Chapter 423: I Don’t Believe This Group Can Still Talk Tough

Chapter 423: Chapter 423: I Don’t Believe This Group Can Still Talk Tough

The children might have been blindfolded for the entire journey, or they might have witnessed the whole thing.

’But either way, I have to go take a look. Who knows, there might be a clue.’

Soon, Sean Hughes arrived at the office and sat down in the chair the group had deliberately left open for him. ℯℯ𝑙.

In the video, female officers in uniform appeared in the hospital room. When the children, who had just regained consciousness, saw the two policewomen, their faces twisted in obvious terror.

They began to struggle violently. If the two officers hadn’t quickly spoken up to explain, with doctors and nurses also trying to soothe them, the children might have been scared half to death.

Once they calmed down, the two groups went through a round of questions and answers, quickly establishing the general situation. When it came to the last few questions, however, the children’s faces showed obvious conflict, as if the questions were difficult for them to answer.

But finally, a girl who had been huddled quietly in a corner spoke up and answered the question.

"We’ve figured out the situation. These children are from the neighboring country of Veyan. Their homes are very close to our border."

"They’re from a village over there. One day, while they were out playing, they were kidnapped by their local police, who were working with gang members. They were then smuggled into our country through a secret channel."

"Because they were blindfolded the entire time, from their capture to the handover, they aren’t very clear on the route."

"They were scared of the police at first because the kidnappers who handled the handover wore uniforms similar to ours. They were afraid of being sold again, so they were on high alert." For the last ten minutes of the video, the camera focused on the two female officers as they recorded what they had learned from the children.

The most important question came when the officers asked the children if they remembered the route or had seen any of the scenery along the way.

The children all shook their heads.

One of the older-looking children replied, "We didn’t see anything. We were locked in a compartment the entire time. We ate, slept, and did everything in there. We couldn’t go outside at all, so we couldn’t see what was happening."

"But I saw several of the kidnappers. Every time we stopped somewhere for a while, a new group of people would get on board."

After watching the video, Sean Hughes fell into deep thought. ’The children saw their kidnappers... Maybe I can get Beau to help draw composite sketches from their descriptions.’

’Then I can show the sketches to the children for confirmation.’

’If the accuracy is high, we can use the sketches to find out the kidnappers’ real identities and then lock down their location.’

’That way, even if we can’t find the Yorke Family’s long-established route, we’ll at least have a general area to work with.’

’The search radius would be drastically reduced, which would be a huge advantage for subsequent operations and arrests.’

Learning that the two female officers were still at the hospital, Sean Hughes wasted no time. He called Vivian Dunn, explained the situation, and asked her to see if Beau had time to help with some sketches.

A moment later, Vivian Dunn sent Sean Hughes an "OK" emoji, confirming that Beau had agreed.

Beau had been feeling a little down because everyone around her was busy while she had nothing to do. Now, hearing that Sean Hughes needed her help, she suddenly became exceptionally excited.

She didn’t even let Vivian Dunn finish speaking, nodding repeatedly to show that she could do it, no problem.

Soon, Beau was on a video call with the two female officers at the hospital. The process was simple: the children would say something, an officer would translate, and Beau would rapidly sketch the suspect’s likeness on her drawing pad.

When the first drawing was complete, the children, propped up in their hospital beds, saw the portrait and became extremely agitated. They exclaimed that this was the man who had tricked them, the one wearing an outfit like a police uniform!

With the first sketch done, their coordination improved. Soon, one portrait after another was completed.

They worked faster and faster, with increasing accuracy.

Before long, sketches of all the kidnappers the abducted children had seen were finished. Each one was a remarkably close likeness.

"Great work, Beau. Once this case is wrapped up, I’ll buy you a treat," Sean Hughes said, his voice soft as he praised Beau after learning all the sketches were complete. He promised to get her something delicious to eat once the case was solved.

Meanwhile, Kai Thorne’s case back at the station had entered a new stage.

The officers Evan Keller had sent to the casino caught the short guy and got a lot of information out of him during interrogation.

While surveying the scene, they also found a white ring where the fruit knife had been. Upon inspection, they realized it was where Marcus Thompson habitually placed his water cup.

And by an even greater coincidence, Marcus Thompson was no fool. Realizing he might not be able to outsmart Kai Thorne, he had installed a pinhole camera in a crack of the living room light fixture.

He had originally hoped to catch Kai Thorne doing something incriminating. Even if he couldn’t take over his identity, he could use the video to extort some money from him.

Ideally, he could pay off his debts and still have some spending money to live it up every now and then.

Marcus Thompson just never imagined that the pinhole camera he’d installed as a precaution would one day become the very evidence that would identify his own killer.

Because the camera had been installed quite some time ago, Zoe Sawyer hadn’t discovered it during her retrospection.

Back at the station, they were about to clean up the entire crime scene when a junior officer, in an awkward spot, happened to look up and spotted the one thing they had all missed.

That discovery, however, moved the whole case forward by a huge leap.

Vivian Dunn took the phone from Beau. "Kai Thorne’s case is pretty much solved," she said. "There’s just some follow-up work left, but it’s not urgent. Captain Keller is also more than halfway done with his interrogations."

"They’ve submitted a request to send half their team over to help you. With the upcoming interrogations and arrests, the local station there probably won’t have enough officers."

Hearing this good news, Sean Hughes excitedly slapped his thigh.

’Reinforcements are coming! Great!’

’We’re so short-staffed here! We were barely scraping by before, but now that Beau has sketched the kidnappers, we’re stretched thin again.’

’Evan Keller bringing his team over now is an absolute godsend!’

"Is Zoe Sawyer coming?" Sean Hughes asked, rubbing his hands together excitedly. ’If she comes too, things will go even faster!’

But Vivian Dunn immediately dashed his hopes. "She’s not. Captain Sawyer is responsible for arresting someone else."

’Oh well. At least we’re getting some people.’

Sean Hughes hung up the phone, slightly disappointed. Then, his eyes fell on the sketches and files faxed over by Officer Lee, and he cracked his knuckles in excitement.

"With all this in hand, I refuse to believe these guys can keep their mouths shut!"