Chapter 202: Unable to Pass Through the Door to the Crime Scene Anymore?

Chapter 202: Chapter 202: Unable to Pass Through the Door to the Crime Scene Anymore?

Once the items were recovered, Evan Keller carefully unwrapped them. He found the clothes the killer had changed out of and the dagger, both perfectly preserved inside.

"Send these for analysis. See if we can match them to the bloodstains at the scene." Evan Keller handed the items to a team member next to him, telling them to rush the evidence back to the station.

The moment the recovered items were opened, the killer collapsed and sat right on the ground. After hearing Evan Keller’s words, he twisted his lips into a smirk and said, "No need to send them. I admit it. I killed that family of three.

And the others before them... I killed them, too."

Evan Keller stared at the killer, then gestured to the team members holding the murder weapon to hurry up and go.

A confession was one thing, but they still needed physical evidence.

"They had no quarrel with you. Why would you target them?" Heath Hale stared at the killer and asked in a low voice.

Hearing this, the killer let out a cold laugh. "Why? Because they’re scum, that’s why! How many families have been destroyed by people like them, all for their own sordid desires?

What I’m doing is ridding the world of a pest! If people like them were gone, some marriages could actually survive!"

He remembered his childhood. How his mother, driven mad with suspicion by his father’s mistress, filled their home with endless turmoil. Then, the other woman came right to their door, pregnant, to force his mother out.

What happened after that?

He couldn’t remember clearly. He only remembered that at the end of the argument, his mother, in a fit of rage, threw herself from a high floor, shattering on impact. The mistress successfully took her place, lording her pregnancy over him and swaggering around the house every day.

She would even threaten him from time to time, saying that once the son in her belly was born, she would sell him off. Then everything in the house would belong to her and her son.

And so, he pushed that mistress down the stairs. She hemorrhaged, and both mother and child were lost.

To protect his only heir, his father had no choice but to hold his nose and issue a letter of forgiveness.

And that brought him to the present, where he went around killing people with a fruit knife, specifically targeting women like Miss Ford.

"Then what’s the deal with Wesley Hayes? Why did you incite him to hide under someone else’s bed?" Evan Keller pointed to Wesley Hayes nearby and asked.

The killer sneered. "I wanted to use this idiot to draw your attention. By the time your investigation led to me, I would’ve been long gone."

At this, the killer’s gaze shifted to Zoe Sawyer, and he licked his lips. "It’s a shame. I wanted to find a chance to kill you, too. Someone like you, using your status to string along three men at once, deserves to die a thousand deaths."

Huh?

Three?

Zoe Sawyer glanced at Barry Quinn and Monkey, who were behind her for protection, and then at Heath Hale, who was standing beside her.

’So these are the three he thinks I’m stringing along with my status?’

’So that gaze I felt back then... it was just this killer’s misunderstanding?’

"Ahem." Sean Hughes let out a small cough, unable to hold back his amusement. At the same time, he grabbed Beau, who looked like he was about to explain.

A hint of a smile touched Evan Keller’s eyes as well, but he couldn’t be bothered to explain the group’s relationship to the killer.

He waved his hand, signaling the team members to escort him back to the Varden West Precinct.

"I only had the thought, I never acted on it. I shouldn’t get a prison sentence for that, right?" Wesley Hayes clung to a sliver of hope.

’I didn’t do anything. And I even accidentally preserved the murder weapon. I should get a lenient sentence, right?’

But things didn’t go as he wished.

Wesley Hayes knew the other man had likely committed murder, yet not only did he fail to report it, he helped dispose of the murder weapon. In the end, he was even found armed with a knife, hiding in someone else’s home.

A prison sentence was certain. As for the specifics, that would depend on the court’s verdict.

As for the Ford family’s estate, it was divided equally between the couple’s two children. ℯℯ𝑙.

After some negotiation between the two, they decided that Mrs. Ford’s son would inherit the house, on the condition that he pay the other sibling an additional 30,000.

After handing off all the case details, Zoe Sawyer and her team returned to their new workplace.

"You’re back?" The chief was sitting in their office, looking at the travel-worn group with a concerned tone. "How did it go? Is it solved?"

Evan Keller nodded at the chief. "It’s solved. It was one of the two fugitive killers.

We have Zoe Sawyer to thank for this one. We caught the guy and even recovered the murder weapon in time because of her."

Without Zoe Sawyer’s golden touch, they would have eventually solved the case, but it wouldn’t have been nearly this fast.

By the time they identified the killer, he might have fled who-knows-where.

And in the process, there would have certainly been more victims.

Moreover, if they hadn’t caught him in time and he had actually managed to drag Wesley Hayes down with him, there might have been one more vicious killer on the loose.

The chief looked at Zoe Sawyer with satisfaction, then said to Evan Keller and the others, "Alright, I understand. Get the report for this case submitted ASAP."

In contrast to the elation of those around her, Zoe Sawyer’s expression wasn’t nearly as relaxed.

Her mind was preoccupied with the matter of her ability’s upgrade.

Heath Hale noticed her mood, walked over to her side, and asked in a low voice, "What’s wrong?"

The others in the office also noticed what was happening. They stopped what they were doing and looked over at Zoe Sawyer with concern.

Zoe Sawyer looked down at her right hand, clenching it into a fist. "My ability has upgraded. I want to test it."

"Then let’s test it. We’re all here. If anything unexpected happens, we can respond immediately, right?" Heath Hale patted Zoe Sawyer’s shoulder, reassuring her not to overthink it.

"Yeah! It’s just more work. I’m on a roll right now, I’m not afraid of another one!" one of the team members shouted from his seat, raising both hands high.

"HEY, HEY, HEY, another case? Can’t you wish for something good for a change? Maybe it’s something like the small door!" The person next to him smacked him on the back of the head. "Honestly, can’t you think of anything good!"

"Right, right, as long as you know what I mean!"

Chattering amongst themselves, the group quickly gathered around Zoe Sawyer.

Zoe Sawyer stood before the door once more and clenched her right hand.

When she opened it again, she saw a figure wrapped in black from head to toe, raising a dagger to stab a woman lying unconscious on the ground.

Acting almost on instinct, Zoe Sawyer shoved the door open and grabbed a nearby chair to throw at the assailant, trying to stop him. But the chair didn’t pass through; it was repelled by the door and bounced back.

With quick reflexes, Heath Hale yanked Zoe Sawyer aside, saving her from being hit by the ricocheting chair.

"What’s happening?" Heath Hale’s expression was one of astonishment.

Zoe Sawyer didn’t have time to answer. She broke free from his grip, returned to the doorway, and reached out again, trying to pass through.

That familiar resistance blocked her. No matter how hard she pushed, she couldn’t get through.

’The door... is rejecting me?’

She could no longer pass through the door to the crime scene!