Chapter 29: The Peculiarity in the Hotel

Chapter 29: Chapter 29: The Peculiarity in the Hotel

Evan Keller noticed Zoe Sawyer’s furrowed brow and offered a word of comfort.

The drive wasn’t long, so they arrived at their destination quickly.

Following the room number the young officer had given them, Zoe Sawyer and the other two headed purposefully toward the target floor.

When they reached the room, Captain Lynch knocked on the door. After a long moment, there was no answer from inside.

Captain Lynch’s brow twitched. He had a bad feeling about this.

He began pounding on the door harder while also calling his colleague’s cell phone.

A phone started ringing inside, but still, no one came to the door.

"Something must have happened. I’ll go find a staff member downstairs and get a key," Evan Keller said, not daring to waste a second. He turned and headed for the stairs.

A moment later, Zoe Sawyer came rushing back with a man who was clearly the manager.

"Oh dear, officers, let me, let me."

The manager watched Captain Lynch pound harder and harder on the door. Worried about the door and afraid of disturbing the other guests, he quickly spoke up, telling them he would open it.

Soon, the door was unlocked.

But it only opened halfway before something behind it blocked the way.

Captain Lynch, terrified for his team member’s safety, didn’t hesitate. He squeezed through the gap.

A moment later, his voice came from inside, "He’s passed out! Call me an ambulance!"

As Captain Lynch moved the person blocking the door, Evan Keller and Zoe Sawyer quickly entered from the hallway.

Just inside, they saw a young male officer lying unconscious on the sofa.

Captain Lynch emerged from the inner room, his expression grim. "Teacher Scott is gone!"

Less than fifteen minutes had passed between the phone call and their arrival.

But in that short time, their target had vanished, and the colleague assigned to watch him was unconscious. There was no way to question him.

"What about Mr. Donovan? Everything’s okay on that front, right?" Evan Keller asked quickly, thinking of the other teacher still in Varden.

’The couple couldn’t have both escaped at the same time!’

’No way!’

’The city is our home base, we have plenty of manpower. There’s no way someone could slip away from us like that!’

’It can’t be, it can’t be. We can’t be this unlucky!’

Captain Lynch tried to reassure himself as he made a call.

After listening to whatever was said on the other end, Captain Lynch’s expression grew serious. He grunted in acknowledgment a few times before hanging up, his face dark.

"Not long after we left, Mr. Donovan suddenly said he was feeling unwell and had someone take him to the hospital for a gynecological exam. The female officer from the bureau had other duties, so she didn’t go with him.

We could only ask a nurse at the hospital to keep an eye on him. But then Mr. Donovan knocked the nurse unconscious and escaped from the hospital!" Captain Lynch’s voice was heavy as he spoke.

He couldn’t believe that in less than a day, both of them had managed to escape.

Before, it was just speculation. Now, by escaping, the two of them were showing their hand. It was as good as pointing at the police and saying, "This has everything to do with me. Come and get me if you can!"

Zoe Sawyer scratched her head in confusion. "Captain Lynch, can I ask why there wasn’t tighter security on Mr. Donovan?"

When they knew he might be involved, why wasn’t he under stricter watch?

Evan Keller shook his head and gave Zoe a brief explanation. "Without concrete evidence, we can only hold a suspect for 24 hours. Besides, their positions are somewhat sensitive. If the students’ parents started making a fuss, it would cause problems.

On top of that, our workload has exploded these past few days, so we’re short-staffed. It’s only natural that surveillance got a little lax."

As he said this, Evan Keller stopped abruptly. He and Captain Lynch looked at each other, a flicker of disbelief in their eyes.

Over the last few days, the workload for the entire Varden Police Department had suddenly increased significantly.

There had been countless incidents of fights, brawls, and petty theft.

Sometimes a report would come in about a missing child, a suspected kidnapping, but when they rushed to the scene with a team, it would turn out to be a false alarm.

All these various incidents, while not major, had certainly drained a lot of their energy and attention.

’Don’t tell me this was all deliberately orchestrated?!’

’If that’s true, then the methods of the mastermind behind this are terrifying!’

"Let’s not worry about that for now. First, search the entire room. See if there are any hidden doors or anything.

Oh, and manager," Captain Lynch added, assigning tasks and pulling the manager who was waiting by the door into the effort. "Please have your staff prepare the hotel’s surveillance footage from the past few days. I’ll need to take a copy with me."

Once reinforcements from the bureau arrived, they would also check the surveillance footage, hoping to find some clues.

He refused to believe it! There had to be a way to find out how Teacher Scott had slipped past the officer at the door and left without a sound!

Hearing Captain Lynch’s instructions, the manager looked like he wanted to say something but held his tongue.

’Hidden doors? I’ve been the manager here for several years and I’ve never heard of such a thing.’

But the police had given him a task. The manager sighed at the doorway and joined the search.

Zoe Sawyer, remembering things she’d seen before, picked up a clothes hanger and began tapping it in various corners and along the edges of the walls.

Soon, next to the wardrobe in the bedroom, Zoe detected a sound that was different from the surrounding area.

It sounded somewhat hollow. Zoe had a feeling.

’This is it!’

"Evan Keller! Come over here and check this out!" Zoe waved over Evan, who was searching another part of the room. She pointed to the spot she’d found. "Try tapping here. Doesn’t it sound different from the rest of the wall?"

There was a rail here, mainly for guests to hang things on.

If there really was a secret door behind it, this would be a convenient spot for entry and exit.

"Ma’am, you must be joking. Our cleaning staff cleans the rooms every day. If there were really a secret door, they would have..." The manager’s protesting voice trailed off as he watched what Evan Keller did next. His eyes widened in disbelief.

Evan Keller had actually opened a secret door right there!

Although it was only half the size of a normal door, the opening was large enough for a grown man to pass through sideways.

The manager rubbed his face in disbelief. ’No way... it’s real!’

’Then why had no one ever discovered it before!’

Evan Keller gripped his weapon and cautiously stepped inside.

Passing through the secret door, he found himself in the adjacent room.

The room was empty, and all the furnishings were arranged neatly, as if no one had been there at all.

Evan Keller looked at the manager, who had also squeezed through the opening, and gestured to the room. "Who usually stays in this room? Get me the registration information."

The manager pulled a handkerchief from somewhere and wiped the sweat from his forehead as he explained.

"This room and a few others around it have been rented out long-term by the same party. We only provide basic cleaning services. We don’t know any of the specifics beyond that."