Chapter 182: Found the Evidence

Chapter 182: Chapter 182: Found the Evidence

Ignoring her own condition, the moment Zoe Sawyer steadied herself, she shouted to Barry Quinn and Monkey by the door.

With a practiced motion, Barry Quinn took out his phone, dialed the chief’s number, and told him what had happened.

The chief, having just stepped out of a provincial department meeting, shot up from his chair the moment he learned that Zoe Sawyer had solved a cold case from decades ago involving the tragic deaths of three children. Under the confused gazes of everyone in the conference room, his voice was tinged with excitement. "Is that true? I’m on my way back now! Have her get the sketch and the report ready!"

Upon hearing this, Elder Crowe realized Zoe Sawyer must have found some crucial piece of evidence again.

The chief quickly hung up, nodded apologetically to the others in the conference room, and said, "Something important came up at the precinct that I need to handle. I have to go."

The others nodded, understanding.

They wanted to go along, but explicit orders from above stated that unless a case required Zoe Sawyer’s assistance, no one was permitted to disturb her.

They also weren’t allowed to inquire about her schedule or her work.

Though they were itching with curiosity, a stern look from Elder Crowe was enough to make the others stay obediently in their seats.

"Mills," Elder Crowe said, turning to the middle-aged man on his left. "How’s that person you’re handling? It’s about time to loosen the reins. You have to give some slack if you want to catch a big fish."

Mills nodded toward Elder Crowe. "He’s been making more moves lately," he reported. "He’s searching for information on Varden more frequently in private. A few days ago, he even put on a disguise and furtively headed out in another direction.

Our colleague tailing him was afraid of being spotted if they got too close, so they couldn’t follow him all the way to his destination. But we can confirm he went to meet another man. When he reappeared, his expression was grim. He’d likely been given some sort of order.

When I get back, I plan to ease up on the surveillance. I’ll expose him to some other cases and see if we can get him to slip up and lead us to whoever is pulling his strings."

Hearing this plan, Elder Crowe nodded, but warned him to be careful. Not too lenient, or the target might realize something’s wrong and make a run for it.

"I understand. You can rest assured, Elder Crowe."

Meanwhile, the chief rushed back to the Varden West Precinct. The moment he stepped out of his car, he broke into a jog toward the archives room.

Meanwhile, guided by Zoe Sawyer’s description, Beau finished sketching the murderer’s face.

Since Heath Hale had witnessed the entire event as well, Zoe Sawyer didn’t have to write the report herself. After Barry Quinn relayed the chief’s message, Heath sat back down and typed it up as quickly as he could.

He even had time to write a separate, brief report explaining how he was able to see the crime scene just by holding Zoe Sawyer’s hand.

"Heath," Zoe Sawyer said, her expression suddenly turning grim after the sketch was done. "We saw the whole thing, but I don’t think we have any hard evidence to actually identify the murderer."

’We’ve found the murderer, but we have no evidence to convict him!’

Zoe Sawyer carefully replayed the entire vision in her mind, then nodded with certainty. No, she truly hadn’t seen anything.

The initial excitement of finding the murderer evaporated in an instant.

’Without evidence, knowing who did it is useless.’

’No. I have to look again!’

Gritting her teeth, Zoe Sawyer told Heath Hale her decision.

Before she could get back to the door, the chief ran in, his face flush with excitement. "Sawyer! Barry Quinn said you cracked that cold case. Is it true?"

Zoe Sawyer pointed to the desk. "The sketch and report are there. I need to go back in and find some evidence to positively identify the killer."

Without waiting for the chief to reply, Zoe Sawyer shut the door, gripped the handle, and repeated the process.

Before she could open the door, Heath Hale once again took hold of her left wrist.

Zoe Sawyer didn’t resist. She just urgently pushed the door open, and the living room from before reappeared in front of them.

The chief watched them, his expression puzzled as he looked at their joined hands.

Beau must have noticed the chief’s confusion, because he tugged on his sleeve and pointed to the two reports Heath Hale had just written.

After reading the reports, the chief’s gaze toward Zoe Sawyer and Heath Hale was filled with delighted surprise.

’An unexpected bonus!’

Meanwhile, Zoe Sawyer’s eyes were glued to the living room before them, desperately searching for any shred of evidence.

This time, Zoe Sawyer finally noticed something she had missed before.

When the killer emerged from the room carrying the toddler, his pocket was noticeably fuller, and a small glint of gold was visible.

She had been so furious the first time that she’d completely overlooked it.

This time, however, thanks to the perfect recall the door granted her, Zoe Sawyer was able to quickly compare the two viewings and spot the inconsistency.

’Could my memory be wrong?’ To be safe, Zoe Sawyer cautiously replayed the vision one more time, confirming that the killer’s pocket had indeed been empty when he first arrived.

"Heath, look! In the killer’s pocket! Is that a flash of gold?" Zoe Sawyer exclaimed, pointing excitedly at the spot.

’I finally found it! Evidence!’

Heath Hale looked where Zoe Sawyer was pointing and confirmed that he could, in fact, see a glint of gold.

He honestly wouldn’t have noticed it if she hadn’t pointed it out.

"You’re right, there is!" Heath Hale confirmed with a nod.

Once they confirmed it, Zoe Sawyer eagerly shut the door and turned to the chief, who was waiting anxiously.

"Chief! We found something!" Zoe Sawyer said excitedly. "The killer appears to have taken some gold jewelry from the victim’s home! That can be used as evidence, right?"

Heath Hale looked at the excited Zoe Sawyer, pursing his lips. He decided not to say anything that might spoil her mood.

’It’s been too long,’ he thought. ’Even if the murderer sold it, tracking it down now would be incredibly difficult.’

"Back then, investigators did suspect it might have been a robbery, so they asked the couple if they had suffered any property loss.

The husband checked and found that the cash hidden under their pillow was untouched; only a Brass Necklace was missing.

"Compared to the wad of cash, the Brass Necklace didn’t seem valuable. The couple assumed their child had been playing with it and lost it somewhere in the house, so the police at the time dismissed the robbery motive." The chief had clearly reviewed the case; hearing Zoe Sawyer’s finding, he added details that weren’t in the main file.

These details came from various scattered follow-ups over the next six months. The original precinct had gathered everything into a single bag to make it easier to review if the case was ever reopened.

’Then it’s a match!’

Zoe Sawyer clapped her hands in excitement.

The chief glanced at the report and the sketch in his hands, then spoke.

"I’ll contact them right now. You two get ready and follow me."