Mysterious Hunting Ground

Chapter 74 74. Scars, Sportswear
After Dean and Holden separated, they didn't go home directly.

Instead, he drove to the depths of Booker Park, where Bucky Fran was killed.

He took out the ritual suit he carried with him, cut his fingers, and performed the summoning ritual skillfully, trying to call Bucky Fran, and then asked the murderer's information from it.

But repeated attempts failed several times. Except for the chirping of cicadas in the autumn night, the surroundings were quiet, and no spirit responded to his call.

"Sure enough, summoning outside is far more difficult than indoors. My current level is far from being able to preside over such a ceremony."

Dean had no choice but to abandon the cheating method and drove home. It was already twelve midnight when he got home.

took a shower.

Sitting on the bed, I browsed the past daily records from the perspective of God, looking for the origin of the scar.

While carrying out spiritual tempering.

Under the order, Ying started to activate his telekinetic ability, controlling the keychain and the plank in the bedroom. The two small objects floated into the air, slowly turning around Dean as if losing gravity.

After 9 minutes of extreme mental tempering, the "shadow" returned to the altar to continue warming.

Dean, who was physically and mentally exhausted, failed to find the source of the scar, sat cross-legged on the bed, and continued a round of meditation.

Eliminate distracting thoughts and all kinds of distractions during the day, and visualize that reddish, blurry star according to the unique breathing rhythm.

The tangible meets the intangible.

Gradually sink into it.

After three hours of meditation, Dean lay down on the bed and fell asleep peacefully.

……

The next morning, the sky was as clear as glass, the sun was shining brightly, and the gentle breeze was blowing mesmerizingly.

But Holden and Carl, who have stayed up all night with oily faces, bring bad news to Dean.

"We watched all the surveillance footage, and Abby Clark disappeared in a street leading to her house in the South District, and there was no surveillance after that."

"Isn't it all right?" Dean's face darkened. "Abby committed a crime in the park in the afternoon, then went to bars and hotels for a while, and finally went home."

"Well, we have to wait for the test results of the sports jacket, and Abby himself denies that the clothes belong to her." Holden threw the photo of the three-stripe sportswear in front of Dean with a serious expression.

"But the evidence we currently have is sufficient. The only thing missing is Abby Clark's motive for committing the crime. After finding out, she basically has no room to refute."

"Rebuttal? 'Child Killer' still has the face to pretend to be an innocent person, and play pity on us!" Kruger punched the desk hard, and the desk suddenly shook and made a "bang-dang" sound, "She should be locked up. Go to prison for at least 20 years, better go to the electric chair!"

"It's too early to draw conclusions."

Dean rubbed his temples, took a deep breath,

"Abby's over there..."

"She is communicating with the lawyer, and it seems that she is ready to fight us to the end." Carl said, "Don't get involved, boy, the search warrant has been applied for, and you follow Kruger and the others to search Abby's house!"

……

Dean got into the police car heading to the South District and arrived at the place soon.

A handsome middle-aged man in a gray knitted sweater was already waiting at the door,

Kruger greeted him, handed over a form,
"Mr. Batista, we have a warrant to search your home and take everything belonging to your daughter, Abby Clark."

"Attorney Lukeville told me." The man took the form, scanned it calmly, and looked up. Not far away, several police officers began to draw up a cordon around the entire yard.

This move was too eye-catching, and nearby residents gathered around one after another, pointing to the blockade and discussing it.

Someone mentioned the murder in the park not long ago, and the words became mean and emotional.

The murderer, the murderer cried out.

The man sighed uncomfortably and asked,

"There is no specific item given on this piece of paper, so can you take anything?"

"Given the nature of the crime, it's up to us to decide."

Kruger had a businesslike attitude, the man could only open the door, and let a group of police officers with gloves rush in quickly.

"Hi, Mr. Batista."

Dean followed the man and said hello,
"Abby's classmate, Dean Lou? The one who will travel to Santa Monica together during the summer vacation?"

"Yes, I'm currently running errands at LVPD..."

The man grabbed his hand as if seeing a savior, "You are friends with Abby, you should know her well, do you think she might have committed such a terrible crime?"

"To be honest, I don't believe that Abby is the murderer." Dean said frankly,

Batista spoke more vigorously when he heard the words,

"That's right! Abby is introverted and shy, but she is a kind girl. She has never killed a fish since she was a child. How could she hurt a lovely child!"

"And I have already understood the ins and outs. The case happened in the afternoon four days ago. At that time, Abby had a fever of 39 degrees, and her mind began to feel confused. She was lying on the bed and hadn't moved. How could she run to Booker a few miles away? Park, kill Bucky Fran?"

Dean nodded, "Mr. Battista, I will do my best to help Abby, but now I have to work."

The man moved away understandingly.

Dean entered the living room on the first floor from the hallway.

The decoration style of the house is very warm, the floor and walls are in warm colors, pink bear dolls are placed on the sofa, and cherry-like wind chimes are hung in the aisle.

