Chapter 495: The 3 Thugs’ Plan

Chapter 495: Chapter 495: The 3 Thugs’ Plan

A slender girl was huddled by the toilet, her hands gripping the edge of the bowl as she leaned her head in.

"This should be the caller. She said she smelled a strong odor in her home," Evan Keller said, recalling the case file he had just read. "Zoe, see if you can get the door to lift its barrier. Nothing else, just let the smell through."

It wasn’t a difficult task. Zoe Sawyer nodded, communicated with the door, and a few seconds later, a sickeningly sweet and rotten stench wafted out from Wren Rowan’s bathroom.

To an ordinary person, it might just smell like a dead rat or some other decaying animal.

But to police officers like Evan Keller, who had worked countless cases, the smell was all too familiar.

This was unmistakably the stench of a heavily decomposed human corpse.

Once she caught a whiff of the odor, Zoe Sawyer understood why Wren Rowan had her face so close to the toilet.

’This caller is really smart,’ she thought to herself.

The other officers working on the other side of the office caught the smell and stood up one by one, instinctively walking over to Zoe’s position.

Their gazes turned exceptionally sharp, staring intently at the door in front of Zoe.

"That smell... it’s definitely the stench of a corpse. At first, I thought it was just a lot of dead rats and the caller got it wrong."

"Me too. I can’t believe it’s actually a dead body. In that case, the people hiding in the apartment next to hers are definitely bad news!"

"Maybe they already know the caller is living right there between them. No matter how careful you are, living somewhere is going to create noise and trash. It’s impossible to leave no trace at all."

"They probably found out a long time ago and just haven’t done anything, waiting to catch her by surprise and get rid of her too!"

The team members behind them chimed in one after another, sharing their observations.

"Move the door. Let’s go next door and check on the suspects," Evan Keller said. After observing Wren Rowan and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he told Zoe to move the door to check on the suspects.

Zoe nodded and guided the door, shifting it toward the adjacent apartment.

After a moment of palpable resistance, the situation in Room 712 was revealed to them all.

Except for the load-bearing walls, all other walls in the living room and bedrooms had been knocked down.

The windows were bricked over, leaving the inside dim and gloomy.

At that moment, however, the living room light was on, illuminating the scene with perfect clarity.

Three large men were sprawled haphazardly on the floor, surrounded by scattered liquor bottles and disposable takeout containers.

The altar that was originally in the center of the living room had been pushed to the side, its ancestral tablet and incense burner askew.

And under the window sat two black suitcases, with several fruit knives lying next to them, their blades stained with dark red marks.

"Boss, should we just go ahead and take care of that little chick next door? I haven’t had any fun in days," said one of the men, The Bearded Man, propping his foot on the nearby altar, his tone eager.

Hearing this, another man, who looked a bit skinnier, also spoke up. "Yeah, I’m itching to make a move, too."

"She never comes out, probably thinks she’s so well-hidden. We just haven’t had time to deal with her, that’s all."

"Exactly. A couple of days ago, when we were bricking up the wall on her side, we heard noises from inside."

"A homebody like her who never goes out or even shops online must have a lot of cash. Boss, how about we pull off another big score!" The Bearded Man sat up, rubbing his hands together in excitement.

They had purposely walked past her door and said those things. The woman next door must be trembling with fear right now!

The man in the middle, addressed as "Boss," rolled over nonchalantly. "What’s the hurry? Let her stew in her fear for a bit longer. We’ll go over in an hour."

The Bearded Man grew anxious at his words. "Boss, aren’t you afraid she’ll call the police? If she does, we’ll be exposed!"

"That woman’s not like that dead old geezer. He was old, his eyesight was shot, and he could barely even press the numbers on his phone. That’s how we were able to take care of him without alerting the cops."

The Boss grinned. "I picked Oakhaven for a reason. It takes the nearest police station a good half-hour to get here. This woman will be scared for over an hour. We have enough time."

"Plus, I already figured out our escape route. There’s a small gap in the back wall behind this building, just big enough for the three of us to climb over. There isn’t a single security camera in this building or around it. I guarantee no one will see a thing!"

"We’ll rest up a bit, then head straight over, bust into that woman’s place, kill her, and grab whatever we can before we bolt."

People like their neighbor who never went out usually kept their money on their phone or in a bank card. Forcing a transfer would be risky and could leave a trail for the cops to follow right back to them.

So from the very beginning, the Boss’s plan was just to go over, have some fun, kill her, and run.

With that thought, the Boss gave a few more instructions. After making sure his two underlings understood, he closed his eyes to rest, his mind already mapping out their next move.

Their last victim, the old man, didn’t trust phones or banks. Plus, he was old and forgetful. Fearing his kids wouldn’t be able to get the money after he died, he had withdrawn all his cash and kept it at home.

After killing him, they had quickly found two large suitcases full of money under his bed and in his wardrobe.

Once they took care of the woman next door, they could take the money with his two men, find some remote town to lie low for a while, and live it up.

Satisfied that he hadn’t missed any details, the Boss closed his eyes, humming an unknown tune.

After hearing the trio’s conversation, several of the officers behind Zoe Sawyer clenched their fists in anger. Their guess had been right on the money. The three of them were damnable criminals!

"Now that we know their plan, things will be much easier," Evan Keller said, his expression relaxing slightly.

The three men might have knives, but the police weren’t poorly equipped either.

His people could hide on either side of the door. The moment the three criminals opened it to come out, they could take them down with stun batons or tranquilizer guns.

There were no security cameras in the hallway or around the floor anyway.

Using Zoe’s door, they could quickly position the team around the area.

It would be fast, discreet, and would give the criminals absolutely no chance to hurt anyone else.

And after they checked Room 714 next door, he could send the team over and even provide them with cover.

A complete arrest plan quickly formed in his mind.

Evan ran through it from start to finish. Confirming there were no issues, he spoke to Zoe.

"Let’s check 714."