"Wait!" Natalie called out to him again when she recalled something.

Silas stopped in his tracks. "Yes? What is it, madam?"

"Don't let anyone know about me and Connor returning to the country. We won't be able to keep Shane's disappearance a secret if they see us return without him," Natalie said while massaging her temples. Silas nodded. "Don't worry, madam. I've already taken that into consideration and made the arrangements."

Natalie smiled. "That's good to know."

"I shall excuse myself, then," Silas said before he left.

Natalie brought Connor upstairs to get some rest in the room.

In the afternoon, the two of them headed over to the burnt-down industrial park with the manager leading the way.

Natalie shuddered a little when she looked at the ruins after the fire.

The entire industrial park is completely burnt to the ground, which goes to show how scary the fire was! Good thing there's a river nearby that serves as a water supply for the industrial park, or Shane would surely have been burnt to death!

The thought of that caused Natalie's chest to ache so much that she went pale instantly.

"Mommy?" Connor called out to her worriedly when he noticed the change in her expression.

Natalie shook her head. "I'm fine."

She then turned toward the manager standing beside her and said, "Show me where Shane jumped into this river."

"Please come this way," the manager replied with a nod and walked in front while Natalie held Connor's hand and followed behind.

They soon arrived at the spot where Shane jumped into the river.

Natalie looked down and shuddered when she saw the strong current and huge rocks in the river.

One could easily land on the rocks and get severely injured... I don't know if that happened to Shane, but the strong current is dangerous enough on its own...

"Mommy, do you think Daddy would've drowned from choking on the water?" Connor asked while tugging at Natalie's arm.

Natalie shook her head. "I don't know."

Connor lowered his gaze upon hearing that and stopped asking any further questions.

Natalie then turned toward the manager and said, "Take us on a walk along the river bank." "Yes, madam."

They made their way past the industrial park and walked along the river bank below.

Natalie continued to observe the surrounding area as they walked on to see if she could replace any clues.

"Has it rained in the past few days?" she asked.

The manager shook his head. "No. The sky was gloomy, but there was no rain."

"Why did you ask, Mommy?" Connor was curious.

Natalie pursed her lips. "I was just thinking... If Shane got out of the river, he might leave some trails which should remain for quite some time if there is no rain. Of course, that's just a guess. I'm not sure if that's even true."

"We haven't taken that into consideration before, but it is highly possible, so we might as well give it a shot. There's mud on both sides of the riverbank, so Mr. Thompson's wet shoes would leave footprints on the mud if he got out of the river," Silas suggested.

The manager slammed his fist into his palm. "You're right! In that case, I'll send some men to look for trails along the river bank." "Okay." Natalie nodded.

Silas went to help them out while Natalie held Connor's hand as they continued walking down the river bank.

They were about to reach the end of the river when Silas shouted at them from the other side, "We've found something, madam!"

The sight of him waving his arms frantically got Natalie's heart racing as well.

Connor tightened his grip on her hand and asked, "Mommy, did Mr. Campbell replace Daddy's trail?"

"I think so!" Natalie's voice was trembling, and she could barely hide the anxiousness on her face.

Silas rowed a small boat over to their side and called out to them, “Madam, Connor, hop on! I'll take you two there!"

Natalie nodded and quickly carried Connor in her arms as she got on the boat.

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