But a group of police officers in black clothes digging three feet into the ground spoiled the cozy atmosphere.

Dean shook his head and turned on the "God's Perspective" to observe everything on the first floor.

After the ability is upgraded once, the observation range is expanded from five meters to ten meters. Once it is turned on, there are almost no clues that can escape his eyes.

Kitchen, bathroom, coffee table, drawer, under the carpet, TV cabinet...

It took Dean a quarter of an hour to search, but failed to find any useful evidence, so he passed a bunch of dawdling police officers, went up the stairs to the second floor, and saw the bedroom belonging to Abby - the wall, the bed The quilt and ceiling are all painted pink,
"Is Abby so girlish?"

Dean opened the wardrobe against the wall—

There are many clothes, red, green, pink, blue... sportswear, down jackets, T-shirts, dresses, and even miniskirts. They are brightly colored, complete in style, and full of personality.

"It's quite boring..." Dean took out the photo of the white sportswear in his pocket for comparison, "There is no white one among the dozens of clothes, doesn't it mean that she doesn't like white?"

"But she was wearing a white tracksuit when she committed the crime."

This discovery increased the investigation progress in the system from 15.00% to [-]%.

Dean took this detail discovery to heart, and turned to walk to the desk in front of the window sill. The shelf was full of books, mostly novels of various types, and there were also music magazines.

Dean flipped through a book, just in time to see the music review signed by Abby Clark——

The new song of the Good Morning Band, Amazing days, is a song that seems to be happy, happy and warm, but I clearly feel that the person who sings it is in great pain, has seen the stars in the sky, walked into the mountains, rivers and seas, and finally set in the sunset, the sunset glow At the moment when the sky was dyed red, weeping, shouting, heart-piercing, tears streaming down my face.

"The angle is novel, but a bit too pessimistic." Dean's impression of Abby improved slightly—

A girl who loves pink tones and can appreciate the songs she copied, shouldn't she be a mad murderer, right?
……

Dean opened the drawer in front of the desk, rummaged a few times, and took out a buckled hardcover diary from the depths of the drawer.

"Sorry, Abby, I didn't mean to pry into your privacy, I just wanted to save you."

Dean opened the diary, which succinctly described all kinds of sad and happy things in Abby's life and study.

"June 6th, I encountered a bad thing in school today, that annoying Flora called me a tomboy again, oh, why didn't I inherit the advantages of my mother, when will my breasts show mercy , not looking as grand as Gretchen, but give me a B."

Dean continued to flip through dumbfounded, while admitting in his heart that Gretchen's was perfect.

"On July 7th, Gretchen still ignored me. She seemed determined to break up with me. I don't blame her. I was too cowardly to break her heart, but I will not give up, sisters of more than ten years The relationship can’t just break up. Come on, Abby, even if I kowtow to apologize, I still ask Gretchen to forgive me!”

"On August 8th, Gretchen and Dean got closer and closer. Every day we had dinner together, and we left together after school. What about fighting training? Alas, Gretchen used to be with me first after school. go home together."

"I have to say that although Dean is an Asian, he has a good reputation and a good figure, knows kung fu, is brave, has excellent grades, has a good personality, and makes people feel safe... (one hundred words omitted) and saved our lives. I'm Gretchen and I'll spend more time with him..."

How do I have so many advantages?

Dean's cheeks stiffened for a moment, a little embarrassed by the praise.

After reading such a diary, his impression of Abby has increased a bit.

"On September 9th, my fever got worse, and the scar on my wrist suddenly started to hurt, as if something was burrowing in the flesh. The family doctor came to check me, and the wound had healed long ago. I was a little inflamed again, and he prescribed some medicine for me, hoping it would help, I miss my friends."

"If I don't see Gretchen again, my best sister will be completely taken away by Dean."

Nothing after the 19th... no more diaries, not a single word about the crime.

Dean closed his notebook and closed his eyes.

"Scars on the wrists, scars."

The conversation with the bar owner Jack came flooding in last night.

"Jack had a scar on his wrist that he claimed was scratched by Abby ... and Abby had a scar on her wrist too, so it seemed familiar to me."

"Is the two similar scars a coincidence? No, there is no such coincidence!"

Dean began to wander his thoughts—

There are supernatural elements in this world, and there seems to be no connection between the scar and the case at first glance.

But on the 19th, Abby's scar began to have a fever and dull pain, and then on the 20th, she committed a crime.

Between the two, there must be some kind of unknown internal logic, perhaps involving supernatural power!

Thinking so, Dean suddenly held his breath.

The progress of the event skyrocketed from 20.00% to [-]%.

At the same time, the description of the "devil or innocent" event in the system changed like a water curtain, and the difficulty changed from "unknown" to "medium".

The reward has also changed from "at least 80 experience points" at the beginning to "120 experience points + special rewards".

"Sure enough, there is a big problem with this scar, I have to talk to Abby about it in the game!"

……

"Dude, step aside..." A voice came from behind, and two police officers rushed into the bedroom and began to search.

