Chapter 105: The Abandoned Cellar

Chapter 105: Chapter 105: The Abandoned Cellar

Everyone followed Zoe Sawyer’s gaze and saw a pair of hands, identical to the vagrant’s, come into view.

However, these hands were more slender, and the two main fingers were more pointed. At first glance, they strangely resembled a crab’s pincers.

The two men’s faces were also similar; you could tell they were related at a single glance.

"AHH!"

The man let out a furious roar, grabbing something off the ground and throwing it toward Zoe Sawyer’s group.

Whether because his vision was blocked or he lacked the strength, the rock fell several feet short of the group.

"I don’t think he can talk," Zoe Sawyer said with a frown. "Ever since he came out, he’s just been babbling. He hasn’t said a single word."

Combined with the state of his hands, Zoe Sawyer had a reasonable suspicion that the man was non-verbal.

To prevent the man from suddenly attacking anyone, Heath Hale shot him with a tranquilizer gun.

The last vagrant had woken up far too quickly. To prevent a repeat of that incident, Evan Keller found some spare rope in a nearby office and tied the man up.

While tying him up, they discovered the man’s feet were in the same condition as his hands.

"His thigh muscles are atrophied. There’s no strength in them. He probably can’t walk normally," Barry Quinn assessed quickly after feeling the man’s thigh.

’If that’s the case, then it’s no wonder the sound we heard earlier was him dragging his body across the floor.’

’These two brothers are definitely hiding other secrets!’

"First, we need to confirm the location. Regardless, we have to get people over there to process the scene. We need to determine exactly how many victims there are." Heath Hale’s expression was grim as he glanced at the severed arms in the corner.

They had previously guessed the victim was just the owner of the wallet, or perhaps her boyfriend, too. Now, it seemed they had to add another person to the list of the dead.

This meant a significant increase in their workload.

"Zoe, place the tracker inside and see if it can get a signal," Heath Hale said, looking at her.

The place looked like a long-abandoned cellar, so it was unclear if the tracker would be able to function properly.

If it didn’t, they would have to leave two people behind to go up and scout the area outside the cellar.

The risk was too great; if he could avoid it, Heath Hale didn’t want to resort to that method.

They could just bring the local police directly to the location, but they weren’t familiar with the situation at this precinct. It was best not to expose Zoe Sawyer’s ability if they could help it.

More importantly, they didn’t know if there was anyone else above ground.

If there were other accomplices and their actions spooked them into running, it would be a disaster.

After Zoe placed the device, Evan Keller confirmed with Officer Lee over the phone that the tracker was working properly.

"That’s great! Now we just have to pinpoint the location," Zoe Sawyer said, clenching her fists in excitement.

They wasted no time and handed the intel they’d gathered over to Officer Stone.

Officer Stone’s expression was complex. Just a moment ago, Zoe Sawyer and her team had known as little as he did, but now they had suddenly found a major lead.

But then he remembered the phone call from his chief. After Officer Stone had confirmed the team’s names, the chief had told him one thing: ’Don’t ask questions. Just do whatever they say.’

The chief couldn’t give him a specific reason.

That’s just what his own superior had told him.

And that superior didn’t seem to have any more information than the chief himself.

So, the chief had concluded that Zoe Sawyer’s team was on a mission with a very high security clearance, and the best course of action was simply not to ask questions.

"Judging by the GPS, we’re pretty far from that location," Officer Stone said, recalling the area. "If I’m not mistaken, there should only be a few abandoned adobe houses out there."

The area was remote and hard to get to, and there were only a few homes there to begin with.

Once the handful of elderly residents who had stayed behind passed away, the place gradually became deserted.

If Zoe Sawyer’s team hadn’t suddenly pointed it out, Officer Stone doubted he would have ever thought of it as a place to hide someone.

"There’s no time to waste. Let’s go now."

The thought of the severed arms in the cellar made Zoe Sawyer antsy. She wished she could rush over there immediately.

Soon, the group followed the tracker’s signal and arrived at the location.

The houses there were just as Officer Stone had described: dilapidated and clearly uninhabitable.

However, the team immediately spotted a pile of ashes at the base of a low wall.

"This is recent. Probably from the last day or two," Heath Hale said, reaching out to feel the ashes.

Barry Quinn and Monkey flanked Zoe Sawyer, their eyes warily scanning the surroundings.

The man they had captured was bound, but they couldn’t be sure the area above ground was clear. Caution was paramount.

However, after a thorough search, they only found tracks from a single person, presumably the vagrant.

Having found no other evidence after a search, Evan Keller followed the tracker’s signal to a specific spot, then turned to Officer Stone. "Where would a cellar normally be located in a house like this?"

"A cellar? They’re usually in the kitchen," Officer Stone said. He glanced around, then walked into the kitchen. After moving a pile of junk and firewood, he revealed the cellar door.

The group stood to either side as they pulled the cellar door open.

A complex, foul odor immediately billowed out.

"BLECH, that smell is horrendous!" The officers behind Officer Stone couldn’t help but gag.

Even their masks couldn’t completely block the nauseating stench.

Having experienced it once before, Zoe Sawyer’s team held their breath in unison as the door opened, successfully dodging the initial wave of the assault on their senses.

"I’ll go down and scout. You follow," Heath Hale said, grabbing a high-powered flashlight and his weapon before being the first to enter the cellar.

Seeing that the scene inside was exactly as they had witnessed it before, Heath Hale breathed a sigh of relief.

He retrieved the tracker and called up, signaling that it was safe for Officer Stone and his men to come down.

Meanwhile, Zoe Sawyer, Barry Quinn, and Monkey remained on guard upstairs. The cellar was too small to accommodate everyone, but another reason was that Zoe’s help wasn’t needed for processing the crime scene.

Officer Stone also had two of his own officers stand guard outside, ready to provide backup at a moment’s notice.

Upon seeing the state of the cellar and the severed arms within, the color drained from the faces of Officer Stone and his men.

"There’s another small door here. Let’s check it out." Evan Keller pointed to the wooden door the man in the vision had opened. After making sure it was safe, he led a few others inside, flashlights sweeping ahead.

The space behind the wooden door was small, only a few steps deep.

But the smell inside was even worse.

On top of the odors from the main room, there was an acrid stench of blood and filth.

Gazing at the pile of unidentifiable matter in the corner, Evan Keller and the others didn’t need to get any closer to guess what it was.

"Keller, get over here. There’s something."