Chapter 389. My First Day Back at Work. (3/3)
“Well, I heard from Yuna that she was about to be assaulted by someone at her apartment one day after work. She was saved by a passerby though. That passerby explained that the people who tried to assault her were dangerous and she shouldn’t go to work for some time until it was safe if they knew where she worked. Yuna informed me that they might also go after me, so I took her advice and called out sick for some time. We didn’t know it was Swastika though.”
“I see… but if something like that happened, why didn’t you report it to the police?”
“We thought getting the police involved would just make whoever targeted her more aggressive. It’s not like the police can be constantly keeping an eye on her at all times either. The situation would get messy and we didn’t want that. So rather than escalate things by getting the police involved, we figured we could just stay away from work until they forgot about us.”
“You should report these things to the police. When did this happen exactly?”
“Over a month ago.”
“The specific date?”
“I don’t remember. I haven’t been keeping track or anything.”
“That passerby you mentioned, do you or that girl know who it was?”
“No, we don’t.”
“They didn’t say anything?”
“No. Is that even important though?”
“Maybe… maybe not. It’s just… I wonder if they were… no, it couldn’t be.” Officer Johnson shook his head.
“Do you have an idea of who it might be?”
“Did you get a description of the person?”
“All I heard was that they had a motorcycle helmet on. It had a dark tint to it and you couldn’t see the person’s face.”
“Were they a man or a woman?”
“They were dressed like a man, but apparently they sounded a bit feminine.”
“Could it be...” Officer Johnson touched his chin as he fell into deep thought.
“Did someone come to mind?”
“Possibly.”
“Who is it? I’d really like to thank them.”
“I can’t say. But the day this Yuna girl was assaulted, while you were at work that day, did either of you encounter a girl with maroon hair, wearing a black face mask, driving a motorcycle?”
“There might have been someone matching that description that day, I don’t really remember too well though. We get a lot of customers, remembering each one that comes in every single day is impossible. Plus this was over a month ago.”
“I’d think a girl like that would be pretty easy to remember. Has a girl matching that description ever come to the store before?”
“Well, yeah. I just don’t remember whether she was here that day.”
“But it’s possible that she was here on that day though, right?”
“I guess so. But are you suggesting the passerby that day was that girl?”
“Possibly.”
“I see. Considering the motorcycle helmet Yuna’s mystery savior had on, I guess that would make sense. But that’s only circumstantial evidence though.”
I was using Lea as a scapegoat. I’d already corroborated this story with both Lea and Yuna in advance. If either were questioned about anything by the police, they wouldn’t be caught off guard and would know how to react. Lea just wouldn’t cooperate, she wouldn’t tell them anything. Yuna would simply act like she couldn’t remember much very well due to the stressful situation she was in at the time and she’ll be unable to verify with certainty that it was Lea that day.
“Even if it is circumstantial, she’s probably one of the best leads I have on Devthor. She may even be Devthor. If you see her again, you should be careful.”
“She doesn’t seem that dangerous to me.”
“The ones that don’t seem dangerous are the most dangerous of them all. They’re the ones you’ll let your guard down around and have the rug pulled out from under your feet without you ever realizing a thing.”
“Right…”
“That Yuna girl, I have some questions for her too. Where can I find her?”
“Uh… she’s currently working at our second store location.”
“Where is it and is she working right now?”
“Yeah, she’s working until 9:00 PM. This is the second store’s location.” I pulled out my phone and pointed it out on the map.
“Thanks, kid. Haaaaaaah… I’ve got to get going, I’ve got way too much work to do these days. If you hear anything useful make sure to report it to the police.”
“Have a great day, Officer Johnson,” I didn’t say anything but Alicia was quick to wish him a good day in a friendly fashion when he turned to leave.
“Thanks, you too.” He raised his left hand up over his shoulder with a lighter in his hand. On his way out he took out a cigarette and popped it in between his lips. He moved his left hand with the lighter over to light the cigarette right by the door when the door suddenly opened up and someone stepped inside with one foot.
His hand froze in place with the flame ignited right before it came into contact with the cigarette. The cigarette suddenly dropped out of his mouth when he opened it to speak.
