บท 39: Ch 39 - The Undeniable Proof
"Oh?" Mr. Berkley was interested. The school had promised him fifteen thousand dollars if he could catch the thief. "Who?" He asked.
"Alex!" Cathy spat out the name.
When Mr. Berkley had talked about the stolen money earlier, a thought had occurred to her. Did Alex take the money? Alex used to be a poor loser who couldn't afford a decent meal but lately, everything has changed.
He took Emma to a posh restaurant for a thousand-dollar meal and donated another one hundred thirty thousand dollars without hesitation.
Is this something a loser like him could ever afford to do?
Alex had said that he'd won one hundred fifty thousand on the lottery, but he's already spent more than that.
Where did he get the money? Cathy had not been able to figure it out.
She thought, but now, everything's clear. It must be Alex that stole Mr. Morgan's money.
Hmph, Alex, you idiot, you were stupid enough to show off the stolen money in front of me. You've been enjoying yourself, haven't you? But just wait. This time, I'll ruin your reputation for good.
"Why do you think it's him? Do you have any evidence?" Mr. Berkley was still confused.
Cathy sneered and told Mr. Berkley about Alex's extravagant behaviour the last few days.
"Mr. Berkley, not only did Alex invite Emma Lee to De Luca's restaurant for a meal worth one thousand dollars, but he also bought six or seven items of expensive designer clothing for his girlfriend in the Autumn Beauty Boutique. That adds up to more than ten thousand, and Alex also donated one hundred thirty thousand dollars to the mountain village charity."
"It's true." Mr. Berkley responded after listening to her explanation. He was shocked. The total was over one hundred forty thousand dollars. How could that poor student Alex afford all that?
But he didn't dare just take Cathy's word for it; he needed more proof. He immediately called Luke and Darren to see if they would corroborate her story.
They both backed up what Cathy had said. Alex had spent well more than one hundred thousand dollars in the last few days. Mr. Berkley was now almost certain that Alex was the person who stole Mr. Morgan's money.
"Mr. Berkley, let's hurry up and call the police to arrest him." Cathy's eyes flashed with viciousness.
"Don't worry, I'm taking this very seriously," Mr. Berkley replied. He was an experienced teacher and shrewd. He thought carefully for a few minutes and said, "Let's go to the General Hospital first and speak with Mr. Morgan to find out exactly what happened. Once we have more evidence, I'll call the police."
"All right, let's go now," Cathy urged him. If the police spoke to Mr. Morgan before they did, they might arrest him.
Mr. Berkley drove the car quickly toward the hospital with Cathy in the passenger seat.
**
Meanwhile, Debbie had been sitting beside Luke Morgan in his ward. Her face was tense with anxiety.
"Mr. Morgan, how can anyone be so evil to steal this money? And why would they frame you?" she questioned.
Debbie was fretting on Luke's behalf. She looked extremely worried.
Luke, on the other hand, looked fairly relaxed. He seemed calm and composed in the blue and white hospital gown, although his face was still pale.
He touched Debbie's face and smiled gently, comforting her like an older sibling. "Debbie, don't worry about me. I'm sure we'll find out who did this."
Seeing Debbie nod her head in confusion, Luke decided not to talk about these sad things with her. His gaze fell upon her clothes.
"Debbie, you and I have known each other for a long time, but I've never seen you dressed as beautifully as you are today."
"Someone else bought me these clothes." Debbie lowered her head shyly.
"Someone else? It's a man, isn't it? " Luke asked with a playful tone. Debbie blushed as she softly replied, "Mhmm."
Luke said, "Little Debbie has grown up. Seeing you looking so happy, I can tell that you and your boyfriend have something really special." He held Debbie's small hand. "And to be able to afford to buy you clothes from Autumn Beauty, it seems that this young guy must be doing well for himself."
He continued, "Debbie, since you two like each other, you must take good care of each other. Do you understand?"
"I know, thank you, Mr. Morgan." Debbie's eyes were filled with determination.
At that moment, the door to the ward was pushed open. Cathy and Mr. Berkley walked in.
"Why are you here?" Cathy frowned and asked when she saw Debbie.
"Who's this girl?" Mr. Berkley asked.
"She's Alex's new girlfriend," Cathy replied as she crossed her arms and looked at Debbie with a cold smile. She continued, "I know what she's here for. I bet she's here to find out Mr. Morgan's secrets so that she can report back to Alex."
"That's right, this girl is determined to help Alex in his crime," Mr. Berkley agreed.
"What are you talking about?" asked Luke. "What crime? Did you find out who it was?" He was completely confused.
"Mr. Morgan, do you know who stole your three hundred fifty thousand? It was Alex Ambrose from our class." As she said this, Cathy started to feel exhilarated.
"Alex Ambrose? That's impossible. He's not that kind of person." Luke shook his head. He knew Alex was poor but he was sure he would never do such a thing.
