“I... I also acknowledge that Judy sings better than the three of us," Rylee ventured her opinion in Hanna's wake.

Elma was disdainful of her statement. Then she thought on her feet and came up with an idea.

She sneered and said, "So, since you two both think that Judy is the best singer here, we have every reason to suspect you of poisoning her!"

For a moment, Hanna and Rylee looked lost in utter shock. Their mood darkened at the words.

After finally plucking up the courage to state exactly how they felt, they now became suspects! How ironical. Elma continued in a stern voice, "I've made my point clear. Now it's your turn to defend yourselves. Try to come up with some positive proof."

Hanna and Rylee Looked at each other helplessly.

Where could they find any proof to support their innocence?

This was too difficult. They were stumped.

ALL four of them had been in the Lounge earlier. Even though Hanna had been the first to Leave for the recording room, that was not convincing enough to prove her innocence.

As for Rylee, she was in a serious dilemma. Not only was she the owner of the thermal cup but she had also offered Judy the tea. Her act of kindness had worked against her. She was now a suspect in attempted murder!

“I... I am okay with a body search. I don't have that kind of poison on me," Hanna said weakly.

Rylee felt worse than her. Under the gaze of the director and several judges, she said with some difficulty, "I can also accept that."

Elma let her guard down when she saw their feeble attempts to defend themselves.

She scoffed, "A body search? Well, that's fine with me too."

She didn't usually carry the poison with her, but this time she brought one dose by chance, and it was all used up so there were no traces of it already.

Elma had even crumpled up the poison packaging into a tiny ball and stuffed it into an inconspicuous crack in the floor.

Among the three people, Elma exuded the most confidence.

Having surveyed the scene all the way through, Francis concluded that although Elma had a rotten temper, she was in all Likelihood innocent.

“After all careful consideration, I find Rylee to be the most suspicious. Alas, I can't believe you young people nowadays are so eager for quick success and instant benefits that you would resort to murderous means to achieve your end." Francis spoke with unspeakable disappointment and deep regret in his heart.

"A body search? Don't bother," said Maria decisively. ALL curious eyes followed Maria opening her bag. She took out a pair of thin gloves from it.

They had only seen this kind of gloves on TV, which were used by doctors during surgery and by policemen investigating a crime scene. These gloves were sterile and did not Leave fingerprints behind.

Maria put on her gloves and picked up Rylee's thermos cup.

“The outer shell of this cup is frosted. That should yield some results SO..."

Before Maria could finish her words, Elma interrupted her rudely.