Chapter 551 You Again
Carmelo gazed at the closed door sinisterly from inside the room. He let out a long sigh and slumped onto the couch after making sure Ryan had left and walked some distance away.
Carmelo reached out his trembling right hand to lift up his pajamas and narrowed his eyes at his stomach. Under the bright lights, he saw that his stomach had deflated entirely as if he had been left unfed and hungry for an extended period.
Even his ribs were clearly visible on his chest. The multiple black spots of various sizes that covered Carmelo’s skin were even more frightening.
Those spots layered his skin as if he had contracted a fungal infection. Some spots had even merged to form a sizeable infected area.
If anyone with experience in dealing with corpses witnessed Carmelo’s condition, they would be scared out of their wits because the dark spots on his body were caused by the process of hypostasis.
That was a condition that could only be observed in a dead person.
Carmelo put down his shirt and gritted his teeth.
This body cannot last much longer. That brat, Ryan, has already noticed something is wrong. It seems like I’ve been too impatient.
With his eyes boring into the door, Carmelo’s breathing turned labored. After Ryan achieves the Superior Realm, his body would be filled with the spiritual energy of that realm. When that happens, it would be the best time for me to steal and possess his body. However, if he refuses to cultivate and cooperate, I have no choice but to take the risk.
Inside the Hart residence at Summerbank, Leslie leaned against the couch while slowly puffing out a cloud of smoke.
Sitting opposite her was a middle-aged man, who was putting down the cup of coffee in his hand.
“Leslie, you should smoke less.”
She nodded after hearing that. Then, she took another deep puff before putting out the cigarette in the ashtray.
“Dad, I dare say the recent cases involving those missing people must be related to the Jensen family.”
Leslie got to her feet and picked up a piece of paper from the cluttered tabletop.
“This man, Ryan Leiter, is the most influential underground leader who emerged in Summerbank lately. I looked into him, but there was plenty of missing information about his life, so I failed to acquire any useful evidence. It is as if he has lived the first part of his life for the purpose of evading others’ investigation.”
Hearing Leslie’s words, Steven Hart received the document containing Ryan’s details.
“Are you saying that this Ryan Leiter’s identity is a fake?”
“This is just my suspicion. I do not have any proof to support my claim yet.”
As she spoke, she walked to the side and flipped over a two-meter-wide whiteboard.
“Dad, take a look at this. This is the timeline and distribution of the location of those missing people that I’ve compiled. Although I do not have any evidence, these people’s disappearances began right after Ryan’s arrival. Besides, I highly suspect our men have made an error in determining the sequence of the disappearance of those missing people during the initial case acceptance process.”
Leslie paused for a few seconds before she continued to explain, “Previously, we assumed the first missing person case happened at Hillscester and then spread toward the entire Summerbank. However, we actually neglected a critical point. Among those who have gone missing, the majority of them are members of Summerbank’s underground circles. Not to mention, most of these people are those who were relatively active and accomplished in the underworld. They have something in common, which is how seldom they keep in contact with their family members. According to the information that we have, their family members lodged a report only after they failed to contact those missing people for a few days, which means those people could have gone missing long before the cases were reported to us.”
Steven screwed up his eyes and stared at the whiteboard that was covered in pictures, and he remained silent.
Leslie took a marker pen and quickly wrote some words on the corner of the whiteboard.
“Dad, check this out. These missing people shared some similar characteristics. They are all adult males who were in underground circles and possessed significant social status and influence in their circle. Most importantly, if we connect all the locations of their disappearance, the central axis of this network pattern coincides with the bearings where Mirage Plaza is situated! Ryan saved Carmelo in the past and has been visiting the Jensen residence every night now. I have yet to figure out the whole situation, but since all our hypotheses involve the Jensen family, I firmly believe there must be a reasonable explanation that can connect these pieces of information. If we can identify the Jensen family’s motive, this case can be considered solved!”
Steven nodded slightly at the sight of his daughter working hard to find an answer to the case.
“Your analysis makes sense, but you should take care of your health too. You’ve been exhausted lately, so go back earlier to get some rest.”
“Okay. You should rest earlier, too,” Leslie chirped.
Then, she lit a cigarette and exited the mansion.
Watching Leslie’s car driving away from the floor-to-ceiling window, Steven picked up his phone and placed the device beside his ear.
“Jasper, did you hear Leslie’s analysis earlier? Stop giving me that bullsh*t. Your entire Serious Crime Unit is more incapable of solving crimes than my daughter alone. That is your failure in carrying out your duty! I am going to utilize my authority today. Jasper, I want to make sure I hear the news of Leslie Hart’s removal from the Serious Crime Unit tomorrow! I don’t care what excuses you use. I want my daughter to be safe. She can’t be the only police officer available in the entire Summerbank. Besides, she should have been in charge of handling paperwork, but you forcefully transferred her to your unit! There is no room for discussion. That’s the final say!”
At Summerbank’s night market, Leslie sat beside the road, eating some snacks. While chewing the food, she continuously scanned her surroundings.
The first reason she decided to go there was that she got hungry that night.
The second reason was that the night market was one of the key places related to those disappearances.
She gazed intently at the passing crowd while wearing a frown.
This is a famous street featuring a night market in Summerbank. There are a lot of people visiting this place every night. It’s not even an exaggeration to say that everyone here would have to brush shoulders with one another to move along in this dense crowd. The person who disappeared here is the local gang leader, Elon Macchione. Considering the large number of people here, Elon must have offended plenty of others to win control of this street, so he must be surrounded by his subordinates whenever he’s out, as he should be wary of his enemies taking revenge on him. Therefore, it is almost impossible for him to travel alone, so how did the other party lead Elon away without alarming anyone else?
Amidst Leslie’s contemplation, she was distracted by what she saw because she caught sight of a familiar figure standing at a nearby food stall.
It is the guy who won the position to be the first to pray!
Looking down at the leftover snacks in her hand, Leslie tossed the rest of the food into the rubbish bin beside her and dashed through the horde of people in Jonathan’s direction.
“Hey, we meet again,” Leslie said while reaching out to pat Jonathan’s shoulder after arriving behind him.
However, just as her hand was about to make contact with him, he slightly tilted his body sideways and avoided Leslie’s arm.
Jonathan slightly frowned when he turned around and saw her. “Why is it you again?”
