Chapter 498: Old Man Donovan

Chapter 498: Chapter 498: Old Man Donovan

As he led the way, Manager Young wrung his hands and said, "I’ve compiled all the resident information for that building. There’s quite a bit, so I’ll have to trouble you to come to the office to look it over."

Sean Hughes thought for a moment, then waved a team member over. "I’ll just take one person to the property management office. The rest of you, go help Captain Keller."

"Understood!"

The officer who had been called over nodded and led the remaining team members toward their objective.

Manager Young watched the officers leave, his voice laced with apprehension. "Officer, may I ask... has something happened?"

’Otherwise, why would so many police officers show up for no reason?’

When he’d gotten the call from the police, he had wracked his brain reviewing everything he’d ever done, only breathing a sigh of relief after confirming he hadn’t broken any laws!

After they reached the property management office, Manager Young handed the pre-prepared list to Sean Hughes. His eyes were full of hope as he awaited an answer.

Sean Hughes flipped through the files as she spoke. "Yes, something’s happened. We received a call. The person who reported it said she smelled a strong, putrid odor in her room and heard strangers talking outside her door.

"The police suspect someone hid a body on that floor."

As she was getting out of the car, she had received a call from Evan Keller, saying the three suspects had been caught.

That was why she could now reveal a few relevant details to the manager.

Hearing this explanation, Manager Young instantly sucked in a sharp breath. ’Isn’t that the ’coffin building’? How could someone have called the police from there?’

The next second, Manager Young remembered there was one living tenant inside. She didn’t usually come out, though, and the two had almost never met face-to-face, which was why he hadn’t thought of her immediately.

"Is it that Miss Rowan? Is she okay?" Manager Young asked cautiously after recalling the tenant’s name, a guilty look on his face.

’If our property management staff hadn’t avoided that building so much, if they’d done normal patrols and installed cameras, maybe this wouldn’t be happening today.’

Now, all Manager Young could do was pray that the tenant herself was unharmed, and think about how to remedy the situation later.

’If another murder happens in the complex, the property values will definitely drop again!’

The homeowners here were already full of complaints about the "coffin building," bringing it up to jab at the management staff from time to time. If something else happened, he didn’t even want to imagine the consequences.

"Don’t worry, the person who made the report is fine," Sean Hughes replied, quickly flipping through the documents.

Hearing that she was okay, Manager Young let out a long sigh of relief. ’As long as she’s okay, that’s all that matters. As long as she’s okay.’

Soon, Sean Hughes paused on one of the pages.

The information from property management was simple: a photo of the homeowner, the date of purchase, a name, and a contact number.

And the photo in the file looked very much like the old man lying between the two walls.

Manager Young noticed Sean Hughes’s pause and leaned over. When he saw the file, his face lit up with recognition. "Ah, Old Man Donovan."

Sean Hughes looked at him and said, "Please tell me about this Old Man Donovan."

Although he was a bit confused, Manager Young dutifully explained Old Man Donovan’s situation to the two officers. "The old man is very stubborn. He doesn’t trust electronic devices like cell phones. To contact him, you have to go to his home or call his landline, but he’s a bit hard of hearing, so he often doesn’t answer the landline either.

"Old Man Donovan doesn’t actually live in the complex. His residence is in the bungalow across from here. His children don’t live nearby, so our staff would go ask him what groceries he needed in the evening and deliver them early the next morning."

At this point, Manager Young scratched his cheek with a finger. "But the old man likes to go out on his own. We haven’t seen him for the past couple of days, so he’s probably just out and about."

"Is this common for Old Man Donovan?" Sean Hughes asked, simultaneously taking a photo of Old Man Donovan’s file and sending it to Evan Keller.

Manager Young nodded emphatically. "Yes. At first, we’d get scared and call his children. But after it happened a few more times, we got used to it, so we started calling them less."

As he said this, it finally dawned on Manager Young. His face turned deathly pale as he asked in disbelief, "Don’t tell me... you suspect the source of the putrid smell is Old Man Donovan?"

’If not, the police wouldn’t keep asking about him. And the apartment Old Man Donovan bought just happens to be right next to the one Miss Rowan is renting.’

’One coincidence could be a coincidence, but with this many, you can’t be so sure.’

"We can’t be certain at this time, but we have confirmed that the smell is originating from the apartment that Old Man Donovan purchased.

"We’ll know more specific details after our colleagues have surveyed the scene." Sean Hughes didn’t intend to say much more. After these brief words, she closed the file and waved to the officer beside her. "Go contact the old man’s children."

Regardless of whether the body was the old man’s, they needed to contact his children. After all, the property was theirs.

The officer nodded, turned, and walked out of the office to make the call.

As for Old Man Donovan’s residence, they would wait for his children to arrive and confirm the identity before going over.

Manager Young, who had been holding onto a sliver of hope, felt that bad premonition grow stronger after seeing Sean Hughes’s series of actions.

After finishing the call, the officer returned to the office and nodded to Sean Hughes. "I’ve contacted the old man’s children. They said they’ll be here in an hour."

Sean Hughes looked at Manager Young and said, "Manager, please contact the owner of Miss Rowan’s apartment, and then come with us to the scene."

"Ah? O-Okay, yes, just a moment." Manager Young nodded, flustered. He quickly found the owner’s contact information in his address book and dialed the number.

He briefly explained the situation, confirmed the owner’s arrival time, and then finally followed Sean Hughes toward the building where the incident occurred.

The residents outside had been keeping a close eye on the property management office. When they saw the group emerge, they all started following along.

’You can exercise anytime. If I don’t follow this commotion now, I’ll definitely regret it later!’

As they walked, the crowd of gawkers realized the path was leading them to a more remote area—getting closer and closer to the "coffin building."

They couldn’t help themselves and huddled together, whispering amongst themselves.

"They’re heading over there! I told you something must have happened there!"

"That building is just bad news. It’s all property management’s fault for not stopping them in the first place. Now look, none of the apartments in the whole complex will sell."

"Do you guys smell that? It stinks so bad!"

"Must be a dead rat around here that hasn’t been cleared away!"