Chapter 219: Looking for a Child, or Buying a Child?

Chapter 219: Chapter 219: Looking for a Child, or Buying a Child?

Ms. Sherman sighed, looking at the officer who had just questioned her with a bewildered expression. "Officer, what exactly are you trying to say? I don’t understand.

What does this have to do with the case I reported?"

Outside the interrogation room, the hearts of the team sank. ’Looks like she’s going to deny everything.’

It was true. All they had was evidence of her phone calls with Murphy Lynch; they had no way to prove she was the one who had incited her through the app.

If she adamantly refused to confess, they wouldn’t be able to convict her anytime soon unless they found concrete evidence.

But they couldn’t afford to waste any more time.

"Let’s drop this line of questioning for now. Focus on the chat group records. She incited minors to run away from home and threaten their parents with their own safety. That already borders on inciting self-harm and suicide.

The other two kids are elementary schoolers, not even twelve years old. That makes the situation even worse," Heath Hale said to Hayden Shaw beside him.

They needed to hold her for now, then search carefully for other evidence against Ms. Sherman.

Hayden Shaw nodded and quickly contacted the officer in the interrogation room to update him on the situation.

Ms. Sherman stared at the officer before her, her mind racing as she frantically recalled everything she had done.

’I deleted everything I needed to. I’ve never even met Murphy Lynch in person. These cops will never find anything.’

After reassuring herself that she hadn’t slipped up, the tension in Ms. Sherman’s body eased slightly.

Zoe Sawyer and the others, who had been watching Ms. Sherman intently, keenly perceived that momentary lapse in her composure.

She was confident, certain the police would never find what she had hidden.

’What could it be?’

Zoe frantically replayed the entire case from beginning to end in her head.

’Ms. Sherman first got close to Murphy Lynch, and then...’

’Wait a minute!’

’How did those two even meet?!’

The question flashed through Zoe Sawyer’s mind.

According to Ms. Sherman’s own report on Murphy Lynch, she hadn’t owned a phone for very long. Also, when they had called earlier to inquire about the situation, an elderly person had answered.

’Murphy Lynch only gets her phone after her shift ends. In such a short period, would she really open up so easily to a stranger she met online?’

’To the point where she’d follow her instructions to kidnap two local elementary schoolers?’

’Could Murphy Lynch really be unaware of the consequences?’

’There has to be another connection between them, something we’re missing.’

’Could they have been introduced or connected through a third person’s phone before all this?’

’If that’s a possibility, who would the third party be?’

’Murphy Lynch’s parents? No, they’re the ones who threw her into that sweatshop in the first place. There’s no way they’d suddenly have a change of heart, take her back, and let her use a phone to contact people.’

’That only leaves someone at the factory.’

’That "kind" supervisor who helped Murphy Lynch hide her wages so she could save up her own money!’

In the span of a minute, all the case files she’d reviewed flashed through Zoe Sawyer’s mind. Her focus finally landed on the supposedly kind-hearted supervisor who had only been mentioned once.

’Would someone who managed to climb into a minor management role at a sweatshop really be that benevolent?’

’It’s possible, but right now, I have to view this with suspicion.’

’What if this "kindness" was all part of a long con?’

’The goal being to win Murphy Lynch’s trust?’

"I have an idea." Zoe Sawyer’s expression was serious. After drawing the attention of the four people around her, she shared her theory with them.

"That makes sense! We can’t afford to overlook any possibility, no matter how small!" Heath Hale pulled out his phone, quickly relayed Zoe’s theory to Evan Keller, and asked him to immediately check for any connection between the two women.

Heath also took the opportunity to ask for an update on Murphy Lynch.

Ms. Sherman was tight-lipped. They wouldn’t get anything out of her without concrete evidence.

But Murphy Lynch was different.

She wasn’t as worldly. They might be able to get something out of her.

Meanwhile, the officer in the interrogation room seized on Ms. Sherman’s incitement of minors to run away and self-harm, pressing her on that point relentlessly.

"...I just didn’t think they’d actually do it." Ms. Sherman panicked inwardly. ’This isn’t right. I clearly disbanded the group, so how did these people still find it?’

’I specifically looked it up online! When a chat group is disbanded, the message history is supposed to be deleted with it!’

’Where did I go wrong?’

’Still, it was all just talk. We never met in person. I should be fine.’

Ms. Sherman could only try to reassure herself.

However, her emotional turmoil was too great, and it showed on her face, plain as day to the officer sitting across from her.

"Don’t think you can rest easy just because you disbanded the chat group. As long as you leave a digital footprint, we can recover it." The officer tapped his fingertips on the chat logs on the table, his tone serious. "The children are safe for now. If you confess and cooperate with our investigation, you might receive a more lenient sentence.

But if you remain stubborn and wait for us to uncover the truth ourselves, this opportunity will be off the table."

Leniency for those who confess, severity for those who resist.

Ms. Sherman unconsciously bit her lower lip, but in the end, she just shook her head. "I won’t be forced to admit to something I didn’t do."

’So she’s not going to confess.’

Ms. Sherman was now on high alert. There was no point in continuing to question her.

The officer quickly stood up. "Take some time and think about what’s at stake."

With that, he picked up his files and walked out, without giving Ms. Sherman so much as another look.

When he came out and saw Zoe Sawyer and the others standing outside, his expression was one of defeat. "No good. She still refuses to say anything."

"Take it easy. We’ve found a new lead. Just wait for an update," Hayden Shaw said, reaching out to pat his colleague on the shoulder.

Meanwhile, on another front, Officer Lee acted on Zoe Sawyer’s idea and quickly identified the name and phone number of Murphy Lynch’s "kind-hearted" supervisor.

After reporting to the chief, he teamed up with the cyber-crime unit and quickly found something suspicious on the supervisor’s phone.

"There’s a WeChat group on her phone called ’Baby Come Home’."

The group members weren’t very active, but their nicknames were telling.

"Seeking girl, 10"

"Son, 8 yrs"

"Anyone seen my little darling, girl, 3 yrs."

When they traced the WeChat IDs of the group members, they found some accounts had been deleted, while on others, the nicknames had been changed.

Their profile pictures were all black, and their timelines were empty.

It was as if they created these accounts for the sole purpose of joining this group.

"Are they looking for their children, or are they looking to *buy* children?!"