The casket bearers, besides him, included three others. Two of them were Louis’s strong nephews, and the other was his brother.

“Was there anything unusual during the burial? Or did you notice anything out of the ordinary?” Officer Ryan asked the four of them.

“There shouldn’t have been,” one of Louis’s nephews recalled the situation at that time. “We buried the casket, and Norma, I mean the funeral director, was standing by the hearse with his tall, strong son waiting; everything seemed quite normal.”

Officer Ryan nodded, removing his rain-soaked hat. “What’s happening now is not normal. Smowell hasn’t faced anything like this in years—body theft is no ordinary crime.” As he spoke, he turned his gaze toward Peter. “Patrick, do you have anything to add?”

“No,” Peter shook his head, indicating that he didn’t know any more than the police.

“Really?” He stepped through the muddy ground and walked over to Peter. “The last Walmart shooting case isn’t even closed yet, and now we have to deal with this again.”

Peter looked at him, somewhat surprised. “It’s been six years. Is Officer Ryan still investigating?”

“Of course. No matter how long it takes, I will catch that murderer.” After glancing at Peter, he turned to put his hat back on. Peter stared at his back, narrowing his eyes.

......

Peter was driving a black Toyota SUV, taking his cousin’s family home. Sitting in the back seat, his cousin Louis looked dazed, as if he hadn’t recovered from the shock. His wife, Vanessa, wore a worried expression, glancing at her husband as if she wanted to say something but held back.

“I’m sorry for what happened,” Peter consoled his cousin.

“I’m fine, Peter. Thank you for taking us home.” Louis forced a smile and thanked Peter. He then asked, “Is John okay?”

“He’s fine; he was already asleep when I left.”

“You’re a responsible father, Peter. Azu isn’t your biological son, but you’ve taken care of him, even at the cost of your own marriage,” Louis remarked with a hint of nostalgia. Although he didn’t interact much with this cousin, he had known for a long time that Peter had adopted a baby with no blood relation.

“It’s okay,” Peter replied casually. He now possessed the ability to live a long life; by the time Azu faced a midlife crisis, he would still look like he was in his twenties. Why rush into a marriage grave when he could live for hundreds of years?

After exchanging a few more words with Louis, Peter focused on driving.

Ten minutes later, he dropped off Louis and his wife at home. In the living room, Louis poured him a cup of hot coffee.

Peter comforted him, “I believe the police will catch the murderer soon.”

“Let’s hope so,” Louis said, taking a can of beer from the fridge. He seemed to want to share his pain with Peter. “It’s all my fault; if I had kept a better eye on little Terry, maybe he wouldn’t have run out onto the road…”

“Don’t say that,” Peter raised his coffee cup. “It’s all in the past now, Louis.”

Louis sighed. “Peter, you don’t know what he was like at six; he was so well-behaved and loved to share his wild ideas with me.”

Then, this slightly drunk cousin shared a series of warm memories, speaking vividly and touchingly. After listening patiently for a while, Peter began to feel impatient. Just as he was preparing to say goodbye to his cousin, he suddenly noticed drag marks on the lawn outside.

“Clang!”

The sound of a beer can falling to the ground echoed. Peter turned to look back and saw that the beer can in Louis’s hand had dropped, and he had passed out.

Pushing the door open, Peter stepped onto the lawn outside. Light rain continued to fall, and the grass in the yard was bent in the same direction, with patches of foul-smelling mud scattered on it.

With his superhuman senses, Peter easily identified the stench of the mud as coming from the cemetery he had visited during the day.

Could the suspect of the body theft be right here?

Peter’s expression grew serious. He stepped forward, following the smell as he reentered the house. His cousin Louis was still passed out.

Peter left the living room, following the scent, and slowly ascended the stairs. The smell became stronger as it reached his nostrils. It seemed to carry a hint of freshly cut grass but also resembled the scent of decay.

In any case, what he smelled was the odor of rot and complete stagnation. Though faint, ordinary people might not perceive it, but Peter’s senses had long surpassed those of regular humans.

On the second floor, in the main bathroom, there was a dark shadow swaying slightly behind the shower curtain.

“Whoosh!”

Peter pulled back the bathroom curtain with a swift motion. There was no figure behind it, only a canvas.

The canvas was covered in dirt, and the foul odor was even more intense.

This is...

Staring at the canvas before him, Peter furrowed his brow. This appeared to be the same canvas that wrapped little Terry when he was buried.

He turned around.

“Boom!”

A thunderclap shattered the darkness of the night, illuminating Peter’s expressionless face.

In other words... the one who secretly dug up the body was actually Louis himself.

Did he dig up his own son’s body?

No! It couldn’t be him!

The pained and self-reproachful expression he had shown earlier didn’t seem like an act.

If it wasn’t him, then it was his wife—Vanessa.

Why would she do this?

Peter’s brow knitted together.

He exited the main bathroom, continuing to follow the faint scent as he moved forward.

Outside, the rain grew heavier, and Peter’s footsteps echoed in the hallway.

At that moment, Louis’s wife—Vanessa—was standing in a storage room at the end of the second floor.

Nervously, she stood behind the door, gripping a knife in her hand, listening to Peter’s footsteps drawing near.

On the ground behind her lay the body of her son, which she had secretly dug up.

“Thump! Thump!”

Her heart raced, listening to Peter’s footsteps as if waiting for the final judgment of fate.

To keep Peter from discovering this secret, she would have to kill him to silence him!

But she had never done anything like this, so her hand holding the knife trembled slightly, and her heart raced uncontrollably.

“Tap! Tap! Tap!”

The footsteps grew closer until they stopped right in front of the door where she stood.

“Thump! Thump!”

The two faced each other, separated by a door, and Vanessa’s heartbeat reverberated in her eardrums.

“Click!”

The broken doorknob of the storage room was gently twisted.

With a fierce look in her eyes, Vanessa raised the knife high.