Chapter 704: Lead

"Any news? I couldn’t contact you the whole time." Atlas stood in the middle of his room, holding his phone to his ear. "What’s going on?"

"Uh, nothing’s going on," Hugo reassured him with a light chuckle. "My phone died earlier. I was too busy investigating."

"Found out anything useful?"

"Nope." Hugo sighed, glancing up at the ceiling of the ward. "I checked the CCTV footage of the nearby establishments, but they didn’t catch anything or anyone suspicious."

"Can you send the copies to me?"

"Well, about that... you should get them soon."

"Hmm?"

Hugo smiled a bit. "I asked Penny to send them to you."

"Why would you do that?"

’Because I can’t do that right now, considering I’m admitted to the hospital with a roommate who has a bounty on his head,’ was what Hugo wanted to tell his first brother, but he chose not to.

After all, Atlas would worry about him because it was Atlas who asked Hugo to look into it further. If Atlas found out that Hugo almost lost his life because his investigation led him to Merrick, it would throw Atlas off his game.

"I’m broke as hell, remember?" Hugo reminded him sassily. "And Penny doesn’t want to lend her laptop to me. That little sister is becoming more and more stingy. So, I just asked her to send them to you."

Atlas arched a brow upon hearing Hugo’s excuse. "That’s the reason?"

"Yeah."

"Hugo, there are a lot more believable excuses and lies you could come up with," Atlas called him out but didn’t dwell on it. "However, whatever you’re not telling me, I’m sure you have a reason. I’ll wait for the files then."

"Hehe. First Brother, why do you want to see the files? I’ve already checked them, and Penny had other people check them as well. There’s nothing to see in there."

The corners of Atlas’s lips curled up slightly. "That’s what we think, because we’re looking for something that is already hidden."

"Huh?"

"I’ll tell you about it once I review the footage."

"Wait, First Brother—" Hugo stopped when Atlas ended the call abruptly. Looking at his phone, deep lines appeared between his brows in confusion. "What did he mean by that?"

Hugo mulled it over, repeating Atlas’s remarks in his head over and over. When he couldn’t take it anymore, he checked his phone, as he had a few copies of the footage saved.

"I might as well watch them again since I can’t sleep," he muttered to himself, spending another night reviewing the footage.

*****

Meanwhile, in the Bennet Mansion, Atlas sat down on the couch with the laptop over the cushion on his lap. He had just received the files from Penny, just as Hugo said. He didn’t waste a second and began reviewing the files.

Just like Hugo said, there was nothing in the footage. They didn’t catch anyone suspicious. Leaning his face closer to the monitor, Atlas squinted his eyes.

"This one," he whispered, zooming in on the corner of the footage where a car was parked. Atlas hurriedly checked the other files, hoping to get a different angle of the car for better identification.

It took Atlas quite a bit of browsing through the files before he found another clip that caught the same blue car parked in the same spot. This time, the angle showed a bit of the front of the car. Compared to the first footage where Atlas saw this car, the quality from this clip was better. It was also closer.

The only problem was that he couldn’t see the license plate number completely.

"I have to wait," he murmured, fast-forwarding and skipping through the footage.

It took several minutes for Atlas to reach the part when a tow truck approached the car. According to the timestamp, this happened after Allen was already sent to the hospital. Atlas held his breath, pausing the footage when he caught a proper look at the license plate number.

Although the footage was a bit grainy, he could make out the numbers and letters.

"This one..." he whispered, hope shining in his eyes as the corner of his mouth curled up. He took a screenshot of the plate number and sent it to Hugo and then to Penny, just in case.

His siblings might see his message the next morning, as it was already late, so Atlas took matters into his own hands.

Searching for the towing company, he dialed their number to ask some questions. After getting confirmation that the car had been towed and reclaimed by the owner the next day, he called someone who could help him find the owner of the car and get his contact number.

******

Meanwhile, in the hospital, Sven’s eyes flickered beneath his eyelids before they cracked open. He weakly squinted at the warm lights in the room. When his vision adjusted, he slowly opened his eyes.

Touching his neck, he winced a little. He could still feel the tightness of the rope in his throat. He raised his brows as he glanced at the person in the room. His mother was the only person in the ward, sleeping on the couch with her back facing his bed.

’Mom...’Sven propped his elbow on the mattress, sitting up. He kept his hand on his neck, pressing his lips together as he sighed. He felt weak, which he knew was due to the medicine injected into him.

’That was scary,’ he thought. ’Who would have thought it would take that quick to die when you hang yourself?’

Another deep exhale slipped past his nostrils as he thought about the frightening experience he had hours ago. Fortunately, his parents found him on time. Otherwise, Sven’s plan would’ve backfired and cost him his life.

’It’s okay now. I’m alive and that’s all that matters. There’s no need to dwell on it because I have a much bigger problem,’ he told himself, glancing around the ward before reaching out for the IV pole. He quietly swung his legs out of the bed, still feeling weak. However, nothing would stop a man who was simply trying to survive.

Dragging his feet to the end of the bed, his gaze landed on the chart attached to it. His eyes slowly fell on the text on the lower side of the chart. It was the name of the hospital.

Slowly, the corner of his mouth curled up into a satisfied smile as his eyes flickered with the sense that he was only a step away from success.

*

*

Meanwhile, in the same hospital where Sven was admitted, Allen lay unconscious in a private ward just one level above Sven’s.