Chapter 414: Chapter 414: Her Online Boyfriend Is Brother Shawn

No identifying evidence was found on or around the deceased, so her identity could not yet be confirmed.

The medical examiner performed a surface examination of the body, preliminarily estimating the time of death to be eighteen hours prior. The cause of death had yet to be determined.

Investigators were also conducting a systematic survey of the crime scene.

Inky returned, but it came back alone.

Before Renee could even speak, the little creature spoke up first. "Renee, I’m sorry. I couldn’t find those two friends."

"It’s okay," Renee said softly. "You’ve already been a huge help. Just let me know when you find them."

The body was transported to the forensic center, while Renee went back to the police station.

Henry Stark said to Zachary Conway, "Give me the case file for the missing university student."

When he saw the photo inside, his dark brows furrowed. In a grave voice, he said, "Rui Tucker looks a lot like the victim."

"Seriously?" Kyle Morgan immediately leaned in for a look. "Wow, she really does look like her."

Renee also saw the photo of the missing student, Rui Tucker. An image flashed in her mind, and she suddenly made a connection.

She took out her phone, opened Stella’s social media profile, and found a photo of her with Rui Tucker.

’So it was her.’

’No wonder the body looked vaguely familiar.’

Sawyer asked, "Should I have the two university students who filed the report come in for an identification?"

"Yes," Henry Stark nodded. "You and Zachary Conway go pick them up."

A little over half an hour later, Renee saw Stella and her roommate, Roxanne Doyle, at the police station.

"Renee?" Stella looked at her, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

Renee said softly, "I work here."

Although Stella was very surprised, she didn’t ask any more questions.

Sawyer led the two women into an interview room and told them that Rui Tucker had been killed.

The color drained from Stella and Roxanne Doyle’s faces.

"How could this be..."

"Are you sure you haven’t made a mistake?"

Sawyer explained, "We’re still waiting for DNA results to confirm the victim’s identity, but we have reason to believe it’s Rui Tucker. We need you to come and identify the body."

Stella and Roxanne Doyle stared at each other, their eyes turning red as they tightly gripped one another’s trembling hands.

In the morgue, upon seeing their former roommate, tears streamed down Stella’s and Roxanne Doyle’s faces.

"It’s really Rui," Stella choked out.

"How could this happen to Rui..." Roxanne Doyle covered her face, her cries muffled and full of pain.

Seeing their reactions, Sawyer was now almost certain the victim was the missing student, Rui Tucker.

Stella and Roxanne Doyle were taken to separate interview rooms. Both were in a terrible state, sitting in a daze as tears streamed endlessly down their faces.

Sawyer looked at Stella, fully understanding her grief. "We didn’t expect this outcome either," he said gently. "She was already gone when we found her."

Henry Stark sat beside Sawyer, his gaze fixed on the young woman across from them.

After a moment, he began, "Freya Sterling, what was your relationship with Rui Tucker?"

Freya Sterling sniffled. "We were roommates and friends."

In the next room, Roxanne Doyle was being questioned as well, and she gave the same answer.

"Did Rui Tucker show any unusual behavior before this happened?"

Freya Sterling: "She started paying much more attention to her appearance."

Roxanne Doyle: "She was obsessed with her phone. Sometimes we’d talk to her and she wouldn’t even notice."

Henry Stark gave a slight nod and continued, "In your report, you mentioned that Rui Tucker had gone to meet someone she was dating online. Is that correct?"

"That’s right," Freya Sterling nodded. "She’d been preparing for it for some time. She didn’t even have time for her part-time job and asked me to cover her shifts."

Roxanne Doyle: "Yes. After she went to meet the guy, she just... vanished."

"Did she ever talk about this person she was dating?"

Freya Sterling: "She sometimes mentioned that he would send her gifts."

Roxanne Doyle: "I’d ask her about him sometimes, but she would never answer. She always said she wanted to keep it a secret and wouldn’t even show us a photo."

"So, did she ever mention where he was from, what he did for a living, or anything like that?"

Roxanne Doyle shook her head. "I don’t know. Rui said it wasn’t the right time to tell us."

Freya Sterling: "I don’t know anything about the guy Rui was dating online. She didn’t talk about it, and I didn’t ask. It was her private life, after all."

After the interview was over, Freya Sterling had one foot out the door when she turned back and added, "Officer, I just remembered something. When Rui was chatting, she would call the guy ’Brother Shawn.’ I don’t know if that’s helpful to the investigation."

"Brother Shawn?" Henry Stark’s eyes went cold, his expression darkening instantly.

’Sherry Zane used to call out for ’Brother Shawn’ too... Could it be the same person?’

**

The atmosphere in the conference room was heavy. Everyone wore a grim expression, their brows tightly knit.

"If it’s really the same guy, then this ’Shawn’ is unbelievably arrogant!" Kyle Morgan fumed.

Levi Hollis frowned. "What’s worse is that we can’t find any useful leads from Rui Tucker’s text messages, call history, or social media accounts."

"That’s to be expected," Henry Stark said grimly. "This person is methodical and premeditated."

Zachary Conway sighed. "Without any leads, this investigation is going to be incredibly difficult..."

"Let’s check the scene again." Henry Stark stood up.

Renee spoke up as well. "I’ll go with you. Maybe I can find an animal that witnessed the crime."

The sky was already beginning to lighten in the east, a faint glimmer of dawn slowly piercing the clouds and breaking through the darkness.

The group returned to the dim, gloomy woods.

As soon as she entered the forest, Renee heard a familiar voice.

"Renee!" Inky spotted her immediately. "You’re back!"

"We are," Renee explained. "We’re here to look for clues."

Inky chirped excitedly, "I found Shadow and Shadow! I’ll go get them."

Without waiting for a reply, Inky flapped its wings and took off.

Renee just saw a black blur flash past her.

This time, Inky successfully summoned its friends—two bats.

The two bats perched on a branch, curiously observing the human beside Inky.

"Inky, is this the human friend you keep talking about?"

"What a nice-smelling human! I like her!"

Inky folded its wings, landed on Renee’s shoulder, and bobbed its head. "Yes! Renee is my good friend. She smells amazing! I don’t think any animal could possibly dislike her!"

Hearing this, Renee reached out and gently tapped its little head with her finger. "Inky, all your praise is going to my head."

Inky: "Hehe, I’m just telling the truth!"

"Oh, right!" It quickly introduced its two bat friends to Renee. "This is Shadow, and this is Shadow."

The bigger bat was called Shadow, and the smaller bat was called Shadow. The naming scheme was incredibly simple and blunt.

Renee’s internal lexicon didn’t include the language of bats, so she had to spend 200 points to redeem an "Animal Language Item."

After the successful exchange, Renee offered a friendly smile. "Hello, Shadow and Shadow. I’m Renee. It’s a pleasure to meet you."

The larger bat said, "I’m happy too!"

The smaller bat said, "If I’d known you were so eager to meet me, I’d have asked Inky to bring me over sooner."

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