Chapter 336
It turned out that both of the deceased were related to missing persons cases.
The man who had jumped off the building was related to the missing 18–year–old girl and the murdered victims.
“No. 37 Bridgeway Route…” I murmured softly to myself, feeling dizzy all of a sudden.
No. 37 Bridgeway Route was one of the last standing slums in Huma.
It was inhabited by either migrant workers from out of town or homeless nomads with no money. These people were considered the rock bottom of society.
The man who had jumped off the building was called George Zucker. He was a primary school teacher. His wife was a nurse at the county hospital.
They were a diligent and hardworking couple. They weren’t wealthy, but they lived a comfortable and happy life.
Their daughter was born with Asperger’s syndrome, yet they had never complained. The couple had even actively encouraged and nurtured her talents and strengths to help her integrate into society better. She shone in her areas of expertise.
They weren’t at fault for doing that.
It wasn’t their fault that their daughter was so outstanding. Perhaps she had become so outstanding that she had caught someone’s unwanted attention.
I leaned against the wall and stiffened suddenly. I turned back to the room and looked at
Zion.
“In what area was George Zucker’s daughter exceptionally gifted?” I asked.
“I heard she’s particularly gifted in areas related to numbers. She has a hundred times more spatial imagination than the average human being.
“She can count the number of wells a city has just by overlooking it. She can even vividly depict the entire city and its underground structures with very high accuracy.”
Her accuracy could rival computer–generated information.
“What about the person we caught this time? Did his child go missing too?” I asked anxiously while looking at Zion.
Zion nodded. “Yes. His son is missing. He was born autistic, but he’s obsessed with various
insects and poisonous plants. He seems to have a natural interest in such things, and he’s a genius in chemistry.
“He once injected a toxin he had extracted from toads into the water bottles of some classmates who bullied him. It caused them to hallucinate, urinate, and defecate in class…”
I rubbed my forehead. “A toxin from toads?” I asked.
Steven explained quietly, “Yeah, from Bufonidae. Bufonidae can secrete mucus or release toxins through their skin. One type of toxin is called bufotenine, and the other one is called 5 -Methoxy–alpha–methyltryptamine.
“These substances combined can induce strong hallucinogenic effects in people and cause significant harm to the human body…”
“He’s got a gift, that’s for sure,” I muttered under my
breath.
“They’re both outstanding and talented teenagers with autism and Asperger’s syndrome. I suspect they’re still alive, at least they will be until their value to the kidnapper gets exhausted. Is it possible that someone is intentionally targeting these gifted children?
“They might be trafficking and selling them to someone. Maybe even…” I trailed off. There might be an even more sinister conspiracy behind this.
Zion nodded. He had clearly considered that a possibility as well.
“Other than their conditions, what else do these two teenagers have in common?” I looked
at Zion.
The
“Well, they both went missing five years ago. They also participated in a genius competition
Zion said, then looked at me with a shrug.
He continued softly, “I investigated the competition before. It was organized informally by an unknown association. Two competitions with generous prizes were held, so it was well- known at the time. But after the disappearance of the two teenagers, the organizers of the competition vanished as well.
“I’m looking into this association and the genius competition from back then.”
But because Zion did not have much authority at this moment, his ability to investigate was limited. As such, he had to ask for Eason’s help.
I bit my finger.
I kept getting the feeling that there had to be a larger conspiracy behind everything that happened. Something connected the disappearance of these gifted teenagers, the parents being manipulated into committing murders, and their attempts to destroy all evidence.
“Stephie, you should head home to rest now. You’re getting terribly pale,” Rachel said with
con.
“There’s actually another thing that these teenagers had in common,” Zion said. He remained silent for a long moment before speaking again, “And that’s Stephanie.”
He continued to explain, “Before the two teenagers went missing, their parents had hired a private tutor for them. Stephanie was their private tutor. She was the winner of the first genius competition.”
Zion took a deep breath and continued, “I thought I was mistaken when I heard it at first. I figured their private tutor just had the same name as her, but I was wrong. Their privatę tutor was really Stephanie.”
I stiffened and stilled while staring at Zion.
Eason had also mentioned that the disappearances of the two teenagers were related to Stephanie.
Yet I hadn’t believed him then.
But Zion was telling me the same thing at this moment.
I felt weak all of a sudden. I took a step back and bumped into Steven.
He wrapped his arms around me and whispered softly, “Stephie…”
My voice was hoarse. I looked up at Steven, knowing he knew whether what they were saying was true or not.
“Tell me, is it true? Was Stephanie really the winner of the first genius competition?” 1
asked him.
I couldn’t believe I didn’t know that about myself.
“How is that possible?” Rachel exclaimed in astonishment as well.
Steven lowered his head and remained silent for a long while. Eventually, he said, “It’s true.”
