Chapter 103: This is Mine

Chapter 103: Chapter 103: This is Mine

Never mind the homeless man’s clothes—he couldn’t possibly afford this latest model of phone.

Let alone this wallet, which was clearly a woman’s.

Heath Hale opened it. The wallet was completely empty; there was nothing inside.

Sean Hughes walked over for a look and told Heath Hale to feel around for anything in the compartments.

Some women liked to keep a few ID photos tucked into wallet compartments just in case. They were small and wouldn’t get in the way.

If the homeless man had really stolen the wallet, he would have most likely thrown out the ID card and anything similar.

But inconspicuous ID photos might have been overlooked.

Hearing this, Heath Hale reached in and felt around. Sure enough, tucked into the innermost layer were several small photos.

He pulled them out. There were ID photos of a man and a woman, as well as a photo booth sticker.

Judging by their affectionate pose, they were clearly a young couple.

A homeless man, a phone and wallet that weren’t his, and a blood-soaked kitchen knife.

All the pieces added up to a chilling possibility.

’Could it be... this homeless man killed someone and then took their things for himself?’

"Do you have enough vehicles? We need to take all these people back with us," Barry Quinn asked, looking at the male officer.

Meanwhile, Heath Hale was tying up the homeless man while Evan Keller placed the collected items into an evidence bag.

As for the kitchen knife, they had no choice but to re-wrap it in the black cloth.

"We do! We can take you all back to the station first, then have someone come back for the rest." The male officer did a quick head count. It was enough.

"Alright. I’ll contact my colleague and have him send the video over." Sean Hughes wasn’t idle either; he quickly sent a message to Officer Lee, asking him to send the screen recording.

At the same time, he also made sure to message his chief and explain the situation.

Since they were out of the province, they couldn’t just take the suspect back to Varden. The case had to be handled locally.

They would most likely be delayed for a few days before they could head back.

"Sorry, I didn’t catch your name, officer?" Sean Hughes, who had taken on the role of the team’s liaison, walked up to the male officer and asked.

"It’s Stone. Just call me Stan. What brings you folks out here, if you don’t mind me asking?" Officer Stone’s voice held a hint of hesitation.

"Ahem, confidential mission. I can’t disclose the details."

Sean Hughes coughed a few times, brushing off the question with a vague answer.

Since he had already seen their credentials and confirmed their identities, Officer Stone tactfully dropped the subject after hearing it was a confidential mission.

Zoe Sawyer and the others quickly returned to the police station with the five individuals.

The town was so peaceful that they usually only dealt with petty theft or brawls.

They had never seen a case of attempted murder by minors before.

On the way back, Officer Stone had called the parents of each of the four kids.

Not long after they got back, an elderly man rushed into the station.

After seeing that his grandson was only dirty and not seriously injured, he collapsed to the floor in a heap.

"Thank God you’re okay, thank God... If something had really happened to you, what would I have told your parents?" The old man’s trembling hand stroked the little boy’s face, his own face filled with lingering fear.

The other parents arrived soon after.

The lanky boy’s mother was completely unreasonable, insisting her child was just being mischievous and meant no harm.

The parents of the other two chimed in, saying the kids were just playing around and that the police were blowing things out of proportion.

The three parents’ clamoring came to an abrupt halt when the police presented the evidence.

Faced with the various pieces of evidence, the three kids who had hoped their parents could get them out of trouble were left speechless.

In the end, they had no choice but to confess that they had done it on purpose. They wanted to see what it felt like to bury someone alive.

They chose this particular victim because he was good-natured and easier to bully than the others, and he only lived with his grandmother. If something really happened, their own parents could raise hell at his home without consequence.

Taking all that into consideration, the lanky boy and his two friends set their sights on the young boy.

When Zoe Sawyer heard the three confess, she sucked in a sharp breath.

’Seriously, how old are they?! How could they have such vicious thoughts already!’

’They never even considered what a devastating blow their actions would have dealt to this family if we hadn’t arrived in time!’

"Some people are just born pure evil. You can’t possibly understand their way of thinking. But what matters is that the outcome was good," Heath Hale said, patting Zoe Sawyer’s head as he consoled her in a gentle voice.

"They’ll be punished. For what they did, not only will they have to compensate the boy for emotional damages, but they’ll also do at least eight to ten years in prison," Sean Hughes added from the side.

The lanky boy and his two friends were all over fourteen but under sixteen. However, the circumstances were severe, the impact was heinous, and it was premeditated, so the sentence would definitely be harsher.

But since they were still under sixteen and hadn’t actually killed anyone, the maximum sentence would be more than ten years, but less than twenty.

Only after being assured that the three would get what they deserved did Zoe Sawyer’s sense of indignation finally subside.

"Folks, the homeless man is awake," Officer Stone said, knocking on the office door to address the group inside.

Zoe Sawyer looked astonished. The tranquilizer dart in Heath Hale’s gun was potent enough to take down an elephant. First-time subjects usually didn’t wake up until the next day at the earliest.

This homeless man woke up in less than two hours?!

"Did you water down your darts?" Zoe Sawyer asked, looking at the tranquilizer gun in Heath Hale’s hand with a surprised expression.

"No way. I just restocked today," Heath Hale retorted, rolling his eyes.

This thing was more useful than a taser, and unlike a service pistol, firing a single round didn’t mean filling out a mountain of paperwork.

That’s why Heath Hale always kept the tranquilizer gun ready on missions. There was no way he wouldn’t check its condition!

"Maybe this homeless man is an exception, immune to it. Alright, let’s go see what’s going on." Barry Quinn cut off their discussion, and they all headed toward the interrogation room.

At that moment, the homeless man was strapped into an interrogation chair, furiously pounding on the table in front of him.

’I want to go home!’

’I have to get back to my little brother!’

With that thought, the homeless man glared at the chair restraining him, his eyes turning savage. He raised his hands, about to smash the table in front of him.

Before his hands could come down, Heath Hale pushed open the door and walked in behind Officer Stone.

The homeless man saw the tranquilizer gun in Heath Hale’s hand and flinched. The savage look in his eyes instantly cleared.

"Whoa, he’s afraid of you. You have no idea—before you guys came in, this fellow was going wild, like he was about to tear the whole room apart," Officer Stone said with a raised eyebrow.

It seemed he wasn’t stupid; he knew who had captured him.

Heath Hale understood the implication. He took the wallet, sealed in its evidence bag, from Officer Stone and held it up in front of the homeless man. "Where did you get this?"

"It’s mine!"