From the blank expression on Kate's face, it was clear she truly had no idea that her father was obsessed with cleanliness.
In an ordinary household, it would be hard to believe such a situation could arise, but in a family of commercial spies, it was easily understandable.
Because for a spy, it's best not to have any obvious habits or preferences that differ from the norm, and if they do, they must carefully conceal them.
Looking at the incredulous Kate, Yang Yi had no choice but to explain further.
"In your father's house, there is only one cup with a round lip and a square base, just one, which is for his personal use. All the other glasses have square lips and round bases. The difference isn't particularly noticeable; they look very similar, but this detail is unmistakably certain. If you ever have the chance, you can verify it yourself.
Also, the way your father sits next to the sofa and the position of his glass don't match his usual habits."
Kate couldn't help but ask, "His sitting posture and the position of the glass don't match his habits?"
Yang Yi took a breath and said, "It's very hard for people to change their habitual actions, almost impossible, in fact. It's true that your father likes to have a drink when he comes home. But he holds the bottle with his right hand and the glass with his left, and then sits in his favored spot, casually placing the glass down, right?"
After thinking for a moment, Kate replied somewhat blankly, "It seems so."
"Your father doesn't just have a cleanliness obsession; he also has some compulsions. He has a specific spot for everything he puts down. The bottles in the liquor cabinet haven't been moved, so if your father was pouring a drink, he would still hold the bottle with his right and the glass with his left and put the glass down on the coffee table to his left. But clearly, the glass was on his right. So everything at home has been carefully staged. It looks as if your father died from a heart attack or a stroke or some such illness, but trust me, he was murdered."
Kate's voice trembled, "You've reached this conclusion just from these observations?"
"Yes, for anyone else this might not mean much, but it's impossible for your father to be found in such a state, and if the impossible has been made to appear possible, then it must be someone else forcing the situation, or it's a staged scene!"
After speaking with certainty, Yang Yi urgently added, "That's why your mother could be in danger now, too. If she's fine and so are the others, we have time to slowly investigate Mr. Jones's cause of death. But if, if..."
Yang Yi shook his head and whispered, "I hope it's not what I'm thinking. If it is, then they're in danger, and we all are."
Kate exhaled shakily, "Who do you think killed my dad?"
Yang Yi whispered, "I don't know, but I suspect it's connected to the intelligence we stole from the Egertoni Company. There's no other explanation for now. If it is indeed related to Egertoni, then there's likely a traitor among us."
Kate's foot involuntarily pressed the brake and then she turned to glance at Yang Yi, her voice shaking, "A traitor?"
Yang Yi said softly, "I mean, if this is Egertoni's doing, then we likely have a traitor among us."
"Why would you say that? They've been my father's friends and comrades for many years, there can't be a traitor among them."
Yang Yi, frustrated and impatient, flapped his hand dismissively, "I'm just hypothesizing. But think about it, we only stole the intelligence from Egertoni Company yesterday. Even if Egertoni has discovered the theft of their trade secrets, how could they possibly have located your father so quickly? Now we can't get in touch with your mother, and Ryan and Wells are also unreachable. What does the simultaneous disappearance of the key members of the choir imply? It likely means they are already dead!"
Kate suddenly fell silent. Yang Yi exhaled and said in a low voice, "I'm sorry, but we must face reality. If they are all dead, then the person who killed them is both precise and swift, which usually indicates only one possibility – a traitor within."
Kate was completely unsettled now, gripping the steering wheel with one hand and fumbling for her phone with the other, her voice quivering, "I need to make a call, I must call. No, I need to send a text to my mom to tell her what happened, even if she doesn't answer the phone."
Yang Yi sighed, "Pull over, I'll drive."
Noticing no car following them, Yang Yi took over the driving from Kate, and after many unanswered phone calls, she was in tears.
At last, they arrived at Jenny's house.
Kate also had a key to Jenny's house because sometimes she stayed with her father, but most of the time, she lived with her mother, so this was supposed to be her real home.
Jenny's house was an apartment in a busy district. But Kate was shaking so badly that she couldn't hold the key steady, and that's when Yang Yi grasped her hand to take the key.
Be careful. Check for danger around us first, do you understand?"
Kate nodded repeatedly at Yang Yi, but the pain and impatience on her face made it clear to him she was far from calm.
"I'll go in first! You follow me."
Inserting the key into the lock, Yang Yi's right hand drew the gun he'd been hiding under his clothes, then he nodded at Kate and quickly turned the key and threw the door open.
From the open door, no one could be seen inside, except for Jenny lying on the couch.
Gao Yang was about to enter, but Kate, unable to wait any longer, rushed in; Yang Yi didn't even have time to caution her to be careful.
