Chapter 30

As Robert finally stopped talking to her, Zoey felt the world had finally quieted down.

She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment.

As a slightly cool breeze brushed across her face, she felt refreshed and relaxed.

Her ears could hear not only the wind but also the rustling of leaves and the chirping of insects and birds. Though not as lively as in summer, it had its own charm. Nature had an inexplicable way of banishing the gloom within one's heart.

Unconsciously, she was so comfortable that she almost fell asleep.

Two glaring beams of light came irregularly towards her, and she instinctively covered her eyes with her hand.

In just a few seconds, the sound of footsteps grew closer and then stopped beside her.

"Officer Davis!" It was Alexander's voice.

Those two glaring lights disappeared at that moment.

Zoey squinted her eyes, readjusted to the environment, and looked up.

Alexander was holding two bags, and even though the food containers inside were not yet opened, the aroma of the food was already wafting through the air.

Zoey thought that it smelled so good!

"Officer Davis, Zoey, I've brought you some delicious food - it's the largest portion of pasta!" Alexander said.

Then he handed the two bags to them, one for each.

"It's hot, hurry up and eat."

Zoey took it eagerly and opened the food container.

She immediately buried her head and started eating.

At this time, Dennis and Charles got off the car carrying a toolbox and gestured to Zoey to move aside a bit.

They opened the toolbox and began selecting tools. They took out two long, black iron rods, one for each of them.

"Officer Davis, where's the manhole cover?" Dennis asked.

Robert, with his mouth full, pointed to his feet while chewing. "Right here."

Dennis glanced in the direction he pointed. It was right under Robert's feet!

He nudged Charles beside him. "Move aside!" Then he took a flashlight and handed the flashlight to Charles. "Hold this for me."

Charles nodded. "OK."

Charles held the flashlight and adjusted the light to be brighter.

Compared to the surrounding darkness, this area looked like daytime.

Dennis examined the manhole cover again, then took a step back, found a suitable spot, and firmly wedged the iron rod into the hole of the manhole cover. He tested it first, then used all his strength.

Charles beside Dennis felt it was really a tough job and couldn't help but admire Dennis, "Dennis, you're amazing!"

Dennis said, "Alright, this is not the time for flattery!"

Charles fell silent. He was just trying to give Dennis some encouragement.

Then, with a roar from Dennis, the manhole cover was lifted!

As the manhole cover was lifted, an indescribable stench instantly filled their noses! Even covering their noses, they could still smell it, because it was too foul.

"Damn it." Dennis immediately threw the iron rod, pinched his nose, and kept retreating.

Zoey nearly regurgitated the pasta she had just eaten.

Adhering to the principle of not wasting food, she quickly covered the food container with its lid to prevent the smell from contaminating her delicious food.

Compared to the others, only Alexander remained relatively calm.

Alexander remarked, "Such a strong smell of methane."

"It's not just methane." Robert replied with a hint of excitement, snatching the headlamp from Charles's head and said softly, "There's also the smell of a corpse."

"The smell of a corpse?" Although everyone disliked the smell, they all got excited upon hearing that.

They took a few steps forward, trying to shine their flashlights inside. But they couldn't see anything.

They were about to ask Robert what to do next. As they turned around, they saw that Robert had already prepared himself. He was wearing high waterproof boots and waterproof gloves, lying beside the manhole cover, shining a flashlight inside, and estimating the height before climbing in.

Half of his body had just entered when he shouted to the others, "Get down here!"

Zoey was the first to rush out, wanting to follow him down.

But Robert stopped her and said, "You stay up here and watch. We'll handle this dirty work!"

Zoey was more than happy.

One by one, the others climbed into the manhole, and soon, only Zoey was left on the ground.

She could occasionally hear echoes from below, but couldn't make out the specific content. Because she didn't follow them down, she had no idea what was happening inside. She could only sit and wait.

After several minutes, there was finally a sound emanating from the manhole cover.

Alexander asked, "Zoey, where's the evidence box?"

Zoey looked at Alexander, whose face was covered in black grime, contrasting with his usually clean appearance, and smiled. "Just put it here; I'll get the dust bags."

Alexander used some strength, and threw up a black garbage bag. Then he went back inside.

Zoey fetched the professional toolbox, skillfully put on gloves and a mask, and got herself equipped.

Then she took out a UV flashlight from the toolbox and scanned the entire black garbage bag, finding no fingerprints or anything, and then used a wet wipe to clean the bag.

While cleaning, she could clearly feel something hard inside the black garbage bag.

The stench emanating from it was so strong that even wearing a mask couldn't block it.

She opened the black plastic bag and looked inside, which was a nearly decomposed head.

The facial features were still vaguely visible, but not very recognizable. The face's moisture had likely evaporated from being left there for too long. The only notable thing was that the head had no hair at all.

Upon closer inspection, Zoey made another shocking discovery. Not only was there no hair, but the scalp was also missing!

Judging by the level of decomposition and considering the body was thrown into such a damp and cold place like the sewer, she roughly estimated it had been there for at least half a month.

If it had been half a month, it would coincide with the time when Ella was targeted by Lawrence.

Considering the three missing persons, if she guessed correctly, this head should belong to Aria!