"…Officer Victor Hale."
The moment Evan Stone was stopped by Victor Hale, a flicker of unease flashed across his eyes, but it quickly disappeared as he regained his composure. "Is there something you need from me?"
"A fusionist, daring to infiltrate the law enforcement ranks... You've got quite the nerve," Victor Hale said slowly. "Now, tell me, what is your goal?"
This question hit Evan Stone like a thunderclap!
He had been discovered?!
No... that can't be right... Last night, I was fighting the red paper monster. It never saw my face! How could he possibly recognize me at a glance?
"Uh?" Evan Stone feigned confusion, his eyes wide. "Officer Victor Hale... What are you talking about?"
"You still don't understand?"
"…No, I don't."
"Where were you last night?"
"At home, sleeping."
"And before that?"
"I was practicing opera with my brother in the wilderness."
"Your brother was practicing opera, and what were you doing?"
"He's shy, so I was keeping him company."
"What was the piece you practiced?"
"Farewell My Concubine."
"What was the last line?"
"…Ah!"
"What was the second-to-last line?"
"…'I will see to this alone!'"
Victor Hale's questions came quickly, leaving Evan Stone no time to react.
As he answered, cold sweat began to form on his back. By the time they reached the third question, Evan Stone almost couldn't resist running away.
Evan Stone had no knowledge of the local theater and wasn't familiar with their plays, so he had to pick the one he knew best from his past life... He was simply gambling, hoping that Victor Hale didn't understand drama!
As for the lines, Evan Stone was confident. In his past life, his theater often featured Peking opera performances. "Farewell My Concubine" had been performed more than twenty times, and he remembered the scene where Xiang Yu turns to find that Yu Ji had killed herself very clearly.
It turned out that Evan Stone's gamble paid off.
After asking the last question, Victor Hale stared directly at Evan Stone, his gaze seeming to pierce through to his innermost thoughts... After several seconds of silence, Victor Hale slowly spoke:
"Oh, then I must have been mistaken."
That guy was really just testing me!
It seems that I didn't hit him hard enough last night!
Evan Stone took a deep breath. "Officer Victor Hale, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now."
"Wait." Victor Hale stopped him. "Which street were you assigned to?"
"…District 2, Ice Spring Street."
"Don't go home yet... Head straight there."
"Huh? Didn't you say we had three hours to prepare..."
"This is an order."
Victor Hale's simple four words shut down all of Evan Stone's objections.
Evan Stone and Victor Hale locked eyes in the cold wind, their coats and cloaks flapping, and the world seemed to fall into a deep silence...
After a long pause, Evan Stone slowly spoke: "Understood..."
"From here to Ice Spring Street in District 2, it'll take at most two hours. In two hours, I'll confirm if you've arrived... Understand?"
Evan Stone clenched his teeth and responded, "My legs are tired, so it'll take longer."
"I'll call a rickshaw for you."
"…"
Victor Hale perfectly embodied the essence of "decisiveness." He immediately flagged down a rickshaw puller, the same one who had spoken to Evan Stone earlier, and directly instructed him to deliver Evan Stone to Ice Spring Street on time, covering the cost of the ride.
So, under Victor Hale's watch, Evan Stone reluctantly climbed into the rickshaw and headed straight for District 2.
Watching Evan Stone leave, Victor Hale crushed the cigarette butt under his foot and snorted coldly.
"Vick, why are you targeting him?" Elliot Kane walked over, puzzled.
"Don't you find it strange?" Victor Hale answered calmly,
"On the night of the Gray Realm convergence, Grace Stone and Richard Stone braved a torrential downpour to visit the mass grave, claiming they were paying respects to their son... The next day, a disaster just so happened to invade their house, killing two law enforcement officers who were following them, but sparing the couple... During all this, the Chen brothers were conveniently not at home, and they had no alibi."
"But they've already explained it—years ago, they had a stillborn child..."
"You're missing the point."
"Huh?"
"The point isn't that they went to pay respects to their son, but that they went in the middle of a once-in-ten-years torrential rainstorm to do so... Do you think a stillborn child, one they had no emotional attachment to, would be worth such an effort?"
"That..." Elliot Kane was speechless.
"The stillborn child, the opera practice—those were all just Evan Stone's one-sided claims, with no evidence to back them up," Victor Hale patted Elliot Kane on the shoulder. "As law enforcement officers, we need to use our own eyes to see, not just listen with our ears."
"…I understand, Vick."
"Then come with me to Frost Street 128."
"To do what?"
"Evan Stone has already been sent away... Now, we just need to interrogate Maxe Stone." Victor Hale's eyes narrowed slightly.
...
Thud—thud—thud...
The rhythmic sound of a hammer striking nails gradually secured the wooden planks to the wall.
As the last wooden board was fixed into place, the large hole in the wall was slowly being patched up. Maxe Stone wiped the sweat from his face and collapsed into a chair, panting heavily.
He turned and looked at the living room, where the man with silver-rimmed glasses was curiously inspecting the newly finished wooden board, seemingly lost in thought.
"Not even offering to help..."
Maxe Stone mumbled softly.
Maxe Stone hadn't really wanted to let this man into his house, but since he was holding his brother's personal letter, he was technically a legitimate guest.
But how come he had never heard his brother mention having friends in Aurora City?
After Maxe Stone finished the work, the man slowly stood up and walked over to the perfectly nailed wooden board. He looked at it in surprise and spoke:
"How did you manage to do this...?"
"Fixing a house isn't that hard. When I was a kid, my brother took me to build a wooden house… though it was for the birds," Maxe Stone proudly looked up. "I heard that people from Aurora City are all very delicate, so I guess you don't have this kind of skill?"
Before the man could respond, a rapid knock at the door interrupted them.
"Law enforcement officers asking questions, open the door immediately!!"
At the sound of those words, Maxe Stone's face went pale.
He didn't know why the law enforcement officers were suddenly at his door, but his intuition told him that their arrival at this moment couldn't mean anything good...
Maxe Stone quickly thought to himself and said to the man, "When they knock, you answer the door and say no one's home."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he rushed to hide in the bedroom.
"Law enforcement?" The man furrowed his brows and hesitated for a moment, but then walked to the door and opened it.
Behind the door stood Victor Hale and Elliot Kane.
Seeing a stranger open the door, Elliot Kane froze for a moment, then looked at the house number and asked in confusion, "Strange... This isn't the wrong house, is it?"
Victor Hale's eyes narrowed as he looked at the man.
"You're here?"
"I thought I'd be seeing someone else... but it's you." The man smiled slightly, adjusting his silver-rimmed glasses and speaking casually, "I should have known, District 3 is your territory."
Seeing the two start talking, Elliot Kane leaned in to whisper to Victor Hale, "Vick, who is this?"
"Aurora City, the divine doctor Charles Moore."