The Captain I Married by Chance novel Chapter 339

"Laura's case and Evelyn's murder are unequivocally linked."

Nora spoke with absolute certainty into the quiet cab of the car. "I just can't figure out the exact mechanical connection yet."

Laura's behavior was the most glaring anomaly.

She seemed absolutely dedicated to executing a completely pointless charade.

What was the endgame? Nora couldn't crack it.

Seeing her trapped in her own mind, Nathan didn't interrupt, steering the car through traffic in silence.

A few blocks later, Nora violently jolted upright, practically launching herself out of the passenger seat before the seatbelt jerked her back down.

"I've got it!"

Instead of demanding answers, Nathan smoothly reached over to adjust the tension on her shoulder strap.

"Easy. You're going to hurt yourself."

Nora snatched Nathan's hand. "Think about this! What if Laura and Evelyn originally conspired to stage this fake abduction together? The entire point was to manufacture an airtight alibi for Evelyn!"

"But their plan went spectacularly off the rails. Evelyn got murdered, leaving Laura's meticulously executed kidnapping plot looking absurdly out of place."

"The case isn't actually complex—it's just a massive pile-up of catastrophic coincidences!"

If she didn't view it through that lens, there was zero logical explanation for why the timeline was such a chaotic mess.

"Highly probable," Nathan agreed.

"Let's get back to the station and assess the fallout from the stolen body. We'll convene a war room and hammer out the details then."

With the psychological fog finally lifted, Nora felt her mind operating with surgical precision. She nodded firmly. "Barring any more wildcards, we're going to have the killer's name very soon."

The second they walked through the precinct doors, they nearly collided with a detective from the Special Task Force.

"Nathan! Dr. Hayes! You're back!"

"Jay, where are you rushing off to?" Nora asked casually, having just fired off a text to Julia.

"I was literally just heading out to hunt you guys down."

Nathan leveled him with a sharp look. "What's the situation?"

"The public online speculation has gone totally nuclear," Jay reported grimly. "Brass is demanding we drop an official statement immediately."

Nora's eyes hardened, remembering the PR nightmare they were actively sitting on.

The officer shook her head. "The investigation is still ongoing."

Laura's jaw twitched, a flash of pure, venomous hatred bleeding into her eyes.

The officer blinked, assuming she had hallucinated the terrifying look, but before she could inspect closer, Laura dropped her head.

Her hair fell like a curtain, completely masking her expression.

The officer raised a brow. After a beat of silence, she probed, "Did Evelyn really only take one phone call during the entire time she had you?"

"Did she do literally anything else?"

"No..."

Laura's voice wavered. "Most of the time she just drove aimlessly."

"The few times I remember the car stopping, it was just her running into convenience stores."

Laura's breathing grew ragged, labored.

"I just can't believe she..."

The officer rubbed her back consolingly. "You have such a kind heart. Most people would be celebrating the death of the psycho who kept them locked in a trunk."