51. "Hollows Gang's Involvement: A Clear Lead Emerges"

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Olivia Windsor squinted at the blurry video being played in front of her. "What is this? It's not clear enough!" she pointed out, frustration creeping into her voice.

Marcus furrowed his brow, studying the grainy footage intently. "Hmmn, where have I seen this place?" he pondered aloud, his eyes flickering back and forth between the screen and his own memories.

Frank watched on, his gaze intense as if he was performing some sort of complex mental calculations. "Can you make it clearer, Alex?" he asked, his voice low and measured.

"Yes, I can do that. Give me a few minutes," Alex replied, his fingers flying gracefully over the keyboard with an air of confidence.

As the video came into sharper focus, Sara leaned in closer to the screen. "Mmmn! The date and time, it matches with the incident, and look at that board at the side, there!" she exclaimed, pointing to a small sign in the background.

The sign in question was the welcoming board of the airport, its name emblazoned in bold letters for all to see.

"That's it!" Marcus and Frank exclaimed in unison, their eyes widening with recognition. "This is the exact place where the car crash happened!"

Olivia Windsor's eyes gleamed with hope as she leaned forward. "Where did this video come from, and is there more information we can glean from it?" she asked eagerly.

Alex nodded in response, his fingers deftly flying over the keyboard as he attempted to clear up the blurry footage. "Yes, there is more, but it's much blurrier. I need more time to make it clear enough for us to see what information we can extract from it," he explained as he played the video again.

As they watched, the image gradually sharpened, revealing more details that had previously been obscured. "This video might be our breakthrough point in the investigation," Frank remarked, a small smile of satisfaction on his lips. He turned to Sara, the team's expert in forensic science. "Sara, can you check the medical report of the driver who died protecting Ms. Vivienne at the accident?"

"Roger that," Sara acknowledged with a nod, taking the file containing the report and settling down to analyze its contents. The team was on the verge of uncovering a crucial piece of evidence that could shed new light on the case.

After a few tense minutes, Alex let out an excited shout. "Yes, I'm done with it! We have a lead!" he announced, a note of triumph in his voice as he looked up at the team.

Olivia Windsor turned to Frank Donovan, the leader of their small investigative party. "Mr. Donovan, what do you think of this evidence, and what would be the next course of action for us?" she asked, her eyes fixed on him.

Frank, a seasoned investigator with a wealth of successful cases under his belt, considered their options carefully. "We can't rely on this proof alone. We need to find other solid evidence before going public. We don't want law and order pointing their fingers at us once they know what's going on," he explained, emphasizing the need for caution and thoroughness in their approach.

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"Bam...!" "Ahahhh!!"

The sound of a heavy object hitting flesh echoed through the dimly lit room, followed by the piercing cry of a middle-aged man.

He sat tied to a chair, his bob cut hair matted with sweat, and his eyes filled with terror. The perpetrator was a man in a black coat and pants, half of his face concealed by a mask.

He held a stick in his hand and brought it down on the thug's legs with a force that shattered bones and elicited guttural screams.

"Now, tell me what you were doing there," the masked man demanded, his voice low and menacing.

The thug's response was muddled by his agony, "Ahhh...! I don't know...Ahhh...what you are asking...please let me go...!"

The masked man's patience wore thin, and he delivered a stinging slap to the thug's face, causing him to double over in pain. "Ohh, sorry my hand slipped, unless you tell me what I want to know, my hand might slip again," he warned, a cold smile playing at the corner of his lips.

The thug's expression remained blank, causing the masked man to realize that he needed to try a different approach.

"Let's see what approach should I try next," he muttered to himself, discarding the stick and moving towards a rack in the small, fully-lit room. He retrieved a whip and a box of salt.

"Pha...!!" "Ahahhh...!" "Phaa...!"

"Ahhhhhhhh....!"

The thug's screams echoed through the room as the masked man mercilessly beat him with the whip, sprinkling salt on the wounds to make them more painful and unbearable.

Several minutes later, the masked man emerged from the room into a compound made of wooden materials, where five people were waiting for him. Three men and two women sat on the couch, waiting for his report.

"Sorry about that, it took me longer than I thought," he said, wiping the sweat and blood off of his body. After cleaning himself up, he sat down on the couch near them.

"It's no problem, and thank you for helping us out," one of them said, expressing gratitude towards him.

"Hahaha, it's nothing much. At least I can do this much for you, Frank, my old friend," the masked man replied, addressing the middle-aged man sitting in front of him.

Frank Donovan, Olivia Windsor, Alex, Markus, and Sara were the five individuals present in the room. Frank had known the masked man, whose name was Danish Ansari, for a long time and trusted him completely. He had asked for Danish's help after finding out that the thug was present at the scene captured in a video they had obtained.

"Anyways, what did you find out, Danish?" Frank asked, as Danish made himself a drink and settled in comfortably.

Danish, an expert in extracting information from individuals using torture, shared with Olivia Windsor the information he had obtained from the thug. "It turns out that those bastards from the Hollows Gang are involved," he said, pausing for effect. "I don't know if it's appropriate to say, but we can't do anything to those guys. Unless...!"

Frank, who had been listening intently, caught the troubled expression on Olivia's face. He knew what she was thinking, and he had a suggestion that might just give them the leverage they needed to proceed forward.

"Hmmn, I can imagine why that is," Olivia said, her mind racing with possibilities. "But what were you suggesting?"

"It's not a plan, per se," Frank replied, "but a suggestion. If you can arrange it, then we might have a leeway to move forward."

Olivia was intrigued, and the others in the room leaned in, curious to hear what Frank had to say next. There was a tense silence as Frank gathered his thoughts, then he spoke again.

"We need to find a way to get inside the Hollows Gang. We need someone on the inside, someone who can get us the information we need to take them down. And I think I know just the person for the job."

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