Chapter 497: Capturing the Trio

Chapter 497: Chapter 497: Capturing the Trio

The leader took a deep breath, forcing down the thoughts swirling in his head.

’Forget it. Now’s not the time to be thinking about this. If we delay any longer, we’ll run into the cops!’

"Stay close. Let’s finish this quick and get out of here!" the leader said, glancing back at The Bearded Man and the skinny man. He then placed his hand on the doorknob.

Zoe Sawyer saw his movement and said quickly, "Evan, they’re about to come out. Get ready!"

A moment later, a crisp tap sounded in her earpiece—Evan’s signal that he understood.

The next second, the leader opened the door. He had barely stepped out before he was startled by the police officers waiting on either side.

’No, when did they get here?’ The leader froze on the spot, his expression slack with shock.

Evan Keller raised a hand, and all the tranquilizer guns aimed at the leader.

Faced with so many dark muzzles, the leader instinctively raised his hands. The fruit knife he was holding fell to the ground with a CLANG.

"What are you doing, boss?!" The Bearded Man heard the knife fall before he could see what was happening outside. "Are your hands shaking so bad you can’t even hold it steady?"

The moment he stepped through the doorway, he saw the police officers surrounding them.

His face went deathly pale, and the same thought as his leader’s raced through his mind: ’When did these cops get here? How did we not hear a thing?’

Faced with the guns pointed at him, The Bearded Man’s first reaction was also to raise his hands, his own fruit knife clattering to the floor.

At the same time, The Bearded Man couldn’t help but curse inwardly. ’Do they point guns at you just for killing some old man now?’

’Or was this old guy someone important? Did he have connections?’

But it was a question The Bearded Man was destined never to answer.

The skinny man, still inside and trailing behind them, saw the other two’s actions and knew it was all over.

His eyes instinctively darted toward the window and balcony, but he realized a second later that this was a "coffin home"—there was no room on either side for him to escape.

’So I’m just supposed to surrender without a fight?’

’But if they catch me and investigate my past... I might even get a death sentence.’

’Charging out is impossible. I can’t beat all those cops. And assaulting an officer? That would just add to my sentence, for sure!’

After weighing his options, the skinny man realized the best-case scenario was to surrender quietly and let them take him away.

Running or fighting would only lead to a dead end.

Having come to this conclusion, the skinny man also dropped his fruit knife, raised his hands, and walked out behind The Bearded Man.

The skinny man didn’t know that just beside him, through an invisible door, Heath Hale was also aiming a tranquilizer gun at him.

If he had made a single wrong move, Heath would have immediately taken him down, giving him no chance to harm the officers outside.

Only after the skinny man came to his senses and tossed the knife aside did Heath lower his tranquilizer gun.

Once the trio was secured, Evan Keller walked over and knocked on Wren Rowan’s door. "Miss Rowan, it’s the police. It’s safe now."

Huddled in a corner of her bathroom, Wren Rowan heard the noise outside and lifted her head uneasily, a flicker of doubt on her face. ’Did the police get here that fast?’

’Or is it the murderers from next door?’

’But they wouldn’t need to knock so politely, would they? Wouldn’t it be faster to just kick the door down?’

Unsure if it was really the police outside, Wren Rowan dialed the emergency number again. Only after confirming it was indeed them did she get to her feet, her limbs feeling weak, and walk over to open the door.

The moment she opened the door, an even more intense stench assaulted her nostrils.

Combined with the prolonged mental strain, Wren Rowan’s eyes rolled back, and she passed out cold.

If Evan Keller hadn’t been quick enough to catch her, Wren Rowan would have landed face-first, likely breaking her nose.

Outside the complex, Sean Hughes arrived with his team.

Seeing so many police cars parked at the entrance to Oakhaven, residents who were loitering nearby gathered curiously.

A security guard was the first to approach them. "Officers, may I ask what brings you here?"

Sean Hughes had contacted Oakhaven’s property management on his way over. Just as the security guard was asking, the manager himself hurried over, saying, "Officer Hughes, you’re here! You’re here!"

Before Sean Hughes could reply, the residents swarmed over. "Young, why are the police here? Did something happen?"

"Are the police here about that ’coffin building’? I’ve been saying for ages that it needs to be dealt with. It’s dragging down the property value of the whole complex!"

"Exactly! I’m trying to sell my apartment, but as soon as they hear it’s Oakhaven, they all back out. It’s impossible to sell!"

The old aunties and uncles chimed in one after another, giving Manager Young no chance to reply.

Remembering the phone call he’d received from Sean Hughes, Manager Young felt sweat prickle his forehead. He raised his voice, "Aunties and Uncles! Let’s not interfere with a police investigation!"

"We’ll find out what happened once they’ve finished!"

Sean Hughes shot a look at the officers behind him, signaling them to move.

The officers who caught Sean Hughes’s signal quickly moved in. Each took an elderly resident by the arm and said, "Sir, Ma’am, come on, let’s have a seat over here for a bit. We can talk more once we’ve sorted things out."

"For now, please give us some time to get this handled."

The aunties and uncles might be able to pester the property manager endlessly, but when faced with Sean Hughes and his officers, their desire to keep arguing fizzled out.

"Alright, alright. If you police say so, we’ll wait for you to finish."

"As police officers, you have to do something about that coffin building in there! It’s dragging down the property values for the whole complex. Sometimes when you walk past, you can even hear a woman’s voice, or music."

"That building is definitely haunted!"

Hearing this, Sean Hughes gave an awkward internal smile. ’Oh, there’s something ’unclean’ in there, alright,’ he thought. ’A corpse, to be exact.’

"We can discuss everything once we’ve finished. We’re on a tight schedule, so we can’t chat right now," Sean Hughes said, stepping forward to rescue his officers from the crowd of residents.

He then turned to Manager Young. "Manager Young, please take us to your office. We need you to prepare some files."

Hearing this, Manager Young nodded eagerly. "I got them ready right after you called. This way, please."

Sean Hughes waved to the officers outside, and the line of police cars began to drive into the complex.