The person who had committed suicide in the hotel room was none other than Hilary.
After Shawn and his team had done a careful inspection of the room, the hotel manager still looked frightened.
“If the guest is there in the room, do you still have to check it yourself? Your behavior is very strange.”
Shawn asked his question, and the manager quickly explained.
“It’s not that our behavior is strange. She had stayed in our hotel for a long time. Yesterday, Mr. Tyson and her daughter, Ms. Quigley came over suddenly asking to see her. Madam Bowen did not answer the door. We checked our monitoring system and found that she had left the hotel early in the afternoon. Then Ms. Quigley and Mr. Tyson gave us instructions to let them know when Madam Bowen returned and then they left. We did not know that Madam Bowen had returned. Every morning, someone has to clean Madam Bowen’s room. When the cleaning staff entered her room, they discovered that she had already…”
A frown appeared on Shawn’s handsome face.
The team with Shawn knew that his girlfriend was Ellie, Matthew’s niece.
Hence, Harmon asked, “Shawn, shall we inform your girlfriend’s family?”
“According to protocol, as relatives, they must be informed. Besides that, this news must be kept under wraps. No one else must know about this, understood?”
Shawn knew that a short while ago, Clarissa and Hilary’s court case had caused a stir. So, the biggest worry now was the death being discovered by paparazzi.
The hotel manager immediately declared, “We are worried that this will affect our business. So, other than the cleaner, me and two other staff present, no one else knows what had happened.”
“Alright. Let’s go back to the station and start the questionings.”
“This… Shawn, wasn’t it a suicide?”
Shawn did not reply, but it was apparent that the death was not as simple as suicide.
The manager was shocked and there was fear on his face. How could a murder take place in his hotel?
Darn! Could he maintain his livelihood?
Perhaps his livelihood might not be as important as that of the paparazzi’s.
Early in the morning, a reporter was outside the hotel. As a result, he got the big news. He saw the police and the medical examiner entering by the back door and instinctively, he knew he had stumbled upon a big story.
Thus, this dedicated journalist used his various skills and got into the hotel. Although the floor in which the incident occurred was blocked, having been a paparazzi for many years, despite various challenges, dangers and risks of being discovered, he was able to obtain the most sensational news images.
Later on, he contacted the hotel’s staff for information and it turned out to be overwhelming…
The news he received shocked him, so he called the chief editor immediately and at the same time hurriedly passed on the photographs.
The news was reported at the earliest possible before anyone else knew about it.
The moment the chief editor saw the photos, his heart raced with excitement. Instantly, he gathered his work force and the news article was typed out right in front of him. Within the timespan of twenty minutes, various eye-catching headlines were published online.
Meanwhile, the police had just arrived back at the station.
They had no inkling that the news had spread online like a wild fire.
The sensational headlines read: Hilary Kills Herself!
Clarissa Quigley Pressures Own Mother To Suicide!
Mother-in-law Of Tyson Corporation CEO Dies – Murder Suspected!
Forced To Commit Suicide By Her Own Daughter – Dirty Secrets Of The Rich In D City!
The headlines went on…
Someone had died and it was Clarissa Quigley’s mother, mother-in-law of Tyson Corporation CEO, Matthew Tyson. This same woman who had filed a lawsuit against her daughter for failing to take care of her and who had divorced her husband due to domestic violence, had died in a hotel room.
It was reported that when she was discovered by the cleaner, blood was scattered over the whole room and it was more horrifying than a horror movie.
The question of whether it was suicide or homicide was up to the paparazzi to write as they wished, and the news was rewritten and reimagined according to their whims and fantasies. Even before Clarissa and Matthew were aware, they were in the eye of the storm.
When Clarissa was busy making a movie, a group of crazy reporters and some people who came along taking advantage of the chaos, broke through the barricades outside the studio and ran in.
It was total chaos and with her was Damian who was quietly waiting for Mommy to finish work.
“Ms. Quigley, did you kill your own mother?”
“Mrs. Tyson, what are your thoughts about your mother’s death? Is this your son? How will you face your son? Will your son learn from you in forcing your own mother to commit suicide?”
“Clarissa, you are fearless now. Is it because you are rich and powerful, thus you believe you are above the law?”
