Chapter 507: Following the Trail to an Arrest

Chapter 507: Chapter 507: Following the Trail to an Arrest

Evan Keller now knew the rest of it.

After hearing the whole story, Evan Keller tapped his fingers on the table, a thoughtful expression on his face.

’Good news, Old Man Donovan’s case is solved. Bad news, it’s uncovered even more victims.’

But Evan Keller didn’t get discouraged. He assigned four more people to interrogate the other two members of the trio, trying to get them to recall the names and addresses of the deceased.

He then sent another team to the location provided by the Bearded Man to recover the homeless man’s body.

Given the crimes they had committed, a life sentence was a sure thing.

Meanwhile, Officer Lee’s line of investigation had also led to a breakthrough.

Compared to the difficulty of tracking down Mr. Donovan’s gambling, the livestreamers Mrs. Donovan liked to watch were currently unaware that their top contributor had been arrested.

The young man in charge of hyping up the atmosphere was sitting backstage. Seeing that the familiar name hadn’t appeared in the stream, he couldn’t help but frown. "What’s going on? That old woman should be in the stream by now, waiting.

Why haven’t I seen any sign of her, and she’s not replying to my WhatsApp messages!"

In the past, when she was in the stream relentlessly spamming gifts, it really hyped up the atmosphere and even stimulated several newcomers to start gifting too.

Now, she hadn’t shown up, and while the other regulars were still gifting, the total amount didn’t even come close to what Mrs. Donovan gifted by herself.

"Should I go check a few other streams?" the underling standing next to the young man asked quietly.

The "other streams" he mentioned belonged to their competitors.

Their top contributor, who was always punctual, hadn’t appeared. They had to figure out where she’d gone.

’If she’s really found a new favorite, we have to find a way to win her back,’ the young man thought, his expression grim, and nodded in agreement with his underling’s suggestion.

But soon, the underling came jogging back and said, "I couldn’t find our top lady anywhere. Do you think she had something urgent come up and that’s why she didn’t show?"

The young man’s expression softened slightly. "Fine. We’ll let it slide this time. But if she doesn’t gift double during the next stream, have the guys give her the cold shoulder for a bit!"

She needed to be taught a lesson.

"I get it!" the underling said, patting his chest in assurance.

While the livestreamers were busy scheming, back at the station, Officer Lee used the stream’s IP address to quickly pinpoint their exact location.

He also used the stream’s name to follow the leads and find their competitors, who belonged to the same parent company.

"Contact the police department over there and ask for their assistance in apprehending them. I’ll head over with a team immediately," Evan Keller said to Officer Lee beside him, after looking at the address and doing a quick mental calculation.

The livestreaming location was some distance from their police station. Previously, the most convenient way would have been to just borrow one of Zoe Sawyer’s doors to get there.

But Zoe Sawyer was on another assignment now and didn’t have time to help, so they had to go themselves.

The group of livestreamers, completely unaware they had been exposed, were still plotting how to scam more suckers when a squad of police officers burst in and sealed off all the exits.

The young man, who had been masterminding the operation just a moment ago, saw the police burst in, and his face instantly fell.

He instinctively tried to smash the phone in his hand, but before he could act, the team leader noticed something was off and snatched the phone from his grasp.

After seeing the information on the still-lit screen, the captain’s expression changed. He waved his hand, signaling his team to speed up and not waste any time.

’Looks like I’ve caught a big one!’

The teams raiding the other two livestreaming studios also had significant gains. By the time Evan Keller arrived with his people, some of the ones with looser lips had already cracked under interrogation and spilled everything they knew.

They integrated what they had learned from questioning the Donovan Siblings with what Officer Lee had subsequently uncovered by following the leads.

In less than a week, they had dug up everyone involved in this network, along with all sorts of accounts, and had also cracked down on a number of online gambling rings.

When Zoe Sawyer and Heath Hale returned after completing their seconded assignment, everyone in the office was buried in paperwork, furiously writing reports.

"So, is the old man’s case all wrapped up?" Utterly exhausted, Zoe Sawyer didn’t lean in for a look like she usually would. She just glanced over as she passed by, saw the name "Donovan," and assumed Old Man Donovan’s case had been solved, which prompted her question.

Still, Zoe Sawyer was a bit puzzled. ’It’s great that the case is solved, but is it really necessary for the entire office to be writing reports?’

’Could there have been other cases in between?’

"The old man’s case was solved a week ago. This is about the Donovan Siblings," Sean Hughes said without looking up.

Because her assignment had been both critical and urgent, Zoe Sawyer had to squeeze in sleep whenever she could.

She was constantly standing by the door, ready to open it at the slightest sign of movement.

Moving supplies, transferring the wounded, raiding strongholds.

The entire process was tense, thrilling, and top-secret. She had absolutely no time to check her phone, so naturally, she was unaware of the case’s progress.

Now, she didn’t know where to even begin catching up, so she just sat down to rest and waited for Sean Hughes to explain.

After writing the last line, Sean Hughes tossed his pen aside. As he looked up, he was met with Zoe Sawyer’s inquisitive gaze.

He thought for a moment, then recounted the case of the Donovan Siblings from beginning to end.

Because part of the raid on the livestreamers was broadcast live, the mastermind naturally got the news right away.

He wanted to cut his losses and run, but he had too many people working under him and controlled too many accounts. Cutting all those ties to himself at a moment’s notice was no easy task.

Not to mention, a considerable number of them believed the police would never trace it back to them. They were sure that many others felt the same way, and with them for cover, they could keep operating!

Their activity stood out starkly among a sea of now-dormant accounts, allowing the police to spot them immediately and track down their physical addresses.

After arresting the livestreamers, the police also interrogated them and extracted a lot of useful information.

Evan Keller directly submitted a report to his superiors, detailing the case’s situation and requesting assistance.

After all, the scope of the case was simply too vast. For their two departments to investigate everything thoroughly on their own would take far too long. They couldn’t afford to wait!

As more and more people were arrested, the information on the mastermind’s approximate location and identity became increasingly complete.

In the end, just an hour before he was about to board a plane to escape, they successfully arrested him.

If they had been any later and he had gotten on that plane, the consequences would have been unthinkable!

"Part of the arrest operation was broadcast live. To reassure the public, we need to write up the reports, close the case, and then release the case details as quickly as possible."