Chapter 177 Embers

Chapter 177 Embers

After Matthew detonated the sixth bomb, he plugged in the phone line. Alison called him, and he answered.

Matthew agreed to release the hostage on one condition. gather Westfield's media and reporters within half an hour. He wanted to hold a press conference.

Bradley took Alison's phone, identified himself, and agreed to Matthew's demand. He gently tried to persuade him. "Matthew, you're still young. Don't do anything foolish. Whatever grievances or thoughts you have, you can tell us. We'll do our best to help you resolve them."

"No need." Matthew coldly refused, hung up the phone, waved the microphone at the camera, grabbed the landline and smashed it on the floor, unilaterally declaring he would no longer communicate with the police.

Bradley asked Alison. "Did I say something wrong?"

Alison shook her head. "The phone kept ringing. He was already fed up."

On the big screen, Matthew reset the countdown, then when three minutes remained, he lifted the female hostage from the chair and carried her into the elevator.

When the female hostage safely reached the first floor, an explosion occurred on the 16th floor of Building A.

The seventh bomb destroyed the last working elevator, completely blocking Matthew's possibility of escaping through the ground exit.

"Is he planning to escape from above?" Susan shivered in the cold wind and asked in confusion. "What is he thinking?"

"Maybe he's not planning to escape," Alison said.

When Matthew detonated the first bomb, Alison had already seen the determination to die in his eyes.

Bradley took a deep breath. "Anyway, the hostage was successfully rescued! She said she's a cleaning worker who was about to get off work in the evening when someone suddenly knocked her out from behind."

Alison nodded, not particularly concerned.

The water sources near The Twin Towers were surprisingly numerous—besides fountains, artificial lakes, and natural lakes in the park, there was also a small stream and a pond.

After searching all these places, Alison hadn't found Lucy, and only 7 bombs had been discovered.

After the explosion, many media outlets and reporters came to The Twin Towers area. Matthew's demand was quickly met.

He didn't delay, turning the camera on himself. "Good evening, everyone. I'm holding this press conference not to defend or excuse what I've done, nor to satisfy some twisted criminal desire."

"My purpose is revenge—revenge against the founder of Thomas Holdings, Santos."

After hearing Matthew's opening statement, Oliver frowned deeply. "He wants to expose Santos's crimes?"

A shadow of gloom flashed in Alison's eyes. "Does he have evidence?"

Without sufficient evidence to accuse Santos, even if Matthew blew up the entire building, Santos would still get away with it.

Matthew began to speak in a calm tone. "I'm a student in the Thomas Special Program at St. Thomas Academy. The students in this class are either orphans or trafficked children. My uncle Arthur is the principal. He's Santos's right-hand man who collected and trafficked many children for Santos."

"Arthur not only made money for himself but also brought my parents in on it. My family's basement was once packed with children bought from various places. When I was little, I accidentally walked into the basement and saw a boy about my age die right in front of me."

"Because he kept trying to escape, my parents punished him severely. They locked him in a cage with three wolf dogs and let the dogs attack him."

Matthew's voice began to tremble. He no longer looked at the camera, but millions of eyes watched him through it.

"When I saw him, he was covered in blood. One eyeball had fallen out of its socket. His face was mangled. The flesh on his left shoulder was hanging loose, with pink-white bone visible in the wound."

"His one good eye looked at me. He reached out his hand—that hand only had half a pinky finger left. He begged me for help, and then he died."

Matthew's description lowered the temperature of this winter night even further.

Alison saw Susan's face turn pale as she couldn't help but cover her ears with both hands.

The gathered reporters also fell silent. No one spoke.

Matthew seemed unable to breathe. His hands clutched tightly at his chest, pressing hard on his heart. After several seconds, he recovered and continued. "I was scared out of my mind by that scene and developed a psychological disorder. But after all, I was my parents' only son. They tried to cure me, to maintain the facade of a happy family and preserve their respectability. So they hired the famous Aaron to hypnotize me."

This is bad, Alison thought silently.

By revealing he'd been hypnotized and had a psychological disorder, Matthew had greatly reduced the credibility of his testimony. In court, it would probably only serve as a reference at best.

Until the end of the press conference, Matthew never produced any solid evidence. For a moment, Alison couldn't figure out whether gathering the media was part of Hunter Team's plan or Matthew's own decision.

Above the building, four or five helicopters circled in the air.

Matthew didn't escape from the rooftop. After ending the press conference, as if he'd completed the last task of his life, he showed a clean smile tinged with faint regret. His thumb on the detonator button pressed rapidly and repeatedly.

Bradley and the other officers were shocked. The explosions came one after another. There were definitely more than 12 bombs in the building. Starting from the top floor, explosions occurred layer by layer, continuing for over thirty floors before stopping.

The raging fire consumed the entire building along with Matthew.

Looking at the fire lighting up the sky, Alison suddenly thought. "From above, don't the people below look like a bunch of ants?"

Bradley's expression became somewhat distorted for a moment. Oliver had fallen for a dangerous and peculiar woman!

Oliver understood what Alison meant. "The fourth painting, 'Embers.'"

The Triple Hanging Case from summer seemed like something from long ago.

Because of that case, Oliver met Alison and received an old book from her. Inside the book were seven hand-drawn pictures.

Gerald had created two more cases following the order of the paintings. The Triple Hanging Case corresponded to "Descent," the headless baby case to "Judgment," Russell's death in the mountains echoed "Tribulation," and the fourth painting, "Embers," depicted a great fire and a group of ants burned to death.

"Could it be Gerald?" Taylor asked in confusion, gasping in horror. "Is this part of the serial cases too?"

Oliver's feelings were complicated.

He remembered telling Alison it was hard to imagine how "Embers" could be recreated in reality. He never expected that now they'd all become ants in Gerald's scheme.

"It's Gerald," Alison answered Taylor.

She sighed. "That lunatic."

"What are you talking about? How does this connect to Gerald again?" Bradley asked. Without waiting for Alison or Oliver to answer, he waved his hand. "Don't analyze it yet. Keep searching. There are still over ten bombs we haven't found."

The fire lit up the sky and earth. Everyone turned off their flashlights, but several bombs hidden near the water, wrapped in black plastic bags, were exposed in the bright light.

Manuel accidentally found a bomb near a drain. Oliver immediately adjusted the search strategy. Gradually, more bombs were found in various sewer openings, inside culvert walls, at bridge piers, and near floodgates.

Seventeen in total, scattered here and there. One more to go.

Bradley was satisfied with the search speed, but Alison couldn't find Lucy and grew increasingly anxious.

She walked to the pond and saw a row of blue and white cleaning boats. Suddenly she remembered—the female hostage Matthew had taken was a cleaning worker!