Chapter 217: The Whale Game

Chapter 217: Chapter 217: The Whale Game

Their every move was being watched by Zoe Sawyer and the others on the monitor.

Hayden Shaw stared at Murphy Lynch’s lips, repeating what she had just said, word for word.

She never thought the lip-reading she’d learned would actually come in handy here.

It was a good thing, too.

"First, they use that game to test the children’s obedience, and then they’ll teach them other things, slowly boiling the frog.

They swap out the knives one by one. If we hadn’t discovered this in time, the two children might have actually picked up real knives and slit their wrists," Heath Hale said, his expression cold as he stared at the three people on the screen.

That was the most direct guess. There was another possibility: after establishing the children’s obedience, Murphy Lynch would lead them to play even more vicious games.

What could that be?

They didn’t have to think hard to guess how deep this rabbit hole went.

Zoe Sawyer shared her own theory with them. "Could it be like that whale game? First, they test and build obedience, then they gradually guide the children toward self-harm, and finally, suicide."

Heath Hale and the others weren’t fools. That game had caused a major stir before. They’d had the same suspicion, but there just wasn’t enough evidence to support it.

"Forget everything else for now. We need to get those kids back. Their parents are frantic!" Evan Keller said, making the call.

If their suspicions were correct, then if they didn’t bring the boy, Wallace Donovan, back soon, he would probably reach the final step in a matter of days.

Time was of the essence; they couldn’t afford any delays.

As for how the two children came across the app and who led them to Murphy Lynch’s home, they could get answers once the kids were safely back.

Just as Evan Keller was about to call for backup, Murphy Lynch’s phone rang. When she saw the caller ID, she tossed aside the plastic knife in her hand, her expression tinged with delight.

"Hey, Little Fish, how’s it going?" a gentle female voice asked from the other end of the line.

Murphy Lynch’s voice was full of adoration, and she sounded like she was fishing for praise. "Things are going great! We were just playing a game. Aunt Sherman, when are you coming to see me? I miss you so much.

Aunt Sherman, I’ve already tidied up the new room. I’ll be taking the two kids over there in a bit, so don’t worry."

"Good girl. It’ll be soon. Just be a little more patient, Little Fish. I just have a little more work to take care of over here. I’ll come find you as soon as I’m done. We’ll see each other very soon." The woman Murphy Lynch called Aunt Sherman soothed her gently, added a few more instructions, and then hung up.

When the call ended, Murphy Lynch lowered her phone. She stared at the call history on the screen and let out a deep sigh.

’How much longer will it be!’

’She really missed Aunt Sherman. She wanted to live with her forever, not just get a phone call every now and then like this!’

But then she thought about what the woman had said—that they would see each other very soon—and she couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation.

When her gaze fell on the two children playing their game off to the side, a flash of disgust crossed her eyes.

’Soon. It’ll be soon. Just a little longer!’

Linda Pierce shivered for no apparent reason, then looked around, bewildered.

’I just felt like someone was glaring at me. Was it just my imagination?’

’But there are only three of them in this room.’

Linda Pierce couldn’t make sense of it, so she lowered her head and focused on her game.

The itchy feeling on her wrist was strangely addictive. Linda Pierce couldn’t resist pressing down a little harder.

Instead, it was Wallace Donovan, who had been silent the entire time, who spoke up. "Murphy, are we moving?"

"That’s right. The bed here isn’t big enough for the three of us, so we’re going to a new house together. There’s a big bed there, and I’ve already bought some toys. How about we head over and play in a little while?" Murphy Lynch said, reaching out to pat Wallace Donovan’s head, her tone gentle and coaxing.

"Yay! New toys!" Wallace Donovan clapped his hands excitedly. With no toys or phone here, he was bored out of his mind!

If Murphy hadn’t told him he couldn’t go outside, he would’ve gone out to play ages ago!

Now that he heard they were going to a new place with toys, Wallace Donovan couldn’t have been happier.

"Good. We’ll head over in a little while. Don’t worry, you’ll love it," Murphy Lynch said, her voice chirpy and her eyes filled with her own hidden anticipation.

’Almost there. Almost there.’

’Once we move, it’ll be time for the final step. The most crucial step!’

"Aunt Sherman? Ms. Sherman?" Zoe Sawyer’s voice was laced with suspicion. "Could the ’Aunt Sherman’ Murphy Lynch was talking about be the same person who filed the report?"

If so, then the whole thing was a setup from the very beginning, starting with her filing the police report.

"We were fooled by her act from the very beginning, searching in the direction she pointed us." ℯℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

"Even if we had found Murphy Lynch’s location, they would have already moved the children by then. We would’ve just wasted our time and started looking elsewhere."

"And that’s exactly what they wanted!" Evan Keller said, slamming his hand on the table in frustration.

If Zoe Sawyer hadn’t decided to open that door to check on the children’s safety, discovering the situation and leaving behind that device, things would have definitely gone in the worst possible direction!

"There’s no time to lose. First, contact the local police department and have them retrieve the children. As for this Ms. Sherman, she needs to be investigated as a priority."

"Liam, inform the Chief about Ms. Sherman. Take over that side of the investigation immediately. I want her recent movements—who she met, where she went—I want it all tracked down," Evan Keller ordered, quickly delegating the tasks.

The children’s disappearance was already on file with the local precinct. It would be faster for them to go in and get the kids than for our team to travel there.

The team sprang into action.

Zoe Sawyer, however, paused for a moment and decided to open the door again.

This time, however, she wanted to find clues related to the moment the children disappeared.

Since she had an approximate time of disappearance, Zoe Sawyer easily zeroed in on the specific time frame.

The moment she opened the door, she saw Wallace Donovan sticking his rear end out as he squeezed his way outside.

"Almost there, almost there."

Wallace Donovan mumbled to himself as he sucked in his stomach. With a slight push, he managed to squeeze through a hole in the fence.

It was only because he was so thin and small from being constantly bullied that he was able to slip through.

Otherwise, given the size of the opening, he would have definitely gotten stuck.

Once he was out, Wallace Donovan ran with clear purpose toward the other side of the alley.

Only then did Zoe Sawyer notice someone else standing in the shadows of the alley across the way.

But looking at her build, she bore a striking resemblance to Murphy Lynch.

The two met up, held hands, and walked away.

It was the same process for Linda Pierce.

She found a stack of boxes in a surveillance camera’s blind spot and used them to successfully climb over the school wall.

Murphy Lynch was waiting on the other side, ready to meet her.

Then, just as she had with Wallace Donovan, they held hands and left.

"Found something! It’s about Ms. Sherman!"