Jimmy continued searching the surroundings with his flashlight after Heart Eye had already swept over the area and indeed, nothing out of the ordinary was found.
The images scanned by Heart Eye actually required space, meaning that if an object was buried in the ground without any gaps, Jimmy wouldn't be able to see it because everything would be pitch-black or gray. However, once a gap existed, it became possible to clearly observe the space and then distinguish what the shadows actually were.
If the object underground was a special item, with a color different than its surroundings, then it too would be visible. This had happened very rarely so far, and Jimmy wasn't sure if this rule was reliable. Now that Heart Eye couldn't detect any anomalies, he had to rely on visual observation with the naked eye.
Jimmy carefully examined the surroundings and noticed a slightly elevated area nearby, with a very low slope but the highest point few tens of centimeters above the surrounding ground. If there was anything unusual around here, it was this spot.
Jimmy swept away a layer of fallen leaves with his foot, revealing a layer of humus beneath. Kicking aside a small piece, he discovered a piece of decaying cloth which fell apart after a few kicks, revealing a decayed body beneath, its bones already buried in the humus.
A stench of decay wafted over, prompting Jimmy to retreat several steps. He had smelled decay upon entering the forest earlier, but this odor he had encountered many times before in other forests, although it was not as strong as it was here. He had not expected it to also mask the smell of a decaying body—of course, the soil and fallen leaves also played a part in concealing the scent somewhat.
"FK," Jimmy cursed, turning around and leaving the woods, retracing his steps by following his own footprints and meticulously collecting the shell casings where he had fired his gun.
Jimmy had counted the shots he fired, so a thorough search and count of the casings in his hand would determine if any were missing. As long as all casings were collected, the bullets themselves were inconsequential, as no one would search the ground for them in such a wilderness environment.
Besides, the escaped convict, Rob Reilly, hadn't been hit by a bullet at all, so when he was taken away later, no one would think that Jimmy had fired his gun.
Back at his car, Jimmy also collected the .44 Magnum casings he had fired at the beginning, ensuring nothing was left behind before he took out his phone to call Hughes. That's right, he didn't call Mahong, but instead, he called Hughes, since this incident was a bit problematic and needed to be discussed with Hughes's side to see how to arrange things. The reason he didn't call Mahong was that Jimmy was unsure whether Mahong knew about supernatural events.
The phone rang several times before Hughes answered.
Hughes: "Who is it?"
Jimmy: "Hughes, it's Jimmy. I need to talk to you."
Hughes: "Aren't you dealing with an escape case? What's up?"
Jimmy: "Yeah, we've deduced that the two escapees split up, one went south back to Newburgh, the other escaped to the north. I was pursuing the one who went north, Rob Reilly.
After a day's chase, I found Reilly just now, but he was already dead."
Hughes: "Did you do it?"
Jimmy: "No, I suspect he was killed by a Resentful Spirit. I deduced that during the day he would need to avoid others to prevent being spotted, leaving him only the night to flee. So at night, I drove slowly along the road here looking for anyone on the road. Just now, I saw a figure by the roadside signaling, and upon finding it odd, I discovered she was a Resentful Spirit, who I have now killed. Before I killed her, she fled toward the woods, and I found the already deceased Reilly while following the direction she had run. Given the scene, the likelihood of escapee Reilly's death by the Resentful Spirit is very high."
Hughes fell silent, pausing before finally speaking, "Where are you? Is anyone with you?"
Jimmy: "No, I'm alone in tracking Reilly. Mahong and Philicia went back to Newburgh to pursue another escapee, Brown."
Hughes: "Tell me your location, I'll arrange for support."
Jimmy: "I'm not clear about the location here, but I can give you the GPS coordinates. The support you arrange will need to verify the position themselves."
Hughes: "Go ahead."
Jimmy opened his phone—all FBI phones have a location device, allowing him to see his coordinates. After giving his latitude and longitude, Jimmy asked, "Should I contact Mahong?"
Hughes: "Wait until everything's been dealt with before informing him."
Jimmy: "OK, I'll wait here."
Jimmy moved his car a bit, shifting from the middle of the road to the shoulder and turned on the hazard lights. Though around 3 AM with no traffic on the road, nobody could be sure if some speed demon wouldn't have a brain snap and enact a life-or-death speed race on this remote road.
Before they arrived, Jimmy surveyed the road beside the forest once more and walked back in, choosing a different route this time, treading several tracks for a better explanation later.
After more than an hour, the sound of a helicopter filled the air. Jimmy turned on his flashlight and waved it in the direction of the aircraft, which landed on a nearby vacant land.
Jimmy with his flashlight in hand approached the helicopter, and three people got off. The trio, each holding a flashlight, came up to Jimmy, "Agent Yang?"
Jimmy nodded, "That's me, thank you for coming out so late to help. How may I address you?"
The person leading the trio shook hands with Jimmy: "Just call me Mike. Walk me through what happened."
Jimmy nodded. With Hughes having someone come out to handle things at this hour, Jimmy didn't need to hide much. They returned to Jimmy's car, and Jimmy pointed out to Mike where the Resentful Spirit appeared and the direction she fled afterward.
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