The Day My AC Killed Someone

I turn on my newly installed air conditioner in my apartment because of the sweltering summer heat. To my surprise, the man living in the apartment unit directly below mine—Unit 402—immediately shows up at my door, shouting anxiously, "Turn off that air conditioner right now! I'm going to freeze to death!" Completely bewildered, I assume he's just looking for trouble, but I choose to take the high road and turn off the air conditioner. Not long after he leaves, the heat becomes unbearable again, so I turn the air conditioner back on. The very next second, a gut-wrenching, agonizing scream erupts from the apartment below. I'm startled, but I don't think much of it, convinced he's just putting on a show. Yet, every time I lower the temperature by a single degree, the man's screams from below grow even louder and more intense. It sends shivers down my spine. Just as I'm about to head downstairs to see what's going on, the man suddenly goes silent. I assume he finally stopped his antics and let out a sigh of relief before going back to playing my video games. But that same night, two police officers arrive at my door with grim expressions on their faces. "Mr. Timothy Russell? The man who lives in the apartment below you, Freddie Sanchez, is dead. He froze to death a few hours ago. And in his final words, he named you as the killer!" Chapter 1 My mind went completely blank, as if it'd just exploded. Once I regained my senses, I hurriedly explained, "Officer! There's been a terrible mistake! I haven't even stepped outside today! Besides, I've never even interacted with that man before! How could I possibly have harmed him?" The chief police officer, whose name badge said "Melvin Yoder", fixed me with a sharp, piercing gaze. He asked sternly, "You're Timothy Russell, right? Before Freddie Sanchez died, he left a final statement, claiming that you were the one who killed him." With that, Officer Yoder pulled out his phone and played a recording. A weak, halting voice drifted out, chattering and whispering, "It's so cold… So cold… T-That Russell guy right above me is trying to freeze me to death with his AC unit… Please… save me…" A shiver ran through my entire body. Who else could it be but the man who claimed to be from Unit 402 earlier? But when had I ever tried to freeze him to death? Before I could even process it, Officer Yoder tucked his phone away and stared at me with a scrutinizing look. "Furthermore, according to surveillance footage, you were the last person Freddie sought out before he died. I expect your full cooperation with our investigation, Mr. Russell." I was left speechless. There was no denying it. Freddie had indeed come to my door just a few hours ago. So, I had no choice but to step aside and let them into the apartment. Officer Yoder took in his surroundings, while the other two officers split up to inspect the other rooms. I suddenly remembered that I'd also set up a surveillance camera inside my own home, so I quickly pulled out my phone and played the footage for Officer Yoder to see. "Officer, I really haven't left the house all day today! And I have the surveillance footage to prove it! Freddie's death has absolutely nothing to do with me!" Officer Yoder took the phone and squinted at the screen. In the footage, I could clearly be seen moving about inside my apartment. The only time I opened the door was when Freddie showed up, and I never stepped outside the entire time. After watching the surveillance footage, Officer Yoder remained silent for a few seconds, then nodded. "I can confirm that you do indeed have an alibi with this." Just as I began to breathe a sigh of relief, Officer Yoder's tone shifted abruptly as he continued, "However, this doesn't entirely clear you of suspicion, Mr. Russell." Taken aback, I asked, "Why? If I wasn't even there, how could I have committed the crime?" Officer Yoder handed my phone back, his voice chillingly calm. "As I mentioned earlier, Freddie wasn't murdered. He froze to death. And as you heard in his final words, this AC unit you installed in your home is directly linked to his death." I was stunned. Setting aside the fact that the AC unit I installed had absolutely nothing to do with Freddie's home, it was literally the height of summer right now—the temperature in any normal room without air conditioning would be at least 100 degrees. Even if I cranked the AC to its maximum setting and funneled all that cold air into Freddie's home, the temperature would still only drop to around 60 degrees. So, how could a temperature like that possibly cause someone to freeze to death? Chapter 2 I quickly explained my thoughts and hunches to Officer Yoder, who listened to me and nodded in agreement. "You're right. Logically, Freddie can't freeze to death at his home, given the current weather and