Chapter 84

Robert found an entry point and asked, "Besides helping them put on their pants, did you touch anything else?"

"No, I helped them put on their pants and immediately called the cop. The officer on the phone told me to maintain the scene. After that, you know the rest."

Robert added, "Do you know these three deceased individuals?"

Rilla replied, "You can see for yourself, Willowbrook Village is so small, and everyone lives so close to each other, how could we not know each other?"

After asking this, Robert felt his question was redundant.

But there was no other way.

He had to follow the procedures, because the necessary steps had to be taken.

Robert asked, "I mean, how well do you know them? Just a greeting when you meet, or are you good friends? Who do you usually stay in touch with the most?"

Rilla said, "It's okay, we all stay in touch about the same. Our village is too poor, most girls can't afford to go to school. They all envy me, thinking it's amazing that I went to college, and they always ask me about things outside of Willowbrook Village."

"You've seen the sanitation conditions here. It takes two hours to walk to the middle school. I don't need to tell you about the distance to college, you have to know from driving. Our village doesn't have much money, and those who don't do well in school usually start helping their families with farming early. Only those who get into middle school have the chance to continue their education."

Rilla sighed as she talked about this, "It's better now. A decade or so ago, after finishing middle school, you could get a job assignment. Even if you wanted to go to college, your family wouldn't agree. Their idea was to start working quickly to reduce the family's burden."

Robert had handled many cases and visited relatively backward villages. So he could understand Rilla's situation.

Getting into college from such a poor and backward place showed that Rilla was a talented girl.

"Putting the case aside, you are very outstanding," Robert complimented her generously.

Rilla forced a smile, "I have a younger brother. If he hadn't died unexpectedly in middle school, I wouldn't have had the chance to go to college."

Hearing this, Zoey was puzzled. "If you wanted to leave so badly, why did you come back?"

"My parents are here. I can't just go to college and never come back," Rilla answered with a slightly confrontational tone.

Seeing the tension between the two girls, Robert thought Rilla's personal matters were unrelated to the case.

He quickly steered the conversation back. "Let's not talk about that. Tell me what you know. Do you know if these three deceased individuals had any grudges with anyone? Or if their parents had any enemies?"

"I'm not sure about that," Rilla said, then added, "I know a bit about Janet. She told me before that she didn't want to get married, she wanted to see the outside world, and didn't want to be stuck here for life. As for the other two girls, I don't know anything about them."

Robert nodded. "Okay."

Zoey asked, "What do you think about the fact that they were found lying on the ground with their pants removed?"

"No opinion."

"No opinion?" Zoey raised her intense gaze, staring straight at her. "Is it normal in your village for women to have their pants removed?"

Rilla was an educated college student! How could she not be affected at all?

Rilla remained silent.

Seeing Rilla not speaking, Zoey didn't press further.

She changed the topic. "Does this kind of thing happen often in your village?"

Rilla didn't know what she meant, "What kind of thing?"

"People dying, what else?"

Rilla was silent, feeling a bit speechless about this question. "As far as I can remember, this is the first time."

"Oh." Zoey nonchalantly noted it down and continued asking, "What about sexual assault?"

She asked so bluntly and casually that Rilla didn't know how to respond for a moment.

She thought for a while and said, "I haven't heard of such a thing. But if it happened, people wouldn't talk about such a shameful thing. In the countryside, people like to gossip. If more people knew, the whole village would know. Villages are interconnected, and it would be hard to get married in the area."

Zoey understood and had asked enough.

She handed her notes to Robert.

Robert asked some other questions, "What time do people in your village usually go to bed and get up?"

Rilla replied, "I can't give you an exact time, it's different for everyone. But most people go to bed around nine. As you can see, we don't have any entertainment facilities, at most we visit each other's homes. But the wake-up time is similar, around five or six, either to work or to go to school."

"How long has this church been abandoned? Have you seen anyone frequently going there?" Robert added.

Rilla said, "This church has been here for hundreds of years. It's been like this since I can remember. My mom said it was like this when she got married. No one goes there every day, except for some curious kids. But they get beaten by their parents when they come home. Since it's so old, no one knows when it might collapse. For their children's safety, they try hard to stop their kids from going there."

Zoey suddenly asked, "Were there many villagers looking for them that day?"

"Not many. Many were working, and some were at school. Those looking were mostly women or elderly people who could still move around. Because our village is small."

"Alright." Robert organized his notes and looked at Rilla gratefully. "Thank you for your cooperation. If I need anything else, I'll come to you."

"No problem," Rilla said and left.

Alexander and Dennis waited at the door until Rilla left before coming in.

"Officer Davis, we found something." Dennis, seeing Robert's look, reported his findings, "One of the deceased, named Janet, had parents who were both born and raised in Willowbrook Village. She had an older brother. The other two deceased were sisters, with the same mother and father. The older sister was named Faye Lynn, and the younger sister was named Sadie Lynn, one was nineteen, and the other sixteen. Their parents were also born and raised in Willowbrook Village. When the incident happened, they rushed over, and we found they had a twelve-year-old brother."

Zoey suddenly felt a bit empathetic. "No wonder it's such a backward place." The desire for a son was evident from their childbearing.