Chapter 51: The Hidden Case
"Could there really be an invisible man?" Detective Marcus Chen's voice suddenly rose, drawing everyone's attention in the conference room.
Meeting their gazes, he immediately waved his hand. "It's nothing. I've already decided on someone for this. I'll leave it to Detective Mitchell." He nodded to Amanda.
"Everyone else, return to your posts and don't interfere in this matter anymore."
Although the other officers were puzzled, they dared not object since their superior had spoken.
The meeting ended, and everyone left, leaving only Marcus and Amanda in the conference room.
In the empty conference room, the two deliberately lowered their voices to talk.
"About that matter..." Marcus's expression was somewhat grave. "Our department doesn't have the special units described in movies. There's nowhere to even report it; it was just buried. You mean this murder case might be related to that matter?"
The sharp, professional woman nodded, her expression very serious. "That thing is bizarre. If you soak it in water and then pour water on other things, it can slightly diminish its visibility. If it has enough substance, it might even become invisible."
"Bring that thing here," Marcus frowned. If this matter was truly connected to that troublesome case, then the problem would be serious.
This would no longer be just the death of a female college student, but a grave event concerning public safety.
The existence of an invisible person was enough to warrant federal involvement.
It would also shatter the sense of security that society had painstakingly established.
Three minutes later, Amanda returned, carrying a small, vacuum-sealed evidence folder.
"No one else knows about this, right?"
"Yes," Amanda nodded. "It's kept absolutely confidential."
Reassured, Marcus opened the evidence folder, put on latex gloves, and slowly pulled out a small card.
The card was crimson, with a bikini-clad woman printed on it, a series of seductive words, and a clearly handwritten phone number.
These kinds of things are very common in cheap motels.
Would two police officers scrutinize this kind of adult entertainment card?
Of course not.
If you looked closely, you'd see the card slowly becoming transparent, though not very noticeably, and then it would revert back to its original state!
If Jake were here, he would definitely recognize it as the card he had carelessly tossed aside!
"Since the owner of that motel reported it, there haven't been any similar incidents," Amanda stared intently at the card, ignoring the explicit imagery; her eyes were only on the case.
"Did you call that number?"
"Yes," Amanda nodded. "The woman seemed to be at work at the time. When she heard it was the police who called, she was so scared she almost lost her job." She frowned, seemingly disgusted by this kind of illegal business.
"Tch—!" Marcus scoffed. Didn't that mean the lead had gone cold?
"At this point, perhaps we really should report it to the FBI." Marcus lit another cigarette. Smoking to cope with stress—sometimes that's quite real.
"Detective Chen, didn't you say this case was under my jurisdiction?"
"Huh?" Marcus was taken aback. "I just wanted to clear out those people. The fewer people who know about this, the better. But what do you want to do, Amanda?"
"Hehe," Amanda suddenly smiled. "Since you've handed this case over to me, how about giving me some time to investigate?" She held up her slender index finger. "One week, just one week. If I can't find anything, I'll escalate it, okay?"
"You...!" Marcus sighed. "If it weren't for your excellent track record, daring to bargain with me, I would have transferred you to traffic duty long ago!"
"Thanks, Marcus. You're the best." It seemed their working relationship was quite solid.
"I'm going to secure the evidence." Amanda resealed the card and left with purpose.
Marcus was left with only a deep drag of his cigarette, exhaling a cloud of smoke as he watched Amanda's determined retreating figure, shaking his head with a slight smile.
...
Jake comforted Emily at the end and offered to take her back to her dormitory.
During this time, Emily surprisingly suggested she stay with Jake, which surprised him. Was it true that people were particularly vulnerable and seeking comfort when they were scared?
However, he refused; he didn't want to take advantage of her.
When he arrived at the girls' dormitory, Jake saw the entire floor covered in memorial flowers and candles, reminiscent of a crime scene.
Except for Emily's dormitory, all the other girls on the floor had moved out, turning the entire floor into a ghost town. It was understandable that the girls were too afraid to stay.
Pushing open the door, Jake found the remaining four girls sitting together, hugging pillows and scrolling on their phones, listening to music, or watching Netflix. But the dark circles under their eyes clearly indicated that these distractions were useless; they were still terrified.
Outside the door were memorial candles and scattered flower petals—who wouldn't be afraid?
Seeing Emily return, the other four girls didn't react much, only glancing up at her.
At this rate, these girls would have serious psychological trauma.
Jake sighed and introduced himself to the girls.
They all expressed a strong desire to go home, but the case wasn't closed, they were still persons of interest and couldn't leave. Not being held at the police station was already a courtesy.
However, these girls probably preferred to be anywhere else rather than live in this terrifying dormitory, but the price of being detained would be a huge stain on their records!
They were university students, with brighter futures ahead; how could they bear such a mark?
They had to endure the fear themselves.
During the day, they could go out to relax, but none of them wanted to because the memorial outside the door terrified them. These days, they barely ate or slept, praying that one day they would wake up and the police would tell them the case was closed and they could go home.
But who knew how long that day would be?
By the time he left the girls' dormitory and returned home, it was almost dark.
Jake removed the bandages and replaced them with fresh dressings. After a day, the wound healed quickly and had completely scabbed over.
Two more days passed without incident.
Emily gradually became more lively, calling Jake every day and occasionally chatting casually. However, the invisible assassin seemed to have vanished without a trace.
On this day, Jake's injuries were finally almost completely healed.
He prepared to enter the new film in Zone 3. Although he knew the plot in advance and could exploit advantages, he was still far too weak when it came to actual combat abilities.
He first returned to The Princess Diaries world to gather his equipment, then prepared to enter the first movie in Cinema Zone 3,
"Equilibrium." He planned to systematically learn gun-kata...
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