The next morning, Vincent called a meeting with the entire team regarding Matthew Reynolds' case.
As everyone settled into their seats, Vincent stood at the front of the conference room.
"Good morning, everyone. I assume you all know why I've called this meeting?"
Most of them nodded.
Before beginning, Vincent's eyes subconsciously scanned the room.
One seat was empty.
Aurelia's.
His eyebrows furrowed slightly.
"Where is Miss Vale?"
Evelyn immediately replied, "Sir, she's stuck in traffic. She texted me about five minutes ago. She should be here shortly."
"Alright."
His response was calm.
His expression wasn't.
Austin noticed.
Evelyn noticed.
Both wisely remained silent.
"Let's begin with a general discussion. Once Miss Vale arrives, we'll review yesterday's investigation."
"Yes, sir," Austin answered. "We're discussing whether Matthew Reynolds' death was an accident or murder."
"And if it was murder," Carl continued, "we need to determine who had both motive and opportunity."
"Before that," Evelyn said confidently, "we need enough evidence to justify reopening the case."
Vincent nodded.
"Correct, Miss Evelyn."
Almost on cue, the conference room door opened.
Aurelia entered.
"I'm so sorry for being late."
She quickly took the empty seat beside Evelyn, which unfortunately happened to be directly next to Vincent.
"What caused the delay?" Vincent asked.
"The bus route I usually take temporarily stopped operating near my station. I didn't know until this morning, so I had to book a cab. Then traffic decided to make my life miserable."
A few people laughed.
Vincent simply nodded.
"Try to leave earlier next time."
"Yes, sir."
The meeting continued.
"Miss Vale, please brief everyone regarding yesterday's investigation."
Aurelia opened her notebook.
"Yesterday, Sir and I visited the location where Matthew Reynolds' body was discovered."
The room immediately became attentive.
"We searched the surrounding area and recovered a ring approximately several meters away from the crash site. Miss Emily later confirmed the ring did not belong to Matthew, so it has been sent for forensic examination."
Carl leaned forward.
"A ring?"
"Yes."
She held up a photograph.
"No engraving. No expensive stones. Just a plain silver ring."
"Interesting," Austin muttered.
Aurelia continued.
"After that, we reviewed CCTV footage covering the road where the accident occurred."
Vincent played the copied footage on the screen.
Everyone watched silently.
The footage ended.
Then replayed.
Then replayed again.
Aurelia pointed toward the screen.
"Notice Matthew's movements."
Carl narrowed his eyes.
"He looks panicked."
"At first glance, yes," Aurelia replied. "But look carefully."
The footage played again.
"He isn't simply panicking."
Everyone watched.
Austin frowned.
"He looks... slow."
"Exactly."
Aurelia nodded.
"The autopsy report mentioned food poisoning shortly before death. My theory is that Matthew's body was already weakened before the accident happened."
"You mean poisoned?" Evelyn asked.
"Possibly."
"Slow poison?" Austin added.
"It remains a possibility."
The room fell silent.
Carl folded his arms.
"So you're suggesting someone weakened him first, tampered with the vehicle second, and then staged the entire thing as an accident?"
"That's exactly what I'm suggesting."
The atmosphere instantly became heavier.
Carl remained thoughtful.
"But there is still one issue."
Aurelia looked at him.
"What issue?"
"The poisoning itself."
The room grew quiet.
Carl continued.
"We keep calling it poisoning, but technically, we still don't know whether another person was involved. The opposing side could simply argue that Matthew accidentally consumed contaminated food."
Several team members nodded.
"It happens all the time," Carl added.
Aurelia opened her mouth to answer.
Before she could, Vincent spoke.
"Because accidents rarely cooperate with each other."
Everyone turned toward him.
Vincent stood and walked toward the screen.
"Let's assume Carl is correct."
He picked up a marker.
"Matthew accidentally suffers food poisoning."
He wrote:
Food Poisoning.
"Then, coincidentally, his brakes fail."
Brake Failure.
"Then, coincidentally, both left tires lose pressure."
Low Tire Pressure.
He placed the marker down.
"Individually, each event can occur naturally."
The room remained silent.
"But when all three occur together on the same day and result in a death..."
His gaze swept across the room.
"It stops looking like coincidence."
Nobody argued.
Because nobody could.
"We are not claiming murder," Vincent continued.
"Not yet."
"But we have enough grounds to suspect that Matthew Reynolds' death was not a simple accident."
Aurelia couldn't help smiling slightly.
That was exactly what she had been trying to explain.
"Very good work, Miss Vale."
The compliment left Vincent's mouth naturally.
"Thank you, sir."
