Chapter 541: Convalescent Community

Chapter 541: Chapter 541: Convalescent Community

"And the other case? Was Danny really not involved?" Zoe Sawyer furrowed her brows, voicing her doubts.

Mrs. Dunn had bought gasoline at a premium and hid it at home. Then, on the very day she made her move, Danny just happened to be out playing games. Wasn’t that a little too coincidental?

Sean Hughes shrugged helplessly. "There’s nothing we can do. All our investigations indicate that from start to finish, Danny never intervened and knew nothing about it."

Even if they knew there was foul play involved, they simply couldn’t find any concrete evidence of Danny’s participation. Still, sending Danny to prison on domestic violence charges was a victory in its own right. At the very least, Cameron’s family of four wouldn’t have to worry about his harassment for the next three years.

After chatting a bit longer, Zoe leaned back and looked over at Evan Keller, who was sitting on the other side of the room. "When are Barry Quinn and the others expected back?"

Not long ago, the former superior of Barry and Monkey had come over to borrow them again. There was a classified mission that required their assistance. Standard protocol dictated otherwise, but the locations and individuals involved were directly connected to a previous covert operation the two had participated in. Furthermore, the mission was urgent, making temporary training out of the question. After an emergency meeting, the higher-ups had decided to borrow them once more.

Fortunately, there hadn’t been any major emergencies requiring Zoe’s immediate deployment lately. Her consistent training had also been paying off, and with Heath Hale by her side, her safety was guaranteed.

Evan glanced at the calendar. "Hard to say. If the mission goes smoothly, they should be back in about a week."

Zoe shrugged, resigning herself to the wait.

Returning to the office to rest after lunch, Sean was scrolling through her phone to unwind. When she spotted a note in her memos, she finally remembered what had slipped her mind.

"Evan, I heard my family chatting earlier. Apparently, someone set up a really nice convalescent community in the neighboring province.

"The environment is great, the staff are professional, and there’s 24-hour security. The overall atmosphere seems wonderful. Do you want to take a look?" Sean said, sending the information she had found over to Evan.

When she first heard about it, her immediate thought had been Frank Keller, Evan’s twin brother.

After being rescued and brought back to the country, Frank had been sent to a mandatory rehab center to break his addiction. Between that and the horrible treatment he had endured previously, his body had only partially recovered. He still wasn’t back to full health.

Sean brought this up specifically with the hope that a change of scenery might do Frank some good. Ever since he was sent to his current nursing home, he had isolated himself indoors. Aside from family visits or when the caretakers forced him out, he would gladly go three days without setting foot outside his room.

Evan had been nursing a headache over this issue for a long time. Sean wondered if moving Frank to a better environment might improve his condition.

Evan browsed through the documents Sean sent over, replying helplessly, "It’s no use. My parents already asked him. Frank just purely doesn’t want to go out.

"If it weren’t for the fact that his physical recovery is going well—and the doctors say there are no other issues besides his reluctance to leave his room—we would have forced him to switch nursing homes by now.

"This convalescent community does look pretty nice, though. The reviews are great, and the photos in the article seem fine too. It’s just that a few of the residents’ expressions look a bit stiff. Do they just not like having a camera pointed at them?"

Noticing the rigid looks on some of the residents’ faces, Evan felt a twinge of suspicion. But after staring for a moment, he put his phone down. There was a lot of work to do that afternoon; he needed to make the most of his break to get some rest.

"Probably. Some people just don’t like being photographed," Sean replied.

Despite their casual chatting, both of them were quick to clear their desks.

Just like that, shortly after their lunch break ended, the phone on Evan’s desk rang. Every pair of eyes in the office immediately zeroed in on him. Based on past experience, Evan’s phone ringing usually meant one thing: they had a new case.

He picked up the receiver. After listening to the person on the other end, his expression turned unusually grave. "I understand. Escort them to the reception room first. I’ll head over right now."

"What happened?" Zoe asked, looking at Evan.

"The person reporting the case said her brother suddenly started acting very strange and has completely lost contact recently," Evan answered while gathering his things. "She’s worried for his safety, so she came in to file a report."

It sounded like a standard missing persons case. They should be able to track him down relatively quickly. However, once he actually heard the woman’s account, Evan keenly sensed that things weren’t as simple as he had assumed.

Pushing open the door, Evan saw the informant sitting in a chair, looking deeply agitated. Ms. Turner, the informant in question, quickly stood up and looked at him nervously when he entered.

"Please, have a seat." Evan strode over with another team member in tow, gesturing for Ms. Turner to sit down before asking, "Ms. Turner, correct? Could you start by telling us exactly what happened?

"How did you first notice something was wrong with your brother? And after you lost contact with him, did any unfamiliar faces appear around your home or the neighborhood, or did anything strange happen?"

Prompted by Evan’s steady questioning, the anxious Ms. Turner slowly managed to calm her frayed nerves. "My brother is an exposé vlogger," she began. "Recently, he heard about some convalescent community in the neighboring province that boasts a ’zero crime rate’ and claims to have such harmonious relations that it’s practically a utopia.

"He didn’t buy it. He felt there had to be something fishy going on behind the scenes. Since he was short on content ideas anyway, he decided to go expose them and show his followers the truth. He packed up all his filming equipment and said he was going to live there for a while."

Ms. Turner rubbed her face in frustration as she spoke. "At first, I didn’t agree to it. If they can make a name for themselves like that, it means the community definitely has major financial backing or some powerful boss pulling the strings.

"If he rushed in to expose them and pissed off the wrong people, it would be all too easy for them to deal with a vlogger who has no real connections. I mean, with all the hype surrounding the place, why hadn’t any other big influencers made videos about it? The situation there is incredibly murky. It’s way out of our league."

But Mr. Turner refused to listen. He felt that the risk was exactly what would make his video so compelling. He believed he could go viral overnight and become a top-tier influencer. Then, the sponsorship deals would come flooding in, and he’d finally achieve financial freedom.

The mere thought of it had made Mr. Turner even more thrilled. Making quick work of it, he packed his bags in a flash. Ignoring his sister’s protests, he hopped in his car and drove straight toward the convalescent community.

At first, checking in went perfectly smoothly. Mr. Turner even managed to bring all his various pieces of equipment inside without a hitch.