"Hold on, I have to do something first." Wolfe Fang said and...
He stopped the recording and deleted it.
"Wha--- Hey!" Leon took his phone from him. "What was that for?"
"He mentioned your father's business. Are you really that dumb, Leon Mo?" Wolfe rolled his eyes. "You almost incriminated yourself."
"I was going to edit that part anyway!" Leon said. "I'm not dumb, you just meddle too much! I know what I'm doing!"
Wolfe retorted. "He didn't say anything important before anyway. And if he did, I remember it completely. What we need is a recording of just his statement about the criminal accusation."
"I really shouldn't have brought you along...." Leon grumbled, then opened the recording.
"Continue, Mr. Yao. If you could also recall the dates and give full names of the people you mention, that would be really helpful."
Old Yao nodded. "W-Well, all the important bits happened in just one day, young---"
"Mo." Leon interrupted him before he can say 'master'. "My name is Leon Mo, I work with the International Criminal Police Organization. You can relax and entrust us with your statement, though this recording may be used in the future to support you or against you under the court of law."
Old Yao's eyes widened at this revelation, confused if this was true. He became even more nervous.....
Wolfe Fang mouthed to him, 'Play along'.
This made him relax, thinking of the possibility that this may just be a cover as well.
"A-Alright, Officer Mo. Well, the day it happened was three months ago, on June 18. My employer, Mrs. Ku Qi, had just gone into labor the night before on June 17. I remember the time of birth exactly, it was 8:31 PM."
"You were in the hospital with her during the labor?" He asked.
"Yes, as her bodyguard, it's part of my job." Old Yao nodded. "But I wasn't allowed inside during the labor process since I am not a family member. I was waiting outside by the bench. I had nothing to do, and I was also adjusting my watch with the hospital's clock, since the old, cheap thing had been faulty lately."
"I knew the child was born at 8:31 because of this, and because I heard the medical team cheering at the success. It was a long and dangerous labor, lasting for about 8 hours."
Wolfe edged to sit on the chair with Leon, and they obviously don't fit so Leon begrudgingly let him sit partially on his lap.
Wolfe grinned triumphantly at least, but continued playing the assistant interrogator. "Was the child healthy?"
"Surprisingly, yes. Because her pregnancy was sensitive, the doctors were also saying that it was very likely for him to have had deformities or he gets miscarried."
Since they were talking in Chinese, and the word for 'he' and 'she' sounds the same, Leon had to verify. "Was it a boy or a girl?"
"A boy." Old Yao said. "His foreigner father was very glad."
"Full names, please." Leon reminded.
"Oh, it was hard to pronounce and I can't really spell it. His father was Russian, or something near that, I think. We call him Mr. Lebed because it's the start of his very long last name, and his first name starts with Ah..... What was it? A Du Rik."
"Adrik Lebed." Leon said.
"Yes." Old Yao nodded.
"What does that mean?" Wolfe asked when he noticed Leon's frowning expression.
"Dark or black swan." Leon smiled dryly. "I just find it amusing that his name means that, and black swan is used for unpredicted events with terrible consequences... like this child being abducted."
He waved it off. "Anyway, continue. Mr. Lebed wasn't around when his son was born?"
"Yes. He had a project in his home country, Mrs. Ku said. He promised to catch a flight next week however, when his filming was over."
There's nothing much to say on that, since it makes sense. Leon just kept a mental note of this possible lead.
It's actually not as uncommon as people may think for parents to kidnap their own child in order to gain something from the other parent.
He then posed the question: "On the day of the abduction, was the child still in the hospital?"
"Yes, yes." Old Yao nodded. "You see, what happened was after the baby was taken care of by the nurses and placed with his mother, Mrs. Ku asked me to take the child back to the crib as she was going to eat dinner."
"Poor girl looks really tired. But also very happy, I know how much she loved her baby boy. I did as she said, and put the child back to the crib. Then, I went to the bathroom."
"That was when it happened. Someone who was dressed like me and have the same build as me entered the room and was caught by the CCTV. "
"He took the child from its crib and escaped. When I came back, Mrs. Ku asked me where her child was and I said I didn't know, I just put him down the crib."
"She panicked, and kept asking me where he was. I told her I just came from the bathroom, and she said she knew that because she saw me go there twice."
"That was how I was accused. For you see, there were no CCTV near the bathroom stalls. The nearest one was on the hallway on the leftside, and on the right where Mrs. Ku's room was."
"The one on the left caught a female nurse holding the baby, and since I also came from there, they thought I was the one who handed the child to her!"
"I would never do something like that!" The old man exclaimed. "I have no reason to! I don't even know that woman when they showed her face to me on the CCTV, but they won't believe me!"
"I didn't want to go to jail, so I panicked and ran! My.... My situation is something you understand, Officer Mo." Yao Yuzhui became more careful about mentioning his connection with the mercenary business. "The moment I get examined by the police, there would be great danger to come."
Wolfe took the initiative to turn off the recording at this part. "Thank you, Mr. Yao. That would be all."
Yao Yuzhui now sighed in relief. "You work at the police now, Young Master Mo?"
"Sort of." Leon answered. "Listen, Mr. Yao...What you did had just further made you suspicious. You should have complied with the process that the police investigators had ordered and gave them this statement from the start."
"I-I know but..... Just getting involved with the police would bring danger to The Den." Old Yao fiddled with his hands. "And I was running out of hope. Mrs. Ku completely distrusts me, even after all my years of service to her."
Leon nodded. He called out The Den member. "Tell my Father to let Mr. Yao stay underground here for now. I will be taking this to the MSS and see what I can do to prove his innocence."
The Den member frowned. "But the rule for traitors that almost endangered the group---"
"I know. But I am the young master here, aren't I? My word is also part of the law here. I am the rules."
Leon said intimidatingly with his eyes that can already make you feel like you are facing a beast and not a human.
Even the tough Den member was unsettled by this, and so he could only nod and give a call to Mr. Mo outside.
"T-Thank you so much, young master!" Old Yao almost fell to his kness as he cried and reached out to hug Leon. "Thank you for sparing this old man's life! I still want to see my grandchildren."
Leon smiled and his darkened eyes softened. "You will see them again soon once we clear your name. For now, here's my number. Expect to receive a call from me checking in on how well they're treating you, or giving you updates on the case."
He turned to Wolfe. "Let's go, 'partner'. If someone asks, our alibi is that Old Yao managed to escape by hitting both of us with a wooden slab on the head."
"But that would mean we need injuries, right?'" Wolfe said confused.
"Exactly. Prepare yourself." Leon Mo said.
Wolfe blinked. "H-Huh?"
He took Wolfe to another room where some guy was practicing with nunchucks and said. "Hey, odd request, but can you hit me and my buddy in the head? Just enough to knock us out and not kill us, thanks."
Wolfe Fang panicked, running for the door but Leon Mo blocked him. He was wearing a shit-eating grin. "Don't worry, it's all gonna be fine."
"It's not going to be fine, you idiot! Why can't we just use make-up and prosthetics---"
BAM!!!!
The world went dark for him, along with Leon.