Chapter 21: The Murdered Girl

Chapter 21: Chapter 21: The Murdered Girl

"Keep up, keep up! What’s the difference between this and walking? If someone ever really tries to grab you, at your speed, they’d get you every single time!" Evan Keller slowed his pace to stay beside Zoe Sawyer.

Seeing her listless state, his tone was one of sheer frustration.

’This sluggish pace... If it were one of those brats on my team, I would’ve kicked them in the ass by now!’

"Captain Keller, it’s not like I’m on steroids or something. For a couch potato like me, just being able to last this long is already a huge accomplishment." Zoe Sawyer shot Evan Keller a weary glare.

She was just a humble novelist who would lie down if she could avoid sitting, and could spend a whole day in bed.

’Being able to keep up with their runs for a whole week is already huge progress!’

’This is like trying to force a plant to grow by pulling on it!’

Though she complained, Zoe Sawyer didn’t stop. Instead, she silently picked up her pace, trying hard to keep up with Evan Keller ahead of her.

When the morning’s exercise was finally, mercifully over, Evan Keller and Sean Hughes supported Zoe Sawyer by each arm, walking with her slowly to cool down her muscles.

"Don’t you two have a case to work on today?" Zoe Sawyer asked, looking at the two men beside her with a hint of confusion.

Just a few days ago, they were wishing for forty-eight-hour days, spending nearly all their time on the case, aside from meals.

’They had to squeeze in time for sleep and exercise, and now they actually had the leisure to go for a stroll?’

"It’s pretty much wrapped up. That guy you dragged back finally cracked and gave us a bunch of useful leads. Team Three is handling it now."

"And those kids you and Liam rescued have all been reunited with their families and sent home," Sean Hughes added, stretching as his voice filled with relief.

’Finally, I can get some real rest!’

Evan Keller was also full of anticipation. ’All he had to do was go back and sort out the case files later!’

’Compared to running all over town the past few days, today’s work is practically a vacation!’

Zoe Sawyer looked up at the sky, then down at the ground, a little guiltily. All this extra work was because of her.

’But then again,’ she thought, ’if I hadn’t discovered it in time, the consequences would have been much worse!’

At that thought, Zoe Sawyer felt a bit more justified.

After a little while, the trio headed toward the cafeteria.

Zoe Sawyer had just pushed the glass door open a crack and was about to step inside when her body suddenly froze.

She let go, stepped back, and tried again.

Seeing the scene through the crack in the door, Zoe Sawyer propped it open with her foot, then turned to look at Evan Keller and Sean Hughes with an innocent expression.

It seemed their day off had just gone up in smoke.

Sean Hughes looked at Zoe Sawyer’s expression, and a bad feeling inexplicably rose in his heart.

It had been over a week. ’Don’t tell me Zoe saw something again?!’

"Another discovery?" Sean Hughes’s tone was tinged with disbelief.

With an air of resignation, Evan Keller pulled a portable tracker from his pocket and handed it to Zoe Sawyer.

Zoe Sawyer took it with a small smile, quickly activated it, and tossed it inside.

"Let’s go. Back to the office."

After the three returned to the office, Officer Lee had already confirmed the specific address.

"Isn’t this that area in the East Varden suburbs?" Evan Keller asked, his voice hesitant as he looked at the address Officer Lee handed him.

The residential buildings over there were relatively old and dilapidated, mostly inhabited by migrant workers, so the population was transient.

Moreover, East Varden wasn’t under their jurisdiction. To go over, they’d need the Chief to coordinate with the local department beforehand.

Evan Keller ran a hand through his hair in frustration, then resignedly called the Chief to give the East Varden precinct a heads-up, hoping to avoid any awkward situations later.

"In that case, Zoe, go ahead and describe what you saw," Sean Hughes said, glancing at Evan Keller, who was still on the phone. He figured it would be best for her to give her account first.

’It’ll make the handoff faster later.’

"The room was nicely decorated. There were a lot of open books on the desk across the room, and a family photo, but I couldn’t make out any specific faces."

Zoe Sawyer gave a rough description of what she’d seen, but since the door was only open a crack, she hadn’t gotten a full view.

She hadn’t actually seen a body.

It was from the camera feed on the tracker that Evan Keller and the others confirmed the victim’s location.

It was a young woman who looked to be only seventeen or eighteen. Her expression was a mixture of terror and disbelief, and her fingers were bent at a grotesque angle.

Since they hadn’t reached the physical scene yet, they couldn’t determine her time of death.

A detailed autopsy would have to wait until they were on site.

Evan Keller put his phone away, looked at Zoe Sawyer and Sean Hughes, and said, "I’ve already spoken to our guys in East Varden. We’re heading over now."

With that, the three of them got in the car and hurried to the scene.

By the time Zoe Sawyer and the others arrived, the entire residential building had been cordoned off with police tape.

Other residents of the building stood not far from the police line, pointing and whispering amongst themselves from time to time.

"I heard it’s Teacher Scott’s daughter. They found her dead in her home. The state she was in... just horrifying."

"Wasn’t that kid always so well-behaved? You think she offended someone? Or maybe Teacher Scott and his wife did something, and now it’s come back on their daughter?"

"What do you know! That girl, she’s been dating some hoodlum lately!"

"She stopped going to school, just hangs out with them all day. Teacher Scott and his wife tried everything—yelling, even hitting her—but nothing worked!"

"Yes, yes! And I even saw that young punk come over today! The guy looks like a total hooligan! You can tell he’s bad news just by looking at him. Hanging out with someone like that, maybe Teacher Scott’s daughter wasn’t such a good girl herself!"

"Really?! In that case, maybe this whole thing happened because the girl wasn’t behaving herself!"

The topic strayed further and further, eventually escalating into an attack on the dead girl’s character and conduct.

In the end, trading remarks back and forth, they were about to slap the label of "delinquent who deserved to die" onto the victim.

As Zoe Sawyer was walking past, she overheard the middle-aged women’s whispers and stopped in her tracks.

"Ladies, it’s said that we should respect the dead. What you’re saying is all just speculation, and you shouldn’t spread it around. If you interfere with the police investigation, that’s obstruction of justice. They could take you in for questioning!"

"Besides, if you know so much, why don’t you make a statement to the police? You might even help them catch the killer sooner!"

Zoe Sawyer couldn’t listen anymore. She spoke up, interrupting their conversation, and couldn’t help but exaggerate the consequences.

Sure enough, the moment they heard they could get dragged into it, the women who had been gossiping so happily just moments before immediately clammed up, hastily insisting they didn’t know anything and were just talking nonsense.

Then they scurried away from the scene and disappeared into the crowd, terrified the police would come looking for them.

"You’re here. Good, there’s something I wanted to ask you."