temperature. But the problem is, Freddie was indeed frozen to death, as certified by our forensic pathologist. "According to our investigation, his home is the scene of the first crime, but he doesn't have any refrigeration equipment such as refrigerators and air conditioners in his home." I couldn't help but interject, "Then it's possible that the murderer used some kind of refrigeration equipment to freeze Freddie to death and then escaped with it!" Officer Yoder immediately shook his head and replied, "We checked all the surrounding surveillance cameras. Nobody came in or out of his apartment after he returned from your place, not until his death. So, your hunch is completely invalid. "Also, according to our forensic investigation, Freddie was frozen to death over a span of half an hour. This way of murdering someone is simply too inefficient for a common burglary gone awry or other similar crimes." Over a span of half an hour? A sudden chill ran down my spine. That was about the same length of time I'd heard Freddie screaming downstairs when I turned my AC unit on earlier today. Also, he had started screaming the moment I turned it on—not any earlier or later. Could it be that Freddie's freezing to death was really related to my turning on the AC? However, I quickly shook that thought off the moment it appeared. After all, it was just plain ridiculous to think that turning on the AC in my apartment unit would freeze a living person downstairs to death. It was simply preposterous. Officer Yoder noticed the change in my expression and said seriously, "We've basically ruled out all external factors for Freddie's death, Mr. Russell. And his last words, which are the only direct lead we have now, point to you. "You'd better tell the truth about everything and don't bother hiding anything if you want to clear yourself of any suspicion." I quickly put my hand to my chest and swore, "Officer, I swear to God that I'm really not hiding anything from you!" Officer Yoder nodded and said no more, but I could see the suspicion in his eyes deepening. I felt utterly helpless. After all, my only "crime" was turning on the AC at my own home. How could I possibly be involved in the case of someone freezing to death somewhere else? What on Earth was going on? My thoughts were still running wild when the two other police officers finished inspecting my apartment. They came back and said, "We found nothing out of the ordinary, Chief. We've checked the AC unit as well. Everything's functioning normally." I couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when I heard that. Since there was no problem with my AC unit, that would mean I was cleared of suspicion, right? But to my shock and horror, Officer Yoder shattered all of my illusions the next second, saying, "In that case, please come to the crime scene with us, Mr. Russell!" Chapter 3 Reluctant as I was, I had no choice but to agree, just to clear myself of suspicion. When we arrived at Unit 402, police had already set up a cordon, and a crowd of onlookers gathered nearby, whispering among themselves. I followed Officer Yoder and the others through the crowd and stepped inside. As soon as I crossed the threshold, a wave of intense heat hit me, along with an indescribable, pungent odor. I scanned the scene before me. Freddie's body lay on the floor, covered by a white sheet, though a portion of his pale, bluish-white arm remained exposed. I might not have seen a frozen human corpse before, but I'd certainly seen plenty of frozen meat in freezers—and Freddie's arm looked exactly like a block of meat fresh out of a freezer compartment. Yet, because of the sweltering heat in the room, it was also beginning to thaw, like raw meat left out to defrost. I couldn't believe that Freddie had actually frozen to death. I only got even more confused at this point. Even with a portable AC unit now set up in the room, the temperature still remained stiflingly high. I could only imagine how hot it must have been in here earlier. So how on Earth could he have frozen to death? Officer Yoder stood beside me, watching my expression closely. "Does any of this ring a bell?" I shook my head. "This is my first time inside this apartment unit." A flicker of disappointment crossed Officer Yoder's eyes. Just then, an officer hurried over and whispered something to him. Officer Yoder's expression then shifted instantly, snapping his gaze toward me and demanding sharply, "Timothy Russell! The time Freddie was heard screaming in his home matches perfectly with the time you turned on your AC! "Why didn't you mention this earlier? Were you deliberately hiding it from us?" My heart sank as my expression stiffened. I hadn't wanted to bring it up, partly because the idea that my AC unit could cause Freddie to freeze to death seemed utterly implausible, and partly