Chapter 4The 24th Victim

Mason's body swayed as he shakily took the evidence bag.

Inside were bloody pieces of flesh and bone, mixed with several teeth and fingernails.

Alexander watched Mason's face carefully before speaking. "Besides the two who escaped, we successfully rescued the other 21 victims. So..."

I let out a sigh of relief.

Thank God they had all escaped.

When I was first sold to Blackwood Township, I acted extremely obedient to make the men lower their guard.

I even helped the buyers brainwash the new girls who arrived.

Once, I caught a girl who tried to escape.

I knew the road she had taken was a dead end.

If she were caught, she would suffer endless torture.

That day, I grabbed Michelle Windrow by the hair and dragged her back toward town.

"Try to run, huh?" I shouted. "I'll break your leg right now!"

Her blood splashed across my face. Michelle's terrified face looked completely red through the blood covering my eyes.

I dropped the hoe and went to talk to Michelle's buyer. "John, you paid 3,000 dollars for her. Breaking her leg should be enough. If you punish her too badly and she ends up mentally disabled, she'll only become a burden to you."

John Walker thought my words made sense. Unlike the other women who had tried to escape, he didn't punish Michelle severely.

He simply took her home in silence.

After that, everyone in town trusted me even more.

I became the only kidnapped girl who was allowed to move freely around town.

I never wasted an opportunity to escape.

I constantly tested different routes out of the town.

On New Year's Eve, all the men in town were drunk.

That was when I finally escaped from the mountains and reached the highway.

I was overwhelmed with joy. But then I suddenly calmed down.

I knew exactly what would happen to the girls who were still there if the townsfolk discovered I had escaped before the police arrived.

So, I stood up and turned around. I went back.

All I hoped was that when Mason came to rescue me, he would be proud of me.

But now, Mason was holding the only pieces of me that remained.

His lips trembled as he said, "These have to be pig remains. Carol sat in on many cases when she was young. She knows that pig bones and teeth look very similar to human ones. She did this on purpose to confuse us and buy herself time to escape."

The two officers exchanged a glance. Neither said a word.

Alexander sighed. "Let's take them back to the station and send them for testing."

I never expected Wendy and Claire to be waiting at the station too.

Claire hurried over nervously and grabbed the edge of Mason's jacket. "Dad, what happened? You didn't come home all night. Mom went to the courthouse this morning to bring you some food, but they told her you had left with Captain Lockwood. Did something happen to Carol? Did you find her?"

"No."

Mason's voice was hoarse. He looked much older than he had the night before.

"But we're close."

Wendy looked sad on the surface, but her words were clearly meant to stir things up. "If only we hadn't agreed to let her move out. Who would have thought she would run away with some man at such a young age? And now she's gotten herself into this mess..."

So that was why Mason never reported me missing.

Thankfully, the truth would soon come out.

Just then, someone I never expected walked into the police station. "My name is Michelle Windrow. I'm the 19th victim kidnapped by Lillian."

Mason immediately rushed over.

He grabbed Michelle firmly by both shoulders. "Have you seen Carol?"

Michelle nodded.

Then she pulled up her pant leg and revealed her badly crooked left leg. "This is what Carol did to me when she caught me trying to escape."

Just then, Alexander hurried into the lobby with a report in his hand. "Judge Leighton, the DNA test results are back."