Chapter 273: Identity of the Deceased Determined

Chapter 273: Chapter 273: Identity of the Deceased Determined

Evan Keller picked it up and looked.

It was Sean Hughes!

’They must have made progress on the sketch!’ Evan Keller hurriedly answered the call. A moment later, Sean Hughes’s excited voice came through from the other end.

"Evan! We really hit the jackpot! Beau’s talent is incredible!

She finished the portrait, and we can now be 100% certain of the victim’s identity!" Sean was so excited she forgot to control the volume of her voice.

However, she quickly caught herself and calmed down. When she spoke again, the excitement was still audible, but her voice was much steadier as she briefly explained what had happened.

After receiving the scan data of the victim’s skull, Beau began adding muscle and skin to it on the canvas, bit by bit, based on the anatomical landmarks she had learned in class.

Building on her initial sketch, Beau found the process much smoother this time.

In less than an hour, she had completed the portrait.

As soon as she finished, Beau stared at the portrait in front of her, a troubled expression on her face.

This drawing was better than the last one, but something was still off. Beau couldn’t quite put her finger on it and could only sit in her chair, her face scrunched in thought.

The man who had brought Sean Hughes and Beau to the provincial bureau, however, was visibly excited. The face was familiar; he was sure he had seen it somewhere before!

He wished he could take the portrait back right then and there, pull up everyone’s files, and compare them one by one.

Beau held up her brush, its tip hovering over the paper.

Just then, a gentle male voice came from behind her. "This is just a facial reconstruction. What we need to draw is the victim as she was in life. Her age, her profession, her lifestyle, even her hairstyle—all of it needs to be taken into account."

Beau looked up and turned around. A man was standing behind her. He had heavy, dark circles under his eyes and his hair was a mess. There were charcoal smudges on the tip of his nose and on his cheeks.

Sean Hughes and the man beside her quickly greeted him, "Officer Shields."

Officer Shields was one of the top forensic artists in the entire national criminal investigation system. If he hadn’t been swamped with work, they might have had to ask for his help on this case.

"Then how do I fix it? I’m in a hurry," Beau asked, staring at the man.

’I need to finish this drawing quickly, bring it back to Zoe Sawyer, solve the case, and then I can go home!’

Officer Shields glanced at Beau and quickly put the name to the face.

’So this must be Beau,’ he thought, ’the one they mentioned a while back. A bit intellectually challenged, but with an otherworldly talent for drawing.’

"I know, I know. Easy there, kiddo. You can’t rush art. If you’re too hasty, nothing will turn out right." Officer Shields took the crime scene photos of the body from Sean Hughes and looked them over.

He then looked at the case file.

"Look here, we should change it like this..."

Officer Shields pointed to Beau’s portrait, correcting the errors in her drawing one by one.

The two of them spent half the day refining the portrait, taking it from a six-out-of-ten likeness to a nine-out-of-ten.

"Daisy Lawson! That’s Daisy Lawson’s face!" The man standing behind Sean Hughes exclaimed upon seeing the finished work, instantly matching the portrait to the face in his memory.

In the days after Daisy had first run away, Old Man Lawson had constantly come by to harass them, demanding they bring her back.

He’d seen her face so many times that he had committed it to memory.

He hadn’t recognized her at first because the portrait only seemed familiar; it wasn’t yet an instant match.

Only after the revisions and additions by Officer Shields and Beau did the man finally recognize her.

At the same time, Sean Hughes was also overcome with excitement. She gave Beau a tight hug, then immediately called Evan Keller to report the good news.

After hearing the full story, Evan Keller excitedly slapped his thigh. "Nice work! Just now, Zoe Sawyer also saw the faces of the victim and the killer.

How is Beau doing now? Can she manage to draw two more?"

Before Sean Hughes could answer, Beau, who had overheard, piped up, "I can do it!"

So, with the two coordinating, Zoe Sawyer quickly described the images she had seen to Beau.

The two had worked together many times before, so Beau instantly understood how to translate Zoe’s descriptions into art.

In less than ten minutes, two new portraits were complete.

For the killer’s portrait in particular, even though he was wearing a mask, Beau and Officer Shields were able to simulate the appearance of his lower face based on the bridge of his nose.

Holding the three portraits, Sean Hughes looked up excitedly. "Done! With these three drawings, we can follow the trail and catch the killer!"

Meanwhile, Officer Shields quietly slipped out of the office.

He had a mountain of his own work to deal with and no time to linger.

As for Sean Hughes and the other two, they rushed back, finally making it to the police station before dinner.

"We got portraits of the victim and the killer today. Progress has been excellent. Everyone, grab some food and get a good rest. Let’s try to wrap this case up in the next couple of days!" Director Lennox’s expression was also excited.

He had been prepared for this case to drag on for a long time. He never expected this team to make such a huge breakthrough less than a day after taking over!

No wonder his superiors at the provincial bureau had sounded a little envious when they spoke of them.

’Why can’t people this capable be on our side!’

Director Lennox grumbled to himself, but his face betrayed nothing.

Zoe Sawyer and the others didn’t overthink it. They quickly scarfed down a few bites of food before heading back to the temporary dorms Director Lennox had arranged for them to sleep and rest.

Tomorrow would be another tough battle; they couldn’t afford to be careless.

At the crack of dawn the next day, Zoe Sawyer’s group was already at the office.

"We’re splitting into two groups again today. Sean Hughes, Beau is good at recognizing faces, so you’ll stay here with her and try to identify the killer.

The rest of us will go to Daisy Lawson’s in-laws and her parents’ home to learn more about the situation." Evan Keller quickly assigned the tasks.

Beau unhappily pressed her lips together. She wanted to go with Zoe Sawyer. ’If only I were a little smarter, maybe I could have gone with them,’ she thought.

But Beau also knew this wasn’t the time or place for a tantrum, so she just sulked quietly without objecting to Evan Keller’s arrangement.

"Since we’ve confirmed the victim is Daisy Lawson, I’ll head over to Old Man Lawson’s place and see if there are any new leads." The man from the local bureau leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, and took on the other task.

Evan Keller didn’t object. The more people they had, the faster they could solve it.

Using the information provided by Director Lennox, Zoe Sawyer and the others quickly found Daisy Lawson’s in-laws’ home.

Just as they knocked, a little boy who looked to be three or four years old came to the door, eyeing Zoe Sawyer’s group warily.

"Who are you?"