Chapter 393: The Door is Locked

Chapter 393: Chapter 393: The Door is Locked

Just as Mrs. Crowe was about to leave and search elsewhere, a sinister voice suddenly sounded from behind her.

Mrs. Crowe went rigid. ’That useless waste, Aunt Crowe! She couldn’t even hold him off for a little longer!’

’My chances of winning a direct confrontation with Clark Crowe are slim!’

’According to my original plan, I just needed to get ahold of Wendy Dawson. Then I could take on Clark Crowe.’

’But now, not only have I failed to find Wendy Dawson, Clark has found me.’

Mrs. Crowe didn’t panic, though. With her clean hand, she tucked away a few strands of hair that had come loose, her voice gentle. "Oh, no. I was just worried all the noise might scare Wendy, so I came over to check on things.

But are you done already? Did you really take care of it all?"

At the mention of this, Clark Crowe looked pleased.

He wiped the blood-stained knife on his pant leg, his tone deceptively soft. "Best to get it over with quickly. I can’t have them ruining the ceremony for me and Wendy.

No one is allowed to interfere."

Clark Crowe put heavy emphasis on "no one," his eyes fixed on Mrs. Crowe.

It was clear his "no one" included the unstable woman standing before him.

’Yes, she’s a pitiful case.’

’But I had a terrible childhood, too. Now that I’ve finally found the person I want to spend the rest of my life with, no one is going to destroy the happiness that’s finally within my grasp!’

The two circled each other warily, each tightening their grip on their weapon, inching sideways one step at a time.

Their eyes were locked, each waiting for the other to make a sudden move, terrified of being too slow to react and losing the upper hand.

The air crackled with tension. Just as they reached a stalemate, the sound of a heavy object slamming against a door echoed from downstairs.

’And the only occupied room downstairs is the one where I locked up Zoe Sawyer and those other two!’

The realization made Clark Crowe’s focus slip for a moment. Mrs. Crowe seized the opportunity, tightened her grip on her knife, and lunged at him.

’If I can just kill him, the Crowe Family will be mine!’

Meanwhile, while the two relatives were busy trying to kill each other, Zoe Sawyer had gone to a separate bathroom.

Through the door, she made contact with Evan Keller and the team at the office.

Worried that Wendy Dawson might be bugged, Zoe Sawyer immediately motioned for them to be silent the moment she opened the door.

Officer Lee took the opportunity to hand them the file he’d compiled. "We pulled all the police reports on the Crowe family and contacted the parents of the women who married into it.

According to their statements, they could still contact their daughters normally right after they married into the Crowe family. They didn’t notice anything amiss. But after the women took a trip abroad, some of them became completely unreachable. No news whatsoever.

Others seemed to have completely changed. They wouldn’t answer any questions. Girls who were once gentle and considerate suddenly became sharp-tongued and cruel, wanting to claim anything they saw as their own.

A few of the cases were more extreme. They’d go to the kitchen in the middle of the night, grab a knife, and threaten to kill the whole family. It terrified the other children. If they hadn’t been stopped in time, there could have been a real tragedy.

Gradually, for the safety of everyone else, the girls’ birth families started to distance themselves."

Although they had distanced themselves on the surface, they were still family. Most parents still kept an eye on their daughters from afar, just in case they might need help and have no one to turn to.

So when they heard the news of their daughters’ deaths, the families with closer ties immediately went to the police to file a report and explain the circumstances.

But as noted before, these unusual deaths all occurred overseas, so there were no valuable leads domestically.

The cases had to be shelved.

"These are all the leads we could find. We don’t have anything more specific," Officer Lee added quietly after seeing Zoe Sawyer and Heath Hale finish reading.

Combining what Officer Lee had uncovered with what they had seen that morning, Zoe Sawyer and Heath Hale felt their suspicions were growing more credible.

"Good work. We’ll keep an eye on things here at the Crowe house.

Clark Crowe, from the main branch of the family, was killed by his mother last night. We haven’t had a chance to access the scene or the body, but we’ll look for an opportunity." Heath Hale relayed what they had found out today to Evan Keller and the others.

The group discussed things for a while longer. Just as Zoe felt it was about time to close the door, a loud banging sound came from outside.

"From the sound of it, that’s coming from upstairs," Zoe Sawyer said, looking at Heath Hale. "Should we go check it out?"

Heath thought for a moment, then nodded. "Might as well. We haven’t been drugged, so it would be normal for us to investigate a strange noise."

As usual, Evan Keller and Sean Hughes reminded them to be careful. Only after confirming they had their protective gear on and their weapons ready did they let Zoe Sawyer close the door.

Zoe Sawyer and Heath Hale went to the door to open it, but it wouldn’t budge.

They pushed harder, hearing the clanking of an iron chain from the other side.

"Someone chained the door from the outside. We’re locked in," Heath Hale said, his expression grim.

’Originally, we could have used Zoe’s door to get out, but now...’

Heath Hale glanced at Wendy Dawson, who had been woken by the noise and was now walking toward them. He pressed his lips together in frustration.

’There’s a civilian here. We can’t blow our cover. We need to find another way.’

"What’s wrong? Is something happening?" Wendy Dawson asked as she approached, feeling a sense of unease at the serious looks on Zoe’s and Heath’s faces.

’I was only asleep for a little while. What could have happened?’

Heath Hale shot Zoe Sawyer a meaningful look, and she nodded in understanding.

"It’s nothing, don’t worry," Zoe said, putting a finger to her lips in a ’hush’ gesture as she pulled Wendy further into the room.

Then, to Wendy Dawson’s confusion, Zoe patted her down from head to toe, finally retrieving a tiny listening device from a hidden spot on her clothes.

When she saw the device, the color drained from Wendy Dawson’s face. She instantly understood why Zoe had gestured for her to be quiet.

The two of them acted as if nothing had happened, exchanging a few more words for show. Zoe then stashed the listening device and rejoined Heath by the door.

"All set," she said when Heath looked over, gesturing toward Wendy Dawson behind her to explain the situation.

Heath nodded. "There’s a chain on the door. We’re locked in.

We need to find another way out."

With that, Zoe and Heath started mentally reviewing the room’s layout, searching for an escape route.

Wendy Dawson stood quietly to one side, saying nothing. ’Best to leave this to the professionals,’ she thought.

Soon, both of their eyes lit up. They looked at each other and spoke in perfect unison.

"The room’s balcony!"