CHAPTER 461: CHAPTER 277 CONCLUSION_1

「The next afternoon.」

Ross’s fiancée, Gaia, had been missing for twenty-two hours.

"We’ve run into some trouble!"

Louise’s brow was deeply furrowed as she found Dean.

Dean was watching the movie the old medical examiner had brought. Hearing this, he paused the video. "What? None of those logistics drivers recognized the person in the surveillance footage?"

They had nearly confirmed that one of the refrigerated truck drivers frequenting the airport had taken Ross’s fiancée. So, Louise used her authority to show the surveillance footage to the drivers for identification.

Louise shook her head. "I’m certain someone recognized him, but not a single person came forward."

"Nobody came forward?"

Dean was somewhat puzzled. Normally, in most countries, civilians are willing to cooperate with the police if it doesn’t affect their own interests. What’s the situation here?

Suddenly, Dean remembered information he had gleaned from a female shop owner on the street: though the airport logistics drivers didn’t work for the same company, they were basically family members and friends of the members of the gang behind those logistics companies.

Organizations with ties to the underworld are very averse to leaking information, especially to the police. They might collaborate privately, but in front of a crowd... Louise, being the chief detective of Las Vegas, isn’t young; she should know these things!

Dean guessed there was more to it. So he ventured, "Is the person’s identity somewhat problematic?"

Louise nodded. "I considered they wouldn’t want to help the police in front of others, so I approached a few of the more active drivers individually. But after they saw the person in the video, they all chose to remain silent and stopped cooperating with us. Usually, this kind of behavior only occurs when it involves important gang figures!"

After listening to Louise, Dean thought for a moment and shook his head. "Not necessarily an important figure. Help me look up the family members of the high-ranking gang members behind the airport refrigerated logistics companies."

"You suspect the killer is a family member of that gang’s leadership?"

Dean nodded. "It should be someone who isn’t taken seriously, but whom no one wants to provoke. Male, age... probably born around the fifties, currently between forty and fifty, and obsessed with movies. Perhaps one of his elders was an actor and deeply influenced him."

Louise nodded thoughtfully.

She was just about to get to work when she suddenly caught sight of the movie Dean was playing and said with a smile, "How’s the movie, Agent Dean?"

"The female lead isn’t bad. But the plot of the whole movie insults my intelligence, especially the male lead’s lines. They sound artistic, but in reality, he’s just a jerk. Of course, modern women call that romantic...

"However, it’s certain that the female victims, in their final moments, were deliberately imitating the movie’s female lead. Perhaps during the days they were missing, the killer was forcing those girls to reenact scenes from the movie. When he got tired of them, he’d find a new ’leading lady’ and start the next ’audition.’"

Dean replied offhandedly.

Louise, however, looked enlightened. She seemed to understand the logic behind Dean’s profile of the killer.

"Oh, right!" Dean added. "When we saw the killer from behind, he could also have detected us closing in from our movements. So, the actual time we have left might not be the same as before!"

The previous five victims were killed on the fourth day after their disappearance, meaning there was a three-day safe period. But if the killer knows the police are about to catch him, he might kill Gaia immediately to ensure his own safety and destroy all incriminating evidence.

Hearing this, Louise knew Dean was telling the truth. She left the office with a grave expression, prepared to use some unconventional methods!

...

「In a secluded building.」

Ross’s missing fiancée stood before a large mirror, admiring the long dress she wore. She turned, the hem of her dress stirring a faint breeze, then walked to a projector. Smiling towards an empty space, she asked, "How about this?"

Behind her was the projector. An old movie played on a screen; the interplay of light and shadow, along with a movie set that was almost identical to the room, created a deeply immersive experience.

"Perfect!"

An older male voice came from the speaker overhead, "That gown, on you, is as perfect as those lines spoken from your lips. You were born to be my leading lady!"

His words carried sincerity. None of the five women brought in before Gaia had suited the gown with an aura like hers. She seemed like a young lady from a noble family, possessing a graceful and elegant dignity rarely seen in modern women. This was why he had suddenly changed his target and risked exposure to abduct Gaia.

And now, it all seemed worth it!

Listening to the man’s praise, Gaia feigned distress. "But I’m still missing a pair of shoes—high heels that the leading man personally slips onto the leading lady’s feet."

These words seemed to make the hidden killer hesitate.

The room fell silent once more.

Gaia clenched the shard of porcelain hidden between her fingers, feeling a surge of unwillingness to give up. Although she was unaware of the serial dismemberment case on the Las Vegas highway—news that officials were desperately trying to suppress—she knew her situation was dire. The longer I’m held captive without enough food, the weaker I’ll become, and my chances of escape will only get smaller.