The Captain I Married by Chance novel Chapter 493

Valerie's anxiety about her blind date vanished instantly. She dragged a chair right over to the bathroom door. "Tell me everything."

Nora couldn't help but laugh.

"Didn't you just say you wanted to rest?"

"Who says I can't rest while listening to gossip? Besides, this is the perfect time of night for a murder story."

Nora mentally noted that her best friend's hobbies were truly unique.

"The day we went out to eat, I found human bones mixed into the raw ingredients at that buffet restaurant..."

There was no harm in discussing the basic premise since she implicitly trusted Valerie. Omitting specific names, Nora gave her a general rundown of the situation.

Valerie listened with absolute fascination.

She was incredibly surprised that not a single word of this had leaked to the press.

"Your department's damage control is insane."

"You have no idea how brutal it is for us journalists trying to out-scoop the paparazzi."

And every time, they had to clean up the messes those tabloids left behind.

Nowadays, anyone with internet access could post whatever they wanted, and some people had zero boundaries when it came to making things up.

Her network had been repeatedly attacked for allegedly spreading rumors.

Whenever a story involved a celebrity or breaking local news, the comments sections under official accounts turned into absolute war zones.

Netizens were so easily swayed by mob mentality and so reliant on internet gossip that they gradually lost their ability to think critically, blindingly believing whatever they were told.

Because of this, fake news spread like wildfire.

It was a classic case of a lie traveling halfway around the world before the truth even got its shoes on.

"We cordoned off the area the moment we realized what we were dealing with."

Nora paused while lathering body wash, her tone turning slightly complicated. "But I still saw some related leaks online earlier."

"And the crazy part is, the leaks were entirely accurate. It's like whoever posted it knew our investigation inside and out."

"Have you ever seen that famous horror movie? The one with the meat pies?"

"Usually, anyone capable of doing something like that is either pure evil or a complete psychopath."

"What if they did it on purpose? What if they just wanted to sit back and watch everyone lose their minds in absolute terror?"

"But they got unlucky because you happened to be eating there that day. You immediately recognized the meat, forcing their sick little performance to end prematurely."

It wasn't that Nora hadn't considered this angle before.

But as the investigation deepened, everyone's focus had zeroed in on Frank Farrell's missing family of four.

Even though no one explicitly said it, years of investigative experience and instinct led the team to assume that once they figured out why the Farrell family vanished, they would catch the killer.

Coupled with the fact that the restaurant owner was acting incredibly evasive, seemingly hiding a secret, they had concluded this was likely a revenge killing.

But what if it wasn't?

What if the Farrell family's disappearance had absolutely nothing to do with the owner's shady behavior?