CHAPTER 128
The phone in Bill's office rang, breaking the silence in the office. When he answered, Collins' voice, laden with urgency, echoed on the other end of the line. The news that was unfolding in his words was like a shadow stretching across Hope Vale.
Collins, in a tense voice, began to narrate the sinister plot involving the girl's death and the connection with the scarred woman, the one who had witnessed Elizabeth's birth. Each revelation was like an additional piece in the dark puzzle that was unfolding before Bill.
The identity of the murderer, Charles Kensigton III, emerged as a sinister figure in Collins' words. The narrative unveiled a scenario where Hargraves, the head of the operation, orchestrated the shadows behind the tragic events. Together, these two, on top of everything else, had a room full of women, sex slaves, who had been brutally assaulted in every possible way. A sense of urgency hung in the air, and Bill realized that the puzzle that was unfolding went beyond what he could imagine.
As Collins detailed Charles and Hargraves' escape, Bill felt a shiver run down his spine. The pieces of the puzzle were falling into place, revealing a web of conspiracy that stretched through the dark corridors of the city.
Bill and Wynn had hidden Lek and Mack in a hovel in the middle of the forest, on Robert's grandfather's land. Robert had joined the battalion when he enlisted, and his grandfather, a lonely old man, had allowed the two young men to stay there and help him. He couldn't let Hargraves find out that they were alive, because they were witnesses to the massacre, the slaughter of the Mounties, and he had to protect his daughter Elizabeth and his wife Charlote... The suspense intensified, leaving the city plunged into uncertainty, where the shadows revealed even darker secrets.