บท 41: Looked It Up Online

Officer Mark had already leaned back on the sofa, refusing to communicate with Emilia anymore.

Meanwhile, officer Morgan seemed to be in quite a jovial mood now, as if already picturing the crashing of the White Deer's stock price when the market opened on Monday.

"Your two minutes are almost over, you know. As for your question, the poor boys haven't been found since yesterday. But rest assured, we'll find them... and we'll make sure the culprits suffer very, very much for their crimes."

Emilia did not seem to realize that the threat was meant for her. In fact, her focus seemed to be on something else entirely.

"So it's not even been twenty-four hours since they were reported missing, and you've already launched a full-blown investigation, right?"

The two officers did not look too perplexed at her accusation. Although pointing it out did make their actions look a bit out of the norm, the legality of the matter was not in question. The police could decide to register a missing person case in their country even if it had only been a few minutes, if they deemed the situation required such urgency.

Of course, Emilia knew that this could at most help her make the police look a little biased, and nothing more. But that wasn't what she was going for. Instead of defending herself against the accusations, she would rather turn the tables around entirely.

"Who is to say those two lawless morons did not just run away or something? And why exactly are you bothering us here, anyway? Because I dared to stop their bullying?"

Morgan's smile was full of sarcasm. At this point, even if the girl wasn't involved, she had to make sure this arrogant little brat suffered for her conceit.

"Rest assured, miss, our investigation is fair and proper. Whether or not they were involved in such incidents remains to be seen, and they are citizens of this country regardless, so it's our duty to ensure their safety."

Of course, there were many ways to carry out a 'fair' and 'proper' investigation. Sometimes it is so thorough that it may end up causing some inconvenience. And of course, the conclusions they came to were subjective.

This was not the first time Morgan was dealing with such a case. No matter how rich and powerful Mr. White was, since the commissioner was backing them up, what did they have to fear? No one was above the law, anyway. In front of them, both the rich and the poor were equally helpless citizens.

Emilia didn't seem to understand the apparent sarcasm in officer Morgan's words, and looked delighted instead.

"It's very reassuring that the police is so dutiful in our city! Tell me, did you already solve miss Michelle Reeve's case? I heard the poor girl was bullied by her classmates and forced to jump off the third floor building, and now lies fully paralyzed and unable to speak in a hospital."

The young girl sighed in 'admiration', her shining eyes locked onto the officers on the other side of the table.

"I thought I was the only one looking into it, but after hearing about your efficiency and discipline, you guys probably handled it already without me knowing, right?"

Mark couldn't help but frown. This had been one of the cases the two of them had handled recently, but how did Mr. White's daughter know?

"Oh, was I wrong? Forget about solving it, you guys can't even bother to care enough to remember it, right?"

The sudden shift in her tone from admiration to ridicule was almost jarring.

"Good thing I know a little about it. Apparently, the case was closed due to inconclusive and insufficient evidence after just one round of questioning her classmates."

The dark-skinned man kept his face neutral, but he couldn't help but sigh in his heart. This wasn't the first time he couldn't pursue justice for a victim. As enforcers of the law, they also had to abide by it themselves.

In the case of this young girl in question, they did try their best to dig for clues and witnesses for a whole two weeks, but came up empty-handed each time. Of course, it was only 'one round' according to Emilia, since none of the students had been questioned more than once.

No one was willing to confide in them the name of the perpetrators, and as for 'evidence', well, what could they possibly even get from a crime scene that hundreds of students tampered with on a daily basis?

When the school authorities requested the police not to interfere with the students' psyche during such a critical exam time, the pressure on them got even worse.

And the sole witness that could probably move the case forward, the victim in question herself, had already been declared hopeless by the doctors. So instead of continuing to waste public funds on a hopeless case like this, it indeed made sense to close it and move on to something that they could solve.

It all made sense objectively, but it would be wrong to say that it didn't leave behind a little guilt in their hearts. Emilia's words happened to poke at precisely that guilt, which filled both the officers with shame and anger.

Emilia smiled. Even though the two of them didn't 'bother' responding to her, she knew they were a little rattled just from their eyes.

"Well, never mind her, she's just a poor nobody, after all. What happened to the case of that six-year-old boy that's been missing for two weeks from near Wellington primary school?"

This time Mark really couldn't take it anymore, and slammed his fist on the table. He was even beginning to complain in his heart about how his partner hadn't already called for backup. The more he listened to the prattling for this little bitch, the more his blood pressure rose.

Were they here to justify themselves, or were they here to question Mr. White?

The loud boom along with the resounding crack was followed by a stunned silence in the hall. Even Samantha had put down her phone and sat up straight.

The officers realized that the atmosphere wasn't right. Nearly two dozen armed bodyguards had already entered their proximity, and Mark knew he shouldn't have lost his cool.

Even if it ended up increasing the charges on Mr. White later, what good would it do for them to be humiliated here by getting 'supressed' by these bodyguards? It will probably end with just some additional monetary penalty. So it was better to diffuse the tension.

Mark cleared his throat. "Uh, we… we're looking into it, the culprit will be found soon. But that doesn't have to do with why we're here… does it?"

Officer Morgan had decided that since things had already escalated to this point, there was no need to seek cooperation anymore. She had already discreetly requested for backup during their conversation.

'Wouldn't it be hilarious to see the look on their face when these conceited little bitches are shocked by the raid? Ah, perhaps my rusty little taser will also find a use today.'

As for the consequences? The most they could ever face was a short suspension. And given that their superiors were clearly backing them up here, even that was questionable.

Emilia smiled, although there was a glint in her eyes that Mark found very disturbing. It was as if he had caught the gaze of a predator, but that couldn't be right, could it? This was just a young teenage girl, after all.

"Is that so… Hm, well, you know, I was just curious, so I looked around and found him being sold for very cheap online."

Both Morgan and Mark looked at each other, perplexed. Was a missing young boy some cup or a pencil that you can find being sold online just because you looked?