Chapter 344: The Child is Gone

Chapter 344: Chapter 344: The Child is Gone

The old woman’s hand was halfway raised, but it froze in midair when she heard her son’s voice.

She looked at her daughter-in-law, who was slowly coming to, and spat a thick glob of phlegm onto the empty ground beside her. "Pah! I’ll let you off this time. But if anything happens to my precious grandson, I’ll beat you to death!"

At that, the old woman seemed to remember something and turned to the nearby police officer, her voice harsh and malicious. "Where’s that trafficker who kidnapped my grandson? The death penalty! You have to sentence her to death!"

Her tone was fierce, her emotions running high.

The young officer closest to her could even feel the spray from her mouth as she spoke.

The next second, as the old woman advanced, someone pulled the young officer behind them, shielding him. "Ma’am, the child’s health is the most important thing right now. Let’s get him to the hospital to get checked out.

We have the trafficker in custody. She’s not going anywhere, so please don’t worry."

Hearing this, the old woman stopped in her tracks. She looked the person up and down, finally letting out a snort before turning and getting into the waiting police car outside.

Only after the family of three had left did everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

Old women who demand the death penalty at the drop of a hat are the hardest to deal with.

With the family gone, the others stopped gathering in the courtyard and dispersed to get back to their work.

"Have you found any information on the trafficker? Is she still unconscious?" Zoe Sawyer, who had witnessed the whole thing, felt a tightness in her chest. She had a nagging feeling that something wasn’t right.

But she couldn’t pinpoint the reason just yet, so she tried to shift her focus by asking about the trafficker.

Officer Lee had taken over this part of the investigation. Hearing Zoe Sawyer’s question, he quickly pulled up the information he had found. "The trafficker’s name is Faye Rowan. She’s only twenty-two. She came here from another province to work.

Based on her daily routine, she leads a very structured life. It’s just a triangle between her workplace, the market, and her rented apartment. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Moreover, today was supposed to be a workday for Faye Rowan, but for some reason, she was here and had suddenly targeted this child.

Evan Keller looked down in thought for a moment before speaking. "Liam, check if there’s any overlap between this family’s routine and Faye Rowan’s. Also, look into the social networks of both parties and see if there are any grudges or feuds."

The three of them had just watched the entire scene unfold from the window, and Zoe Sawyer had also briefly recounted the process of capturing the trafficker.

Zoe Sawyer specifically emphasized Faye Rowan’s ultimatum: either let her go, or she would kill the child.

If it were just about money, Faye Rowan wouldn’t have been in that state, nor would her attitude toward the police have been so defiant.

Unless, from the very beginning, she had intended to kill the child.

But why?

What kind of grudge or hatred did Faye Rowan have for this family that would make her resort to such an extreme method?

There had to be a hidden story behind all this. If they could find it, they could figure out the reason for today’s incident.

"Understood." Officer Lee accepted the task from Evan Keller and sat back down at his desk, his fingers flying across the keyboard.

About an hour later, a wave of wails and cries came from the courtyard outside, even more shrill and mournful than before.

Two female voices, one echoing the other, sounded as if they were about to tear the roof off the entire police station.

Heath Hale stood up and walked to the window. He saw the couple from before had returned. The husband was supporting his wife, and the old woman followed behind, clutching the baby’s swaddling blanket in her arms.

"They’re back already? The baby should be fine, right?" Watching the scene below, Heath Hale’s voice held a trace of uncertainty.

But if the baby was fine, why were the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law crying so hysterically?

And why had they plopped right down in the middle of the courtyard? Weren’t they worried their behavior would disturb the child?

Zoe Sawyer also stood up. When she saw the scene in the courtyard, that uncomfortable feeling surged up inside her again.

"I’m going down to see what’s happening." Zoe Sawyer couldn’t stand it any longer. Just as she was about to head out and see what was wrong,

A team member who had gone out to arrest the trafficker rushed back into the office. Seeing Zoe Sawyer and the other two, he said with a grave expression, "The baby... is gone."

"That can’t be! When we brought him back, we confirmed he was breathing properly and his chest was rising and falling. How long has it been? How could he just be gone all of a sudden?" Zoe Sawyer’s voice was filled with disbelief.

"We got back right around the same time as the parents. As soon as we were back at the station, the parents checked on the baby, too. He was fine then, just not awake.

Then, as they were about to take him to the hospital for a more detailed check-up, his breathing suddenly stopped right as they got to the courtyard.

A colleague who knows infant first aid immediately took over, performing emergency aid on the baby while they rushed to the hospital as fast as they could," the team member explained.

Once at the hospital, doctors took over and provided more advanced medical treatment.

They even hooked him up to all sorts of machines.

At that point, the baby still had vital signs.

But despite the doctors and nurses doing everything they could to save him, his vital signs faded. The baby remained in a comatose state the entire time.

In the end, no matter what they tried, he couldn’t be saved, and the doctors had no choice but to pronounce him dead.

But the family of three refused to accept this. They insisted that the trafficker, the hospital, and the police were all responsible for their child’s death.

They started a scene, demanding to bring the baby’s body back here and for us to pay compensation.

"Before they snatched the body, the doctor did a full examination. He didn’t find any injuries or pinpricks. The current suspicion is that it was something he ingested.

He recommended an autopsy, but the family refused. They grabbed the baby’s body and brought it back to the station."

After recounting the entire sequence of events, the team member finally took the glass of water a colleague handed him and drank it all in one go.

Given that the deceased was a newborn infant, the only things he could have ingested would have been breast milk or formula.

That, combined with the lack of any external injuries, is why the doctor made that suggestion.

"From the moment she snatched the child to when she was caught, Faye Rowan never stopped to rest or feed him. Plus, the baby was unconscious. Trying to feed him would have been difficult, to be honest.

So the suspicion immediately narrows to the child’s family. But based on their behavior just now, it doesn’t seem likely." Evan Keller crossed his arms, his mind rapidly replaying the entire case and all its possibilities. "Could it be that the child was already in poor health, they knew it, and they’re trying to use this situation to extort someone?"

It was a dark theory, but not an impossible one.

The team member from before thought for a moment, then spoke up.

"Actually, the doctor quietly mentioned another possibility to me."