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Chapter 3 The Suspect

To everyone's shock, after going through all the missing persons in the city, none of them matched the victim's description.

Either the age or height was off, and the rest were all women, which really put the case in a bind. Olivia and her team worked non-stop for two days, checking every missing person case in the country, but still came up empty.

Finally, Olivia suggested, "If we can't find anything here, why don't we look at the time he was killed?"

Her idea lit a bulb, and William and the others immediately caught on.

"Right, how did we miss that?" William said, smacking his forehead.

Olivia's sharp thinking was clear. Henry watched the team get excited, his eyes lingering on her a bit longer.

After three days and nights of hard work, everyone looked a mess, with wrinkled clothes and tired faces. Yet Olivia, despite her messy hair, still looked stunning, especially with her naturally red lips.

Realizing he was staring at Olivia's lips, Henry quickly looked away, coughing twice. Luckily, everyone was too busy to notice his awkwardness, or it would've been super embarrassing.

William brought over the list they had checked and showed it to everyone, pointing to the timeline. "According to Olivia and Mr. Phillips' deduction, the time of death should be around four to five months ago. It's November now, so that would be around June or July. Look, Terry Perez was reported missing by his family on June 17th."

Olivia took a look and then checked the info on the computer, frowning slightly.

"But Terry is 5.6 feet tall, which doesn't match the physical characteristics of the deceased at all!" Olivia pointed out.

"The time of death matches his disappearance date closely. I believe there's a connection here. Olivia, you can't rely solely on data; you have to think!" Henry said firmly.

'Is he belittling me?' Olivia thought, feeling frustrated. Henry was as annoying as ever.

Then Henry directly ordered, "Find Terry's home address, and everyone start the investigation! Olivia, you stay in the forensic department!"

Olivia was not happy with his arrangement.

"No, I must go with you. Terry's home is in Whispering Pines Village, with 137 households. With such a big task, how can I stay back at the station and not help?" Olivia argued.

"This is an order, and you must follow it!" Henry insisted.

Olivia was about to lose it. "Henry, you're being too overbearing!"

Henry's eyes turned cold, and he admitted without hesitation, "I am overbearing, so what? Olivia, you're a team member, and I'm the captain. Obeying orders is your duty. If you don't like it, get out!"

He then turned and walked away, making Olivia so mad she wanted to kick him.

William shrank his neck, thinking Olivia was really bold to dare to scold Henry.

"Olivia, actually, Mr. Phillips is doing this for your own good. Whispering Pines Village is in the mountains, and it's very cold. You won't be able to handle it. Why not stay and study the autopsy report?" William suggested.

Olivia was not one to give up easily. She rushed back to the dormitory, put on the coat issued by logistics, wore a wool hat, and quickly ran to the gate. Seeing a car starting, she opened the passenger door and sat in.

To her surprise, it was Henry's car. No wonder no one was in the passenger seat; probably no one dared to sit next to him.

Henry glanced at Olivia, who had the nerve to sit in his car. The coat was thick enough, but her face was already red from the cold wind. Was she really sure she wouldn't regret this later when they went up the mountain?

"Mr. Phillips, start the car. Unless you lock me up today, there's no way you're leaving me behind!" Olivia insisted.

Henry had never seen such a stubborn woman. He thought, 'I'm telling you not to go for your own good. Fine, if you don't appreciate it, go ahead. Let's see how much you regret it later!'

Henry thought for a moment and started the car. Soon, they were speeding into the wind and snow.

In winter, Emerald City saw frequent snowstorms, with snow almost every week. Whispering Pines Village, situated halfway up the mountain, was 50 miles from downtown Emerald City. The drive took about an hour, and the winding mountain roads made for a rough ride.

Olivia felt like her internal organs were about to be shaken out, but she gritted her teeth and endured it.

When she got out of the car, her face was pale, but she didn't make a sound, which made Henry look at her with new respect.

As soon as they got out of the car, the wind and snow hit their faces, making Olivia shrink her neck from the cold.

Henry glanced at her a few times, unable to bear it, and handed her the scarf from his neck.

"Wrap this around yourself. It's colder here than in the city!" Henry said.

Olivia was taken aback by the unexpected kindness. Seeing Henry without a coat, just a leather hat and gloves, she couldn't help but wonder if he was made of steel, seemingly impervious to the cold.

No matter what prejudices she had against Henry before, she still put on the scarf.

Surprisingly, the scarf didn't have any strange or sweaty smell, but rather a dry soap scent.

Olivia sneaked another look at Henry. It seemed he was a clean man, which was exactly to her liking.

After realizing what she was thinking, Olivia was startled and quickly shook her head. What was she thinking? That was Henry!

"Let's start questioning Terry's family. You guys check the neighbors around Terry's house. William and I will go to Terry's house!" Henry instructed, still not assigning any tasks to Olivia. She didn't get angry and simply followed behind Henry.

They arrived at Terry's house and told his family that they were there for the missing Terry. Terry's wife, Wren Kelly, cried sadly, wearing the most common cotton clothes seen in rural areas.

Wren told Olivia that Terry had over a million dollars in debt, getting more upset as she spoke.

"That bastard, who knows where he died. The kids and I have been looking for him for months, and he hasn't sent any money home. Is he planning to starve us to death?" Wren cried.

William started taking notes, and Olivia directly asked when they first noticed Terry was missing and if there was anything unusual in the days before his disappearance.

William sneaked a glance at Henry. Olivia was clearly ignoring Henry to get back at him for leaving her behind earlier. Although Henry's face showed displeasure, he wasn't quite angry. William relaxed and focused on taking notes.

"Let me think. Terry came back from the city at the beginning of April. He said jobs were hard to come by, so he wanted to stay home for a bit. He'd head back to the city later to see if he could earn some money," Wren recalled.

"So he was idle at home during that time?" Olivia asked.

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