The office was expansive and lavishly decorated, with sleek, modern furniture and large windows that offered a panoramic view of the city skyline. The walls were adorned with expensive artwork, and the room was bathed in the soft glow of ambient lighting.
A large desk dominated the centre of the room, cluttered with high-tech gadgets and monitors displaying various data streams. Bookshelves lined the walls, filled with books and collectibles from around the world. The floor was covered in plush carpeting, and the room was filled with the scent of expensive cologne.
Despite the opulence of the office, it felt cold and sterile, devoid of any personal touches.
Hyllos was not in the office.
The Synthetik receptionist stepped aside to let Rio into the office. "Mr. Kendal, you have arrived earlier than the appointment time. I have informed Mr. Hyllos about your arrival, and he instructed me to escort you into the office. He will be here shortly."
Rio nodded. A part of him was relieved that Hyllos was not there, but another part was eager to get his job done.
As the Synthetik left, Rio took a moment to scan the office discreetly. Satisfied that he wasn't being recorded, he activated a small device hidden in his pocket to confirm. With a nod, he began to explore the office, searching for anything that might be useful.
The walls were adorned with awards and certificates, indicating Hyllos' success and influence in the pharmaceutical industry. Rio checked the desk drawers, scanning documents and notes, but found nothing immediately relevant to his investigation.
Moving to the computer terminal, Rio attempted to access Hyllos' files, but they were heavily encrypted.
It would take him at least half an hour to decipher the files, which was not a very smart move given the time constraint he had.
Just then, he heard footsteps approaching the door. Quickly, Rio retreated to a corner of the room, preparing to confront Hyllos when he entered.
The doorknob was turned halfway.
The footsteps stopped just outside the office. Rio pricked his ears to listen to the conversation. There was a muffled male voice which Rio assumed was Mr. Hyllos's.
But the male voice sounded more distant as Rio approached the door. It seemed like the person who was about to open the office door had stopped and decided to move away.
With a sense of determination, Rio decided to turn the doorknob that the person attempted to open. He just managed to catch a glimpse of a man in a black suit rounding the corner of the corridor.
His instinct told him to follow this man, and he did.
Rio followed the man through the labyrinth of corridors, his surroundings becoming increasingly unfamiliar. The dimly lit passageways seemed to twist and turn endlessly, and Rio couldn't shake the feeling that he was being led deeper into a maze designed to confuse and disorient.
After what felt like an eternity, the man finally entered a small room, leaving the door slightly ajar behind him. Rio cautiously approached the door and peeked inside. The room was sparsely furnished, with a desk cluttered with papers and a single chair pushed against the wall.
The man stood in front of a large screen, his back to Rio, seemingly engrossed in whatever was displayed on it.
Rio hesitated, weighing his options.
The man turned abruptly, as if sensing Rio's presence. Startled, Rio quickly ducked out of sight, his heart racing. He listened intently, but all he could hear was the sound of the man moving around the room.
Taking a deep breath, Rio peered back into the room. To his surprise, another person was sitting on a sofa in the room with this man.
Tweaking the angle of his view, Rio managed to glimpse the woman which sent a wave of chill across his heart at recognition set in his eyes.
The woman was not anybody, but the woman he met in Mr. Kagiso's mansion - Mrs. Kagiso.
The way Mrs. Kagiso looked at the man Rio had followed was completely different from the woman he had seen in the mansion. Her posture exuded an air of superiority, casting a condescending glance at the man who had followed her here.
"Mrs. Kagiso," the man started.
Mrs. Kagiso held up a hand to halt whatever the man was trying to say. "I want no excuses. More Zonizide."
Despite Rio being unable to see the man's expression, he could guess it - embarrassed and fearful.
As Rio listened in on the conversation between Mrs. Kagiso and Hyllos, he tried to decipher their cryptic dialog.
"Hyllos, I'm worried about losing control of the situation and Batho's behavior." Mrs. Kagiso's eyes bored into the man. The mention of Hyllos's name confirmed Rio's suspicion of this man's identity.
Their conversation took a tense turn as Mrs. Kagiso insisted on more Zonizide, despite Hyllos's attempts to refuse.
"I need more," Mrs. Kagiso's voice was firm, betraying a hint of desperation.
Hyllos hesitated, clearly uncomfortable. "Mrs. Kagiso, you know the risks. We can't afford to be reckless."
"I don't care about the risks," Mrs. Kagiso snapped, her tone sharp. "I need it to control Batho. He's becoming uncontrollable."
Hyllos sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I understand your concern, but we need to be cautious. We can't risk harming him."
"He's already harmed," Mrs. Kagiso retorted, her voice tinged with frustration. "I need Zonizide to keep him in check."
Rio observed their interaction, piecing together the puzzle. It seemed that Mrs. Kagiso was using Zonizide to control Batho, but Hyllos was hesitant to comply, knowing the potential consequences.
"Mrs. Kagiso, you know I have no say in this matter," Hyllos started, shuffling his feet uncomfortably in the room.
"Then let me meet with Haydon!" Sharp lines of frustration appeared on Mrs. Kagiso's forehead. Her cold, steely glare was enough to make Rio cringe.
