Chapter 113: Chapter 112: Routine Inspection
Elliana Lyle sat in the passenger seat, with Luna driving. As for the Hawthorne who wet his pants, Luna naturally didn’t let him in the car and threw him directly to Raymond Wood.
"How could you dare? Huh?" Elliana spread her hands, looking at Luna, who was driving, in disbelief.
Originally, everyone agreed to just go and take a look, but Luna unexpectedly continued to stir up trouble!
She could understand bringing a stun baton for self-defense, but Andrew Hue’s expandable baton and Luna’s several knives clearly showed they were not leaving without a fight!
If she hadn’t informed Norman Bennett in advance, they might have all been in trouble today.
"How could I not dare?" Luna gave a thumbs-up and pointed at herself, saying, "I’m super brave, okay?"
Elliana didn’t know what to say for a while, but Luna certainly surprised her today. She always thought Luna was great at escaping, but didn’t expect her fighting skills to be impressive too.
Luna continued, "If I hadn’t shown some restraint, Brother Harper would’ve been finished by me today."
"No! Weren’t we supposed to investigate? How did it escalate into a fight?" Elliana still didn’t understand why smart Luna initiated the confrontation today.
Luna waved her hand and said, "It’s not like we had no chance. If you weren’t there today, Andrew and I could’ve wiped them out."
"..." For some reason, Elliana had the illusion that they were the ones in a crime gang.
Just then, Andrew stepped in, "Boss, don’t be mad, it was reckless of us."
Luna interjected, "Back when I was in XRB, I don’t know how many criminal dens I eradicated. This kind of small issue, what’s there to discuss?"
"...Alright, alright! Next time, don’t be so impulsive, okay? You’ve turned the legal team into a kamikaze squad. I’m the boss, could you inform me next time?"
Luna casually asked, "If I inform you, could you let us go all out?"
"No way! I declare, from now on, you can’t do this kind of thing anymore!"
Feeling the person beside her starting to sulk, Luna turned her head, raised an eyebrow and smiled, then used one hand to rub Elliana’s hair before retracting her hand, saying, "Women need to be independent. Leaning on Norman Bennett like this won’t do, right Andrew?"
Andrew thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, "Luna’s right. Instead of taking orders from others, might as well take down the old Boss and be the boss yourself!"
Elliana: "..."
"Alright, alright, I’m just messing with you. You’re the boss, we listen to you."
...
The car followed Raymond Wood and stopped next to Riverview Plaza.
"Norman Bennett."
Seeing the man just a few steps ahead, Elliana wanted nothing more than to run into his arms and stay there forever.
But before she could run forward, the man was already striding towards her.
"Don’t act on your own without my permission from now on!" Norman Bennett’s face was stern, his tone carrying a warning.
Elliana agreed with him, turned around to look at Luna, and asked, "Did you hear that? No acting on your own."
Seeing the girl’s "authority backed by power" demeanor, the man was amused yet sternly scolded, "...I meant you."
"Ah? Oh..."
At this moment, Andrew came over, took out a voice recorder from his pocket, and said to Norman Bennett, "Big Boss, this is the evidence we recorded."
Norman Bennett glanced at it, "Mm! Leave the following matters to Galen Collins, you all don’t need to worry about it anymore, just wait for the results."
―――South City Police Department.
Galen Collins had already received the recording, listened to it once, and immediately mustered people to start the arrest operation!
Several police cars appeared at the tea market, finally stopping at Starry Tea House. Galen Collins dispersed some customers, led several armed police officers into the company, and a chubby middle-aged man came out to greet them.
"Officers, I’m Liu Baozhong, the owner of Starry. What can I do for the officers?"
Galen Collins didn’t bother talking to him, directly taking out his badge, "Routine inspection!"
Liu Baozhong showed no intention of moving aside, smiling, "Ah, it’s Officer Collins. We run a legitimate business here. What could possibly warrant such a fuss from Officer Collins?"
"Liu Baozhong! Do not obstruct my official duties!"
Entering the back of the shop, Galen Collins and his people began inspecting in teams. These buildings were not only old, but the interior corridors were complex and intertwined, making it hard to find your way without a guide!
After an hour of searching, Galen Collins finally found a room with a mahjong table, with a formaldehyde smell. The chairs and tables inside were intact, the walls already repainted, the floors cleaned thoroughly!
Though the arrangement didn’t show much, the star-patterned ceiling lamp Moon mentioned, missing a piece, was still here! Galen Collins could also confirm this was the scene!
But now, the place was empty and they couldn’t find any trace at the scene!
Liu Baozhong laughed, "Officer Collins, this is just a mahjong room I just set up. The guys unwind here. Is there any issue?"
With a grim face, Galen Collins gestured to his colleagues, "Let’s go!"
As soon as they left Starry, Galen Collins was surrounded by several people from nearby business associations, a woman questioning, "Officer, what crime did we commit here? You’ve scared away all our customers, how are we supposed to do business?"
At this moment, Liu Baozhong came out, no longer with the smile from before, but arrogantly declaring, "Officer Collins, you’ve harassed Starry Business Association without evidence, causing us significant losses! Our parent company, Bright Tower Corporation, will seek compensation through legal channels!"
"Officer Collins, right? You conducted such out-of-the-blue searches, brought us such great losses. We will complain to your director!"
With a stern expression, Galen Collins ordered, "Retreat!"
After the crowd dispersed, Liu Baozhong saw the police off and told his man, "Get the Crippled One over to replace Little Huang! Send Little Huang to the Butcher’s side!"
...
After Elliana and the others left, they were about to find a place to eat first, but before the dishes arrived, Galen Collins’ call came through!
"Who would have thought Galen Collins was quite fast!"
But the results were not as expected, Galen Collins informed her they didn’t catch anyone. The room they mentioned was already emptied long ago, but they would continue to investigate!
And informed Elliana, that Starry Tea House and the surrounding tea market basically belonged to Bright Tower Corporation!
And Bright Tower Corporation is the largest business association in South City, the largest supermarket in the city is also under Bright Tower!
Every year, South City’s major taxpayers are intricately linked with Bright Tower; they were advised not to act impulsively and that they would continue the investigation, stating that the recording they provided was only sufficient evidence against Brother Harper!
Since there was evidence from Brother Harper’s recording, Evelyn Dunn’s case would reopen for investigation!
They will look into it thoroughly!
Elliana remained silent after hearing this, hung up the phone and told everyone Galen Collins’ findings!
"He got away again?" Luna angrily tossed her chopsticks, almost swallowing the crab in her mouth whole.
Elliana explained to Luna again about the domestic situation, advising her not to rush, that there was already evidence of Brother Harper forcing Evelyn Dunn, and he absolutely wouldn’t escape, he would be caught sooner or later!
Remembering when Brother Harper asked for a photo with her and Andrew whispered to never agree to it, she asked about that!
"For groups like them, when dealing with celebrities or people with some status, they usually take indecent videos and photos to have leverage over them!"
"For a star like Boss, as long as they have that kind of leverage, it would bring them immense benefits! This is the most common tactic of the mafia on our side!"
Andrew seriously lectured Elliana on how controlling celebrities, especially female celebrities, was all too simple for them!