“Boy, are you Clarissa’s son? Do you know that your mother is a murderess? Do you know…”
“Boohoohoo…”
Suddenly Damian wailed, crying aloud, which left the crowd stunned.
It was just for a few short seconds. The paparazzi were totally devoid of human kindness. Relentlessly, they took photos of the child, pointing their microphones and mobile phones in an attempt to record everything.
While outside the sphere of paparazzi, the staff tried to disperse them and pull them away. At the same time, Clarissa held Damian tight in her arms, covering his head to protect him from the attack of cameras and gadgets.
She did not say a word as she thought only of protecting her son and her pale face was a picture of determination.
When their children are in the face of danger, a mother is without weakness, no matter what happens.
Fortunately, this did not last long. Matthew rushed to the scene with his men, dispersed the crowd and took his wife and son away.
When the paparazzi tried to give chase, they were stopped by bodyguards.
The bodyguards were there not just to stop them. More importantly, these news reporters had forgotten the lesson of the past. This time, they thought the case involved a death and there was a rush of adrenaline in their enthusiasm. In the encounter with the bodyguards, their enthusiasm died down.
Some of the crowd were disgruntled, for they were journalists and activists. They would not be silenced by power.
“You can’t do this to us. We have the freedom to shoot and our equipment is… Ah!”
What happened next to their equipment was the shattering sound of gadgets breaking.
Someone yelled about suing Matthew and his bullies, but they did not stop what they were doing.
After their equipment were broken, everyone was given the name card of a famous attorney whom the paparazzi knew.
Before the paparazzi had the chance to sue him, Matthew was already prepared for them to do so.
“On what grounds?”
Yes, on what grounds?
They had their hands, pens, and writing pads. They were certain they could write freely about Matthew’s tyrannical behavior.
They had to expose Matthew’s wrongdoings.
After the bodyguards left, the paparazzi were left defeated. A female reporter suddenly voiced out, “We might have been too ruthless with the child just now.”
Some of them realized it for they were parents too.
“Ruthless? We were doing our job and our job is to report the truth…”
Someone said that but no one agreed with him.
“Are you afraid of him? Matthew’s behavior is simply that of a bully! We can’t just leave it like that…”
Still, no one agreed with him.
Only one man looked at him and said, “You’re a newbie, aren’t you?”
“I started work not long ago.”
“Oh! Go back and speak to your seniors then…”
Among them were regular reporters, some people who were not very qualified and some paparazzi…
All of them left, keeping the name card that they were given, prepared to go back and consider their next course of action.
Meanwhile, inside the car, Damian held on to his Mommy tenaciously, crying non-stop…
He was really terrified.
Clarissa wept silently. She hated those people and wished she could teach them a lesson but that would not help Damian in any way.
“Damian, I am here. We are safe now. Daddy is here; everything is alright. Let’s go home. Don’t be afraid…”
Matthew’s eyes flashed angrily as he held both his wife and child in his arms, comforting them.
It was only when the little guy reached home did he stop crying, but he still clutched onto Clarissa, not letting go and not speaking. He held her quietly as if calming himself and seemed to be deep in thought.
Clarissa stayed with him sitting quietly in bed, talking about other things, telling him a meaningful story and hoping that Damian would get over the fright but he would neither smile nor speak and she was worried about him.
Matthew was downstairs when Shawn and his team arrived.
Ellie came over later and when she saw Shawn, she was furious.
“What are you police good for? You don’t even know how to keep the incident from the press? I’m going to sue you guys…”
“Ms. Tyson, please don’t get angry. The first thing Shawn did was to block out any press but the paparazzi are really skillful at getting into nooks and crannies. By the time we reached the station, the news was already out. It’s not Shawn’s fault…”
“I don’t care! If you guys did your job well, how could anyone discover the truth? Do you know what the paparazzi did? They scared the daylights out of Damian. He’s just a baby. How could he take such a shock? If he is traumatized, I’ll hold you responsible…”
Ellie’s fiery temper was directed at Shawn’s team with no holds barred.
Shawn’s team was very embarrassed.
Shawn was calm as he carried out his duty by the book, ignoring Ellie’s fury.
“Mr. Tyson, I have a few questions for you and Mrs. Tyson. Is it convenient to ask her to come down?”
“It’s not convenient!” Ellie yelled at him in reply.
Shawn gazed at her coldly but Ellie was not intimidated and she glared back at him.
