The next day, Jimmy returned to the police station. Even though Cage had him close out yesterday's case, there was still something that didn't sit right with him, and he had tossed and turned all night, unable to sleep soundly. Cage wanted a quiet job until retirement, to avoid trouble where possible, whereas Jimmy was young and didn't want to just set aside a murder case and forget about it.

After collecting his equipment, Jimmy drove the police car straight to the crime scene. He parked in front of the house, crossed the police tape, and entered the house, putting on gloves as he walked. This time, he reactivated "Heart Eye" and began a new round of inspection in every corner of the house.

The body had already been removed, and the rest of the place looked the same as it had yesterday. If no one had entered the house last night, theoretically, nothing should have been tampered with.

Jimmy inspected every corner and cabinet, from the kitchen and pantry to the living room staircase, according to the images fed back from Heart Eye, there was nothing out of place—kitchenware, tools, food, clothing. But then he noticed something unusual: there seemed to be a small space behind the living room TV cabinet, which should be empty upon first glance, suggesting a cavity within the wall behind the cabinet.

Jimmy went over to the TV cabinet and examined it closely. He found no trace of dragging on the floor, whether to the left, right, or forward. Any movement would have definitely left a mark, indicating the entrance to the cavity wasn't located here. He looked back and reasoned that this wall should theoretically be a load-bearing wall of the house. Jimmy knocked on it; it seemed to be a brick wall with a guest bedroom on the other side. He had only peeked in yesterday and since it didn't appear to be lived in or disturbed, he had moved on.

He went into the guest bedroom to check the corresponding wall;when he knocked, it was wooden, suggesting a space had been created on the brick wall's side, then covered with wooden panels and painted to blend in with the surrounding area. Using Heart Eye, Jimmy found a hidden door behind the guest bedroom wardrobe.

Jimmy looked at the floor under the clothes; there were no signs of movement, so the hidden door probably didn't require moving the wardrobe to access. He opened the wardrobe, shifted the clothes aside, and revealed a movable wooden panel with a shallow handle that could be pulled. Jimmy turned on his flashlight and looked inside.

The compartment was 60-70 centimeters wide, stretching from the ground floor to the second floor, about 2 meters deep. It was ingeniously designed; it looked like a solid wall from the living room, and since this bedroom was probably seldom used, few would notice the considerable difference in space between the front and back walls.

There were fresh drag marks on the floor of the hidden room, limited in area, and judging by their size, it looked like they could be from a tub bag or a long duffel bag—the dust was inconsistent with other areas. The rest of the space didn't seem to have been used for storage, as the dust lay undisturbed. It seemed this area was rarely accessed.

Jimmy closed the hidden door and restored the clothes to their original state before leaving the bedroom to continue inspecting the upstairs rooms. He found no other hidden doors or anything unusual. Strangely, he couldn't find any gun cabinets or boxes or racks for storing guns in the entire house. Could this have been the home of someone against gun ownership? But this was Arkansas, a conservative southern state.

Jimmy left the house and began a new round of questioning for the neighbors. Several houses he had questioned yesterday repeated their questions and answers, which were consistent with what they had said before. However, an unqueried neighbor gave Jimmy an unexpected surprise.

"Cage, it's me, Jimmy. There's a new lead in yesterday's case. Where are you, let's meet and talk."

Jimmy called Cage and then drove off to meet him.

Although Cage was a sergeant, he was still on patrol, but unlike Jimmy, he was more laid-back. When Jimmy found him, Cage was resting outdoors.

This was standard for many patrol officers: with nothing pressing, they either roamed the streets aimlessly patrolling or found a secluded and safe spot to rest and space out, waiting for dispatch center notifications.

"Cage, found a possible eyewitness who saw the suspect leave. He provided a clue. Yesterday, he saw a man get into a blue sedan at the end of their street, model unknown.

White male, 180-190 centimeters, well-built, short hair, wearing a green T-shirt, jeans, carrying a black travel bag.

We can check the surrounding traffic cameras. We should be able to find this blue sedan."

Cage looked at Jimmy speechlessly. He had already sorted out the clues and evidence yesterday, just so he could put the case aside for someone else to handle and have some peace. But now it seemed to be coming back around.

"Jimmy, head back to the station. I'll contact the chief to apply for the surveillance footage. You'll follow up on this case."

Jimmy watched Cage helplessly. He was determined to slack off, resolutely avoiding trouble. Fine then; since Jimmy himself wanted to take on the case, he would take it on completely. The only issue was the lack of anyone to cover for him should things go awry...

Jimmy returned to the station, the chief had already contacted the dispatch center, and getting the traffic camera footage required some procedures. Now all he could do was wait.

In the afternoon, Jimmy finally got several boxes of traffic video tapes, certainly not the originals, but copies from a few intersections he had specified. He started the video player at the station and began reviewing the traffic footage from before and after the incident. There were many tapes and a long playtime due to the multiple intersections covered.

After hours of repeated playback and comparison, Jimmy's eyes were almost failing him. Since he needed to pause and rewind the footage frequently and the TV screens were relatively small, he had to sit directly in front of the TV for a clear view, ready to pause at any time.

After repeated cross-referencing and note-taking, Jimmy identified three blue sedans matching the description, all with Arkansas license plates. Once he confirmed the license plate numbers, he called the dispatch center to request information on these three vehicles.

Unexpectedly, two of these were normal, but the third bore fake license plates.

Jimmy immediately focused on the car with the fake license plates. By the recorded intersections and the direction of the car, it appeared to be heading west. The destination, however, still remained unknown, and further footage would require a new request to the dispatch center.

As for the two vehicles that checked out, they were passed over. If the fake plate didn't pan out, he would follow up with their owners.

Jimmy asked the dispatch center to track the last known direction of the fake license plate sedan. It would take time, and he definitely wouldn't get it today. He arranged his tasks and wrapped up for the day; although he hadn't patrolled, it had still been a tiring day.

Jimmy got home, ate something casually, and went to bed. He slept so soundly that he woke up naturally the next day before the alarm even went off.