The case was strange. The girl was scared to death on a swing.
If we don’t handle it flawlessly, it might be hard to convince everyone.
I went back to the scene and spoke to nearby residents.
This is an old apartment building for the elderly.
It's a stairwell with few people coming and going.
I went up to the door and knocked.
An old man opened the door. He lived with his grandson.
I asked,
"Excuse me, sir. Did you see anyone on the swing on 7 September between 5 pm and 7pm?"
The old man shook his head. He hadn't seen anyone.
I was disappointed and was about to leave.
But his grandson suddenly came over and shouted at me.
"Sir, why don't you ask me? I saw it and recorded a video."
I turned around and asked him to show me.
The video was shot at 6:02 pm and was only 30 seconds long.
It showed Grace Winton and her grandmother.
The two were having a good time and you could hear Grace Winton laughing.
This was sufficient proof that Grace Winton's death on the swing was an accident.
I copied the video and watched it again at the police station.
The swing was moving too fast in the video, and Grace Winton's face was blurry.
I gave the video to my colleague to fix.
The result was terrifying.
The video was restored, and Grace Winton's face was clearer but also more terrifying.
Like when we found her that night.
Her mouth was open, her eyes bulging, her face twisted, and her complexion pale.
She was dead.
The video kept playing and Grace Winton's corpse on the swing seemed to laugh, leaving everyone with fear.
Why would a dead person laugh?
Something's wrong, but I don't know what it was.
I went outside for some fresh air.
A kindergarten was next to it, with lots of children swinging.
Laughter and screams filled the air.
This reminded me of Grace Winton, so I watched for a while.
I suddenly knew where the problem was.
The video had the wrong laughter.
The children at the kindergarten only laughed or screamed when the teacher pushed them up, not when the swing came back down.
In the video, Grace Winton screamed when the swing came back down.
The sound in the video was fake.
Grace Winton's grandmother was lying!
I retrieved her grandmother’s phone, an old smartphone model from ten years ago, which was extremely sluggish and took forever to respond.
In her phone, there were several videos of Grace Winton swinging.
I copied them and asked the technicians to compare their audio with the 30-second video we obtained.
Sure enough, the audio from that 30-second video originated from one of the grandmother’s videos.
She was playing a video of her granddaughter swinging loudly on her phone while pushing the swing.
People passing by thought Grace Winton was still alive because they heard laughter.
It was dark and the swing was moving, so it was hard to see the person's face.
After the witnesses passed, she turned off the video.
The witnesses thought the girl was still alive, which misled the police.
If we hadn't got the video, she would have got away with it.
The old lady looked clumsy, but her thoughts were precise.
She didn't seem demented.
Why would she do this?
If she killed her, there was no need to move her granddaughter to the swing.
I realised she was probably trying to hide the crime scene.
Grace Winton's death might not have been an accident.
Her grandmother, Lana Winton, was likely covering for someone.
Who would make an old lady take the blame for murder?
Her son, James Winton.
I questioned Lana Winton again in the interrogation room.
I put the video in front of her and said,
"If you didn't kill your granddaughter, why are you lying?"
She looked uneasy and trembled.
I warned her firmly.
"Helping someone avoid blame is also a crime. "＂Confess now and don't get involved!"
She cried and couldn't speak. Her mind was on the verge of breaking.
I asked her:
"Whose crime are you covering for?"
She was upset and cried for a while, but she stayed silent.
Once she calmed down, she resumed a cold demeanor:
"I killed my granddaughter. I'm not taking the blame for anyone."
I was angry and slammed my hand on the table.
