C20 Chapter 20

Thompson grabbed his phone, his eyes narrowing. "Get me Lily's family on the phone. Now."

Emily's phone buzzed's phone buzzed. "Thompson, it's Lily's mom. She says Lily was getting weird texts too, similar to Samantha's."

Jules leaned in, her eyes intense. "This is it. Ask her if Lily knew Samantha."

Emily nodded, speaking into the phone. "Mrs. Foster, did Lily know Samantha Lee?... Okay... Okay, got it."

Thompson raised an eyebrow. "What did she say?"

Emily looked up, her expression puzzled. "Lily didn't know Samantha. But... Mrs. Foster thinks Lily was researching Samantha online before she vanished."

The room fell silent. Jules broke it, her voice low. "The killer's playing a game. Swapping identities, using their info..."

Thompson's expression turned grim. "We need to find Lily... or whoever's in Samantha's body."

A knock on the door interrupted them. An officer handed Thompson a file. "Security footage from Oakwood. You need to see this."

Thompson opened the file, and they huddled around. The footage showed a hooded figure lurking near the bar. The angle wasn't great, but...

Jules pointed, her finger trembling slightly. "Look. That looks like..."

The video skipped, showing the figure dropping something on the ground. A piece of paper.

Thompson's eyes narrowed. "Get this analyzed. Now."

As they worked, a new lead emerged. "Detective Thompson, we got the analysis of the paper on the ground," an officer said, his voice hurried. "It’s a description of links to a local art project. Students were asked to submit poems."

Jules' eyes lit up. "A poem? That's our clue."

Emily leaned forward, typing away on her laptop. "I’ll check the project details. See if anyone stands out."

Thompson nodded, his jaw cliked. "Do it. We’re running out of time."

The team dug into the art project, searching for connections. Lily’s and Samantha’s names didn’t appear in the submissions, but...

Jules frowned, her brow furrowed. "What if the poem’s the key to finding the killer’s next move?"

Thompson’s phone buzzed again, breaking the tension. "It’s the tech team. They found something in the metadata of the pictures sent to you, Jules."

Jules’ eyes narrowed. "What is it?"

"The pics were taken with a phone... and there’s a hidden GPS tag. We’re tracing the location."

Thompson stood up, his movements swift. "Let’s move. We got a location."

They tracked it immediately to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of town. The team surrounded the building, guns drawn.

Thompson pushed open the door cautiously, leading the team inside. But the place was empty, the only sound the creaking of old wooden beams.

On the floor lay a phone with a message on the screen:

"Checkmate"

Thompson's jaw cliked. "We’ve been tricked."

The team froze, realizing they'd walked into a trap. The silence was oppressive, the air thick with tension.