Chapter 2

The whole ride back, everyone's faces were grim. No one said anything.

Once we were back at the headquarters, I heard their frustrated voices coming out from the restroom as I passed by.

"So we spent three months working our butts off to solve the case, only for the city police to be the ones who ended up with all the credit?"

"Isn't Captain Jennings supposed to be a genius detective? Why hasn't he solved a single case since I got transferred to the state police department?"

"It's very strange that Captain Jennings told us to pull out just now. Could it be that what they're saying is true? That his heart isn't in the right place anymore?"

More and more doubtful questions reached my ears.

Clenching my jaw, I went back to my office and sat there thinking for quite some time.

Nathan and I were mentored by the same person. It was understandable for us to share similar trains of thought and investigation methods, but how could every single one be exactly the same?

And what about the way Mr. Lowry leveled those accusations at me out of nowhere in my previous life…

With this in mind, I tightened my fists and called up a friend in the city police department. Claiming to want to learn from them, I asked for the notes from their case analysis.

The moment I saw the first picture, a chill ran down my spine. It was a picture of the case outline that Nathan had drawn up on the whiteboard, and it included information for an innocent passerby whom I'd looked into briefly.

How could it be? Did Nathan suspect the same passerby, too?

However, that passerby was someone I'd run into by coincidence during a solo investigation. I'd only taken note of him out of caution. Even my teammates didn't know about him.

Feeling quite incredulous, I started flipping through the rest of the notes. Then, with trembling hands, I unlocked my drawer and pulled out the notebook I used to record my case notes.

Page by page, I compared it to the notes sent over from the city police. By the time I was done with that, I slumped against my chair in shock.

Everything from the investigation process to the profiles of the offenders, and even the sketches of the crime scene, was identical!

How was that possible?

Forcing myself to stay calm, I tried to sift through my memories and see if there'd been any detail I might've missed.

All of a sudden, my superior, Chief Hudson, came barging into my office, disrupting my thoughts.

"Caleb, the culprit behind the 715 serial murder case has struck again! Head to the crime scene with your team now!"

Since a life was at stake, I immediately cast aside all my thoughts and rushed over with my team.

Once we arrived, I crouched down beside the deceased victim. I was busy looking for clues when I noticed that Tina Anderson, who was supposed to be analyzing the blood splatters, was secretly glancing around instead.

When she noticed my puzzled expression, she shyly scratched her head, saying, "I just wanted to see if the team from the city police came over yet…"

Even though she didn't say anything else, I figured out what she meant.

Ever since Nathan joined the city police department, we hadn't solved a single case independently for months. Everyone had been under a great deal of pressure.

However, even after we'd wrapped things up at the crime scene and left, there was no sign of Nathan anywhere. I couldn't help but exhale in relief as well. At least we were a step ahead of him this time.

After work, I declined my colleagues' offer to head home together. Instead, I stayed at the office and spread all the files for the serial murder case across my desk.

Before getting started, I instinctively reached for my usual notebook. But I paused in thought before putting it away again.

Although I still didn't know how Nathan did it, I dared not use that notebook anymore.

I grabbed a few sheets of scrap paper from a colleague's desk and scribbled my thoughts on them. I worked through the entire night, much to my colleagues' shock when they came back to work the next day.

Despite my exhaustion from a sleepless night, my eyes were unusually bright. "I found an incriminating piece of evidence that the murderer left behind yesterday!"

Everyone was excited. To save time, I started leading them straight to the suspect's house, explaining, "The crux of this case is the murderer's use of the knife this time…"

However, the moment I stepped outside the headquarters, my phone started vibrating.

I pulled it out and took a look. Immediately, the latest headlines burned a hole in my eyes.

"Rising Star Detective, Nathan Sloan, Cracks Another Unsolved Case—Nabbing the Culprit Behind the 715 Serial Murder Case!"

In the attached photo, Nathan was looking at the camera while holding up an evidence bag. Inside it was the same serrated knife I'd marked as the crucial piece of evidence just this morning!