Standing across from him, the customer who’d stepped inside halfway was similarly frozen in place.
“Ah… my lead,” Officer Johnson mumbled dumbfoundedly.
The left leg visible from inside the store was bare up to thigh level. On the other side of the window outside the store, the person had a motorcycle helmet on. Yes, it was Lea. She truly had some of the worst timing imaginable.
Officer Johnson recovered and tried to latch onto her, but Lea was quick to react. She turned and made a run for it while screaming, “You damn stalker cop! Why the hell are you everywhere I go!”
“I’m not stalking you, brat! I just have some questions I want to ask you!”
“I don’t talk to pigs!”
“I’m a cop, not a pig you brat!”
“Cop. Pig. It’s the same thing! Just leave me alone!”
We’d been able to hear the full exchange thanks to how slow the door closed.
Officer Johnson ran after her, out the doors, to try and catch her. She’d parked close by though and had enough time to hop onto her motorcycle, turn it on, and leave him behind eating her dust.
As soon as she took off, Officer Johnson let out a resigned sigh outside the store. He looked pretty helpless. He didn’t even think about chasing after her in his cruiser, he knew it was futile once she was on her motorcycle. Once on it, there was no catching her. It was too versatile and fast, a real headache.
He didn’t even bother to radio it in since he already knew where to find her. He had no evidence she’d actually done anything either so he had no grounds to try and detain her anyway. If he really wanted to question her, he could always find her at her mechanic repair shop. Whether she cooperated with him was another story altogether.
Instead of wasting his energy, standing in the middle of the parking lot, he took out another cigarette from the pack he bought and lit it. He stared at the direction Lea drove off in deep thought, unmoving. It was unknown what sort of thoughts were going through his head right now.
I couldn’t help but think that he looked pretty cool for a cop. He was pretty level-headed and took things in stride as they popped up.
He only headed over to his cruiser and departed when he finished his cigarette. It appeared he was operating solo today. The partner with him last time wasn’t inside his cruiser. Perhaps his partner had been among the cops who suffered injuries during the raid last week.
I had no way to confirm that now that he was gone though. Even if I could, why would I? It was none of my business.
“That was quite the exit, wasn’t it?” Alicia broke the silence.
“Yeah, it was.”
“Was that the girl he was talking about?”
“Yes.”
“And you know her?”
“Yeah, she cooperated with us. She played a pretty big role in everything, don’t go spreading that around though.”
“She did? Why’d she show up here today?”
“No idea. Her showing up just now was just some awful timing on her part. We didn’t plan to meet today or anything.”
“I see. Is she pretty?”
“Huh? Why are you asking that out of nowhere?”
“Uh... why? I’m… not too sure… actually. No reason… I guess.”
“Are you feeling insecure?”
“Insecure? About... what?” Alicia's voice was filled with uncertainty.
“She’s not ugly, she’s definitely pretty.”
“Wha-”
“But you don’t lose to her in any way.”
“Shouldn’t it be... prettier?” She furtively peeked at me from the corner of her eye.
“I invoke my right to remain silent.” I raised my hands up helplessly to my sides and shrugged.
“I find the defendant guilty as charged. You’re sentenced to life by my side.” Without even thinking about it she gave a playful response. She’d gotten pretty into cop movies and dramas ever since she set her sights on criminal law and criminology.
“Oh no, what am I supposed to do? Can I appeal this unjust ruling?”
“No. There was no error in law here.”
“There must be something I can do to overturn this.”
“Are you… that against being by my side for the rest of your life?”
“Not at all. I’m just concerned you’d be the one to regret cuffing yourself to me for the rest of your life so early on when you’re still so young. You might change your mind in the future, you know. What will you do then?”
“I won’t change my mind. My mind is made up.”
“Then don’t come crying to me when I intentionally say a random girl you don’t know is prettier than you to make you dislike me then.”
She lightly hit my shoulder right as the front door to the store opened up and a customer entered. After that, things picked up in the store and we didn’t have any time to converse as we had up until now.
My first day back at work ended up being a return to normalcy after those five agonizing weeks spent in hell.
