Chapter 2

The salesperson continued, "His so-called contract for full payment in cash doesn't exist at all!"

Officer Warren turned to look at me. "You claim there's a contract. Did you bring it with you?"

"I did," I answered.

When I retrieved the car sales contract for full payment in cash from my bag and handed it over, a mocking smirk flashed across the salesperson's face.

Officer Warren took the contract and flipped to the signature section on the very last page. His brows knitted together slowly.

"This document only has your signature. It doesn't have the car dealership's stamp or their salesperson's signature."

My heart sank abruptly as I yanked the contract out of Officer Warren's hands. Like he said, my signature was clearly shown on the first signature line. To my utter shock, the second signature line really was blank!

"This can't be!" I blurted. I could clearly remember the salesperson signing his name when I signed the contract.

Seeing this, the salesperson perked up immediately.

"Do you see it now, Officer Warren? Like I said, we didn't sign anything at all. This contract isn't valid. This man just wants to get something for nothing!

"It's all clearly shown here. What else do you have to say? If you're trying to scam someone, you should at least consider who you're targeting!"

By then, the commotion had drawn the attention of the other customers and staff members in the showroom.

"He looks like a decent person. I can't believe that he did such a thing…"

"People these days are capable of doing anything to cheat others for their own benefit."

"That's right. He must be trying to take advantage of a loophole since the salesperson is different. But look at him now—he got caught red-handed."

The salesperson shrugged at Officer Warren, looking as though he were the victim here.

"Officer, please set the record straight for us. With his actions, isn't he just picking a fight and stirring up trouble? At the very least, he's disrupting our business operations, isn't he?"

Officer Warren asked me sternly, "What's your explanation for this, Mr. Lyons? You insisted that they signed the contract, but there's indeed no signature on the document."

I stared at the glaringly blank space, then caught a glimpse of the salesperson's smug expression. In a split second, a thought flashed across my mind.

Could they have used a pen that contained some kind of disappearing ink?

Meeting the salesperson's gleeful gaze, I tapped the blank space with my finger.

"Alright, even if you didn't sign the contract as you claim, explain this to us. According to standard procedures, there should be a duplicate copy of the contract. Both parties should sign and stamp them on the spot, and each party retains a copy.

"If you didn't sign the contract, would you have given one of the copies to your client just like that?"

Instantly, the smile on the salesperson's expression stiffened.

Officer Warren's gaze turned sharp. Once again, he studied the contract. "Please answer the question."

"That…"

The salesperson's eyes darted frantically, and he hummed and hawed for a few seconds before continuing, "That might have been an oversight at the time—just a slight procedural error. That's right! It was an oversight on the previous salesperson's part!"

Without waiting for him to continue making up his story, I turned toward Officer Warren and said, "Officer, I'd like to request access to the surveillance footage from the meeting room here a month ago."

"You can't!"

The color drained from the salesperson's face instantly. "The surveillance footage contains our company's trade secrets and our clients' private information. How could we show it to an outsider like you just like that?"

After thinking about it for a moment, Officer Warren said, "How about this, then? I'll check the surveillance footage with Mr. Lyons. We'll only check the footage from the day the contract was signed and verify the situation.

"It won't affect your business operations, and we'll be able to get to the bottom of things. This wouldn't violate any rules, right?"

Cold sweat broke out on the salesperson's forehead immediately.

At that moment, a lighthearted voice came from the back of the showroom. "You make a valid point, Officer Warren. Our management fell short, and we apologize for the inconvenience."

Everyone turned toward the source of the voice, only to see a middle-aged man with a flushed face walking briskly toward us.

He first shook Officer Warren's hand in a friendly manner, then nodded at me in greeting, looking as though he were a mediator here.