The Real Heiress Is Coming Back (Hannah Carter) novel Chapter 94

Chapter 94

Chapter 94

It was two in the afternoon.

At the police station, in Ethan’s office.

“Ms. Carter, I’ve got some good news and some bad news,” Ethan said.

He took a deep drag from his cigarette, then stubbed it out in the ashtray.

Hannah waved away the smoke with a look of distaste, but before she could say anything, Ethan spoke up.

“The good news is, we’ve finally found Yvette and her mother,” he said.

Hannah’s elegant brows knitted together, her expression turning serious. ‘If he’s leading with the good news, then the bad news must be a big deal, she thought, a sense of unease creeping in.

“And the bad news?” she asked.

“What we found were two bodies,” Ethan said, pulling out a case file from his drawer and sliding it across the desk to Hannah.

Hannah’s thick, long lashes drooped as she gazed at the brown folder in front of her.

Even though she’d braced herself for bad news ever since Ethan called that morning, actually hearing it made her chest tighten with grief.

She’d barely known Yvette, and there was no real connection between them. In fact, Yvette was the daughter of the driver responsible for her adoptive mother’s death.

But she was a living, breathing person, gone in an instant. And it all started because Hannah had mentioned Gantt; that one word set everything in motion, Yvette disappeared, and now she’s dead.

“The bodies were found about a week ago in a reservoir in a county near Southmart. By the time they were recovered, they were already badly decomposed. The coroner figured they’d been dead for around ten days, so there was no way to identify them at first.

“Three days ago, the local police put out a public notice asking for help, and that’s when I got the tip. We went over and confirmed it was Yvette and her mother through DNA testing,” Ethan explained.

He took a sip of his tea and continued.

“They drowned, water filled their airways and stopped them from breathing.

“Because the bodies had been there so long, and with all those heavy storms, the whole scene was a mess, totally ruined. And the surveillance cameras by the reservoir were conveniently out of order for three days right when it all went down.

So nobody could tell if it was murder, suicide, or just a freak accident. In the end, the local cops just called it an accidental death.” Ethan said.

“That doesn’t sound right, does it? You’re the one in charge of the missing persons case. Shouldn’t you be the one to wrap things up after looking into it?” Hannah pressed, her tone skeptical.

Hannah looked up at him, her gaze steady, those peach blossom eyes giving nothing away.

Not to mention how strange Yvette’s disappearance had been from the outset. Standard procedure dictated that the investigating agent who opened a case was supposed to see it through to its conclusion.

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Chapter 94

Wrapping things up this quickly? There’s obviously something shady going on.

“That’s why I called you in to talk face-to-face,” Ethan said.

He stood up, moved to the window, opened it just a crack, and lit up another cigarette.

The only reason they could even open a case on Yvette’s disappearance was because she was just a few days shy of turning eighteen, which qualified her as a missing minor.

After the case was opened, Ethan brought in Gemma, who was the prime suspect at the time, for questioning But Gemma managed to clear her name and was released without charges.

With no leads, Ethan and his team kept searching, but they came up empty-handed.

A few days later, Yvette turned eighteen, and since there was no evidence of trafficking, the case was no longer treated as a criminal matter, the cops had to drop it and move on to other cases.

Ethan had to chase leads in his spare time, off the clock.

Three days ago, he finally spotted a public notice from a county near Southmart asking for help. But by then, the bodies of Yvette and her mother were already in the hands of the local authorities.

“Southmart’s trying to win that civility award, and the higher-ups don’t want any scandals messing things up. So they just closed the case, quick and quiet,” Ethan said, taking another long drag from his cigarette.

A cold wind slipped in from outside, chilling Hannah’s face and making her hair flutter.

She understood now. Yvette and her mother, just two powerless nobodies, no family, no influence. The authorities called it an accident, and nobody was ever going to reopen their case or stand up for them.

Even if someone wanted to fight it, there were people at the top protecting their own. Unless one had real power and could go toe-to-toe with the authorities, overturning the verdict was nearly impossible.

“Thank you, Ethan,” Hannah said as she stood up.

Now, the last clue about her adoptive mom’s accident was gone, just like that.

The only thing Hannah was sure of now was that she was heading in the right direction, her adoptive mom hadn’t died in some random accident. It was murder.

Yvette and her mother’s deaths were no accident either.

And now, Hannah was probably already exposed. The killer was hiding in the shadows, while she was in plain sight.

“If you want to keep investigating, you should look into the Baker family,” Ethan said suddenly.

Hannah paused, hand on the doorknob. Ethan continued, “Gantt Hollow was their driver before the crash.

Ethan wanted to dig deeper, but he was just a regular cop, there was no way he could go up against the Baker family.

“Thanks,” Hannah said flatly, her face expressionless as she left the office.

She pulled out her phone and dialed a number.

“Buzzing Wolfram, your Croft family owes me a favor from last time. Now it’s time to return the favor…” she said.

After hanging up, Hannah stepped out of the police station. Her driver pulled up in front of her and opened the back door for her.

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Chapter 94

“Ms. Carter, back to Skycrest?” the driver asked.

Hannah gave him a cool look and replied, “Yes.”

After his meeting. Arthur stepped out of the office and started scrolling through his social feed while waiting for the elevator.

He spotted Lucian’s post from earlier [She actually brought me a gift, so I guess I’ll forgive her. I

There was a picture of two chocolates attached.

“So childish,” Arthur muttered, snapping a screenshot and sending it to Hannah.

Arthur: [Can’t just pamper your little brother, your big brother deserves some love too. I

Meanwhile, Hannah was sprawled out in the back seat, gaming on her phone, when a WhatsApp notification popped up. She tapped it open and saw the picture Arthur had sent.

…Seriously?’ Hannah stared at the screen, speechless.

I swear, that wasn’t even meant to be a gift!’ she grumbled inwardly.

It was just some candy she’d used to coax Barnaby into taking his meds, the extras ended up tossed in her pocket without a second thought.

Then Arthur sent over another photo.

It was his left hand, fingers long and slender, shirt sleeves casually rolled up, revealing a pale, clean-cut wrist.

Hannah had no idea what Arthur was after.

Arthur: [Don’t you think my wrist looks a little empty?]

Arthur: [You still owe me that gift from last time!]

Hannah could only stare, lost for words.

‘Come on, that wasn’t even a real gift! It was just some old red string bracelet I didn’t care about!’ Hannah thought to herself.

Just then, as the car passed a mall, Hannah spotted a men’s clothing boutique and said to the driver, “Can you pull over for a

moment?”

The driver parked, snapped a quick photo of Hannah heading into the men’s clothing boutique, and sent it to Barnaby.

[Ms. Carter just left the police station. We’re on our way back, and she’s shopping right now. Should be at Skycrest in about half an hour.]

Barnaby was in the living room, reviewing the project proposal Finneus had brought over. When his phone lit up, he checked the screen and set the file aside.

“Take this proposal, tweak it, and bring it back next time. That’s it for today. Clean up the living room and head out,” Barnaby said.

Finneus and Ronin shared a look, both getting the message.

‘Hannah’s coming back!’ both Finneus and Ronin thought at the same time.

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Chapter 94

Finneus hustled Barnaby back to his room, while Ronin straightened up the living room in a flash. Then they made themselves scarce.

Barnaby lay back on the bed, zooming in on the photo the driver had sent. When he saw it was a men’s clothing boutique, he couldn’t help but smile.

‘What kind of gift is she going to pick out for me?’ he wondered.

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11:02 Mon, Dec 22 GO