Chapter 389. My First Day Back at Work. (3/3)
“Well, I heard from Yuna that she was about to be assaulted by someone at her apartment one day after work. She was saved by a passerby though. That passerby explained that the people who tried to assault her were dangerous and she shouldn’t go to work for some time until it was safe if they knew where she worked. Yuna informed me that they might also go after me, so I took her advice and called out sick for some time. We didn’t know it was Swastika though.”
“I see… but if something like that happened, why didn’t you report it to the police?”
“We thought getting the police involved would just make whoever targeted her more aggressive. It’s not like the police can be constantly keeping an eye on her at all times either. The situation would get messy and we didn’t want that. So rather than escalate things by getting the police involved, we figured we could just stay away from work until they forgot about us.”
“You should report these things to the police. When did this happen exactly?”
“Over a month ago.”
“The specific date?”
“I don’t remember. I haven’t been keeping track or anything.”
“That passerby you mentioned, do you or that girl know who it was?”
“No, we don’t.”
“They didn’t say anything?”
“No. Is that even important though?”
“Maybe… maybe not. It’s just… I wonder if they were… no, it couldn’t be.” Officer Johnson shook his head.
“Do you have an idea of who it might be?”
“Did you get a description of the person?”
“All I heard was that they had a motorcycle helmet on. It had a dark tint to it and you couldn’t see the person’s face.”
“Were they a man or a woman?”
“They were dressed like a man, but apparently they sounded a bit feminine.”
“Could it be...” Officer Johnson touched his chin as he fell into deep thought.
“Did someone come to mind?”
“Possibly.”
“Who is it? I’d really like to thank them.”
“I can’t say. But the day this Yuna girl was assaulted, while you were at work that day, did either of you encounter a girl with maroon hair, wearing a black face mask, driving a motorcycle?”
“There might have been someone matching that description that day, I don’t really remember too well though. We get a lot of customers, remembering each one that comes in every single day is impossible. Plus this was over a month ago.”
“I’d think a girl like that would be pretty easy to remember. Has a girl matching that description ever come to the store before?”
“Well, yeah. I just don’t remember whether she was here that day.”
“But it’s possible that she was here on that day though, right?”
“I guess so. But are you suggesting the passerby that day was that girl?”
“Possibly.”
“I see. Considering the motorcycle helmet Yuna’s mystery savior had on, I guess that would make sense. But that’s only circumstantial evidence though.”
I was using Lea as a scapegoat. I’d already corroborated this story with both Lea and Yuna in advance. If either were questioned about anything by the police, they wouldn’t be caught off guard and would know how to react. Lea just wouldn’t cooperate, she wouldn’t tell them anything. Yuna would simply act like she couldn’t remember much very well due to the stressful situation she was in at the time and she’ll be unable to verify with certainty that it was Lea that day.
“Even if it is circumstantial, she’s probably one of the best leads I have on Devthor. She may even be Devthor. If you see her again, you should be careful.”
“She doesn’t seem that dangerous to me.”
“The ones that don’t seem dangerous are the most dangerous of them all. They’re the ones you’ll let your guard down around and have the rug pulled out from under your feet without you ever realizing a thing.”
“Right…”
“That Yuna girl, I have some questions for her too. Where can I find her?”
“Uh… she’s currently working at our second store location.”
“Where is it and is she working right now?”
“Yeah, she’s working until 9:00 PM. This is the second store’s location.” I pulled out my phone and pointed it out on the map.
“Thanks, kid. Haaaaaaah… I’ve got to get going, I’ve got way too much work to do these days. If you hear anything useful make sure to report it to the police.”
“Have a great day, Officer Johnson,” I didn’t say anything but Alicia was quick to wish him a good day in a friendly fashion when he turned to leave.
“Thanks, you too.” He raised his left hand up over his shoulder with a lighter in his hand. On his way out he took out a cigarette and popped it in between his lips. He moved his left hand with the lighter over to light the cigarette right by the door when the door suddenly opened up and someone stepped inside with one foot.
His hand froze in place with the flame ignited right before it came into contact with the cigarette. The cigarette suddenly dropped out of his mouth when he opened it to speak.
