Mahong: "About how far?"

Jimmy: "3-4 kilometers."

Mahong: "OK."

After Jimmy reported the location, he shut the door to the hunting cabin and began searching for footprints around it. He had a hunch that the disturbance here wasn't caused by the builder of the cabin. Although his cabin was rough, since it was a hunting cabin, organizing the cabin was essential for a hunter or a temporary one.

Jimmy had seen similar hunting cabins back in Arkansas, and at least those he saw were very tidy, with food, condiments, and wood neatly placed in their respective spots.

The two escapees had eaten dinner the previous night, and although the prison food wasn't great, it at least indicated they hadn't left the prison hungry, meaning they had the strength to get this far. Just now, he had only briefly looked and didn't thoroughly check the stored food in the cabin, so it was likely that some food had been eaten or taken by them.

Therefore, their escape route could have been the small dock they had passed earlier, or the woods here.

After searching the forest for a while, Jimmy heard the sound of an engine, followed by a car horn. He turned back to the cabin: Mahong and the others had arrived. Besides Mahong's and Philicia's cars, there were also two police cars and Jimmy's assigned vehicle.

Three city police officers got out of the police cars; they should be the ones who were watching over the abandoned vehicle earlier. Another officer got out of Jimmy's car; he had forgotten to inform Mahong about his assigned vehicle, but Mahong hadn't forgotten.

Jimmy: "Mahong, I didn't touch the inside of the cabin, just opened the door. Now we need to conduct a thorough investigation inside."

Mahong nodded, and the police behind them stretched out the caution tape around the area at Mahong's request.

Jimmy and Mahong entered the cabin, which wasn't large, so not too many people could come in. There were no shotguns or bullets; it was uncertain whether they were taken or if the original hunter hadn't stored them here at all, as each hunter had their habits. Some liked to store their weapons in the cabin, preparing them upon arrival, while others used the cabin solely as a temporary place to rest.

There was a supply of wood, and in the center of the cabin, there was a stove made of an iron frame and iron sheeting. Judging from the ashes inside, the stove hadn't been used for a long time.

A wooden bed was covered with some dry grass, topped with a very dirty sheet, a few clothes, and the pillow was a wooden block covered with some fabric. No blanket was found in the cabin, which was odd considering that no matter the season, one would theoretically need a blanket when resting here.

From what they had found so far, the place didn't quite resemble a hunting cabin; it seemed more like a temporary dwelling for a vacation, as no hunting knives or axes were found, and the typical spoils of animal fur or bones seen in hunting cabins were absent.

After searching around, they found no reserve food or compressed cookies, nor were there any seasoning boxes.

Jimmy: "There's no lighter here, nobody lit a fire. If it was really the two of them who searched and took things, it's unlikely. It's winter now, even if they considered the possibility of being pursued, lighting the firewood to warm up would have been necessary."

Mahong: "Maybe they really did it to avoid detection. We can't rule out this possibility."

Jimmy: "We still need to confirm if they were really here."

Mahong: "Later, let's have someone check for fingerprints. If we find theirs, we'll start the investigation from the surrounding area."

After leaving the cabin, the police called for the forensic team from the station to come. For fingerprint identification, professional expertise was more reliable. Although their car was equipped to collect samples, these still needed to be sent back for processing, which was more troublesome.

With the FBI investigating prison escapees, the priority was high. The station didn't delay and arranged for a large number of people to come for support. Even Jimmy and his team were surprised when they saw the forensic personnel; they brought portable detectors, which could directly scan and analyze collected fingerprint data and match it with the system's fingerprint database.

Soon, they detected fingerprints of three individuals in the cabin, one of which belonged to one of the escapees, Rob Reilly.

Finally, they had a definite clue, confirming that the escapee Reilly had indeed been here and had searched the cabin, although it was still unclear what he had taken.

The system had no records for the other two fingerprints, which didn't imply a problem; it simply meant these individuals had no criminal records on file. Many in the United States did not have criminal records, or not all criminals were caught, resulting in their fingerprints not being in the database.

Mahong's brows were still furrowed. They had confirmed only one escapee; where could the other, Cameron Brown, have gone?

Jimmy: "They seem to have split up and fled separately, not together."

Mahong nodded; Reilly headed north. If he continued along the Hudson River, there was a good chance they could find him—a relatively clear direction. But what about the other one? Where had he gone?

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