Chapter 40: Police Station (Please Follow, Please Vote!)

The pickup truck soon stopped in front of a motel.

Vanessa's Ford had been waiting for a long time.

"How's it going?" The female journalist swapped her high heels and tight business skirt for a low-key black sportswear and got into his car. Read novels with super care, ttk​s. tw awaits your reading.

Roger nodded: "I've already brought her over."

"Her?" Vanessa's expression turned grim: "In the trunk?"

"I'd advise you not to look," Roger warned.

Vanessa hesitated for a moment, then shook her head: "I'm in charge of this story. I must see everything. I need to know the truth."

"Didn't expect you to have such a strong sense of duty," Roger said, stepping out of the car.

Vanessa followed the man to the trunk, watching as he pulled the body bag toward her and unzipped it.

"Oh… God… forgive me." Though far less shocking than a bloated corpse, Vanessa found this even more terrifying.

A bloated corpse no longer looked human—it could easily be treated as a monster.

But this corpse was different: aside from the abdominal wound, she showed no other abnormalities, as if she were just a friend who had passed out drunk.

Precisely because of this, it felt even more chilling in the night.

Vanessa muttered a few curses under her breath, then pushed back her hair to calm herself.

"I need to take some photos."

She picked up her camera and snapped away—click, click—until she reached the girl's opened abdomen, then cursed again.

After finishing the photos, she told Roger: "I've also contacted the police—they'll arrive shortly."

"You plan to hand her directly over to the police?" Roger asked.

"Yes. This corpse will definitely force them to overturn their previous case closure and reopen the investigation," Vanessa nodded. "Once they identify the girl and the person responsible for the transactions, we can net all these devils!"

Roger said nothing, because he thought this idea was somewhat naive.

"Do I need to cooperate with the investigation?"

"Of course! You were involved in this—you have the most authority to speak!"

"You didn't mention this part earlier. Extra pay."

"No problem."

Vanessa agreed readily—after all, she wasn't the one paying.

Soon, two police cars arrived from afar and pulled up in front of the motel.

Four officers in bulletproof vests stepped out, hands resting on their hips, eyes scanning warily, as if ready to draw their weapons at any moment.

Upon seeing Roger, one officer immediately pulled out handcuffs, as if planning to arrest him on the spot.

"Officer Jie La De."

Vanessa greeted him first.

"Hello, Reporter Vanessa," the tall white officer Jie La De walked over, halted his subordinate's motion, and turned to the man behind her.

"I remember you—we met before at Duwamish River Park." The thought of the bloated corpse floating on the river still made his stomach churn.

"That's right. Hi, just call me Roger."

"Hmm. Where's the evidence you mentioned?" Jie La De asked.

Vanessa pointed to the pickup's trunk: "Right there."

Jie La De turned his gaze there, then led his officers toward the pickup and dragged the body bag out.

"Gentle!" Vanessa frowned at their rough handling.

When Jie La De and the others unzipped the bag, a pungent odor instantly filled everyone's nostrils.

"Damn, that's formaldehyde!"

"So foul."

"What the fuck! How is this corpse's abdomen empty?"

After inspecting it, especially upon discovering the internal organs had vanished, the atmosphere turned heavy.

"We should send her to the coroner."

Jie La De gave a few orders to his officers, then walked over with a serious expression: "Where was this corpse found?"

Vanessa answered: "This is the result of our investigation into the garage dismemberment case."

"What do you mean?" Jie La De frowned.

Vanessa: "Literally. You closed the garage case, but we discovered these corpses all came from a single supply channel."

"Supply channel?" Jie La De's brow knotted: "Damn, I knew that case wasn't this simple."

His face hardened: "Thank you. We'll investigate this truth as quickly as possible. Can you walk us through your entire investigation?"

"Sorry. I won't say anything more until my lawyer arrives."

Seeing Jie La De's gaze shift to Roger, Vanessa added: "He's the same."

"Alright, understood. Come with us to the precinct."

Half an hour later, the lawyer arrived at the precinct and accompanied Vanessa and Roger as they recounted the day's events to the police.

"You're saying this trade lasted six months?" After hearing Roger's account, the two white officers in charge of interrogation exchanged glances and asked flatly.

"Correct," Roger nodded.

"Mr. Roger, where were you six months ago?" The white officer tapped his pen on the desk.

"I was in Seattle."

"What was your status then? What were you doing?"