Their brief exchange somehow felt longer than it actually was.
Austin slowly looked at Evelyn.
Evelyn slowly looked at Austin.
Both immediately looked away.
Carl cleared his throat, saving everyone from whatever tension had just appeared.
"So what's next?"
Vincent's expression immediately returned to business.
"We need one more substantial piece of evidence before formally requesting the case be reopened."
The team nodded.
"Miss Vale."
"Yes, sir?"
"Be ready in five minutes."
Aurelia blinked.
"For?"
"We're continuing the investigation."
"Oh. Okay."
Before anyone else could speak—
"Sir?"
Vincent looked toward Carl.
"May I join the investigation as well?"
For a brief second, the room became suspiciously quiet.
Austin lowered his head.
Evelyn suddenly became very interested in her notebook.
Aurelia looked completely normal.
Vincent remained expressionless.
"Of course."
The answer came professionally.
Even if internally it required more patience than expected.
"Good."
Carl smiled.
"Thank you, sir."
Unfortunately, Vincent noticed that smile.
And for reasons he refused to examine, he didn't particularly enjoy it.
"Actually, I think the entire team should come along. More people means more perspectives, and right now we can't afford to overlook anything..
Everyone agreed instantly.
"Sir, where would be investigating now?" Evelyn question, good question.
Just when she asked the question, Vincent phone popped up with a message.
"I think we should go to the forensic department, then interrogate the client & Miss Emily." Aurelia just suggested – just suggested.
'' Yes we are doing the exact same thing like Miss Vale said, forensic report is out, we'll go to the ring's forensic lab then body's forensic lab."
By then everyone, had moved out the cabin, and packed their bags.
Vincent specially booked a large car so that all 5 could accommodate comfortably.
Vincent sat on front passenger seat, and unfortunately, on the middle first Carl, Austin and Evelyn sat but aurelia claimed she would be lonely to sit back , so Vincent found the golden opportunity to sit behind but before he could, Carl agreed to sit behind with her.
The travel was nearly about for 30 mins, till then everyone had to remain seated.
"Aurelia, you said the bus temporarily stopped working at your nearest station, where do you live?" Carl questioned wanting to break silence after a minute the car started.
"I live in Magnolia Heights. It's about fifteen minutes from the office. If no traffic"
"Ohh that's very near to my place, if you want I can pick up you."
"Why is Carl talking so much today?" Vincent muttered with himself.
"No, No its not needed, I can book a cab myself." Aurelia politely refused.
Somehow when she said that happiest person alive was Vincent.
The team arrived at the forensic department approximately thirty minutes later.
As soon as they entered, one of the forensic officers greeted them.
"Mr. Montclair, your reports are ready."
"Thank you."
The officer handed over two separate files.
One regarding the ring.
The other regarding Matthew Reynolds' autopsy findings.
Everyone gathered around as Vincent opened the first report.
"What do we have?" Carl asked.
Vincent scanned the pages.
"The ring contains traces of soil, water residue, and minor scratches from recent impact."
"Owner?" Austin asked hopefully.
"No identification yet."
The entire team's excitement immediately dropped.
"But..." Vincent continued.
Everyone looked back up.
"The ring contains skin cells."
Aurelia's eyes widened.
"DNA?"
"Possibly."
The forensic officer nodded.
"We've preserved the sample for testing."
For the first time that day, everyone felt they were actually moving forward.
Aurelia quickly took notes.
Carl glanced at her notebook.
"You write fast."
"Occupational hazard."
He laughed.
Austin immediately elbowed Evelyn.
Evelyn nearly choked trying not to laugh.
Unfortunately for them, Vincent noticed.
Unfortunately for Vincent, he also noticed why they were laughing.
Aurelia remained completely unaware.
As expected.
The team then moved on to the autopsy report.
Vincent opened the second file.
The atmosphere instantly became serious again.
"The toxicology report confirms severe gastrointestinal poisoning."
Everyone became attentive.
"Can they identify the source?" Aurelia asked.
The forensic officer shook his head.
"Not yet."
Aurelia frowned.
"So technically it could still be accidental?"
"Technically yes."
The officer paused.
"But there is something unusual."
That immediately caught everyone's attention.
"What?" Vincent asked.
"The concentration."
The officer flipped through several pages.
"The level detected in Matthew's body was unusually high."
Aurelia's expression sharpened.
"Meaning?"
"Meaning most people would have sought medical attention long before reaching that stage."
Silence.
Aurelia exchanged a glance with Vincent.
The implication was obvious.
Matthew had either ignored severe symptoms...
Or someone ensured he couldn't get help.
The possibility sent chills through the room.
