Chapter 262: A Self-Staged Kidnapping?

Chapter 262: Chapter 262: A Self-Staged Kidnapping?

After reading the file Officer Lee had handed her, Zoe Sawyer sounded utterly disgusted.

’Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.’

’All because he lost a game, he decided to take his anger out on an innocent bystander.’

’Using his online influence to cyberbully her until a young life was snuffed out.’

"Have you investigated this girl’s background?" Heath Hale asked, pointing at the file.

Officer Lee nodded. "We have. The deceased’s surname is Osborne. Both of her parents are dead. She was raised single-handedly by her older brother. She was a sophomore in college the year she killed herself.

I also found out that after her brother took care of her burial arrangements, he stormed Arthur Yates’s company with a paring knife. He threatened to take Yates down with him but was stopped by company security."

"This Mr. Osborne... contact him and find out where he is now." Heath Hale gestured to the file in his hand, issuing the order. He then asked, "Haven’t Arthur Yates’s agent and assistant arrived yet?"

Fortunately, Arthur Yates’s company was located in the city, which made summoning people the easiest part of the job so far.

"They’re here. Already waiting in the adjacent reception room," Officer Lee confirmed with a nod.

Heath Hale stood, glanced at Zoe Sawyer, then at Evan Keller. Finally, he said, "Sean Hughes, you’ll accompany Zoe to the door. Find clues, but also make sure she stays safe.

Evan Keller and I will handle Arthur Yates’s agent and Mr. Osborne."

Zoe Sawyer and the others nodded, then split up to begin their tasks.

Time was short and the mission was critical. They had to find and rescue the victim as quickly as possible.

Even though they found Arthur Yates’s character and actions utterly contemptible, as police officers, they were still obligated to ensure his safety.

With Arthur Yates’s detailed profile in hand, Zoe Sawyer wasted no time. Once she was ready, she gently pushed the door open, creating a small crack.

"Aren’t you a famous influencer with millions of followers? Where’s all that arrogance now?" a deep male voice called out from nearby. It was followed by a few heavy grunts and the sound of impacts.

"MMPH! MMPH!"

Zoe Sawyer slipped the miniature camera she had prepared through the opening, then carefully pulled the door almost shut, leaving only a hairline crack.

Since Officer Lee was busy with other tasks, Sean Hughes took over the job of pinpointing the location.

Sean Hughes quickly locked onto Arthur Yates’s exact location. He immediately contacted the nearest police station and told them to hurry over and rescue him.

Zoe Sawyer leaned in beside Sean Hughes, and together they watched the feed on the computer screen.

Arthur Yates had a large bump on his head. His hands and feet were bound tightly behind his back with countless loops of duct tape. A black wad of something was stuffed in his mouth—it looked like a sock that had been pulled from his own foot.

He lay on the ground, squirming like a landed fish.

A man, completely covered from head to toe, was crouching in front of him. He reached out and patted Arthur Yates’s face before shoving the sock deeper into his mouth. "How’s the taste of a stinky sock?" he said.

"I was hoping to play with you a bit longer, but the police are probably on their way."

The man’s voice was filled with regret. As Arthur Yates watched in terror, the man pulled a hemp rope from the corner and tied him up securely.

"And thanks for picking such a great spot. I can’t believe you managed to find this abandoned old village.

If you’d been a little more careful, I never would have gotten you so easily." The man grabbed the rope and began dragging Arthur Yates toward the roof of an abandoned building.

The loose gravel on the ground tore through Arthur Yates’s clothes, leaving cuts and scrapes on his arms and legs.

The man didn’t bother steering around sharp rocks, simply letting Arthur Yates slam right into them.

More cuts appeared on Arthur Yates’s arms and face.

"This is bad. If this keeps up, he’s going to kill him." Watching the man’s actions, Sean Hughes couldn’t sit still any longer. He was about to call his team to go in and subdue the suspect.

"Don’t go. Arthur Yates’s life isn’t in danger."

Just as Sean Hughes was about to take his team in, Heath Hale jogged over and stopped them.

"What’s going on?" Sean Hughes stood before the door, giving Heath Hale a puzzled look.

Heath Hale held his phone out to Sean Hughes. A video was playing on the screen. The man in the video was familiar: it was Mr. Osborne, the brother of the girl Arthur Yates had cyberbullied to death.

Mr. Osborne’s face was gaunt and his eyes were bloodshot. He was holding up his ID card. Beside him sat a pink funerary urn.

"My name is Aidan Osborne, and I am formally reporting the online influencer, Arthur Yates, an outdoor adventure streamer with millions of followers. Six months ago, he used his online influence to cyberbully my sister, who was just a sophomore in college, driving her to suicide after she developed depression.

Now my sister is dead, but he still won’t leave her alone. He wants to use her suicide to generate hype for himself.

Arthur Yates conspired with his friends and hired a low-level thug to stage a kidnapping to grab his followers’ attention. They even had a scapegoat and a crime all planned out.

They planned to frame me for it. They were going to claim that I, grieving the loss of my sister, spent six months plotting a kidnapping to kill him and get my revenge."

Aidan Osborne’s video was less than a minute long, but its contents left everyone stunned.

"We can’t trust this completely. What if he’s just using this to buy time?" Sean Hughes frowned, his expression clearly showing his disapproval.

Heath Hale immediately retorted, "If it were just the video, of course I wouldn’t believe it. But we also have a statement from Arthur Yates’s assistant, as well as some conversations he recorded."

With that, Heath Hale played the next file.

The new video showed the inside of a police interrogation room. A timid-looking young man was seated in a chair, across from none other than Heath Hale and Evan Keller.

Before Heath or Evan could even speak, the assistant had already pushed his phone across the table.

"Uh, Officers, this whole kidnapping thing with Arthur Yates... it’s fake. He staged it himself.

I have recordings here you can listen to. If you don’t believe me, you can go search Arthur Yates’s house. The bug should still be there." The assistant’s voice was quiet, but in the silence of the interrogation room, Heath Hale and Evan Keller heard every single word.

Evan Keller glanced at Heath Hale, then fixed his gaze on the assistant. He tapped his fingers on the tabletop. "A bug? Why would you plant a bug in his room?

Don’t you realize that’s illegal?"

At this, the assistant’s face flushed crimson. His expression filled with indignation, and his voice grew louder without him realizing it.

"I didn’t want to! It was all because Arthur Yates went too far!"