"I was running a supermarket."

"Hmm. According to records, your supermarket went bankrupt six months ago. You owed a large loan, yet quickly repaid part of it."

Roger: "That's what I paid off after selling my parents' car."

The white police officer snorted: "Forgive me for saying so, but there's another possibility—that you were involved in the deal six months ago."

"That's an irresponsible guess!" Roger wanted to flip the guy off.

The lawyer, seeing this, spoke up decisively: "Officer, how long have you had your car?"

"What?" The white police officer blinked, then instinctively replied: "Six months."

The blonde lawyer stared at the car key on his belt: "A Porsche. If I remember right, its market price six months ago was around $120,000."

The blonde lawyer didn't give the officer a chance to respond, speaking at breakneck speed:

"Logically, buying this car should've been a strain—but you bought it. That means you believed you had sufficient monthly income to cover car payments, mortgage, student loans, and other taxes."

"On a salary of less than eight thousand dollars a month?"

"I heard crime in Seattle increased by twenty-three percent over the past six months. Forgive me for saying so, but there's another possibility—that you were involved in certain 'illegal transactions' six months ago."

"Shit, what the hell are you talking about!" The white police officer slammed his fist on the table, furious.

"I'm just repeating your own logic, officer," the blonde lawyer shrugged.

"If you don't accept my logic, then don't use the same logic to speculate about my client. Otherwise, I'll have no choice but to sue you for defamation on my client's behalf."

Upon hearing this, Vanessa and Roger couldn't help exchanging a glance—and found each other's lips slightly curled upward.

"Don't waste your limited energy on trivial matters. My client's time is precious," said the middle-aged blonde male lawyer, then pulled out a comb and tidied his hair.

Just as the white officer was humiliated, Jie La De walked in holding a report.

"What's going on?" he asked, surprised by the heavy atmosphere in the room.

The white police officer said nothing, simply stood up and left the room.

"Never mind. Did the autopsy results come in?" Vanessa changed the subject.

Jie La De nodded: "Yes. Similar to the floating corpse in the park—both kidneys missing, heart missing..."

Vanessa sucked in a sharp breath: "So the floating corpse is connected to this case too?"

"Not yet certain," Jie La De sat down, looking at Roger: "Please recount the conversation between the vulture and the hook-nose again."

At ten p. m., the interrogation finally ended.

"Did these cops take some bad pills? They looked at us like we were criminals!"

No sooner had Vanessa stepped out of the police station than she began complaining.

"Honey, did you know? They were supposed to clock out at seven, but this case dragged them on until now. And clearly, they'll have to work overtime again—even though overtime pay is pitifully low."

The blonde lawyer paused, then continued: "Meanwhile, I was planning to put on a face mask and get a good night's sleep—until you dragged me out of bed."

He lifted his wrist to check his watch: "We worked two hours and seventeen minutes—all after eight p. m. I hope you haven't forgotten my rates."

"Understood. I'll pay you," Vanessa said, her expression pained.

"Good. But this case is interesting—I'll give you a small discount... 98 percent."

"Fuck, you might as well just knock off five hundred dollars."

"No can do, darling. Our friendship isn't close enough for that much of a waiver."

"God, you're so blunt," Vanessa sighed.

The blonde lawyer smiled: "God gave me a golden tongue—I naturally use it without restraint."

With that, he got into his car and drove off.

Roger stood aside and asked: "Is he that expensive?"

Vanessa tapped her chin: "The overtime fee is expensive. Damn it, my wallet's going to be empty again this month."

But thinking of the story's value, she perked up again.

"Come see me tomorrow afternoon. I'll give you the first payment. Then help me dig out more info from the vulture—details about previous transactions, as detailed as possible. I'll need them for my article."

"No problem."

An hour later, Roger returned to the garage.

The Fiona family was already asleep; only the glow of the TV screen flickered against the living room curtains.

Roger turned on the light, lay down on the mat, and looked at the information panel that had long been waiting.

【【Street Where the Dead Walk】information investigation completed】

【You witnessed an absurd scene. SAN Value -5, Spirit Vision +1】

【Reward obtained: Ancient God's Bronze Coin ×1, $50】

Looking at his SAN Value, now down to 5, and Spirit Vision, now at 17, Roger let out a bitter laugh.

"What the hell—when can I swap these two values?"

"But what connection does that floating corpse have with the Gundam deal?"