Free Web NovelChapter 109: Chapter 109: He Buried a Person in the Flower Bed
Kyle Morgan had already spoken with the Forestry Bureau. They were arranging for a vet and were ready to operate on Cullen the owl at any moment.
Settling into the driver’s seat, Kyle Morgan buckled his seatbelt and said, "They sent me an address—the Zenvia Wildlife Conservation Base. I’ll navigate there now."
"Okay." Renee Jennings let Cullen the owl rest his head on her lap, wrapping him snugly in her jacket.
Daisy the curly-haired cat, Baldy the Owl, and Crow stood on the seat beside her.
They gazed at the weak Cullen, their small, furry faces filled with sorrow.
The car sped down the road, and silence fell over the cabin.
After some time, Sawyer broke the silence. "Grace Sullivan and Mae Sullivan are paternal cousins. Mae’s parents died when she was young, so she grew up in Grace’s home."
"Grace Sullivan was exceptionally talented, praised by everyone she met. She never lacked for admirers, and Connor Kent was one of them."
"Mae Sullivan was actually in love with Connor Kent. Just as she was preparing to confess her feelings to him, he unexpectedly became her cousin Grace’s boyfriend."
"Later, Grace Sullivan wanted to pursue her dreams overseas and asked Connor Kent for a divorce."
"Mae used her striking resemblance to Grace to deliberately get close to Connor Kent. They eventually started a relationship and registered their marriage seven years ago."
"Last November, Grace Sullivan returned to the country. Connor Kent then asked Mae for a divorce, but she refused."
After hearing Sawyer’s summary, Kyle Morgan was left speechless by Connor Kent. "That’s a scummy move by Connor Kent. If he still had feelings for Grace, he never should have married Mae in the first place."
"Yeah," Sawyer said with a frown. "Didn’t he ever stop to think how this would affect Grace and Mae’s relationship as cousins?"
"Of course he wouldn’t," Renee Jennings said, her voice flat. "A selfish man like him only ever thinks of himself."
"That’s right," Daisy chimed in. "Grace also said Connor Kent is selfish. She said he does whatever he wants and never cares about anyone else."
Hearing this, Renee Jennings’s brow furrowed. "If Mae killed her own cousin over this man, she’s an absolute fool."
"What did you say?" Daisy suddenly became agitated. "Are you saying Grace might have been killed by Mae?"
Renee Jennings glanced at Baldy the Owl out of the corner of her eye and explained softly, "Daisy, it’s only a suspicion right now. The day before yesterday, my robin friend told me that one of its friends saw someone burying a body in the villa complex where Mae lives."
She paused briefly before adding, "And you just so happen to be unable to find Grace."
Hearing this, the owl’s round eyes fixed intently on Renee Jennings.
Renee Jennings noticed his gaze and turned her head slightly to look out the car window.
After about a minute, Baldy the Owl spoke. "Are you the human named Renee that Inky was talking about?"
Renee Jennings turned back, met his gaze, and nodded slowly. "Yes. Are you Inky’s owl friend? Thank you for the lead you gave us."
When the owl heard her thanks, his eyes flickered, and he suddenly seemed a bit guilty.
"You don’t have to thank me." He turned his head away. "It’s not like I told you just to help you." freewёbnoνel.com
Renee Jennings said softly, "But you really were a huge help to us."
Baldy the Owl fell silent.
The car fell silent once again.
Ten minutes later, the car pulled into the Zenvia Wildlife Conservation Base.
The vet arranged by the Forestry Bureau was already there. They took Cullen the owl from Renee Jennings’s arms.
The vet had a solemn expression. "We’ll take it from here."
Renee Jennings nodded. "Thank you for everything."
"I want to watch the entire time," Baldy the Owl spoke up.
Hearing this, Renee Jennings relayed his request to the conservation base’s veterinarian.
Worried they might refuse, she also explained what had happened to Baldy the Owl’s family.
’For an animal to still be willing to trust humans under these circumstances, to entrust a family member to them, was no small feat.’
The base director was understanding and agreed to Baldy the Owl’s request.
"To make it easier to communicate with him, we may need to take up some of your time, Consultant Jennings."
"No problem," Renee Jennings agreed with a nod.
Cullen the owl’s body temperature had dropped dangerously low and his heartbeat was faint. He was taken into a sterile room for examination and emergency treatment.
Renee Jennings and the others, along with Baldy and Crow, stood before a glass window, from where they could clearly see the vets’ procedures inside the sterile room.
Baldy’s heart raced. Every time a vet moved, his own heart would seize with fear, terrified they would hurt his grandfather.
Cullen the owl’s wing had been injured by a slingshot, but because he hadn’t received timely treatment, his condition had become critical.
After the emergency procedure, the vet told Renee Jennings that if they had arrived a day or two later, even the most advanced medical technology wouldn’t have been able to save him.
"So how is he now?" Renee Jennings asked with concern.
A relaxed smile spread across the veterinarian’s face. "The emergency surgery was a success. He’ll need to rest in an incubator for a while, and he can only return to the forest once he’s fully recovered."
"Did you hear that?" Renee Jennings turned to Baldy. "The doctor said your grandfather’s surgery was a success."
The tension that had gripped Baldy the Owl finally eased. "I heard..."
’This time, he’d won his bet.’
’He had met a group of kind humans.’
Baldy choked out, "Thank you."
"You don’t have to thank us," Renee Jennings said with a smile. "It was the right thing to do."
Baldy thought for a moment, then said quietly, "Actually... I wasn’t completely honest with Inky."
"What do you mean?" Renee Jennings looked at him, puzzled.
Baldy said, "The truth is, I got a clear look at the man. He has a mole near his ear."
Renee Jennings asked, "Are you talking about the man who was burying the body?"
Baldy replied, "Yes. He buried the body in a flower bed, then planted flowers over it."
Hearing this, an image of the flower bed, blooming brightly at Mae Sullivan’s villa, flashed through Renee Jennings’s mind.
She murmured, "If that’s true, then Grace Sullivan is most likely dead."
"Renee, what did he say?" Kyle Morgan and Sawyer both looked at her nervously.
Renee Jennings looked at them, her slender brows furrowed. "Do you have a photo of Connor Kent?"
"Yes." Sawyer quickly pulled out his phone and brought up a picture of Connor Kent. "Here’s his photo."
Renee Jennings took the phone and zoomed in on the photo. Sure enough, there was a mole on Connor Kent’s right earlobe.
She looked up at them, her expression grave. "Baldy told me the person burying the body that night was Connor Kent. He buried the body in the flower bed and planted flowers on top of it."
"What?" Sawyer’s face was a mask of shock. "Connor Kent killed Grace Sullivan and then buried her? Didn’t he say he loved her, that he couldn’t forget her? How could he kill her?"
"That’s insane," Kyle Morgan muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching. He couldn’t make sense of the situation either.
"It is insane," Renee Jennings agreed, unable to understand it herself. She said grimly, "We may have to pay another visit to Mae Sullivan’s villa."
