Chapter 185: The Sarcastic Diner

Chapter 185: Chapter 185: The Sarcastic Diner

After handing the portrait to the chief, Zoe Sawyer considered her part in the matter finished.

A few days later, however, she heard an update from Heath Hale.

"Luckily, even though Lumpy Lloyd is dead, his parents had carefully stored his belongings, including the Brass Necklace.

After the old couple passed away, their younger son, being a filial child, specifically found a drawer to keep his parents’ and brother’s things safe.

That’s why Chief Lee and his team were able to find the evidence when they went over," Heath Hale briefly explained to Zoe Sawyer.

During the search, Lumpy Lloyd’s younger brother had tried to pull the age card and obstruct the police. Not only that, but when they found the Brass Necklace, he stubbornly insisted it belonged to his family.

But the child’s father had engraved his wife’s name on the chain. Although the necklace was rusty, modern technology made it possible to scan the name clearly.

With the evidence being irrefutable, Lumpy Lloyd’s brother could no longer argue and finally confessed the secret he had kept for decades.

A few days before he acted, Lumpy Lloyd had specifically gone to his production brigade leader for a letter of introduction, saying he wanted to get his neck treated so he could come back, find a wife, and have children.

The brigade leader, not wanting to be pestered by such a man, readily wrote it for him.

The next day, Lumpy Lloyd disappeared. But because there was so much work to do in the fields and they didn’t have letters of introduction, his family could only wait anxiously at home.

When Lumpy Lloyd returned, it was already the evening of the fifth day.

The family had just finished dinner and was about to go to bed when Lumpy Lloyd suddenly pushed the door open and walked in. The first words out of his mouth were that he had killed the neighbor’s three children.

He also threw the knife he had used onto the floor.

Lumpy Lloyd’s calm tone and the bloodstains on the knife made his parents and brother gasp.

Without even asking why, they destroyed the weapon and checked to see if their son was injured.

From beginning to end, not one of them cared about the three children.

For the first few days, they lived in terror, afraid someone would suddenly show up to haul Lumpy Lloyd off to prison. It was only after they realized no police were coming that they slowly began to relax.

Two years later, Lumpy Lloyd got drunk and drowned in the river. The three of them, amid their grief, felt a profound sense of relief.

With the main culprit dead, the matter now had nothing to do with them.

Gradually, the Lloyd Family put the incident out of their minds. If the police hadn’t come to their door now, the truth of the case would have been buried forever after Little Brother Lloyd passed away.

As for the old couple, after receiving the family portrait from Chief Lee, they had it framed immediately and placed it by their bedside where they could see it at all times.

And because the one thing that weighed most heavily on their minds had finally been resolved, their health began to decline day by day.

Their nephew didn’t dare leave their side, staying with them day and night with his wife, afraid they would pass away the moment he looked away.

While Zoe Sawyer was wrestling with these cold cases, the atmosphere in a luxury apartment overseas was not nearly as relaxed.

"So, you’re telling me that this city, Varden, which cost me a large number of my people, is hiding a secret... and none of you are competent enough to find out what it is?"

A young woman was lounging on the sofa. Her tone was calm, but her words made everyone around her lower their heads, wishing they could become invisible.

As for the question she had just asked, not a single person could answer.

"Speak."

The moment the woman’s voice faded, the man kneeling at the very front spoke timidly. "Yes, Boss. We’ve only managed to trace the anomaly to the Varden West Precinct.

But we’ve tried everything, and we can’t get a handle on the situation inside. We even... we even had two people captured."

Fortunately, the ones who got caught were new recruits who didn’t know anything, so we didn’t expose anything else.

And because of those two, security at the Varden West Precinct has gotten even tighter, making it even harder to get information.

The Boss clicked her tongue. ’That idiot Six. Before the operation, he was so sure he’d complete the mission.’

’Now he’s been captured just like the others.’

’He didn’t even cause a stir. What a waste of my expectations.’

’If I’d known this would be the result, I should have just had Six blow the place up back then.’

The more she thought about it, the more the Boss regretted it.

"Boss, should we continue?" Mr. Lynch asked, his expression hesitant.

We can’t figure out the situation in Varden. If we remain fixated on it, our losses will only mount.

If possible, Mr. Lynch would rather shift their focus to other cities, or even other countries.

The Boss wasn’t one to be stubborn for the sake of it. The successive losses pained her as well.

After hearing Mr. Lynch’s words, she was silent for a long moment before finally nodding in agreement.

But it was impossible for her to give up on Varden completely.

"Have our little mole keep probing. See if they can figure anything out," the Boss ordered casually.

"Yes, Boss!"

Back on Zoe Sawyer’s end, several more days passed before she finally solved the other cold cases the chief had assigned her.

Aside from the Lumpy Lloyd case, the others were much simpler.

"I can’t take it anymore. I’m going out the back to get something to eat." Zoe Sawyer pushed aside the report in her hands and shot to her feet.

Evan Keller and Sean Hughes grunted in acknowledgment, keeping their heads down as they worked.

They still had a pile of reports to get through!

Heath Hale glanced at the report he was halfway through writing, thought for a moment, and said, "You go ahead. Order a portion for each of us, and we’ll join you as soon as we finish up here."

"No problem!"

Zoe Sawyer patted her chest and agreed.

Then she grabbed Beau and went with Barry Quinn and Monkey.

There were several small restaurants behind the police station, usually patronized by police officers and local residents.

Whenever she got tired of the cafeteria food, Zoe Sawyer would drag Heath Hale and the others over to treat themselves.

"Ah, you’re here." The owner had just handed a lunchbox to his daughter when he saw the four of them standing at the door and quickly greeted them.

"Dad, is this the braised lamb chops with pepper and ginger I wanted?" the woman asked, looking at the lunchbox in her hand.

The owner chuckled. He placed a few wogans next to some regular customers who were eating and replied, "Yes, yes, don’t you worry. I remember exactly what my son-in-law and granddaughter love to eat."

Hearing the answer she wanted, the woman happily left with the lunchbox.

"Well, well, feeling generous lately, giving us wogans every day? With all that time and money, you’d be better off improving your cooking," one of the regular customers remarked sarcastically, eyeing the fruit beside him.

The owner’s hand froze. He rubbed his nose awkwardly, his eyes shifting away.

"They’re cheap. It doesn’t hurt to buy a few extra."