🔥 CHAPTER 3 — THE ENVELOPE THAT DESTROYED HIS LIES
The following morning, every major television station was reporting the same shocking headline.
"Businesswoman Survives Fall from Moving Train—Husband Under Investigation."
Outside the courthouse, reporters crowded behind police barricades, shouting questions at anyone who walked through the entrance.
Alexei sat inside an interrogation room, trying to appear calm.
His expensive lawyer leaned across the table.
"Listen carefully," he whispered. "There were no cameras on that bridge. No direct witnesses. As long as you insist she slipped, the prosecution has a difficult case."
Alexei nodded slowly.
For the first time since his arrest, he felt a small spark of hope.
Maybe he could still escape.
Maybe Marina's injuries had affected her memory.
Maybe everything could still be explained away.
Then the interrogation room door opened.
A senior detective entered carrying a thick brown envelope.
He placed it gently on the table.
"We finally received the package your wife prepared several weeks ago."
Alexei frowned.
"What package?"
The detective ignored him.
He carefully opened the envelope.
Inside were several USB drives, notarized documents, printed emails, and a handwritten letter addressed to the police.
The detective began reading aloud.
"If you are reading this letter, it means something has happened to me."
Alexei's face turned pale.
"For several months, my husband has repeatedly pressured me to transfer every company, property, and investment into his name."
"When I refused, his behavior changed completely."
"He began asking strange questions about life insurance, train schedules, isolated travel routes, and accidents that would leave no witnesses."
The room fell silent.
The detective continued.
"I hope I am wrong. I truly hope the man I married would never hurt me. But if I disappear, please investigate him immediately."
Alexei slammed his fist onto the table.
"That proves nothing!"
The detective calmly connected one of the USB drives to a laptop.
Security camera footage appeared.
It showed Alexei entering the office of a private investigator several weeks earlier.
Another clip showed him meeting with an insurance broker.
Another revealed him purchasing two one-way train tickets only days before the trip.
Still, Alexei forced himself to smile.
"Circumstantial evidence."
His lawyer nodded.
"It doesn't prove attempted murder."
The detective looked almost sympathetic.
"You're right."
Then he clicked another video.
This one came from inside the train.
Passengers watched in silence as the hidden corridor camera showed Marina walking toward the platform.
Seconds later...
Alexei followed.
The footage ended before reaching the outside platform.
Alexei immediately relaxed.
"There."
"I told you."
"It doesn't show anything."
The detective smiled for the first time.
"No."
"It doesn't."
"But someone else did."
Alexei's smile disappeared.
The detective placed a small action camera onto the table.
"It belonged to an adventure photographer riding in the next carriage."
"He was filming the landscape."
"He never realized his camera was pointing toward the platform between the cars."
The detective pressed play.
The video shook violently in the wind.
Mountains...
The bridge...
Then...
Marina standing by the railing.
Alexei approaching.
No argument.
No struggle.
Only one sudden movement.
Two hands.
One violent shove.
Marina disappeared into the canyon.
The room became completely silent.
Even Alexei's lawyer slowly removed his glasses.
For the first time...
He had nothing left to say.
Yet Alexei whispered one desperate sentence.
"...It still isn't over."
No one understood what he meant.
Until that evening.
Because while detectives celebrated solving the case...
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Someone quietly broke into Marina's hospital room.
And the figure wasn't there to visit.
