Chapter 8

Damon's POV

I was busy working on my laptop when I heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," I said.

The door opened, and Marco walked in.

"Sir, we've finished the investigation," he said. "But we still couldn't find any clues about the killer."

"How is that possible?" I asked.

Marco sighed. "The CCTV footage only showed Donald leaving his house. After that, the screen went black. The next thing we saw was when we arrived at the crime scene."

I closed my laptop and leaned back in my chair. For a moment, I stayed silent.

"Show me the CCTV footage," I said.

Marco handed me the video. I watched it again and again, but I still couldn't find any sign of the killer.

Then I noticed something.

A black Ford drove past the camera.

"Pause it," I said.

Marco stopped the video.

I zoomed in on the car until I could clearly see the license plate. I quickly wrote the plate number on a piece of paper and handed it to Marco.

"Find out who owns this car," I ordered. 

"Then report back to me."

Marco nodded.

"Should we involve the police, sir”.

"No, Marco," I replied. "This case must stay open until we find real evidence."

Marco nodded and left. A few moments later, one of my guards walked into the office.

"What is it, Peter?" I asked.

"Boss, I got a call from Elias Vance, the man who works at the auction house," Peter said.

When I heard Elias's name, my heart skipped a beat. Still, I stayed calm.

"What did he want?" I asked.

"He said he has a few questions for you about the ledger you brought to the auction house before it is returned to the archives."

I looked at my wristwatch.

"I have several meetings today," I told Peter. "When I'm done, I'll let you know when to arrange a meeting with him."

Peter nodded.

"Yes, sir," he said before leaving the office.

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the clock on the wall as it slowly ticked.

I frowned and whispered to myself, "Why do my feelings change every time I hear Elias's name or see him?”

A few minutes later, Marco walked into my office.

"Boss, the car is ready," he said.

I stood up, buttoned my suit jacket, and left the office.

Soon, Uncle Sebastian and I were in the car, driving to our family's lawyer. We needed to finish the business records between my father and Victor Vance.

I asked Uncle Sebastian to come with me because he was the only person who knew all the details of the business deals between my father and Victor Vance.

When we arrived at the lawyer's office, people were running around in panic. Something terrible had happened.

I looked out the car window and I called Marco who already arrived at the place before me.

"Marco, what's going on?" I asked. "Why are there so many police officers here?"

Marco took a deep breath.

"Sir," he said, "the lawyer, Mr. Dury, has been found dead. It looks like he was forced to take his own life."

"What?!" Uncle Sebastian shouted in shock.

"Yes, sir," Uncle Sebastian said. "That's what we found."

My stomach tightened as I quickly got out of the car and walked toward the lawyer's office.

When we entered the office, we saw Mr. Dury hanging from a rope tied to the ceiling.

I looked at his body for a moment before the medical team carefully brought him down.

Uncle Sebastian looked at me and said, "This could be another one of Elias Vance's mistakes. He might be the reason Mr. Dury is dead."

I sat down in a chair, trying to understand what was happening.

Then I turned to Marco.

"Find the CCTV footage from the control room," I ordered.

"Yes, sir," Marco replied before leaving.

I looked at Uncle Sebastian and asked, "Do you know anyone who worked closely with Victor Vance? Someone who might know something about this case?”

Uncle Sebastian stayed quiet for a few seconds before answering.

"No," he said.

Just then, Marco rushed into the room.

"Sir, the control room has been destroyed," he said. "There is no CCTV footage left. Someone erased all the evidence."

I frowned.

"It looks like the person behind all this is always one step ahead of us," I said.

I stood up and left the office right away.

As I walked downstairs, a crowd of reporters rushed toward me. They all wanted to know what had happened, but I wasn't ready to answer their questions.

Marco cleared a path through the crowd so I could get into my car. Uncle Sebastian stayed behind to speak with the reporters.

One of the reporters asked, "Does Mr Dury's death have anything to do with Elias Vance?"

Uncle Sebastian looked at them and replied, "We all know that Victor Vance was the mastermind behind Mr Lorenzo Morreti’s death. Right now, we are still investigating Mr. Dury's death, so we cannot make any final decisions yet. 

“ we don't have solid proof yet that his son did it. But I promise everyone one thing: we will get justice for the death of Lawyer Dury."

As people started asking more questions, my uncle waved them away and got into the car.

On our way back home, Marco said to me, "Boss, we found the owner of that license plate. It was registered to a man named Mr. Kelvin."

I asked, "Do you have Mr. Kelvin's address?"

"That's the problem, boss," Marco replied. "Mr. Kelvin died in a terrible car accident a few years ago."

I let that news sink in for a minute. Then I said to Marco, "This mystery man playing games with us is way too smart. It feels like he knows my every move before I even make it.”

I told Marco to ask Peter to set up a meeting between me and Elias. He has some questions to answer. Marco nodded and gave Peter a call.

Uncle Sebastian grabbed me by my shoulder and said, "I'm always here for you, Damon. If Elias tries anything stupid, I won't hesitate to put a bullet right in his forehead."

I looked at my uncle and said, "Thanks for having my back, Uncle, but I can handle this myself. Elias isn't a big deal."

The rest of the drive was completely silent.