They came back to the house. They went inside to find that only six of them are home right now. "Huh? where are the others?" said Trevor.


    "Well, everyone including you guys loves to play detective, so they are out to find some clues," said Akbar.


    "Okay, then why are you guys still here?" said Misty.


    "Well, According to Akbar we don''t have to go outside to find the culprits. We can find it by using some "tactics" even by staying together indoors, I guess he''s somewhat right. Annie and Vishnu are probably too scared to go outside and talk with people. Satoshi said that he doesn''t trust us enough with his house. Meera wasn''t feeling well, and as for me, well, I don''t need clues, clues need me," said Catherine.


    "Yeah... right..." said Misty.


    Everyone else came back at night. Everyone was sitting around the dining table having their dinner. "Hey, did you guys hear that news?" said Evelyn.


    "No, what is it?" said Akbar.


    "The sixth person who got kidnapped was just found. According to him, the current kidnapper is not the same person as before. Apparently, the current kidnapper is using this kidnapped man as a messenger. This man claimed that the new kidnapper is trying to threaten the first kidnapper, and this kidnap was just a warning to that first kidnapper. This kidnapper may kidnap or even kill more people if that first kidnapper doesn''t come clean," said Meera.


    "That''s... strange," said Trevor.


    "Yeah, what a weirdo, which psychopath will be willing to even kill just to find some other culprit?" said Catherine.


    "Is somebody from our group this psychopath? I mean, we are already dealing with a weird kidnapper, I don''t want to deal with a possible killer," said Mary.


    "You know Mary, everything is possible," said Satoshi.


    "Genuinely, we have to be careful," said Alex.


    "Yes, it''s possible that one of us got so frustrated to the point that they will be willing to do anything to get themselves out of this mess. I mean we all have more chances to be that other kidnapper than a random person. Other people couldn''t care less about it," said Ralph.


    "Yeah, also, couldn''t they be bluffing?" said Meera.


    "Maybe, but don''t you think this person''s sense of justice is kind of fucked up. Like, kidnapping someone else to make a kidnapper come clean, that''s just horrible," said Misty.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    The next day


    Misty got a call from Fred that he''s still looking into the suspects’ information and told her to come tomorrow. So Misty and Trevor chose to stay in the house that day. Everyone else except Catherine, Akbar, Meera, Annie, Vishnu and Satoshi left that day as well.


    "You guys are still not interested, huh?" said Misty.


    "Come on Misty, just shut up. We already told our reasons just yesterday, stop making it such a big deal," said Meera.


    "Okay, sorry," said Misty.


    "Hey Misty, tell me what you found out so far," said Akbar.


    "Like we will share our precious findings to a lazy ass like you," said Trevor.


    Afternoon


    They were all talking to each other, and suddenly they heard a car''s voice. They went outside and saw that it was Cheng. "Yo guys, I have news," he said.


    "News? What news?" said Trevor.


    "Just look at this," Cheng handed his phone over to them. It was a news program from their local news channel. In the news, it was said that the people who got kidnapped were finally found. They also got the sketch of the two culprits. Those sketches were of two people they didn''t know.


    "What? Did they find them randomly? Does that mean all our actions..." Everyone else gave a death stare. "... I mean all your actions go to waste?" said Catherine.


    "Not everything, everything I did was meaningful. Also there''s something else," said Cheng .


    "How did you do it, Cheng?" said Akbar.


    "Well, our town is densely populated, so it''s difficult to hide the captives without anybody noticing in these densely populated areas, but there are very few places which don''t have many residents. So I just went there and started to look around those places. I was looking through these places for the last three days. It was more of hard work than smart work but it definitely was worth it at the end of the day," said Cheng.


    "And how did you get the police involved?" said Catherine.


    "I simply called them, and when the police arrived I said to them that I don''t want to do anything with this case anymore and asked them to let me leave. Somehow, that police chief agreed," said Cheng.


    "How did they not notice you?!" said Akbar.


    "Well, they did and tried to catch me as well but I easily overpowered them. In the end they ran away," said Cheng.


    "Ran away? Yeah, that explains the sketch," said Catherine.


    "By the way, aren''t you guys ignoring the fact that the kidnapper we are looking for is still not found," said Vishnu.


    "I don''t think that matters, we only agreed to look into it because of those kidnapped people, right? But now that they are found, our reason to continue with this case is equal to nil," said Catherine.


    "But... okay then," said Vishnu.


    Just when they were talking, they all got a notification on their phones.


    ???: You guys think it''s all over, right?


    But nothing''s over yet.


    It''s just the beginning.


    You guys have to find me, or else I can simply kidnap more people.


    I am definitely not like those weak teammates of mine. I can easily kidnap people with nobody else''s help.


    The kidnapper went offline after sending these messages. Cheng sighed. "I was anticipating this."


    "Oh, that''s what you meant, Vishnu," said Catherine.


    Everyone else came back one by one after seeing the news and the kidnapper''s message. They discussed it and eventually came to the conclusion that they have no choice but to continue.