Chapter 484: The Situation Back Then

Chapter 484: Chapter 484: The Situation Back Then

"A verdict can only be reached after the entire case has been thoroughly investigated. I can’t give you a definitive answer right now.

However, cooperating with the police is never a mistake." After he spoke, Sean Hughes instructed the two officers at the door to stand guard, then returned to the police station with another officer, taking Selene Rivers’s testimony with them.

Armed with the address and information provided by Selene Rivers, Evan Keller and a few local officers went to the location and finally uncovered the origins of the group.

The people from Brellwood came from the other side of the mountains, from a village even more remote than the county seat.

Most of the residents there, like the original inhabitants of Brellwood, had responded to the government’s call to relocate to more accessible areas.

This group, however, were conspiracy theorists who believed the government had malicious intentions.

They resisted in every way possible, constantly hiding from the authorities.

The officials in charge of the relocation were worn out. They couldn’t dedicate all their efforts to just a few families, so they could only visit whenever they had time to try and persuade them to move.

The men who died in Brellwood had initially been hiding from government-sent mediators. Eventually, they discovered Brellwood.

They settled there, but since they still had to tend to their original fields, they established a rotation to guard their old homes.

This way, fewer people were present at any given time, making it easier to scatter and hide if officials came to persuade them.

This back-and-forth between the two sides dragged on for over a decade. The government officials assigned to the case changed several times, but the Brellwood group refused to yield.

When they had money, they’d go home and relax. When they ran out, they’d pick up odd jobs in a nearby town.

They spent any free time they had guarding their old homes, stubbornly refusing to leave.

Their long-standing persistence had even earned them a bit of local notoriety.

Finally, just a few days ago, Victoria Ford and the other women reached their breaking point and poisoned the men.

It wasn’t until Evan Keller led an investigation that the truth was brought to light. 𝐟𝒓ℯⅇ

"They’re all dead?" A rookie officer, new to the force, looked at Evan Keller and the others in the office. He tugged on the sleeve of the person next to him and whispered, "You mean those guys? The ones who hid for over a decade, claiming we were trying to harm them by making them relocate?"

"Yeah, that’s them." Another officer, who had been on the force longer and knew more, replied.

He nodded after hearing the rookie’s question. "I looked at the list. Entire families are gone!"

’I used to wonder how these guys, with no money and always in hiding, managed to convince any woman to have children with them.’

’Now I get it. They just trafficked innocent women!’

Since all the men in Brellwood were dead, they couldn’t be held accountable. The police could only inventory their meager assets and divide them equally among Victoria Ford and the other three women.

Although no charges could be pressed regarding Brellwood, the case was far from over.

There was still the matter of Selene Rivers colluding with her boyfriend to traffic women, as well as Naomi Rivers drugging someone and slashing Selene’s face.

One was suspected of human trafficking, the other of aggravated assault. Given their complex relationship, a swift judgment was impossible.

With no other choice, Evan Keller’s team had to urgently contact the parents of Naomi Rivers and Selene Rivers to determine the next steps before a final judgment could be made.

Victoria Ford was the instigator of the poisoning, and the death toll was high. However, taking into account her fifteen years of suffering and the physical scars she bore, the judge convicted her of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced her to six years in prison.

The day after the sentencing, the police contacted Victoria Ford’s family and informed her parents and younger sister of the situation.

Her family said they would arrive within a week.

Aunt Melody’s case was simpler. Her situation was similar to Victoria Ford’s, but she had been unloved by her parents. No one searched for her after she disappeared, and once enough time had passed, she was legally declared dead.

During her twelve years in captivity, she suffered an ordeal similar to Victoria Ford’s. The only small mercy was that her legs were unharmed.

But if Victoria Ford was the instigator, Aunt Melody was the key figure who procured the rat poison. Over twelve years, she had cultivated an image of compliance, successfully wrapping the men of Brellwood around her little finger.

She made them believe she had genuinely accepted her fate and was ready to live out her days there. This allowed her to gradually take control of the kitchen and trick them into revealing where the rat poison was kept.

After reviewing the full story, the judge handed down the same sentence for her as for Victoria Ford.

Too much time had passed for Victoria Ford and Aunt Melody to clearly remember the faces of the traffickers who had abducted them. The cold case was handed over to Zoe Sawyer to see if she could find a new lead.

Mila’s case, however, was much simpler.

Since her trafficker was a classmate, Mila remembered her details clearly.

The moment Evan Keller asked, Mila told them everything she knew: the name of her school, her class year, and her classmate’s name.

That was all she could remember, though.

After all, several years had gone by. Her classmate would have graduated and found a job by now; there was no way she would still be at the university. ℯℓ.

Mila provided the name of her university, which was some distance away.

Therefore, the task of investigating at the university fell to Zoe Sawyer and Heath Hale.

The two officers went to the university and found Mila’s former academic advisor.

"Mila?" The advisor’s memory was jogged by the name. "Yes, I remember her. At the start of the new semester, she never showed up for class, and her tuition wasn’t paid.

I called the emergency contact number she had on file and got in touch with her parents. That’s when I learned she’d been missing for two months. They had already filed a police report, but the investigation hadn’t turned up anything."

Afterward, I reported the incident to the university administration. The school used it as an opportunity to reinforce safety education for all students.

Because of what happened to Mila, starting the following year, I began taking attendance at the end of every holiday break to ensure something like that never happened again.

That’s why when Zoe Sawyer came asking about her now, the advisor remembered her immediately.

"Excuse me for asking," the advisor said, her voice filled with anticipation, "but since you’re here... is there news about Mila?"

Heath Hale nodded. "A few days ago, our department rescued four trafficked women. Mila was one of them.

We’re here today not only to ask about Mila, but also to inquire if you know the current whereabouts of one of her classmates, Zoe Dawson."

The advisor wasn’t a fool. She knew there had to be a connection between the police finding Mila and their sudden interest in another classmate.

’There’s no way the two aren’t connected.’

"Zoe Dawson?" The advisor thought for a moment but couldn’t place the name. "I’m not familiar with her. Please wait a moment, let me ask around."

She asked Zoe Sawyer and her partner to wait while she went to contact some of the students from that year.