Hyllos cleared his throat, his discomfort palpable as he hesitated to discuss the person Mrs. Kagiso had just mentioned. "I will bring up your request to Mr. Haydon when I next meet him," he finally managed to say, his voice strained.
Replying with a dry, humorless laugh, Mrs. Kagiso's tone turned icy. "Do not play tricks with me. You meet Haydon almost every day. Why are you so worried about telling him my request?"
"It's not that," Hyllos began, his words trailing off as he searched for the right explanation.
"Perhaps you can tell Haydon that," Mrs. Kagiso interrupted, her posture stiffening as she asserted her dominance once again. "If he wants the plan to succeed, then he will have to handle the current situation. With Batho getting out of my control, I'm not sure how much longer I can keep my husband in the dark."
The weight of Mrs. Kagiso's final threat hung heavy in the air, causing Rio to feel a pang of unease. Mr. Kagiso had always seemed devoted to protecting his wife, but now it appeared that she was keeping secrets from him.
The sadness and regret in Mr. Kagiso's voice when he spoke of his wife's pregnancy with Batho, knowing he was sterile, stirred a complex mix of emotions in Rio.
Feeling as though his legs were encased in lead, he found himself rooted to the spot, unable to distance himself from their conversation. Each word exchanged between them chipped away at his previous understanding, reshaping his perspective on the case.
Mr. Kagiso, who had believed himself to be conducting a clandestine investigation of Batho behind his wife's back, was in fact the one with the least knowledge of the situation.
Contrary to her initial appearance of innocence during Rio's visit to the mansion, Mrs. Kagiso harbored a depth of knowledge that could hold the key to unraveling the mystery.
Just when Rio believed he had successfully penetrated the pharmaceutical company to confront the mastermind behind the scheme, it became apparent that Hyllos was a subordinate to another mysterious figure - Haydon.
Rio's conviction that remaining in his current position would yield more information persisted, despite the looming threat of discovery.
"I understand your concerns, Mrs. Kagiso," Hyllos began, straightening his posture. "But considering the current circumstances - the knowledge possessed by the inspector and the forensic doctor, and the need for us to handle this delicately..."
Mrs. Kagiso's rising anger was evident in the flush that crept up her neck, coloring her cheeks with a heated hue. "Are you implying that I am to blame for this?"
"No," Hyllos replied, his composure unwavering. "I am simply stating the facts. We must exercise caution."
Mrs. Kagiso's narrowed eyes glinted dangerously as she absorbed Hyllos's words.
"While increasing Batho's Zonizide dosage may control his symptoms," Hyllos continued, "it could also weaken his body, a concern that may trouble your husband. If he were to take Batho to a hospital, all our efforts thus far would be in vain."
Rio swallowed the hard lump in his throat.
The murder or disappearance of Inspector Jaquan and Dr. Mossing had been orchestrated by them. PharmaMedicor was the mastermind behind it all. And now Huette was also caught by their people.
Why would a pharmaceutical company go to such lengths to hide Batho's identity?
Hyllos seemed to be interrupted by a message buzzing in his pocket.
Hyllos's brow furrowed deeply, his eyes darting around in a mix of bewilderment and frustration as he received information from the caller on his AD. His lips pressed into a tight line, a scowl forming as confusion gave way to anger.
Mrs. Kagiso seemed confused by the intensity of his emotions.
A gnawing feeling rose in the pit of Rio's stomach as he studied Hyllos's expression. His instincts told him to move away, but his feet were glued to the ground.
"What do you mean by two Mr. Kendals came to our company?" Hyllos asked again, clearly restraining his anger at this information.
"Are you saying that you just let an impostor into our company?"
A look of concern clouded Mrs. Kagiso's face.
"You make sure the woman we caught earlier is kept in the storeroom," Hyllos's hushed voice carried a sense of danger. "We don't know what intentions this impostor had."
With that, Hyllos ended the call.
Rio didn't wait for Hyllos to update Mrs. Kagiso about the call. He left the spot where he had been eavesdropping, wrestling inwardly between leaving the building as soon as possible and going to the storeroom to rescue Huette. He knew that Hyllos's next move would be to activate the company's security to catch the impostor.
Rio walked through the labyrinthine corridors of the building, his senses on high alert. He searched for signs pointing to both the exit and the storeroom.
Whenever the coast was clear, he quickened his pace, determined to reach his destination. When people were around, he maintained a calm demeanor, blending in with the bustling activity of the building. His heart raced with each passing second, the urgency of the situation pushing him forward.
No Synthetik or human security guards were within Rio's view as he navigated through the corridors, walking past office after office in the enormous building.
The sign above his head indicated that the storeroom was located in the basements. To his surprise, there were three floors in the basement. Rio realized that to find Huette, he would have to search through all three floors. This would not only be time-consuming but would also dampen his chances of escaping undetected.
But Rio knew that he would not be able to sleep well if he did not venture into the basement. The number of people in the building thinned out as Rio descended, the air growing colder and more oppressive with each step.
He felt a sense of foreboding, as if the very walls of the basement were closing in on him. Nevertheless, he pressed on.
The silence was deafening, broken only by the faint hum of machinery in the distance.
Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Rio came across a door marked "Storeroom." He hesitated for a moment, steeling himself for what lay beyond. With a deep breath, he pushed open the door and stepped inside.