Chapter 42 Chapter Forty-One

"Alderney?" asked Tom, startled. "What makes you think she's there, Jill?" "And where is Alderney?" asked Becky. "It's one of the many small islands in the Channel Islands," replied Tom, "and, if I remember correctly, it's the one closest to France. How did you find it there?" he asked again. Jill smacked her lips, which was very irritating to watch. "Can we just be clear, I didn't say she was there. Someone used Olivia Brooks' email address to respond to Robert Brooks' video call request before last Wednesday, but that doesn't mean that person was Olivia Brooks. Livia herself, or she's still there. But you asked me to track down that IP address that looks like she's using it, and you remember I told you that she probably bought an IP address, and that's a fake address."

Tom gritted his teeth.He knew he was in a bad temper and that what he needed was an answer, not a speech. "yes, I remember." "Well, I got in touch with that company, and luckily they're not one of those hard-to-communicate companies that you have to suffer through to get information. They're for people who want to hide their whereabouts from the general public Not criminals providing services." Tom wanted to tell him to go on, but held back. "So, they confirmed the real IP address, and the ISP was a company based in Guernsey. I contacted them to get the actual address of the user, but..." Jill again Pausing for effect, "it turns out she was using the Alderney Airport Wi-Fi signal."

Tom was disappointed that they couldn't pinpoint Olivia's address, but at least they now knew where she was, or where she had been.This address doesn't have to be unique and unchanging, or it could be a place that another person has been to, like Jill said.This may seem like a big discovery and a big breakthrough, but it might just be another fruitless search.If only he could shake off his tantrums and look at their progress with more optimism. What progress?Tom could feel the frustration of not being able to find the child's whereabouts weighing heavily on him, and every seemingly perfect clue seemed to lead to a dead end.What do they really know?

They only knew for sure that the blood on the wall of the study room was not Olivia's, but a man's, but otherwise they knew nothing.If someone had been killed in that room, they couldn't just assume that Robert Brooks was the guilty party.But if he did it, he's already murdered once... No body was found, but Jumbo thought there must be one hidden somewhere.There was a lot of blood at the scene. When Tom saw the photo of the luminol test, Tom was shocked that the blood could splatter so far. He'd stood in that room with Robert Brooks and didn't know that behind him some poor fellow's blood was splattered all over the wall.He felt like he should know, should feel something, but he knew it was fantasy.

According to Jumbo's conclusion, either there was still a body at the scene, or the body had been transported to an unknown place. The forensic team removed both cars from the Brooks family for testing. Taken away from the scene, most likely in the trunk or even the back seat of one of the cars, neither of which would have been possible with that Beetle. Becky looked confused, obviously she couldn't figure something out.Tom realized he hadn't listened to Jill for a few minutes, thinking about how to move a dead body. "That's not right," Becky said. "She couldn't be at the airport when she FaceTimed Robert, and he would have known she wasn't home. He must have recognized the airport."

"I can assure you, Inspector Robinson, that's what it is. I'm not sure he'll recognize the airport—it's not a busy metropolis," Jill said. "I've seen pictures, but it looks It doesn't even look like someone's bedroom." Tom thought he was going to interrupt. "We can't believe anything Robert Brooks says, and Olivia wasn't home last week. The only thing we know is that according to his call log, there was someone answering his video call until Wednesday, regardless of the person. Who - whether it was Olivia or not - contacted him via this IP address, which oddly led us to Alderney Airport. But I tend to agree with Becky, if that person It's Olivia, she's having a hard time having these conversations at the airport."

"Pretty hard," Jill responded, "and that's why I'm investigating further. The Wi-Fi signal is actually picked up in multiple places on the island, so people can use it all the time. She could be anywhere a place." "Great," Tom murmured. "Sir." Nick stood behind Becky, waving a piece of paper in his hand, "I heard you mentioned Alderney Island, I checked it on Wikipedia, and there are less than two thousand residents on the island , if she goes there with her three children, it will be very eye-catching, and someone must know where she is."

Tom felt that the irrational irascibility in his heart dissipated a little in the face of the enthusiasm and optimism of the group members. "That's good. We need to get in touch with the police in Alderney and ask them to assist us. Give them the background of the matter and let them know that this matter is taken seriously. More importantly, we need to know that Robert Where did Brooks go. Given what he did to Sophie Duncan and her mother, we must find Olivia and ensure her safety before he can be locked up." Becky walked over to Ryan's desk to give brief instructions, and Tom turned to look at Jill with an apologetic smile. "Thanks, Jill, well done. This case is very disturbing for all of us." Jill raised her eyebrows with a look that clearly said "some people are more troubled than others", which made Tom feel guilty.He didn't want to be so harsh, but how could they know so much and not figure anything out?Add to that the pile of problems with his cottage, not to mention the frustration with Leo.

Worst of all, his phone rang at this moment.It's Philippa Stanley. "Go to hell." He complained in a low voice, not targeting anyone in particular.He didn't want to take the call, because now he had more questions than answers, but at least the developments in Alderney would calm Philippa. As he pressed the answer button on the phone, he thought of something else they needed to do.He couldn't think of how Robert could connect Olivia to Alderney, unless there was something else they didn't know, which he thought was very likely.They shouldn't just be looking at international flights from the UK, they might also check if he was on any of the flights to the Channel Islands just to be on the safe side.

He took a deep breath and said into the phone, "Hello, Philippa."