Chapter 406

Pearl's case is still a mystery. Brenda and her team always knew there were some deep, dark secrets behind it.

Brenda's been dying to find out who the killer is, but her uncle Alan, the chief, has always warned her to back off.

She suspects the killer is from one of the big four families, but dealing with them is no walk in the park. Plus, all the info on Pearl's case is locked up tight in the archives.

Then, out of the blue, Brenda stumbles upon a similar case in another country. If the person who hurt Pearl isn't the same as this killer, they must be connected somehow.

"Sir, can I meet this killer and ask him some questions?" Brenda asks the local police chief.

The chief looks at the killer's file, shrugs, and says, "Sorry, Officer Pena, this guy died in prison from a sudden heart attack."

Brenda is floored; she didn't see that coming.

But she's still got questions.

"So, sir, when did this criminal die?" Brenda asks.

The chief thinks for a moment. The criminal's brutal methods made him memorable. "Hold on, I think I kept a newspaper about this guy."

After digging through a bunch of papers, the chief finally finds the newspaper reporting the criminal's death.

He hands it to Brenda. She checks the date of death and realizes that Pearl was harmed shortly after this criminal died.

Brenda has a wild theory. 'Maybe this criminal didn't die at all but was sent to our country.'

"Sir, can I see the death report of this criminal?" Brenda asks again.

The chief frowns. "Officer Pena, why are you so interested in this criminal?"

Brenda hesitates, then explains the similar case they had back home.

The chief's eyes flicker. He shakes his head and says, "Sorry, Officer Pena, our archives were renovated, and some info got lost. We didn't pay much attention to this guy's data because he was already dead, so we didn't bother to submit the report. I can't help you."

Brenda wants to ask more, but the chief waves her off and makes an excuse to leave.

'This guy definitely knows something, but if he's not talking, what can I do? I have no jurisdiction here.' Brenda thinks to herself.

She looks at the newspaper in her hand, which has a photo of the criminal. Brenda quickly goes to her computer, logs into her social account, and emails the photo to her colleague.

"Emma, can you look into this guy for me? I need to know if he's shown up domestically ASAP," Brenda calls her colleague to stress the urgency.

"Don't worry, Brenda, I'll dig into it," Emma Kate assures her.

After hanging up, Brenda started asking other officers about the killer, hoping to dig up more clues.

Meanwhile, Emma got right to work on the investigation after receiving Brenda's email.

It was lunchtime, and a colleague came by to invite Emma to join them.

Emma's stomach growled. She hadn't eaten breakfast and had been busy all morning. She was starving and feeling a bit lightheaded.

"Emma, let's go eat! They've got meat pies today, and they're really good," a colleague said with a smile.

Emma glanced at her computer and hesitated. "Okay, but I need to finish Brenda's task first."

She stretched, left her desk, and headed to the cafeteria. In her hunger-induced haze, she forgot to close the document on her computer.

A passing officer noticed the open report on Emma's screen. The details of the murders were eerily similar to Pearl's case. The officer's eyes widened, and he quickly left the station.

Soon, word spread through the station that Brenda might have found Pearl's attacker.

The police chief and Brenda's uncle, Alan, immediately called her.

In Avalonia, Brenda got Alan's call before she had any solid info.

"You promised me you'd stop investigating this. Why are you still digging?" Alan demanded over the phone.

Brenda winced at the yelling. She rubbed her ear and replied, a bit annoyed, "I'm not trying to investigate, but the clues are falling into my lap. What am I supposed to do?"

"Regardless, you need to back off. Now that the news is out, the four major families know. Especially Paxton. He might be waiting for you at the airport to interrogate you. Don't come back yet. Stay there; I'll arrange it as a learning exchange," Alan said, hanging up before Brenda could argue.

Brenda stared at her phone, frustrated. "Is this a joke? Now I can't even go home? Emma, how could you be so careless?"

She felt a wave of frustration; she was caught between two police chiefs.

Back at the Avalonia police station, the officers seemed to have been briefed by the chief and were tight-lipped around Brenda.

As Alan predicted, the four major families, especially Paxton, were already in the loop.

"When is Officer Brenda coming back?" Paxton asked Jonah, his face dark.

Jonah shook his head. "According to the station, Brenda will be staying there for a few months to learn their advanced crime-solving techniques. But I think she's worried about the danger waiting for her here."

Paxton sneered, "It doesn't matter. Now that we know who the killer is, I just need to find out who hired him."