Chapter 796: Psychological Attack

“What’s the plan? How about we toss them on the mountain and feed them to the wolves?” Jim Thorne suggested.

He’d never seen the wolves on the mountain himself, but his uncle had. That was ten years ago, though. Still, Jim Thorne figured there must be wolves up there; they just weren’t showing themselves.

Adrian Hawthorne shook his head, a cold glint in his eyes. “Feeding them to the wolves would be letting them off too easy.”

He had a better idea.

Tang Xiaonan could read his mind and guessed what he was planning. The “big shot” from the book’s favorite pastime was giving people a taste of their own medicine. Whatever someone did to him, he would return it a hundred times over.

It looked like Adrian Hawthorne was planning to give Bernice the same treatment.

“I’m going to see Vernon Spann.”

Adrian Hawthorne still had a few questions for Vernon Spann. ‘He and his sister, Bernice, aren’t on good terms, so she couldn’t have ordered him around. Besides, Bernice had already hired three thugs; she had no reason to get Vernon involved in the arson.’

‘The biggest question is that Bernice doesn’t even know where he and his mother live. Last summer, Jim Thorne and his brother had led her on a wild goose chase, and there was no way she could have found Millstone Peak in just six months. It’s highly probable that Jacqueline Spann let the location slip. And that venomous snake, Jacqueline, was likely the one who put Vernon up to it, too.’

Vernon Spann was locked up alone in the morgue. The grim room had kept him awake for two nights straight. His nerves were shot, and his face was ashen. The moment he saw Adrian Hawthorne, he completely broke down, kneeling on the floor to beg for mercy.

“I was wrong! Please, spare me! I’ll pay you… I’m begging you, just let me go!”

‘If they keep me locked up any longer, I’m going to die. I’d rather be in prison than in this godforsaken place. At least a jail cell has some sign of life. This creepy place is as dark and cold as the deepest level of hell.’

“Do you know who the last two bodies laid out in this room were?” Adrian Hawthorne asked coldly.

Vernon Spann shuddered and shook his head frantically. Of course he had no idea.

“The most recent one was your former mother-in-law. Before her, it was your ex-wife, Phoenix Golding. Right on the spot where you were kneeling, in fact.”

Vernon Spann leaped to his feet, terrified. He glanced around warily, suddenly feeling a deathly chill as a shiver ran down his spine. His skin crawled.

‘He’d heard from Jacqueline about the deaths of Phoenix Golding and her mother. It was a surprise, but he didn’t feel sad about it. In fact, he felt a bit of satisfaction. That mother and daughter had always looked down on him; it served them right that they were finally dead.’

“Do you know how they died? Phoenix Golding went to use the outhouse one night and was pushed into the cesspit. Drowned. As for your mother-in-law, someone poisoned the cured meat. Your father-in-law’s entire family of five was poisoned. The other four were saved, but your mother-in-law died.”

Adrian Hawthorne spoke slowly, methodically. Vernon Spann’s expression was one of shocked disbelief. ‘I really didn’t know. My daughter never told me the details. It sounds like they were murdered. But who could be so ruthless?’

“You must be curious about who the killer is. In fact, it’s someone you know very well. The person you know best, actually.” A mocking smile touched Adrian Hawthorne’s lips. A terrible feeling suddenly washed over Vernon Spann, and he grew deeply unsettled.

“You’re a smart man. You should understand what I’m getting at. You’ve probably already guessed who the killer is. It’s none other than your darling daughter, Jacqueline Spann. She killed her own grandmother and mother with her own two hands.”

“No… That’s impossible! You’re spouting nonsense!”

Vernon Spann shook his head furiously. ‘I don’t believe it. How could my daughter be a killer?’

‘Absolutely impossible.’

Adrian Hawthorne sneered. “Jacqueline Spann didn’t just kill her mother and grandmother—now she wants you dead, too. Think about it. Did you really think you could get away after starting that fire? Do you take the police for fools?”