover it up. No one else would. And with Evan's limited understanding, he wouldn't help unless it was family. But..." Charles was puzzled. "Hugh doesn't seem to care about Evan. If he did, he'd know who Evan was marrying, right?"

"Right, and he wouldn't use the alien story to trick Evan," Zoey added.

Charles was even more confused. "So, the killer must be someone who knows Evan very well. Not just anyone in the village, but someone who knows his obsession with aliens and Spider-Man. That person is the killer?"

Zoey bent down and examined the marked area around the body.