No one being at John Jones's house didn't mean Jenny's house was also empty.
Yang Yi dashed in after her, and as he was closing the door and checking behind it, he saw a shadow pounce towards him.
Yang Yi subconsciously pulled the trigger.
A loud gunshot rang out, but before Yang Yi could fire a second shot, the gun in his hand was violently knocked to the ground. Then, a sharp pain pierced his lower abdomen, and as he bent over in agony, something already wrapped around his neck.
Yang Yi couldn't breathe, his mind went blank, and he instinctively struggled, reaching backward, trying to free himself from the chokehold, but his arms were too weak to exert any force.
At that moment, Kate, who had just pounced in front of Jenny, let out an angry roar before she leaped at Yang Yi like a nimble and ferocious leopard.
Yang Yi couldn't see what was happening in front of him. His neck was firmly gripped from behind, and he could barely hear any sounds as the pressure around his neck was nearly snapping it.
Suddenly, the constriction around Yang Yi's neck loosened.
Yang Yi knelt on the ground, gasping for air, with snot and tears gushing out in an instant.
After breathing heavily a few times, enough for his blank mind to regain some functionality, Yang Yi realized what had happened. He wiped the tears blurring his vision and crawled a few steps on the ground, grabbed the dropped handgun, then rolled over, raising the gun.
Kate was fiercely fighting a middle-aged man.
Like an enraged leopard, Kate's fists and feet poured down on her opponent non-stop. Although her opponent seemed to be defending clumsily, he wasn't as easily brought down as Yang Yi.
Their bodies tangled, jostling back and forth; Yang Yi, holding the gun, dared not shoot for fear of hitting Kate.
Kate couldn't dispose of her enemy swiftly, and Yang Yi noticed when the middle-aged man pulled a knife from his waist after taking a punch from Kate and stabbed backhand.
Kate had to leap backward to dodge the knife.
"Get down!"
In his urgency, Yang Yi thought of an idea and shouted. Kate, quick-witted as she was, immediately bent down at the call.
But as Yang Yi was about to shoot, the man who had been advancing on Kate flashed backward and immediately disappeared outside the wide-open door.
Kate moved to chase him, but Yang Yi, unable to hold up the gun with his right hand any longer, let the handgun drop powerless to the ground, and then he urgently said, "Don't chase! Save your mom!"
Kate stopped abruptly at the doorway, then she turned back resentfully and ran to the couch.
Jenny wasn't dead yet. Yang Yi could see her eyes still open, and her chest was still moving, which is why he had stopped Kate from giving chase.
Yang Yi didn't understand fighting, but he could tell Kate was formidable. However, the man was striking fatally, and not only could Kate not defeat her opponent, but she had also been injured.
Kate's belly was bleeding, and Yang Yi's own lower abdomen hurt so much he could hardly move. Instinctively, he touched his neck and found a thin wire wrapped around it.
Kate ran to Jenny and asked anxiously, "Mom, how are you?"
Yang Yi struggled to his feet. He first closed the door and then staggered over to the mother and daughter.
Kate was capable of fighting, but after all, she was just a girl. Faced with this situation, she clearly panicked.
With one look at Jenny, Yang Yi knew she was likely beyond saving.
Jenny's body showed no obvious wounds, but her face was contorted with pain, and her gaze had become vacant.
Hearing Kate's call, Jenny's eyes brightened slightly. Her hand moved and, when caught by Kate, Jenny spoke with a weak and frequently interrupted voice, "Egertoni Company's intel... someone betrayed us... run... child... escape."
Yang Yi urgently said, "Who's the mole? Kate, call an ambulance!"
Seeing John Jones dead, Kate was in a hurry to call an ambulance, but seeing Jenny still alive, she only wept, listening to what her mother was saying, forgetting to call.
Indeed, she was overcome by panic, still too immature.
Jenny, speaking haltingly, said, "I think it's a mole... I don't know who, he asked me where the intel was, I told him everything, but he still tortured me, wants to kill us, you have to run, Kate, escape."
Jenny had a spark in her eyes, and Kate was already making the call, crying out the address.
Jenny couldn't lift her head, but her eyes turned to Kate. Yang Yi, summoning strength from somewhere, grabbed Kate, who was standing, and pulled her in front of Jenny.
Jenny looked at Kate, her eyes full of despair and fear, raised her voice slightly, and said more smoothly and urgently, "Kate, we made a big mistake. He tortured me for a long time, asking who I sold the intel to. Aigertoni Company, it's the backer behind Aigertoni Company. Someone stole the intel and sold it, but we didn't sell it. He's a professional assassin, you must run, my money, my money is in the cabinet, the code is your birthday, escape, Kate, escape..."