The CEO's Painted Skin

~Infinity Jade Tower~

One sunny afternoon.

Ramon entered John's office unannounced. Something is gleaming in his eyes.

John looked up to see Ramon with an unusual look in his eyes. "Ramon, do you have any fresh leads for us today?" Their aimless wandering around the city was getting boring and not productive and it's killing him.

Ramon sat down on the chair and handed the phone to his boss. "I received this a few minutes ago, I don't know if it's a prank or not but since we have nothing worth pursuing right now, we might as well check this out if it's true or not."

John read the text message.

'I saw this black medium pouch bag outside my lawn and inside was a black blouse and then there was a written message mentioning that it's the clothing of the missing person Catherine Roxas, then there was also a phone number to contact, so I texted the number right away, please get this black pouch bag as soon as possible it gives me the creeps,' said the sender.

Included in the text message was the exact address on where to get the black blouse.

Ramon and John looked at each other's eyes, their eyes were communicating, this seems to be a valid text, and they scrambled to their feet and exited the office hurriedly.

While they were inside the elevator John called the phone number, within a couple of rings he heard a woman's voice probably the owner of the phone, she answered quickly.

"Hello..."

"Ma'am, good afternoon, I am the husband of the missing person who owns the black blouse, just want to clarify if this is not a prank call, I been receiving lots of pranks calls like lately and it's very annoying," he said.

The voice answered. "This is not a prank call. I'm being serious here, you will know once you arrive here at my residence. That black pouch was thrown inside my lawn from outside the gate, so I have no idea who left that black bag in my lawn. Please come and get it, I'm getting scared just thinking about it," said the trembling voice of the woman.

"Please calm down, Ma'am. We're heading to your residence now, were going to retrieve that black pouch bag, just wait for a moment, we will be arriving at your doorsteps twenty minutes from now," John said trying to pacify the woman's fear.

"Thank you please hurry up!" the woman added.

"Yes, we will, Ma'am. By the way, I just want to ask if you have a CCTV camera outside your gate?" John asked.

"None. Heck, I can't even afford to buy a new television," said the woman with bitterness in her voice.

"Are you working right now, Ma'am, I mean what is your profession?" asked John.

"I'm a retired librarian, now alone living in my crumbling house deserted by my children who can no longer remember to visit their old mother even once a month," said the woman.

John sighed taking pity of the woman. "Ma'am, I will call you later when we are already outside your gate," he said.

"Okay," replied the woman.

John ended the call. His heart was beating fast, his anxiety was skyrocketing as they were nearing to their destination. A feeling of dread and apprehension was galvanizing his heart and mind. This will be the first real evidence related to Catherine's disappearance if the black blouse indeed belongs to her. This might hold a clue on her whereabouts.

Twenty minutes later...

They arrived at a gated concrete house that looks in badly need of a repair as the ceiling was torn and in the state of falling, and the woman on her early 60's was already waiting for them at the terrace holding the black bag in her right hand.

She didn't bother to offer the visitors anything as her nervousness intensified. "I'm glad you're finally here, come, take it!" she handed the black pouch bag to John as if she wanted them to leave immediately.

"Ma'am, thank you for contacting us. I just want to know where exactly you found this black pouch bag?" asked John.

"There in the Bermuda grass, near the gate, somebody must have thrown it from the outside and it landed in my lawn. Am sweeping my lawn in the morning when I saw it, at first I ignored it, but as minutes pass by I was curious what is inside in the bag so I opened it and I found the black blouse and the message written in a piece of paper. That is why I texted the number attached to it. The message was still inside you can read it yourself," explained the elderly woman.Find authorized novels in Webnovel，faster updates, better experience，Please click www.readwn.comfor visiting.

John inserted his hand inside the bag and took the piece of paper and read it.

'If you found this black bag, call the phone number written here and return the clothing to the husband of Mrs. Catherine Roxas.'

John noticed that it's a handwritten message. He immediately removed the blouse from the black bag and inspected the garment if indeed it belongs to his missing wife. He does recognize the blouse and Catherine wore it several times, it's a body fit black blouse with short sleeve, V-neck, no print anywhere, just plain looking blouse. He holds it closer to his nose and smelled it, he can still smell the faint scent of his wife entering his nostrils! Based on his inspection and observation, the blouse has not been tampered nor washed, no stain on the surface, it looks clean and shows nothing out of the ordinary.