Shadow Empire

Chapter 1163 Death, Evidence, and Handle
The man who had lost his child opened the door a crack, where a safety lock was attached—a chain about the thickness of a little finger connecting the door to the frame.

In reality, this kind of insurance can only prevent some "civilized criminals" from leaving once they are discovered.

But when faced with those vicious and ruthless ones, they only need to ram them a few times to break through.

There were four men standing at the door who looked... a little scary. They were dressed in suits with dark ties, and their expressions were very serious, so serious that it was unsettling.

The man who had lost his child observed them carefully, then shook his head. "I don't know you. What do you want?"

The man at the front was balding and looked to be around thirty-seven or thirty-eight years old. He pulled out an identification card from his pocket and showed it to the man who had lost his child; it was the identification of a federal prosecutor.

“I am a prosecutor from the prosecutor’s office, and I would like to discuss some details with you regarding your child’s death.”

These words eased the man's guard considerably, and a hint of hope even appeared on his face. "You...found her?"

According to the police, their daughter is simply "missing".

The police can't file a missing person case, but they are certain that their daughter has been murdered. She has never gone this long without contacting her family or coming home.

They knew that even if their daughter had various problems they didn't know about, she was still their child. No matter what her current situation was, whether she was alive or dead, they wanted to find her while seeking justice.

Whether they are alive or dead.

Faced with the man's expectant gaze, the guy standing at the door shook his head.

They should have dealt with the couple earlier, but they contacted a journalist, which changed things, and the journalist was quite capable.

If it weren't for this accident, the couple might already be with their daughter.

But it doesn't matter. Now they have more support from Mr. Porter, so they can ignore some risks and forcibly erase the couple, and even the reporter, from their lives.

The bald guy retrieved his prosecutor's badge; it was real, and with the power behind him, getting a genuine badge would be child's play.

However, the owner of this document is not registered in the prosecutor's system. In other words, the document is real, but the person is fake.

"Are you sure we want to talk here?" the bald man asked, glancing around. "Standing outside your door?"

“It’s my fault!” The man who lost his daughter slapped his forehead. He closed the door again, unlocked it, and let them in.

“We’ve been busy searching for our daughter lately, so… I’m sorry we’ve neglected her.”

He led the group toward the living room, shouting, "Jenny, get some coffee. The prosecutor wants to talk to us about our daughter!"

His wife immediately ran out of the living room, a hint of anticipation on her face, "Is...she back?"

"Go make some coffee!" the husband instructed again, then turned to the four people and said, "Let's talk in the living room."

The group entered the living room, while his wife Jenny went to the kitchen to make them coffee. To the man's surprise, the prosecutor and his subordinate did not sit down and remained standing.

Only the prosecutor was sitting there.

"So now... are there only the two of you here?" the bald prosecutor asked a question that surprised the man.

He paused for a moment, then nodded and said, "Yes, it's just the two of us here now. Ever since she disappeared... you know, it's been a huge blow to us."

"The room is a bit messy, so I'm sorry..."

His speech was somewhat disorganized and illogical, because the place was indeed very messy, with all sorts of random things piled up together, and they had no intention of tidying up the place at all.

The bald prosecutor nodded. "I heard you also contacted reporters?"

"To be honest, I don't recommend that you take this to the media before you have more information. You've made a logical fallacy."

The man who lost his daughter immediately explained, "We went to the police station to report the case, but the police didn't care about our case at all. In desperation, someone told us that we could talk to a reporter."

“We were completely out of options at the time. If we had known that the prosecutor’s office had taken over the case, we definitely wouldn’t have done it!”

He was explaining that he didn't want to leave a bad impression on the prosecutor who could help him.

The bald prosecutor nodded and looked at one of his men. "You're just going to stand here and wait for that lady to bring the coffee over?"

"Go and help her!"

The man who lost his daughter immediately said he didn't need their help. He was still being polite when the bald prosecutor pushed him back down as he stood up. "So much coffee!"

He paused for a moment, looking directly into the man's eyes. His gaze was somewhat... indescribable. The man had wanted to be more polite, but for some reason, he suddenly lost all his courage and sat back down with a dry laugh.

At this point, he began to sense that something was wrong; this guy didn't look like the prosecutor he had imagined at all.

