Chapter 279: Chapter 279

As soon as Vincent Irving finished speaking, another colleague said, "We almost missed it. Cheryl Marsh’s account had a transaction of two hundred thousand yesterday, but we can’t trace the source of the funds."

This further confirmed Shannon Quinn’s suspicions. She suggested, "Perhaps she was instructed by someone. When was the payment made yesterday?"

"Around seven in the evening."

"Could you help me check the surveillance from the kindergarten entrance yesterday?"

Shannon Quinn wasn’t sure if her thoughts were correct, but she was still bothered by seeing Claire Yardley earlier.

She searched for Claire Yardley’s figure in the surveillance footage while others tried to find images of Cheryl Marsh’s presence.

The surveillance showed that Cheryl Marsh arrived at school on time in the morning, went out at noon, seemingly to have lunch with colleagues, and appeared again when the children were dismissed in the afternoon.

After all the children were picked up by their parents, the teachers left work when there were few people at the school gate.

The surveillance showed a black car parked by the roadside, but this area was meant for parking, so it wasn’t unusual.

However, the later footage showed that when Cheryl Marsh was ready to leave, someone in the car seemed to call her. She bent down to chat with the person inside, glanced around, and then got into the car.

Vincent Irving paused the footage at a moment where the license plate was visible and told his subordinate, "Check this car immediately."

The person in the car was cautious, never showing their face. Cheryl Marsh stayed in the car for about five minutes before getting out, and the black car left immediately. After getting out, Cheryl Marsh seemed visibly tense.

"Found it, the car owner’s surname is Thorne, and they own a bar at the intersection of West Street."

When they found Thorne, he said the car was always driven by his wife, and he wasn’t aware. He called Mrs. Thorne, who mentioned a friend borrowed the car yesterday and returned it in the evening.

When asked for the friend’s name, she hesitated precautionarily but, aware it was a police investigation and worried about implicating herself, eventually revealed the truth: "Called June Yardley, hadn’t contacted in a long time, she found me to borrow the car yesterday. I also heard she’s being supported by a wealthy man, was curious why she asked to borrow my street-parked car, but considered her as a friend and gave her an old car rarely used from the garage. Has she done something wrong with it?"

The police didn’t answer much and prepared to find June Yardley.

At that time, Landon Sutton also called, saying he was on the way back and the police over there had found Cheryl Marsh’s car, but it was empty. Surveillance cameras also captured the car showing Cheryl Marsh seemed to be alone inside.

Nearby witnesses saw a suspicious woman, but they didn’t see her with a child.

After Shannon Quinn communicated the situation to Landon Sutton, they both realized this might be a decoy plan.

When the police found June Yardley, she was leisurely at home drinking coffee, responding to police queries with evasive ignorance, saying she and Cheryl Marsh were friends and had briefly chatted at the school entrance by coincidence yesterday.

Currently, there was no evidence proving she transferred money to Cheryl Marsh, coupled with Seth Fairchild intervening, the police had to leave.

The thought that Leo’s case might be linked to the Yardley sisters made Shannon Quinn even more uneasy.

There was still no trace of Leo, and the investigation seemed to have reached an impasse. Cheryl Marsh’s abandoned car escape made it unlikely to find her soon or uncover anything significant.

Sitting in the police station, Shannon Quinn tried to calm down and analyze.

If it was a decoy, there must be another person taking Leo elsewhere, and she didn’t believe June Yardley just chatted casually with Cheryl Marsh. The Yardley sisters must have coordinated.

Since June Yardley was diverting the police’s attention by staying calmly at home, if it weren’t for Shannon Quinn’s earlier sighting of Claire Yardley and concerns, she might not have focused on her now.

She immediately stood up and said to Vincent Irving, "Officer Irving, can you help me search for someone else? Claire Yardley, June’s sister, I want to know where she is now or her recent whereabouts."

At this moment, Landon Sutton returned, and after Shannon Quinn shared her thoughts, Landon Sutton agreed with her approach.

Vincent Irving quickly found Claire Yardley’s information, saying, "She returned to the country a week ago, and there’s a flight to Country L tonight, according to the schedule, the plane should be taking off soon."

He then added, "The flight’s delayed! Maybe if we hurry to the airport, we can catch it."

Landon Sutton immediately rose: "Send more people over, check the airport surveillance, to confirm whether Leo was taken by her. If not, we can make other plans."

Shannon Quinn nodded and said, "I’m going too, I’m more familiar with Leo and Claire Yardley."

Two separate teams went into action, Shannon Quinn and a few others checking the airport surveillance, while Landon Sutton pursued Claire Yardley’s flight.

The flight, albeit delayed, already had all passengers aboard, and standing at the boarding gate, they could see the plane through the glass. Yet, the airport staff informed them, "The plane is about to take off, and travelers who missed their flight should go to the lobby to process refunds and ticket changes."

Watching the plane taxi on the runway, Landon Sutton was helpless.

On the way to join Shannon Quinn, he received a call from her: "We found it! It’s Claire Yardley who took Leo, along with a strange man. They left together with Leo!"

"The plane has already taken off," said Landon Sutton. "I’m going to check when the next fastest flight is."

Vincent Irving instructed his subordinates: "Monitor the flight’s activity and inform the police over there to wait at the airport to check these two individuals, ensuring the child’s safety."

"Understood!" ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ Nov3lFɪre.ɴet

The next flight to Country L was in an hour, so Landon Sutton bought tickets and boarded the plane with Shannon Quinn.

This long flight was the most agonizing part.

On the other plane, Claire Yardley and a man dressed in black sat side by side, the man holding Leo, who appeared to be peacefully asleep.

The man in black glanced at Leo, saying to Claire Yardley, "This child might wake up soon."

Claire Yardley looked down for a moment, calmly asking the flight attendant for a glass of water, then mixed the medication she had with her into the water cup, feeding it to Leo.

More of the liquid spilled outside than was consumed, but the dosage was sufficient to maintain for a while.

"What’s your plan for handling this child?"

Claire Yardley looked at Leo and smiled, "I don’t intend to end his life, selling him to a family can still net some money. Across such a vast distance, his parents would probably never find him."

"Aren’t you afraid they’ll track you down?"