Standing across from him, the customer who’d stepped inside halfway was similarly frozen in place.
“Ah… my lead,” Officer Johnson mumbled dumbfoundedly.
The left leg visible from inside the store was bare up to thigh level. On the other side of the window outside the store, the person had a motorcycle helmet on. Yes, it was Lea. She truly had some of the worst timing imaginable.
Officer Johnson recovered and tried to latch onto her, but Lea was quick to react. She turned and made a run for it while screaming, “You damn stalker cop! Why the hell are you everywhere I go!”
“I’m not stalking you, brat! I just have some questions I want to ask you!”
“I don’t talk to pigs!”
“I’m a cop, not a pig you brat!”
“Cop. Pig. It’s the same thing! Just leave me alone!”
We’d been able to hear the full exchange thanks to how slow the door closed.
Officer Johnson ran after her, out the doors, to try and catch her. She’d parked close by though and had enough time to hop onto her motorcycle, turn it on, and leave him behind eating her dust.
As soon as she took off, Officer Johnson let out a resigned sigh outside the store. He looked pretty helpless. He didn’t even think about chasing after her in his cruiser, he knew it was futile once she was on her motorcycle. Once on it, there was no catching her. It was too versatile and fast, a real headache.
He didn’t even bother to radio it in since he already knew where to find her. He had no evidence she’d actually done anything either so he had no grounds to try and detain her anyway. If he really wanted to question her, he could always find her at her mechanic repair shop. Whether she cooperated with him was another story altogether.
Instead of wasting his energy, standing in the middle of the parking lot, he took out another cigarette from the pack he bought and lit it. He stared at the direction Lea drove off in deep thought, unmoving. It was unknown what sort of thoughts were going through his head right now.
I couldn’t help but think that he looked pretty cool for a cop. He was pretty level-headed and took things in stride as they popped up.
He only headed over to his cruiser and departed when he finished his cigarette. It appeared he was operating solo today. The partner with him last time wasn’t inside his cruiser. Perhaps his partner had been among the cops who suffered injuries during the raid last week.
I had no way to confirm that now that he was gone though. Even if I could, why would I? It was none of my business.
“That was quite the exit, wasn’t it?” Alicia broke the silence.
“Yeah, it was.”
“Was that the girl he was talking about?”
“Yes.”
“And you know her?”
“Yeah, she cooperated with us. She played a pretty big role in everything, don’t go spreading that around though.”
“She did? Why’d she show up here today?”
“No idea. Her showing up just now was just some awful timing on her part. We didn’t plan to meet today or anything.”
“I see. Is she pretty?”
“Huh? Why are you asking that out of nowhere?”
“Uh... why? I’m… not too sure… actually. No reason… I guess.”
“Are you feeling insecure?”
“Insecure? About... what?” Alicia's voice was filled with uncertainty.
“She’s not ugly, she’s definitely pretty.”
“Wha-”
“But you don’t lose to her in any way.”
“Shouldn’t it be... prettier?” She furtively peeked at me from the corner of her eye.
“I invoke my right to remain silent.” I raised my hands up helplessly to my sides and shrugged.
“I find the defendant guilty as charged. You’re sentenced to life by my side.” Without even thinking about it she gave a playful response. She’d gotten pretty into cop movies and dramas ever since she set her sights on criminal law and criminology.
“Oh no, what am I supposed to do? Can I appeal this unjust ruling?”
“No. There was no error in law here.”
“There must be something I can do to overturn this.”
“Are you… that against being by my side for the rest of your life?”
“Not at all. I’m just concerned you’d be the one to regret cuffing yourself to me for the rest of your life so early on when you’re still so young. You might change your mind in the future, you know. What will you do then?”
“I won’t change my mind. My mind is made up.”
“Then don’t come crying to me when I intentionally say a random girl you don’t know is prettier than you to make you dislike me then.”
She lightly hit my shoulder right as the front door to the store opened up and a customer entered. After that, things picked up in the store and we didn’t have any time to converse as we had up until now.
My first day back at work ended up being a return to normalcy after those five agonizing weeks spent in hell.