"Besides that reporter, who else did you tell about this?"

At this point, the man became suspicious, and that suspicion only grew stronger. His mind started racing again, and he asked a pointed question, "Shouldn't you talk to me about my daughter?"

Why are you so concerned about who knows about this?

His expression turned serious. Just then, a sound of something falling and breaking came from the restaurant. He was about to stand up to see what had happened when a burly man standing behind the sofa pounced on him and locked his neck in a tight grip!
He struggled in terror, but the prosecutor held his hands and feet down firmly. His eyes were wide open, and his face was flushed red from the lack of blood circulation and the increasing pressure, as if it were about to burst!

The kind of person whose face would spurt out blood if you made a small cut!

He stared intently at the prosecutor in front of him; if looks could kill, they could, but they couldn't.

He felt his life force rapidly draining away. Suffocation is an extremely painful way to die. His instincts began to take over his body, and his struggles became even more intense, but he still couldn't break free from the two people's restraints.

In the final stages of his life, it suddenly occurred to him that these people might be the same ones who had murdered his daughter.

He was about to see his daughter soon, and he was still worried about his wife.

Two minutes passed. The bald prosecutor stood up, panting heavily. He straightened his tie and patted the man's thick arm on the neck. "That's enough. Do you want to twist his head off?"

The burly man released his grip, and the man who had lost his daughter slid down the sofa to the floor. The bald prosecutor lifted his cheek; he was dead.

He then turned and walked toward the restaurant, where the woman named Jenny was also lying on the floor. She had suffered the same fate and was clearly strangled.

Looking at her dress, soaked with urine, the bald prosecutor frowned, somewhat disgusted. "Take care of it as soon as possible."

Soon a van pulled up at the door, and two people were rolled up in blankets and put into the van. Unbeknownst to them, someone was filming the whole thing, including their faces.

As the three cars drove away, everything returned to calm, leaving only the faint smell of urine in the house, which seemed to still tell the tragic story that had taken place there!
Of course, these people didn't know that they were actually being followed.

Perhaps they were used to being arrogant, or perhaps they didn't think anyone here could harm them; they simply hadn't considered these possibilities.

On the other hand, after the reporter's call with the couple was suddenly cut off, they tried to call back several times, but no one answered.

As a top-notch journalist investigating such a sensitive case, his mind immediately conjured up various political conspiracies. Since it involved Mr. Porter, a leading presidential candidate, they would definitely have some methods. After hanging up the phone, the journalist immediately called two friends, and they went to the nearby police station to explain the situation to the officers—

He did not describe whether the case might involve the Porter family, only saying that a friend's phone suddenly dropped and no one answered when he called back.

He was very worried that something might have happened to his friend, who lived in the old Commonwealth neighborhood and needed police assistance if it was necessary to break down the door.

The branch office immediately dispatched four officers to accompany them to the missing girl's home. From the outside, the entire house appeared intact, with no signs of broken windows or doors. They then entered the house with the help of the police.

The top reporter hurriedly called out the couple's names, but unfortunately, no one responded. As he approached the restaurant, he immediately smelled a strong stench of urine and went to the restaurant.

He saw a puddle of urine on the ground that was almost dried and was emitting a strong odor.

This made him feel even more uneasy. No one would urinate in their own restaurant and just urinate on the floor like that. Besides, there must be more than one toilet in this house. They could have gone to the toilet, so why would they urinate on the floor?
The knowledge he had accumulated over so many years as a top journalist suddenly began to boil over, and in a very short time, within seconds, he made a judgment.

Someone died here, so he/she lost control of his/her bladder and urinated all over the floor.

This also means that the couple was murdered.

This made him nervous. If the couple were murdered, would he be next?
He immediately told the police officers who had come with him about it, "I suspect they were murdered."

The policeman walked over with a smile. He seemed to have smelled the strange odor as well, and covered his mouth and nose with his hand. "Has someone peed in the pool?"

This sounds a bit funny, but it has happened more than once in the federal government, and he has seen it more than once in the cases he has handled.

Some people even defecate in the sink or on the coffee table; if they want to do it, someone will always do it.

The reporter explained his thoughts, and the police officers became somewhat serious. This was a neighborhood inhabited by light-skinned people, and they were all high-quality voters. If things escalated, it would be difficult to explain.

