The short man rubbed his eyes in disbelief and looked again.
They were still there!
They had even taken a step forward in unison.
The short man slammed the door shut. The loud noise startled the bald man, who was in the middle of packing things up.
"Boss?"
The bald man's voice was hoarse, his eyes filled with confusion, as if he didn't understand why he'd done that.
"Cops outside! Stop packing, let's get out the other way!" the short man said, moving quickly to climb the boxes stacked in the corner.
He forcefully pushed open the sheet metal on the ceiling, then with a powerful leap, heaved himself up and clung to the opening, preparing to escape across the roof.
He had long since envisioned a scenario like this. He figured that if they were ever discovered, the front and back of the building would be surrounded.
In that case, the only sliver of hope was through the roof.
"Huh? Oh!" The bald man stood stunned for several seconds before he registered what the short man had said. With a grunt of understanding, he ran over, put his hands on the man's back, and gave him a boost.
Meanwhile, the two men's actions were all seen with perfect clarity by the three people back at the station.
They immediately reported to Evan Keller.
Evan Keller reacted quickly, ordering Sean Hughes, the best shot, to aim for the roof. He could fire if necessary, but he had to keep the suspect alive.
After all, they still had a lot they needed to find out.
Soon, the short man was crawling low across the sheet metal roof. Seeing the police surrounding the entire factory below, his expression turned even uglier.
'How on earth was I exposed?'
'I hadn't heard a peep about the police coming to search this area. And they were so targeted, coming straight for me. Don't tell me the others got caught?'
'Whatever. Now's not the time to think about that. The most important thing is to get out of here as fast as possible.'
Sean Hughes raised his pistol, aiming at the short man wriggling forward on the roof.
He waited for the right moment and fired, the bullet piercing the man's shoulder.
The excruciating pain sent the short man into a fit of howls. In the chaos, he lost his footing and tumbled off the sheet metal roof.
Luckily, the roof wasn't very high, so apart from the pain, the fall didn't cause any major injuries.
Meanwhile, Evan Keller and the others, with support from the technical staff, rushed in and caught the bald man just as he was about to jump for the opening.
After the men were captured, the remaining officers quickly divided up the tasks: securing the entire factory, collecting evidence, and photographing the scene.
Officer Reed walked up to the two bodies.
He didn't even need to pull out the photos he carried with him. He recognized them at a glance—these were the missing people they had been searching for for a month.
From their stiff joints, the spots on their faces, and their soaking wet clothes, it was clear they hadn't died in the last few days. They might have even been stored in some kind of refrigeration unit.
"Alright, take them back to the station. We'll interrogate them and get everything else out of them," Evan Keller said, simply patting Officer Reed on the shoulder.
The victims had been missing for so long, everyone had already braced themselves for the worst.
Still, seeing the reality of it was sobering.
Officer Reed sighed and said no more, simply arranging for his subordinates to coordinate with Evan Keller's team.
Everyone focused on their duties, needing to process the scene quickly, especially since there were still accomplices at large.
Over an hour later, Zoe Sawyer finally saw Evan Keller and Sean Hughes return.
Both of them looked disheveled, as if they had been scrambling all over the crime scene searching for evidence.
With no time to say anything else to Zoe Sawyer, Sean Hughes patted her on the shoulder. He told her to wait in the office; once things were handled, he would brief her on a few things and then take her home.
The two young officers from tech support set up a folding cot for Zoe Sawyer in a corner, telling her to lie down and get some rest.
She had gone through two cases in one day and pulled an all-nighter.
No matter how excited she had been at the beginning, the adrenaline had now worn off, and Zoe Sawyer could barely keep her eyes open.
The moment her body touched the cot, she was fast asleep.
When she woke up again, only a single, small, warm-yellow lamp was left on in the office.
Sitting up, she could see everyone else sleeping scattered across the office floor.
"You're awake? Want to come out and get something to eat? You've been asleep for a whole day," Evan Keller asked, standing at the office door with a cup of water and looking at Zoe Sawyer.
She hadn't realized it before he mentioned it, but now Zoe Sawyer felt her stomach was completely empty. She could eat a whole cow right now!
Zoe Sawyer got up carefully, tiptoeing around the group sleeping soundly on the floor, and walked out of the office.
In the reception area was a table laden with breakfast for them to eat when they woke up.
"Captain Keller, aren't you going to get some sleep? The dark circles under your eyes are really bad," Zoe Sawyer asked while nibbling on a bun.
Evan Keller rubbed the bridge of his nose and drained the coffee in his cup. "The case is almost wrapped up. I can rest after I take care of the last few details."
Hearing that, Zoe Sawyer's interest was piqued. "Captain Keller, have you caught the rest of them? Why were they kidnapping those people?"
"They're a gang. They enjoy the process of torturing and killing. Their victims are chosen at random, with no connection to one another. That's why it was so hard to find a link in this case," Sean Hughes said, walking in from outside, his face still drowsy with sleep.
He answered Zoe Sawyer's question while picking up a bun and starting to eat.
At the same time, he didn't forget to pat Zoe Sawyer on the head, his eyes filled with gratitude.
The two they caught were spineless. A little pressure, a few threats, and they spilled everything.
Not only did they give up the names and locations of the other members, but they also confessed to the burial sites and all their future plans.
"Those psychos were planning to mail their victims' heads to the victims' families in a few days to create panic."
"If you hadn't found them when you did, something much worse would have definitely happened," Sean Hughes said, a hint of relief in his voice.
If it had really gotten to that point, the pressure on their department would have been immense!
Hearing about their future plans, Zoe Sawyer broke out in a cold sweat.
"The matter is resolved now, so don't overthink it."
"Here, this is for you. Keep it with you. If anything really happens, just turn it on, and we'll get to you as soon as possible," Sean Hughes said, handing a necklace to Zoe Sawyer.
They couldn't guarantee they'd be able to answer a call immediately, so having her carry a tracker like this was more reassuring.
The junior officers in the tech department could keep an eye on her in a separate monitoring window at all times, which was a much more reliable arrangement.
Zoe Sawyer looked at the silver chain in her hand, as if she wanted to say something but was holding back.
'Is this thing really necessary?'