Chapter 1The River's Toll: Blood, Secrets, and the Family Business

The secret to my family’s wealth was the river running right outside our door.

Whenever an outsider came by, my father would fake a drowning, then pull the good Samaritan who tried to save him under the water and drown them instead.

He’d call my Uncle Frank to ‘recover the body’ later. Frank would strap the corpse to the boat and demand a hefty reward from the victim's family.

It wasn't just the perfect crime; the profits were incredible.

Until one day, the body Uncle Frank fished out was my father’s.

Just like every person my dad had drowned, his death was ruled an accident.

My mother was inconsolable with grief, but Uncle Frank and the others looked strangely tense.

Later, Frank told me my dad’s death wasn't right.

After Dad died, Frank still received a text message from his phone.

* * *

After my dad’s funeral, Grandpa called all the men in the family together.

That included my Uncle Frank, my two older cousins—Jimmy and Scott—and me, Alex.

Frank started by laying out the facts he knew.

The police estimated my dad, the youngest son, had died around seven or eight p.m.

But Frank didn't receive a text from Dad until after midnight.

That’s why he took Jimmy and Scott out on the boat to retrieve the body.

Sure enough, they brought one up.

But they never expected it to be Dad.

Dad definitely didn't drown by accident. It had to be murder.

He was an expert swimmer. He could easily drag someone under the water and sneak away.

He could even go home, change clothes, and come back to the riverbank to pretend he was helping with the rescue once a crowd gathered.

So, the question was, who killed my dad?

"It shouldn't be an outsider. Dad, look at the message the youngest sent."

He handed his phone, screen lit up, to Grandpa. The three of us cousins leaned in to look.

It was a text message:

"A little bird has fallen into the water."

The sender was my dad, and the time was after midnight, hours after his estimated death.

The problem was, this was our code.

It meant someone had drowned and it was time to go fish out the body.

Frank argued:

"Who else besides family would know that code?"

Grandpa frowned, turning to look at the three of us.

We exchanged glances.

That was my own father, and their uncle.

How could we possibly do something like that?

Even if we could, what was the motive?

Grandpa realized it was unlikely and roared at Frank:

"What are you saying? Don't talk nonsense!"

Frank quickly explained:

"No, I'm not saying the boys would do something like that... I want to know if anyone accidentally told our code to an outsider?"

The moment he said that, Jimmy, standing next to me, suddenly stiffened.