Cathy replied, "Mr. Morgan, don't be fooled by him. Do you know how much he donated to a charity? One hundred thirty thousand dollars. How do you think Alex could come up with that kind of money?"
When Cathy finished, Mr. Berkley backed her up. "That's right, I've already asked the school for confirmation. Alex donated one hundred thirty thousand dollars today."
"And—" Cathy's sharp gaze shot toward Debbie, "She's Alex's new girlfriend. Look at her new clothes from Autumn Beauty. And that's not the only one—she's got loads of new clothes. They must've spent a few thousand dollars there. Where do you think he got all this money from?"
"No, you're framing Alex," Debbie interjected. "He would never do something like that." She looked at Cathy and Mr. Berkley.
Luke looked at Debbie and asked, "Debbie, is Alex your new boyfriend and did he buy you these expensive clothes?" He was anxious. If Alex had bought Debbie's new clothes, then he had to wonder where the money had come from.
"Go on, tell us. Are you really in love with Alex? Deny it if you have the guts," Cathy said and smiled smugly.
"Yes," Debbie answered and she nodded toward Luke.
Luke closed his eyes and leaned weakly against the back of his bed.
"Haha, Mr. Morgan finally believes it," Cathy laughed loudly. She looked at Debbie with eyes full of venom as she pulled out her cellphone. "I'm calling the police now so they can arrest both of you two criminals. You'll be going to jail."
Debbie was furious. Why is Cathy always looking for trouble with Alex? she asked herself. I'm convinced Alex didn't do anything wrong.
Cathy had already tapped 911. Just as she was about to press the call button, Luke spoke up. "Don't call the police."
"Mr. Morgan, you—" Debbie stuttered.
Luke interrupted her, "I still believe Alex and Debbie. Plus, there's no evidence that Alex took my bank card and stole the money." In Luke's eyes, Alex and Debbie were two very honest students and he just couldn't believe that they would do that.
"Mr. Morgan, try to calm down," Mr. Berkley advised. "Cathy and I came here tonight to ask you in detail about how you lost the money. Please tell us what happened."
Luke replied, "I keep my bank card inside the protective cover of my phone, and the PIN is written in my notebook. Yesterday, couldn't find my phone so I immediately went to the bank to freeze my account, and that's when I found out that the money had been stolen."
Debbie's heart lifted when she heard him saying that he had lost his phone. She thought I bet it was the phone that I found in the grass by the lake earlier.
Subconsciously, she touched her pocket.
Her action was noticed by the sharp-eyed Cathy.
"What do you have in there?" Cathy asked and she reached into Debbie's pocket. Ignoring her protests, she took out the phone.
Seeing the phone in Cathy's hand, Luke's eyes widened. "Why is my phone in your pocket?" he asked Debbie.
"I—" Debbie was so nervous that she didn't know what to say, "Mr. Morgan, listen to me. I found this phone in the grass."
Cathy retorted, "You're still denying it? If you found the phone, why were you so afraid of us seeing it?" Cathy pressed her. "What do you have to say now? We've caught you with Mr. Morgan's phone. This is solid proof. You and Alex are in on this together."
"No, we're not. You guys are making a mistake," Debbie said helplessly. Right now, she didn't know what she could say to convince them.
"I'm making a mistake? What a joke." Cathy laughed arrogantly. "Then, where do you think Alex got the money from? Why don't you tell us how you got this phone."
"Alex's family has money, his family are rich—" Debbie tried her best to explain, but she couldn't stand up to Cathy.
"All right, Cathy, don't push her anymore." Luke hugged Debbie to his chest with a pained heart.
"All right, I'll leave her alone for now." Cathy glanced at Debbie with disdain. "Now that one of the criminals has been caught, the other criminal will be even easier to find. Let's get back to school to find Alex."
"All right," Mr. Berkley agreed. Before he left, he called his class monitor and told him to get some of Debbie's friends to come to the hospital so that she wouldn't leave.
Mr. Berkley and Cathy drove back to the school as quickly as they could.
**
During this time, Alex had sneaked into Mr. Morgan's office without being seen. He quietly walked to the teacher's desk and stuffed the written note inside the title page of a book on the desk.
Just as he was turning to leave, the door opened and Cathy and Mr. Berkley walked in. Alex was as shocked as they were. He had not expected to be discovered.
"Luckily, we checked the monitor, or we would've missed him." Cathy sneered as she looked at Alex.
"Let me see what this scoundrel is doing." Mr. Berkley walked to Mr. Morgan's desk and started leafing through the book.
Crap thought Alex and his chest tightened. He watched as Mr. Berkley pulled out the note he had just stuffed inside the book.
"What's this?" Mr. Berkley opened the note and read aloud, "Mr. Morgan, I'm sorry. I'm the thief that took your money—"
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