He immediately sent someone to call for backup, and also had the phone lines checked, since the top reporter had said the phone lines had suddenly gone down.

There is indeed no signal here. If it were a premeditated murder, then there would definitely be signs of sabotage on the lines.

And indeed, seven or eight minutes later, the officers brought a result that made them feel "something was up" and a bit tricky: the phone line had been cut with a knife.

If there are obvious signs of force and cuts, then the murder case is established.

More police arrived and, through questioning the community and surrounding residents, learned that several vehicles had appeared there in the afternoon, along with a moving company that appeared to have moved something, though some people said they hadn't seen anything.

The top reporter was in a bad mood at this point. Instead of returning to his residence, he took his friend to a safe house of his own.

He also has a safe house.

Calling it a safe house is a stretch; it's more like a small house he doesn't live in often. He bought it and filled it with canned goods, weapons, and bullets.

As a top journalist, there are really only a few ways to become famous: report any news that can hurt people's feelings. Only in this way can one quickly gain people's attention, and it is clear that he is a person who likes to take risks.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have continued to follow up on the case after learning it was related to a presidential candidate.

Therefore, he needs to prepare a temporary place for himself to avoid his current residence being attacked by one of the parties mentioned in some reports.

As he approached his safe house, he sent his friend away. He wouldn't tell anyone where the house was; it was a protective measure for him.

Next, he needed to figure out how to expose this matter.

He can only survive if he exposes it. If he treats it as a secret or a bargaining chip, he will only face death!
His choice saved his life. If he had returned home at that moment, he would have found those uninvited guests and faced the same fate as that couple.

Caution and carefulness are essential for his survival.

Meanwhile, the bald prosecutor had already brought two corpses to the place where they were supposed to dispose of them.

After all... they weren't exactly a professional gang, and when it came to disposing of bodies, they mainly relied on finding a secluded place to bury them.

Especially in the suburbs.

The countryside in those days was far less safe than it will be in the future; the various wild animals would make anyone who stubbornly claimed they could camp in the wild regret their actions.

They drove slowly to their designated spot and then began digging.

It took several people more than twenty minutes to dig a deep pit. They then threw the two bodies in and filled it back up with soil.

If the gangs found out about this, they would only laugh at their lack of professionalism, because no matter where they buried it, it could still be discovered.

Even if the probability is very small, it is still possible to be discovered.

There was a similar case in the Federation before, where several hunters raided a coyote den while hunting coyotes and found the remains of some carcasses inside.

They then called the police, initially thinking that someone had been killed by a coyote while spending the night in the wild. However, after the police investigation, it was discovered that the coyote had found a newly dug hole.

They dug open the pit, pulled out the body, and the police solved the case because of this discovery.

But if it were a gang, they would simply send the body to a pet store, ensuring that no trace would be found.

After all, prosecutors have no precedent for finding evidence in dog poop, and even if they did, the dog's stomach acid would render that evidence completely useless!
After dealing with the bodies, the group of men left, panting, carrying shovels. Half an hour later, another group of people arrived at the burial site, took photos and videos, and then dug up several bodies, including the girl's, as well as some remains whose identities were unknown.

After doing all that, they put the body back and then slowly left.

Just as Senator Cleveland told Lance, what they need is a president who can be controlled, not someone who gets ousted and replaced with someone equally uncontrollable.

With such a huge scandal, Mr. Porter, or rather President Porter, no longer poses any threat to them.

That evening, Lance learned the whole story and then called Senator Cleveland to explain the situation.

"The evidence we have now proves that this matter is directly related to Mr. Porter, and he even went to Mr. Porter's office that day."

“We all have relevant evidence that can indirectly prove that these things are not isolated incidents.”

Senator Cleveland was very happy and delighted to hear this!
"I knew it! You never disappoint when I give you a task!"

“Well done, Lance, this has been a great help to us. We’ve been thinking about how to counterbalance Porter after he takes office, but with your help, we now have leverage to negotiate with them!”

He considered for a moment, then said, "Get ready, make several copies of the evidence and keep them safe. Then give me some less important evidence, for example..."

He thought for a moment, "Photos of the murderers meeting with his son, or being together."

As for the couple and their daughter?

No one cares.

(End of this chapter)