Chapter 3

That night, Francine left campus under the dual escort of an ambulance and a police car. She was suffering from acute gastroenteritis and dehydration, and was suspected of theft.

The next morning, I was summoned to the local police station.

"Mr. Declan Cordery? Please have a seat."

The officer in charge, Harry Hughes, rubbed his temples, looking somewhat exhausted. On his desk sat the now-empty chicken curry takeaway box and the remains of the tracker.

"Officer Hughes, I'm here to give my statement," I said, taking my seat politely.

"Declan Cordery, you psycho! How dare you poison my daughter!"

Before Harry could even speak, the door to the interview room flew open. A middle-aged woman named Deborah Wray stormed in, surrounded by several bodyguards. She pointed at me and began spewing profanities.

Francine followed behind her, pale-faced.

"Mom, it was him! He deliberately poisoned my food! I want him in jail! I want him expelled!" Francine screamed, drawing stares from the officers nearby.

"Ma'am, this is a police station. Please watch your language and behavior!" Harry slammed his hand on the table and stood up to reprimand her.

"Officer, you have to do right by us!" Francine's father, Bill Merrick, walked in. Compared to Deborah and Francine, he looked much calmer.

He handed Harry a business card. "I'm Bill Merrick, chairman of Merrick Corp. While my daughter may have been careless and picked up the wrong takeout, Mr. Cordery poisoned the food. That's attempted murder! We reserve the right to press charges!"

"Attempted murder?" I widened my eyes. It seemed like no one in the family had any sense of reason. "Mr. Merrick, your daughter took my delivery and ate it without my permission.

"I've been having stomach issues lately, so I added some laxatives to my own food to deal with my constipation. What law did I break by doing that? Do I have to predict the digestive health of whoever might steal my food when I place an order for delivery?"

"You—" Bill's expression darkened.

"Stop twisting words, Declan!" Francine lunged at me and roared hysterically. "I suffered severe dehydration from diarrhea last night because of you! I was utterly embarrassed in the hospital!

"Now the whole campus is saying I steal people's deliveries! I'm telling you, if you don't drop the case and apologize to me publicly, admitting that you framed me, I'll jump out that window right now! I'll die, and it'll be on you!"

She made a show of moving toward the nearby window, and Deborah pretended to wail dramatically. "Oh, Francine, don't do anything stupid! Officers! You're all seeing this, right? My daughter is being forced to her death by this broke student!"

The interview room descended into chaos.

Harry frowned, clearly exasperated by this spoiled princess throwing a tantrum and resorting to suicide threats.

He looked at me meaningfully, seeming to hope I would back down first to calm the situation. After all, in their experience, when someone started threatening their own life, the victims usually had no choice but to settle.

But I wasn't going to step down. Instead, I stood up and moved away from Francine. Then, I pointed at the half-open window. "Francine, there's no security screen on that window. Go ahead and jump."

"What did you say?" Francine froze.

"I said, if you're going to jump, do it quickly. Don't waste the police's time."

I stared at her coldly and continued, "Aren't you a little too old to be pulling a stunt like this? Do you really think that crying, throwing a tantrum, and threatening suicide will get things to go your way? Do you think the whole world will indulge your rotten temper like you dad does?

"Sorry, but I'm not one of those people who will simply put up with this kind of nonsense."

"You're a monster, Declan Cordery! This is attempted murder and incitement to suicide!" Bill lost his composure and shouted at me with a finger in my face.

"Mr. Merrick, don't throw around accusations as you wish. This is all recorded," I said, pointing at the camera in the corner of the interview room.

"She was the one who threatened me with suicide. I simply expressed my stance that I will not accept any form of moral coercion. Also, Officer Hughes…"

I turned to Harry and handed him the USB drive I had prepared. "This contains surveillance footage of my three previous stolen orders. It clearly shows Francine taking them. There's also the tracker route from last night and my payment receipts for the orders.

"Although the total amount involved is only a little over 200 dollars, according to Article 49 of the state's public order law, theft of public or private property is punishable by up to ten days in jail, with a minimum sentence of five days, and may also result in a fine of up to 500 dollars.

"For repeated theft offenses, punishment may still be imposed even if the amount does not meet the threshold for criminal charges. I refuse any private settlement and demand that the police handle this matter according to the law."

Harry looked at the USB drive in his hand, then back at me. Seeing my calm expression, a hint of approval flashed in his eyes.