After collecting copies of both reports, the team proceeded to meet Emily Reynolds.
When Emily entered the consultation room, she immediately stood.
"Did you find anything?"
Vincent gestured for her to sit.
"We found enough to continue investigating."
Hope instantly appeared in her eyes.
Aurelia gently explained the forensic findings.
By the time she finished, Emily's hands were trembling.
"So..."
Her voice cracked.
"You really think my brother didn't die in an accident?"
Aurelia answered carefully.
"We believe there are too many inconsistencies to ignore."
Emily lowered her head.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then she suddenly remembered something.
"Wait."
Everyone looked at her.
"Matthew was acting strange during his last week."
Aurelia immediately leaned forward.
"How?"
"He kept saying someone was watching him."
The room became silent.
Austin stopped writing.
Evelyn stopped breathing.
Even Vincent's attention sharpened.
"He never explained further?" Carl asked.
Emily shook her head.
"I thought he was stressed from work."
Aurelia quickly wrote everything down.
Another clue.
Another question.
And somehow...
No answers.
A thought suddenly crossed Vincent's mind.
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"Miss Reynolds," he said calmly, "do you still have Matthew's phone?"
Aurelia immediately looked up.
Carl did the same.
Then, almost simultaneously, realization dawned across the entire room.
Messages.
Calls.
Emails.
Search history.
If Matthew truly believed someone was watching him, his phone might contain the first real crack in the mystery.
Emily swallowed.
"Yes... I have it."
"Can we have it?" Vincent politely asked.
Then Emily hands it over.
And while Aurelia receives it:
The screen lit up.
17 unread messages.
4 missed calls.
Last call received:
Unknown Number.
After nearly an hour, the meeting finally ended.
The team returned to the vehicle.
The moment everyone entered, Austin leaned closer to Evelyn.
"Am I imagining things?"
"No."
"Good."
"Because I'm seeing it too."
Austin glanced toward Carl and Aurelia, who were discussing forensic reports together.
Carl pointed toward one of the documents.
Aurelia immediately responded.
The conversation flowed surprisingly naturally.
Austin looked back at Evelyn.
"Look."
"I am looking."
"He smiles every five seconds."
"I know."
"He never smiles every five seconds."
"I know."
They both slowly looked toward Vincent.
Vincent was staring out the window.
Very professionally.
Very calmly.
Very definitely not listening.
Austin whispered,
"He's listening."
"He's absolutely listening."
The two immediately burst into suppressed laughter.
Meanwhile, completely unaware of the chaos she was causing, Aurelia continued discussing evidence with Carl.
"I still think the poisoning happened before he entered the vehicle."
"I agree."
Carl nodded.
"And honestly, your observation regarding the CCTV was impressive."
"Thank you."
Aurelia smiled politely.
Carl smiled back.
Across the car, Vincent suddenly found the traffic outside incredibly interesting.
While returning back to office after field work.
Just then, another thought crossed Carl's mind.
"Actually, sir, there is one person we've overlooked."
"Who?" Evelyn asked.
"The CEO."
The room became attentive again.
Carl continued.
"If Matthew worked directly under LuminaVital Group, shouldn't we interview the company's CEO?"
Austin nodded.
"That actually makes sense."
Aurelia raised her hand slightly.
"I can contact him anytime."
Silence.
Everyone turned toward her.
"You can what?" Austin asked.
Aurelia looked confused by their reaction.
"I can contact him."
"Why?"
"My father worked closely with him during several business projects. We aren't particularly close, but we know each other professionally."
Carl smiled.
"Looks like we have an advantage after all."
Aurelia laughed lightly.
"Maybe."
Vincent suddenly found the conference room very warm.
Ignoring the conversation entirely, he focused on the actual point.
"A video call won't be enough."
Everyone looked toward him.
"If we're investigating possible corporate involvement, I want to observe reactions personally."
Carl nodded.
"Body language."
"Exactly."
"Hesitation."
"Exactly."
"The environment."
"Exactly."
Vincent folded his arms.
"I want this interview conducted face-to-face."
The room fell silent.
Evelyn already knew where this was heading.
Austin knew too.
And neither of them liked it.
Carl finally asked,
"Where is the CEO currently based?"
Aurelia answered.
"Italy."
The room became completely silent.
Austin closed his eyes.
"No."
Vincent looked at him.
"Yes."
"No."
"Yes."
Austin sighed dramatically.
"We're flying to Italy, aren't we?"
"What's so bad about flying to Italy?" Aurelia raised her eyebrows to silent them
A small smile appeared on Vincent's face.
"We're flying to Italy."
And just like that, the investigation became much bigger than any of them had expected.