because I didn't want to invite further suspicion. I just hadn't expected the police to dig deep enough to uncover this detail. Now, I was well and truly in it. Anything else I said now would probably just sound like I was making excuses. I was about to explain myself, but Officer Yoder cut me off, his tone sharp and stern. "According to your own previous statement, Freddie came to your place and told you not to turn on the AC, claiming that he would freeze to death otherwise. "Yet, when you heard Freddie screaming at the time of the incident, you still went ahead and kept it turned on anyway—and sure enough, Freddie froze to death! "And you didn't come clean to us about this detail, deliberately hiding it from us. What exactly were your intentions?" Faced with this barrage of accusations, I was completely stunned. I desperately wanted to explain myself, but I didn't even know where to begin, and the words wouldn't come out of my mouth. Officer Yoder was even more convinced I was guilty the moment he saw the panic on my face. He immediately ordered his officers to take me away for further interrogation. As they moved to handcuff me, I grew frantic and shouted for them to stop. I then turned to Officer Yoder, whose expression was a mix of emotions, and steadied myself. "Officer, since you suspect that I was the one who caused Freddie to freeze to death by turning on the AC in my unit, why don't we test it out and see? Let's see if running my AC actually causes the temperature in Freddie's home to drop!" Chapter 4 The other officers exchanged glances with each other when they heard what I said. Officer Yoder also stared at me for a full ten seconds before finally saying very slowly, "Fine. I'll give you a chance to prove yourself." He then turned around and told the other officers to begin setting up for the test. I breathed a silent sigh of relief. My AC unit was installed on my own balcony, with the piping running along the exterior wall. There was absolutely no physical connection to Freddie's home. No matter how high I cranked the AC, it shouldn't have had any impact on the temperature in his place—let alone freeze him to death in his home. It was simply impossible! The officers were soon done preparing. They placed a thermometer in the center of Freddie's living room. At Officer Yoder's command, the officer inside my home pressed the power button on the air conditioner. A few minutes passed. While my own home had become quite cool, the air inside Freddie's place remained hot, stuffy, and sweltering. I let out a long breath and turned to Officer Yoder to plead my case. But the next second, the officer monitoring the thermometer shouted, "The temperature is actually dropping!" I looked up sharply. The officer was staring fixedly at the thermometer, his voice filled with disbelief. "Look! 90… 88… 86… It's dropping, and very quickly too!" Officer Yoder strode over to the thermometer, leaning in to watch the numbers flicker on the screen. His pupils contracted sharply. "82… 80…" I watched, stunned, as the numbers on the thermometer plummeted and the surrounding air turned abruptly biting cold. But it didn't stop there. Within minutes, the thermometer hit the freezing point. Wisps of white mist began to curl through the air from our breaths, and a layer of frost rapidly formed on the living room floor, spreading outward through the gaps. Since none of us could endure the freezing temperatures, everyone scrambled to get outside. In just a little over ten minutes, the temperature inside the house had plummeted to well below -20 degrees. Even the cold radiating from within through the door made everyone shiver outside. Officer Yoder was the first to react. He turned toward me, his gaze even colder than the room itself. "What else do you have to say for yourself, Timothy Russell?" I opened my mouth, but not a single word came out. How could turning on the AC upstairs cause the temperature downstairs to plummet to -20 degrees? What on Earth was going on here? Two officers stepped forward and clamped cold, metallic handcuffs around my wrists. Officer Yoder then gestured at them, signaling for them to take me away. But just as they were about to lead me off, a question suddenly flashed through my mind. Even if the temperature in the room had dropped so suddenly, why hadn't Freddie just run outside to safety instead of staying inside his unit to freeze to death? It wasn't like he was tied up or held against his will, was he? With that thought, I immediately looked toward a corner in the unit. The moment I found what I was looking for, everything immediately fell into place in my head and became as clear as day. I straightened up abruptly and yelled, "This has nothing to do with my air conditioner! I know why the temperature dropped so drastically! And I know why Freddie froze to death!"