1960: My uncle is the FBI Director

Chapter 73 The Cabin in the Woods? (Please continue reading)
Theodore had always maintained a friendly relationship with the oil workers' union.

Their arrival was met with a warm welcome.

After explaining the situation, the union director called over five young men and asked them to lead the way for Theodore and his group.

Fearing Theodore might misunderstand, the board member explained that these young people worked at the retired workers' liaison office and knew the situation of retired workers best.

The five groups split up with maps and met at the restaurant at noon to summarize their findings and mark them on the map.

Everyone stared in silence at the hundreds of densely packed markers.

After the meal, we split into groups again.

They divided the marked area into five blocks, searching each block in turn.

These secluded spaces, mostly tool sheds and basements, have become animal paradises due to years of abandonment.

Many rooms have been flooded due to years of disrepair, and some have even been completely submerged.

Theodore and his team found the body of a homeless man in the second basement.

After Theodore and Bernie dragged the body to the ground, Gary squatted down and examined it for a while. Under Bernie's repeated urging, he cautiously concluded that it was 'suspected drowning'.

Bernie went to his car to get his walkie-talkie and called the patrol officers to come and deal with the body.

They later found three more bodies, all of which Gary concluded were 'suspected drownings'.

Before leaving get off work, everyone met at the branch office to exchange their findings.

The five groups found a total of 11 bodies, some garbage, some animal bones, and some homeless people. One detective was almost bitten by a snake, and two detectives were almost buried in the collapsed basement.

Theodore's desired workshop and showroom are still nowhere to be found.

After the exchange ended, everyone was a little tired, and they agreed to continue tomorrow before heading home.

Day three of the search.

Gary was late.

Bernie waved to him from the car, urging him to hurry up.

Gary was still wearing the same three-piece suit from yesterday, his clothes were all wrinkled, and his hair looked like a bird's nest.

He didn't get on the car; instead, he stood in front of it.

"Buddy, you need to make one thing clear right now: we need to get going immediately!"

Bernie peeked out and greeted him.

After spending the last two days together, he has gradually come to accept this 'uncertain' man.

Mr. Uncertain looked embarrassed as he pulled out a crumpled hand-drawn skull sketch and handed it to Theodore.

He told Theodore that a friend of his had identified the cause of the annular bone fissure at the edge of the foramen magnum at the base of the skull in small skulls.

That was caused by a high-energy impact or a projectile collision.

Theodore almost immediately thought of the rotting rope.

Among the many traps set by hunters, two are the most common: one is the deep pit trap, and the other is the lasso slingshot trap.

The former will cause high-energy impact damage, while the latter will cause projectile impact damage.

Bernie had been hunting in the mountains with his grandfather since he was a child, so he was very familiar with it and even reacted faster than Theodore.

He stared wide-eyed, pointed at Gary, and then looked back at Theodore.

This was a major oversight by Gary! He completely ignored the cause of death of the patient with the small skull!

Bernie wanted to say something, but seeing Gary's frustrated and anxious expression, he couldn't bring himself to say anything blaming.

Gary's negligence caused Theodore more trouble than they had imagined.

In this case where the crime scene could not be found and the victim could not be seen, all his profiling relied heavily on the autopsy report provided by the forensic laboratory.

Theodore previously analyzed that the killer used the hidden space of the abandoned oil field upstream of the river as a workspace and hiding place.

This is a fundamental error in direction!

They should search up the mountain!
Gary's oversight was common in this era; he did not make a mistake, but simply overlooked the cause of his death.

But after two days of investigation, Gary realized the extent of the trouble his mistake had caused.

The work of ten people over two days was all for nothing. He used to do theoretical research, and he happened to run into Theodore and Bernie consulting a friend about anatomy.

His friend told him that the two were detectives from the West End.

This piqued Gary's curiosity.

He sought out and studied all the publicly available files from the cases they had investigated, which sparked his keen interest in murder cases.

It just so happened that the Felton Police Department was recruiting a forensic specialist for the West Precinct, so he applied for the job.

He actually really likes this job, and he carefully selects his clothes every day before going out.

Theodore did not mean to blame Gary; he had long seen that Gary lacked practical experience.

He inquired about information regarding the coyote specimen and the knot.

Gary had previously mentioned that he would ask friends for help with the research.

His friend told him that the coyote specimen was made at least seven years ago.

The ropes were made from local forest materials. The friend who told him the cause of his fracture also praised the rope-weaving craftsmanship.

His friend was an avid hunter.

…………

Based on the new information brought by Gary, Theodore adjusted his strategy and shifted the search focus from abandoned oil wells to the mountains and forests.

This makes things complicated.

That forest is no longer within the city limits of Felton.

They are not under the jurisdiction of the Felton Police Department, but rather under the Nashville County Sheriff's Office.

They have no law enforcement authority in those mountains and forests.

This requires coordination between the police department and the Nasville County Sheriff's Office.

Fortunately, the county police department was exceptionally understanding, not only granting the authorization but also dispatching detectives to provide assistance.

When they recognized Theodore and Bernie, detectives from the entire county police department became exceptionally enthusiastic.

Bernie stepped in to deal with the overly enthusiastic detectives, quickly becoming one of them, and soon selected a team of detectives familiar with the mountain forest.

With the help of the county police department, a discovery was made on just the third day.

They found a secluded wooden cabin in an unnamed valley.

The valley is located in the middle of the mountains west of Felton, more than 3 miles from Felton.

The valley is surrounded by rocks on three sides, with a narrow crevice at the entrance, allowing only one person to pass at a time. Inside the valley is a hidden platform about 700 feet in diameter.

The valley entrance is covered with vines, and a large number of North American pine trees grow around it.

The valley is surrounded by numerous traps, but most of them have become ineffective due to long-term neglect.

Several detectives carefully examined the trap and confirmed that it was set by a skilled hunter.

Bernie picked up the rope from the lasso-launched trap. The rope was already rotten and blackened, but the weaving and knots were still easily identifiable. It was exactly the same as the rope wrapped around the forearm bone.

Judging from all the signs, the wooden house had long been deserted.

But the detectives dared not be careless.

They first shouted at the wooden house, identified themselves, and demanded that the people inside come out immediately.

After receiving no response to their calls, the detectives confirmed that no one was in the cabin and carefully searched the surrounding area until all traps were eliminated before they breathed a sigh of relief.

A detective from the county police department lamented that the place was practically being turned into a military fortress.

With all dangers eliminated, the detectives relaxed.

They huddled together to study the trap's layout, while another group followed Theodore, eager to see up close how the detective solved the case.

Theodore stood in front of the cabin and reached out to push open the wooden door.

Thank you Jiraiya for the donation!
Thank you for the generous donation from Xinru Yezi Tianran Hei!

Thank you so much!
Perform a street dance for the big boss:

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(End of this chapter)