The drive was quiet.
Not the comfortable kind—just… controlled.
Aurelia sat with the file open on her lap, flipping through pages she had already read twice. Vincent drove, focused, saying nothing unless necessary.
"First, where should we go to investigate?" he asked finally.
She looked at him, almost giving him a side eye, and said, "Medical examiner's office for autopsy details."
He added, "We need to reconfirm when it was already done?"
She nodded. "We need the raw details, not just the summarized report."
He nodded.
Finally, upon reaching the autopsy department, Aurelia muttered, "Looks like the autopsy department isn't welcoming."
They both headed towards the examiner's office.
Cold lights. Cleaner than comfortable.
Aurelia stood beside the examination table, flipping through the detailed report while the forensic officer explained.
"Estimated time of death is based on body temperature, rigor mortis progression, and lividity," the officer said. "Standard procedure."
Aurelia didn't look convinced. Of course she wouldn't—but surprisingly, Vincent didn't look convinced either.
"Standard doesn't mean precise," she replied.
The officer paused.
Vincent glanced at her but didn't interrupt.
She leaned slightly over the report.
"What was the recorded body temperature at the time of examination?"
The officer checked. "Thirty-two point four degrees Celsius."
"And ambient temperature?"
"Twenty-one."
Aurelia nodded slowly, calculating.
"Time gap between discovery and examination?"
"Approximately one hour."
She exhaled lightly.
"Too many variables," she murmured.
Vincent saw she was doubtful of something which seemed believable but wasn't.
He stepped in and said, "What's your point?"
She straightened.
"The time window can shift. At least twenty to thirty minutes on either side."
The officer frowned slightly. "That's within acceptable margin."
"Acceptable legally," Aurelia said. "Not analytically."
A brief silence followed.
They went outside the department.
Outside, Vincent finally spoke.
"You're stretching it."
Aurelia turned to him instantly. "I'm questioning it."
"There's a difference."
"And ignoring a variable isn't strategy," she shot back with a side eye and a face that loudly said, boss, trust the process.
Vincent's expression stayed neutral. "Neither is overcomplicating."
Aurelia let out a small breath. "Fine. Then let's confirm instead of debating."
That ended it.
For now.
Next, they went to Adrian Cole's residence to investigate the CCTV footage nearby.
They sat in a small security room, screens flickering through recordings of the past five days.
Vincent said, "You are sure you will get something by watching five consecutive days of footage?"
Aurelia answered, "No one is sure of anything, not even me. But if we don't see, we might miss something important."
Aurelia leaned forward, eyes fixed.
"Pause," she said suddenly.
Vincent stopped the footage.
A black SUV passed by the gate.
"Again," she said.
They replayed it.
Same vehicle. Same timing.
Different day.
"How come the same vehicle goes at the same time? This isn't random," she murmured.
Vincent crossed his arms. "Could be routine."
"Hmm… then let's test the routine."
She flipped through timestamps.
Same car.
Different nights.
Almost identical time slots.
Vincent leaned closer now.
"Noted."
Aurelia didn't look at him. "It slows down near the gate every time."
"Observation isn't proof."
"It's a pattern," she replied.
He didn't argue this time.
They noted the vehicle details and moved on.
Now they went to the accident site, which felt different.
Open. Exposed.
And oddly… empty.
Aurelia walked slowly along the roadside, scanning everything.
"Where's the CCTV?" she asked.
Vincent pointed. "There."
She followed his line of sight.
A camera.
She questioned, "No red light! Is it dead?"
Vincent answered while looking at her, "Yes."
They went to the nearest security station responsible for the CCTV nearby.
Vincent asked to open the same CCTV from the accident spot, but it showed nothing—just a black screen with no signal.
"Not working?" she asked.
Vincent checked the nearby system log.
"Footage missing."
Aurelia's brows drew together.
"Missing… or removed?"
Vincent looked at her. "Tampered."
She exhaled slowly.
"Of course. They would tamper with it. I wonder why the police didn't report this when they were investigating."
Vincent slowly added, "Seems like this was planned, and even the investigating officer might be involved."
Both of them paused and, at the same time, looked at each other with one loud thought—it was a planned event, and we can address this in court.
A brief silence.
Then—
"Then we don't look here now," she said.
Vincent raised an eyebrow slightly. "Meaning?"
She turned, scanning the surroundings again.
"Nearby coverage. Shops, traffic signals, private buildings—anything that overlaps this zone."
Vincent watched her for a second.
Then nodded.
"Split or together?" she asked.
"Together," he said instantly.
A pause. Another side eye from Aurelia when his eyes lightened for no reason at the word together.
But—
Neither commented on that.
They moved across the area, checking adjacent cameras.
A small grocery store.
A parking lot.
A traffic signal two blocks away.
"Play this," Aurelia said, pointing at one of the feeds.
The footage loaded.
Time-stamped.
Clear.
A car sped past.
Followed by—
The same black SUV.
Aurelia leaned closer.
"That's it."
Vincent didn't respond immediately.
"Distance between them?" he asked.
"Not random," she said. "Too consistent."
They replayed it again.
And again.
"Two vehicles," Vincent said finally.
Aurelia nodded.
"One leads. One follows."
Vincent looked back at the screen.
"Coordinated."
Silence.
This time heavier.
Vincent broke the silence by tapping her shoulder. "Impressive, Vale."
Aurelia stepped back slightly, not paying attention to the "Vale" part.
"So the accident wasn't isolated."
Vincent completed it. "It was executed."
She crossed her arms, thinking.
"If Mr. Cole wasn't physically present, because in his house nearby CCTV we didn't locate him, so it means…"
"He didn't need to be," Vincent said.
Aurelia looked at him.
"Which also means—"
"He planned it," Vincent said.
"And someone else carried it out," she finished.
"Ben fatto, Aurelia!" she said with joy. (well done, Aurelia)
"What?" he asked, genuinely confused.
"Nothing." She let out a happy sigh after realizing they were on the right path.
A brief pause.
"But we can't prove that yet," Vincent added.
Aurelia nodded.
"Not yet."
They gathered the footage, noted the timestamps, and stepped out.
The sun had started to set.
Neither of them spoke for a while.
Finally, Aurelia broke it.
"So you agree now?"
Vincent glanced at her. "On what?"
"That this isn't simple."
He looked ahead again.
"I never said it was."
"And I am smart."
He smiled and said, "Never said the opposite, Miss."
"So you do smile, sir." She teased, not knowing that she was his reason to smile.
Vincent stopped immediately, realizing that his feelings were paving their way into a professional line. "Stop messing around." Again, in the same cold tone, he answered.
But this time—
She almost smiled.
Almost.
As they walked back toward the car, Vincent stopped.
"List what we have," he said.
Aurelia didn't hesitate.
"Unreliable time of death."
"Questionable alibi recording."
"Repeated vehicle presence near residence."
"Missing primary CCTV at accident site."
"Secondary footage indicating two vehicles."
She paused.
Then added quietly—
"Coordinated movement. And a question—why were all these things not considered during the investigation?"
Vincent nodded once.
"Enough to raise doubt."
Aurelia looked at him.
"Enough to build direction."
He held her gaze for a second.
"Not enough to conclude."
She didn't argue. Just agreed.
Because he was right.
But as she looked back at the footage saved in her file—
one thing was clear.
This wasn't a single-person crime.
And somewhere between planning and execution—
there was someone they hadn't seen yet.
Someone who made the accident happen.
And that—
was where the real case began.