Dean went to the other rooms but found nothing, so he went back to the yard and asked Abby's father about the scar,
"Yes, I don't know which wicked guy scratched Abby. I hope the scar will fade in the future, but I don't know more."

Dean showed the photo of the white three-stripes tracksuit again,
"Uncle Batista, do you remember Abby having a tracksuit like this?"

"White is the unlucky color that Abby hates the most," the man said in a confident tone, "She never wears white clothes."

Dean nodded, matching what he'd found in the bedroom.

There was a sudden commotion outside the blockade. In front of the black crowd, five familiar faces including Gretchen, Ruster, and Baker waved desperately at him outside the blockade, but were stopped by the police.

He walked over to greet a few people to a remote corner,
"Man, how's the situation? Is Abby's side okay?" Luster asked impatiently,

"Ms. Raj and the lawyer are staying with Abby in the LVPD, but the situation is not optimistic. The bureau already has a lot of evidence against Abby." Dean said with a heavy expression, "It is almost possible to convict."

"Abby is not a murderer." Gretchen's light blue eyes looked straight at Dean, "I have been her sister for more than ten years, and I know what she is like. Although she is cowardly, it is impossible for her to hurt a child." , not to mention such a cruel method. It's so cruel, I even suspect that the murderer is not human!"

Gretchen had obviously learned about the whole case from Thomas, she bit her lip, straightened her strong chest, and said solemnly,
"Dean, you must help Abby, as long as you can save her, I promise you anything."

"Don't say that, I'm already doing my best." Dean passed the photo of the tracksuit to several people, "Have you ever seen Abby in this dress?"

Everyone took a look and gave the same answer as Batista.

"Abby never wears white."

"But the three stripes, Adidas, is the latest special offering," Baker pointed to the three vertical stripes on the side of the sleeve in the photo, "It was just launched this summer, and it has been on sale for less than half a month. In addition to clothes, there are pants, sports Shoes, a vest, a whole tracksuit."

Dean recalled the images in the surveillance video, when Abby was indeed wearing what looked like a uniform style of clothing.

"No, there is no Adidas letter logo on it." Britney questioned.

"There are historical reasons for this, and only a well-informed fashion expert like me knows. Dasu held the 22nd Olympic Games in the capital a few months ago, but it was widely boycotted, and only Adidas agreed to sponsor it. Produce a batch of special contribution sportswear for it without LOGO and only retaining the three stripes."

Baker patted his chest and said, Dean and all his companions became the audience,
"In early September, the United States followed this trend and released the same sportswear on a small scale and experimentally in China, but Las Vegas didn't sell it at all!"

"Where can I buy it?" Dean asked.
"On the west coast, only in Los Angeles County, a mall in Santa Monica is on sale!"

"Santa Monica? Didn't we go to the beach there during the summer vacation." Dean asked a group of friends, "What month was it?"

"It was my birthday, July 7, and I remember it clearly. Everyone celebrated in Santa Monica for a day, and then drove back to Las Vegas the next day," Britney said.

"How long has this dress been available in Santa Monica?"

"Early September," Baker repeated, complaining, "man, why are you always asking about clothes, can't you ask more practical questions about Abby?"

"Do not talk!"

Dean frowned even tighter.

The time is wrong!
Abby returned to Las Vegas from Santa Monica in July, and there was no chance of buying this outfit that was released in September, unless she went back in September.

Dean turned around with doubts and ran to ask Batista for advice, as expected——

"Since September, Abby hasn't been out of Las Vegas. Abby is a good girl. If she wants to go out, she will definitely inform Raj and me in advance."

"Okay, let me sort it out."

Dean rubbed his chin, his brain spinning rapidly.

Abby doesn't have time to go to Santa Monica to buy this dress.

Even if you can buy it, it is reasonable to say that Abby should not choose the most hated white.

All family and friends have not seen Abby wearing this sports coat.

Abby herself denied owning the dress, Holden said.

This information is enough to show that Abby shouldn't have a colored tracksuit, let alone wear it during the murder!
But here comes the contradiction.

Surveillance video and witnesses proved that Abby wore this dress that day!

"How on earth did this dress get on Abby?"

……

Dean couldn't figure it out for a while, but he recalled yesterday's investigation and realized that there were more than one contradiction in the case.

Yesterday, Abby deliberately watched the surveillance camera to swipe her face, which was inconsistent with her pleading not guilty in the police.

There is a serious disconnect between reality and evidence.

……

Dean tapped his forehead, and an intuition suddenly rose in his heart. If he figured out the root of these contradictions, there would be a breakthrough in the case!
The investigation progress suddenly jumped, from 20.00% to 30.00% five times!
……

While Dean was thinking, the police officers had almost finished moving the evidence and unblocked the cordon.

"Everyone... It's almost time, I have to go back to the bureau." Dean got into Kruger's co-pilot, and waved at his worried friends from the window, "I'll let you guys know when there's progress."

The scenery outside the window is reversed.

Abby's diary flashed in front of Dean's eyes, and he felt a strong urge to not let Abby be wronged!
(End of this chapter)