At midnight, the two switched shifts.
David rested.
Luke looked out the window into the pitch darkness; the manor was expansive, making it hard to detect anyone trying to sneak in.
He didn't know how much ti had passed when he faintly heard a crying sound.
"Woo woo…"
The crying was suppressed, fluctuating between high and low, sounding like a woman, yet like a child.
The desolate feeling was identical to the sound he heard in the cellar.
Luke looked out at the manor, shrouded in darkness with nothing abnormal in sight, and began to check his firearm.
David, stirred either by the sound of the gun being loaded or the crying, rubbed his face, got out of the car, changed into gear from the trunk, and threw Luke a set of bullet-proof armor.
Luke donned the bullet-proof vest. Though he had a "Bullet-Proof Card," that card was ant to save his life in critical monts, and who knew if he could draw it next ti; better to save it if he could.
The two made sure they were ready, holding a strong flashlight in the left hand and a gun in the right, moving towards the manor side by side, though they did not turn on their flashlights just yet.
Approaching the wall, Luke peered into the manor where the weeds were overgrown, making it hard to spot anyone lying on the ground, not to ntion there was a cellar where the person could have hidden at any mont.
Knowing that the suspect might be near the cellar, Luke and David decided not to turn on the lights, climbed over the stone wall, and crept towards the direction of the cellar.
Indeed, the closer they got, the louder the crying beca.
David suddenly waved his hand signaling Luke to stop, as if he had spotted sothing.
Then, David abruptly turned on the strong flashlight.
"Ah!" soone scread in the distance.
Luke stood up, seeing the silhouette illuminated by the strong flashlight, holding a gaphone.
The person was dazzled by the light, temporarily unable to see, and Luke also turned on his strong flashlight, crouching and running forward.
"LAPD, lie on the ground, hands on your head, don't move!"
David rushed up too, shining the strong flashlight around to check for others.
Luke rushed over, subdued the person with the gaphone, and handcuffed their hands behind their back.
This was a middle-aged man in his fifties, very tall and sowhat thin, with ticulously grood hair.
Luke demanded, "Do you have accomplices?"
"No, I am not a bad person."
"Who are you?"
"Hans Miller. This is my ho; I am the owner of the manor."
"You are Anna's husband?"
The man seed surprised, "Yes, do you know my wife?"
Luke examined the man's face; he had seen Hans Miller's picture, but that picture was from twenty years ago. Weathered much by ti, he looked much older, but the facial features hadn't changed; it was indeed Hans Miller himself.
"What are you doing here?"
"I missed my wife and children, ca back to see them."
Luke kicked the gaphone beside him, "So this is how you watch over them? There have always been rumors about the manor being haunted, you did that, right?"
Hans Miller displayed a stubborn expression, "I haven't hurt anyone."
"If you don't tell us, we will take you to the station. After we clear things up, let's see if your neighbors will sue you?"
"No, I'll tell you." Hans Miller sighed, "Twenty years ago, my business encountered so troubles. I was so busy with work that it caused problems in my relationship with my wife.
Eventually, my wife and children disappeared, taking with them the household's valuables, cash, jewelry, paintings…"
My world collapsed, and I lost the heart to carry on with business, eventually going bankrupt.
My manor, our ho… was also seized by the bank.
This place holds all the mories of my family, and I had always hoped they would return…
Even for their sake, I had to save this manor.
To prevent the manor from being auctioned off, I resorted to these tactics."
David holstered his gun, "I can understand your feelings, but this is not exactly an honorable thod."
"I know, I have been working hard, trying to earn enough money to buy back the manor from the bank. I have never given up, and I never will…" Hans paused as if he rembered sothing,
"How did you end up here? Did soone call the police?"
"No, we're here to investigate the case of your wife and children, and we tried to contact you, but you had changed your phone number." Luke helped him unlock the handcuffs.
"In order to find my wife and children, I kept that phone number for ten years, but the greater the hope, the greater the disappointnt. Debt collectors called every day.
I was diagnosed with severe depression, and the doctor suggested I change my number.
Why are you investigating my wife's case again? Didn't the police give up on the investigation? If there hadn't been so many years without a clue, I wouldn't have given up completely.
Twenty years, it's been twenty years.
Do you know what these twenty years have been like for ?"
"We are from the Los Angeles Police Departnt. Just a couple of days ago, we discovered new evidence in the case, and the departnt decided to reopen the investigation into the 'Telson Estate Disappearance.' We found you because we hoped you could assist with solving the case."
"What new evidence have you found? No one is more familiar with this case than I am."
Luke paused for a mont, "We found that red Ford Fox... and two bodies."
"What? Are you saying my wife and children are dead?"
"We just found two bodies in the car, and the DNA results are not out yet."
"No, no, no, that's not right, it's not two people, it was three people, you got it wrong, they aren't their bodies. I don't believe it... It can't be.
I have waited so many years..." Hans couldn't help but start crying.
Luke didn't stop him, let him cry all he wants, he didn't know how else to console him?
Crying might help.
"Sob sob..." Hans cried out loud, his cries even more heart-wrenching than those from the loudspeaker before.
Probably tomorrow soone will say the estate is haunted again.
After a long while, Hans managed to stop crying, "Where? Where are the bodies? I want to see them, I want to see them now..."
"Los Angeles Homicide Bureau."
"You just said there were two bodies? Whose bodies are they?"
"One is the bones of a woman in her thirties, and the other is a teenage boy. They both died twenty years ago."
"What about my daughter? Where is Lily?"
"It's still unclear. Our visit this ti was also to try to clear up the case, to gather more evidence, and to catch the killer as soon as possible to find your daughter."
"Can you be sure my daughter is still alive?"
"No."
"Does your daughter have any distinguishing features?"
"I have her childhood photo; I've always carried it with ." Hans took out his wallet, took out a photo, and handed it to Luke.
It was a family portrait of four.
Luke didn't take the photo, he just took a picture of it, then gave it back to Hans.
"Thank you." Hans took the photo, gently caressed it with his hand, and carefully returned it to his wallet.
"Is there anything else I can help you with?"
"Actually, I'd like you to identify a few people." Luke took out a sketch of Cole, "Do you recognize him?"
"Him..." Hans looked for a while, an angry expression appeared on his face, "Driver Cole, I'd recognize him even if he turned to ash, it was him who killed my wife and children, it was him."
"Don't get agitated, we are already on the lookout for him."
Luke then showed Hans photos of Tony and Lorne, but Hans did not recognize either.
Luke asked, "Your estate is so large, aside from Cole as the driver, didn't you employ anyone else?"
"We truly did employ quite a few people before, including maids, gardeners, chefs, but then my business faced problems. To reduce unnecessary expenses, we gradually dismissed them.
I didn't want to do that, but... it was indeed very difficult at the ti."
"Do you still rember the nas of the employed workers at the estate?"
"Cindy Bout, Shanny Cabin..."
Luke noted down these nas and compared them with the nas in the files.
After completing the statent, Hans Miller bid farewell to Luke, eager to rush to Los Angeles.
He had already waited too long...
Too long...
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