Chapter 222: Sister-in-law, I’m Here to Talk to You About Something

Chapter 222: Chapter 222: Sister-in-law, I’m Here to Talk to You About Something

Looking at Ms. Sherman, who had an expression that practically screamed ’I give in,’ Evan Keller almost laughed in exasperation.

"Apologies, but we already know everything we need to. We don’t require your confession at this time, Ms. Sherman." Evan Keller nodded at her, then walked out of the interrogation room under her shocked and uncertain gaze.

Watching Evan Keller’s retreating back, Ms. Sherman grew anxious.

’Wait, are they really not going to ask me anything else?’

’I know just as much as May Lynch does!’

’She remembered what they’d said before. The kids hadn’t actually been sold yet. If she cooperated with the investigation and confessed, she could get a lighter sentence.’

’But she had been stubborn. She didn’t want to give up her partner, so she’d kept her mouth shut.’

’And now, her partner had gone and spilled everything first?!’

’If they weren’t going to question her anymore, was there any chance of getting her sentence reduced?’

The more Ms. Sherman thought about it, the more panicked she became. She couldn’t stop herself from picking at her fingernails.

Outside the interrogation room, Zoe Sawyer couldn’t help but ask as Evan Keller walked out, "You’re really not going to get any leads from her?"

"Of course not. I’m just letting her stew for a bit," Evan Keller explained. "In a situation like this, her mind will start racing. Soon, we won’t even have to ask. She’ll tell us everything herself."

Now that she knew her partner had confessed, Ms. Sherman’s biggest worry would be whether her own refusal to talk would result in a longer prison sentence.

"This case is basically solved. Good work. Go get some rest." Evan Keller glanced at Heath Hale, who was standing beside Zoe Sawyer, and gave him a meaningful look, gesturing for him to take Zoe away.

Zoe Sawyer didn’t think much of it. Once she confirmed there was nothing left for her to do, she went back with Heath Hale.

With the confession in hand, the rest of the process went much more smoothly.

When Murphy Lynch learned the truth from the police, she couldn’t accept that she, too, had been just another piece of merchandise.

"They promised me. They said if I got those two kids in line and made them behave, they would take me away with them. We were supposed to go live a good life together." Murphy Lynch’s fingernails dug so deeply into her palm that they broke the skin and drew blood, but she paid it no mind.

"Oh, they were going to take you away, all right—to be sold off to some remote mountain village while they took the money and lived their ’good life.’" Linda Pierce’s mother had no sympathy for the girl who had lured away her daughter. Her words were aimed to hit Murphy Lynch right where it hurt.

She hugged her daughter tightly, covering her ears so she wouldn’t hear the harsh words.

Ignoring Murphy Lynch’s deathly pale face, Linda Pierce’s mother held her daughter and walked out of the police station.

’We really need to rethink her schooling,’ she thought. ’If we keep pushing her like this, something terrible is going to happen!’

’Still! This running away from home stunt deserves a serious talking-to!’

Meanwhile, Wallace Donovan’s parents crouched down and stared blankly at their son, who stared right back.

The two of them truly had neither the interest nor the aptitude for raising a child.

They exchanged a look and quickly came to a decision. It would be better to send him to his grandparents’ house than to keep him with them.

Anywhere would be better than staying with them.

However, remembering the events of the past few days and what the police had told them upon their arrival, the couple decided they should still explain things properly to Wallace Donovan to keep his imagination from running wild.

May Lynch and Ms. Sherman faced a sentence of five to ten years for attempted child trafficking. The exact length of their prison time, however, would depend on their cooperation in helping the police arrest the other people from the chat room.

Although Murphy Lynch was a minor, she was already sixteen. And since she had been fully aware of what she was doing from start to finish, her sentence wouldn’t be significantly lighter.

Zoe Sawyer had no idea what was happening back at the police station. She was standing with her hand on a doorknob, her expression frozen.

"Zoe, what are you doing standing here in the middle of the night? Why aren’t you asleep?" Sean Hughes asked, yawning as he got out of bed and saw Zoe Sawyer standing by the door.

A second later, all traces of sleep vanished from Sean Hughes’s mind.

He hurried to Zoe Sawyer’s side and whispered, "Did you see something again?"

Zoe Sawyer nodded, her eyes staring intently ahead. "Help me call it in," she said. "It’s a premonition."

The scene she was seeing was a family’s courtyard.

With a loud CREAK, the iron gate to the courtyard was pushed open.

A large yellow dog sleeping in the corner of the yard perked up its ears. It had just started to bark when the intruder calmed it down.

"Good dog. It’s me, easy now."

A shadowy figure walked over to the dog, reaching out to scratch its head. Then, he pulled a piece of jerky from his pocket and offered it.

The dog lowered its head, sniffed the jerky in the man’s hand, and then lapped it all up with a single flick of its tongue.

The figure stood before the dog. Not two minutes later, the animal suddenly collapsed, foaming at the mouth. A moment later, it was completely still.

"You damn animal, you almost ruined my plans!" The figure spat on the ground, pulled a cleaver from behind his back, and began hacking wildly at the dog’s body.

After dozens of brutal chops, the figure finally straightened up. He casually wiped the blood spatter from his face with the back of his hand and turned his gaze toward the two-story house next to the yard.

"Now it’s your turn."

The figure let out a low laugh, walked to the front door of the house, and knocked.

After more than a minute of knocking, a light flicked on in one of the rooms.

Zoe Sawyer heard the sound of footsteps as someone put on a coat and walked toward the door. The footsteps stopped, and an elderly woman’s voice called out cautiously, "Who is it?"

"Auntie, it’s me! Open up, I need your help with something," the figure called out, hiding the cleaver behind his back.

Upon hearing the man’s voice, the woman relaxed her guard. "Oh, it’s you, Leo," she said as she opened the door. "Is something urgent? What brings you here so late?"

The moment she opened the door, she saw him—a figure covered head to toe in blood, with several bloody streaks smearing his face.

"Urgent? Oh, yes," the figure grinned at the woman. "I’m here to send you to hell!" With that, he threw his body against the door, slamming it fully open.

He shot out a hand and grabbed the woman by the throat, raising the hand holding the cleaver high in the air.

Before she could even cry for mercy, the cleaver came down hard.

After finishing the woman off with a few more strikes, the figure headed upstairs.

Zoe Sawyer’s vision followed his steps to the second floor.

The commotion downstairs was loud enough to draw the attention of someone in a room on the second floor.

A beautiful young woman draped in a robe opened her door and stepped out. "Mom? Is something wrong?"

As she fumbled for the switch and turned on the living room light, she saw him—the figure, standing in the middle of the room, holding a cleaver and grinning at her.

Fresh blood dripped steadily from the cleaver onto the floor.

"Sister-in-law," he said. "I’m here to talk to you about something."