Chapter 360: Old Hoodlum

Chapter 360: Chapter 360: Old Hoodlum

As a result, complete fingerprints were left on the buttons and the handle.

On a nearby machine, a minuscule drop of blood was also found. Though the factory manager and the workshop supervisor had flushed the drain in the floor several times with water, some residue remained.

Even the bone grinder, the very machine used to destroy the corpse and eliminate evidence, had been rinsed from top to bottom by the two men. Yet, in the grinding chamber that the police technicians had removed, tucked into a tiny gap less than a millimeter wide between the blade and the chamber wall, they found a faint, dark red trace, almost invisible to the naked eye.

Watching the evidence being uncovered piece by piece, the factory manager and the workshop supervisor, who had been clinging to a sliver of hope, finally gave up completely.

The two of them slumped to the floor, their heads hanging low. No matter what anyone around them said, they neither looked up nor responded.

It was as if by playing dead, they could escape everything that was to come.

But things didn’t go as they hoped.

Due to the extremely heinous nature of the case, the police completed the DNA analysis in the shortest time possible after submitting the evidence.

The bone slurry from the drain was confirmed to belong to Walter Newton, and that faint, dark red trace from the grinding chamber matched the factory manager.

Add to that the bloodstain on the machine’s body, his own fingerprints on the handle and power button, and the head found in the quick-freeze cold storage...

Everything pointed to the factory manager.

He was the killer in this case!

「In the interrogation room.」

The older police officer tossed the files and evidence in his hand onto the table in front of the factory manager, then sat down across from him. "All the evidence is right here. Let’s not waste any more time."

"Just tell us what you did."

The factory manager’s hands rested on his knees. He stared at the floor, his thoughts a mystery.

He looked nothing like the man who had been so full of swagger at the factory just two days ago.

After a long while, the factory manager finally looked up, his voice distant. "How did you find all this? I made so many preparations for that moment. The factory employees, the surrounding surveillance cameras...

I dealt with it all beforehand. Logically, you shouldn’t have been able to find anything.

Walter Newton was a lout. He didn’t get along with anyone at the factory. Even if he disappeared, everyone else would just assume he’d found some new place to go eat, drink, and screw around."

The older officer tapped his fingers on the table, staring into the factory manager’s face. "If you did it, you’ll always leave a trace.

We police have far more methods than you can imagine. Once you’ve committed a crime, don’t get your hopes up thinking you can get away with it."

Another long silence fell over the room.

Just as the older officer thought he would have to be the one to speak first, the factory manager’s head snapped up, his eyes locking onto the officer. "Was it Arthur Sullivan who told you?

Yes, that must be it. Arthur Sullivan used his position to create a ghost employee for payroll fraud, causing the factory serious losses. I’m going to sue him for embezzlement! The amount he took is enough to land him in prison!"

’No wonder he’s been so meek and obedient these past few days. So he was secretly in contact with the police all along.’

’That’s why he was so proactive today, leading people to the quick-freeze storage and then to the bone grinder.’

The factory manager grit his teeth in hatred. ’If that’s how it is, then no one gets to escape!’

’Even if I go to prison, I’m taking someone down with me!’

Outside the interrogation room, Arthur Sullivan, who had been given special permission to listen in, turned pale. He knew what he had done was definitely illegal.

If the factory manager really decided to press charges, there was no way he could escape.

Beside him, Lynn seemed to have anticipated this. Seeing Arthur slump in defeat, Lynn reached out and patted his shoulder. "Keep listening."

"My mentor went to the trouble of getting you this opportunity, and it wasn’t so you could watch the suspect have a meltdown."

Hearing this, Arthur Sullivan looked up, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"As for your claim about Arthur Sullivan’s payroll fraud, he came to the police on the very first day of the investigation to turn himself in and explain the situation.

The amount he embezzled was nearly forty thousand yuan, but not quite. That amount doesn’t meet the threshold for a criminal case. Moreover, after turning himself in, Arthur Sullivan handed over the bank card for that ghost employee. Our investigation confirmed that not a single cent of the money had been touched.

Now that the funds have been returned as normal, the factory’s losses are zero. He also provided a crucial lead that was a tremendous help to our investigation, which counts as meritorious service.

To put it simply, Arthur Sullivan made a foolish mistake, but he came to his senses in time. Considering his motive was to provide for his child, and the fact that he turned himself in and helped the police solve a murder case, it is highly unlikely he will be prosecuted. Your hope of dragging him to prison with you is shattered." The older officer stared at the factory manager, repeating the decision regarding Arthur Sullivan’s case.

In fact, a decision on how to handle Arthur Sullivan had been reached the day after he turned himself in.

However, the murder at the factory had not yet been solved. If they had rashly told Arthur Sullivan the result and he, in his excitement, lost control and was discovered by the killer, it could have caused complications for the rest of their plan.

That was why the police hadn’t informed Arthur Sullivan of the situation until now.

"Feel better now? All right, go wait in the reception room. You can’t go home just yet. You can leave after this case is closed." Lynn patted Arthur Sullivan’s shoulder again and smiled when he saw the man let out a huge sigh of relief.

Arthur Sullivan nodded at Lynn gratefully, then followed another junior officer to the reception room.

Back in the interrogation room, hearing the outcome of Arthur Sullivan’s case, the last bit of fight in the factory manager suddenly dissipated.

He no longer had any will to resist and could only confess everything from start to finish.

The story was quite simple.

When Walter Newton was young, he was slacking off and skipping work one day when he happened to discover a fire in the warehouse where the factory’s important assets were stored.

He put out the fire before it could grow, saving the factory’s property and securing several major contracts that were to follow.

At the time, the old factory manager—the current manager’s father—clapped Walter Newton on the shoulder and praised him, calling him the factory’s great hero and saying everyone should thank him, otherwise they might not even have jobs anymore.

At the same time, the factory gave Walter Newton a handsome bonus.

Walter Newton was never a diligent person to begin with. After receiving the bonus, he squandered it all in no time.

In the days that followed, he constantly brought up the fact that he was the factory’s great hero.

Demanding a raise or not showing up for work became common occurrences.

The old factory manager, mindful of his past contribution and thinking it wasn’t a big deal to support him, told everyone else to turn a blind eye.

And so, the days passed in a muddle.

"But that day... he actually threatened me. He told me to send my wife over for him to ’have some fun’ with."