Chapter 4

Soon, my colleagues Cora and Zac arrived.

We took Wendy to an empty classroom, with Cora taking out her notebook with a gentle smile. "I'm going to ask you a couple of questions now, Wendy. You have to answer me truthfully, okay?"

Wendy was a little spooked by the tense vibe, and was tugging on my sleeve with fear in her eyes. "Did I do something wrong, Daddy?"

"No," I smiled at her assuringly, patting her head. "You just have to tell that nice lady everything you saw."

Cora nodded and asked softly, "Wendy, did you talk to Carl earlier today?"

Wendy pursed her little lips as she nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I'm just curious why he isn't allergic to shrimp anymore… He never ate those before."

"What did Carl say?"

Wendy frowned as she tried her best to remember. "He put his hand on my mouth, and told me not to ask because he can't say… Then Ms. Ackles came to us. We didn't finish talking, and he ate the shrimp on his plate today."

Cora asked for more details, which Wendy answered seriously, and it didn't look like she was lying at all.

When it was over, Cora closed her notebook and told me, "She's innocent, judging from her testimony, and it's also shown on the cameras that Carl went to the pool on his own. Just take her home, let her get some rest—she must be in shock."

I nodded, taking Wendy's hand and was ready to leave when Lilian suddenly rushed into the room.

Cutting us off, her eyes were wide and bloodshot as she hollered, "No! You are not leaving!"

She even clawed towards Wendy, but Zac stopped her in time.

I frowned and argued, "Why are you stopping us from leaving? The investigation made it clear that she did nothing wrong. What happened to Carl was an accident…"

"Accident?! That's too much of a coincidence!"

Lilian kept screaming hysterically. "You're her dad and a cop! You'd definitely protect her! I won't believe anything in the police report now!"

The stalemate kept on until Commissioner King came to chase us all out.

After hearing what everyone had to say, he clapped Lilian's shoulder and said, "Rest assured, ma'am, we will handle this fairly. Officer Jackson volunteered to step aside to avoid suspicion, so it's his colleagues who will take the case.

"That's why I can assure you that there won't be bias, and we will tell you right away if there are any developments."

There was strength and authority in the commissioner's words, and seeing that determined look in his eyes, Lilian stopped freaking out.

Collapsing on her rump, she quietly sobbed.

I quickly took the moment to take Wendy's hand, quickly leaving the hospital.

Once we got home, Wendy was sulking and quickly fell asleep—it had been a long, scary day after all.

My mind was a mess as I sat on the living room couch too.

Then, I was cooking dinner when I stared at the vegetables chopping board, suddenly remembering Carl's allergy.

The entire incident had to revolve around that single factor, but there was nothing on the cameras.

But if Wendy was right, was there a blind spot in the cameras?

And why would Carl suddenly become so obedient, even eating the shrimp he was allergic to without being asked?

The way he acted strange in the afternoon and how he spaced out before falling into the pond… was that really all coincidences?

Even as I tried to connect all the dots, a particular name stuck out like a sore thumb.