Chapter 31: Little One

Seeing the child's confusion growing, Elliana Lyle's face almost froze with a smile. This month, what kind of lousy idea was this!

She noticed that the phone in the child's hand was a Xiaomi MIX2S, probably belonging to his parents.

However, Luna had sent her to inquire and investigate Rupert Zeller, and to observe the situation of this couple.

At this moment, Johnny Zeller's mother walked over and couldn't help but scold her son, "Johnny, why didn't you greet the teacher? So rude!"

"Hello, Teacher Lyle." The chubby little boy quickly called out, but his small eyes were still filled with big doubts.

But seeing this gentle smile from Teacher Lyle, the chubby little boy also smiled back at her.

"Oh dear, Teacher Lyle, my son is just a bit of a blockhead. He's never liked to greet people since he was little," Johnny's mother said with a smile, very politely.

Seeing nothing amiss, the others continued their card game.

Johnny's mother was a gentle-looking woman, wearing simple silver jewelry, her face without any makeup, and her honest smile appeared quite amiable.

"Not at all, Johnny behaves very well in kindergarten." Elliana Lyle said with a smile, looking at the chubby little boy, and asked with a smile: "Johnny, didn't you tell the teacher you have a sister? Why don't you play with her?"

As soon as she said this, Johnny's mother's face stiffened, even his father stopped his actions and glanced over from the corner of his eye.

The chubby little boy replied without thinking, "Teacher Lyle, my sister was..."

Before he could finish, Johnny's mother interrupted him, laughingly saying to Elliana Lyle, "His sister is sick, she's resting upstairs now."

Johnny's mother said this while pulling Johnny up, snatching the phone from his hand, and scolded, "All you know is playing with your phone, get in there and do your homework!"

"Oh~" The little boy reluctantly went into the shop.

After the chubby little boy left, Elliana Lyle also stood up, still wearing a gentle smile as she watched him go inside, seemingly trying to see through the building.

She then withdrew her gaze, looked at Johnny's mother, and softly said, "Johnny's mom, don't be too hard on the child. I assigned some parent-child interactive homework—to help mom wash her feet. Did Johnny do it?"

Such a homework assignment, teachers across the country would surely assign.

"He did, he even washed his dad's feet once," Johnny's mother replied cheerfully, but there was still a hint of wariness in her eyes.

Elliana Lyle could naturally sense this, knowing that a kindergarten teacher from the city wouldn't come here for no reason.

So she quickly thought up a line to ease Johnny's mother's suspicion.

"Johnny's mom, can I ask you something, is there any affordable house for rent nearby?" Elliana Lyle asked.

"Affordable housing?" The sudden question left Johnny's mother momentarily stunned.

Elliana Lyle tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, somewhat embarrassed, and said, "It's like this, my sister just got a heart transplant and she's most afraid of disturbances. The city is so noisy, and suburban rents are expensive. I spent a lot of money for my sister, and recently I'm a bit short on money. I heard it's cheap and quiet here, so I came to find a place."

This explanation didn't offer much credibility, but Elliana's hint of distress, embarrassment, and even intentionally lowered voice led Johnny's mother to believe she was genuinely looking for a place, feeling a bit embarrassed because she didn't have much money.

This Teacher Lyle wasn't as glamorous as her appearance suggested.

Otherwise, why would she come all this way to find a place?

Johnny's mother immediately said, "You want cheap? Here we have places that range from 600 down to 200 a month."

"Then the best would be the 200 one." Elliana appeared a bit anxious, then smiled with some embarrassment, her ears turning slightly red.

However, this behavior, in Johnny's mother's eyes, was a sign of a city person down on their luck.

Elliana hadn't expected Johnny's mother to think this way; she was merely covering up her lie.

"There is one, just ahead, turn right, there's an old lady who runs a wonton shop. She lives alone and wants to rent out the second floor," Johnny's mother warmly directed Elliana and even took her to the corner.

Johnny's mother pointed ahead, "It's over there, Teacher Lyle, you can go and ask."

"Okay, thank you, Johnny's mom." After bidding farewell to Johnny's mother, Elliana truly went to the wonton shop.

A few minutes later, she called Luna and said, "Hey, Luna, come around this way. Come have some wontons. I've sent you the location."

"Alright, wait for me."

Before long, Luna parked her car at the wonton shop's entrance and walked in.

The old lady brought over Luna's wontons, smiling without saying anything.

"So, did you notice anything?" Luna asked, drinking the wonton soup, waiting for Elliana to recount.

Once the old lady was far enough away, Elliana said, "The phone model is correct, and Johnny Zeller's mom seems very sensitive about mentioning Rupert Zeller, as does his dad."

"Hmm." Luna responded lightly.

Elliana continued in a low voice, "Little Johnny was originally attending Whitesun Town Kindergarten. After Rupert Zeller's incident this year, they sent their son to the city. I noticed his mom's jewelry looks very new, as if it was recently purchased, and even the air conditioning unit in their house is new. So, they definitely know something happened to Rupert Zeller."

"Hmm." Luna responded softly again.

Adrian Young gives each victim between thirty to eighty thousand hush money, enough to buy these things.

Half an hour later.

Elliana Lyle rented the second floor from the old lady for 600, renting it for a quarter.

All this Luna watched, allowing herself a rare smile to Elliana, "You didn't have to."

"Put on a full act." Saying this, Elliana suddenly furrowed her brow and asked, "Investigating Rupert Zeller, will we be...?"

"No!" Luna directly denied it.

All they asked were old folks, who keep to themselves and wouldn't bother to say anything.

Luna suddenly said, "Your medicine is in the car, it's noon."

The two took the opportunity to settle on the second floor of the wonton shop, which was cleaned spotless.

Just like the wonton shop downstairs.

The old lady apparently loved cleanliness.

After taking her medicine, Elliana saw Luna sitting on the sofa looking at a tablet and went over to join her.

"What are you looking at?"

The screen showed Rupert Zeller's house, but it didn't quite match the current scene. Soon, a little girl opened a second-floor window, sat by it, dazing for a moment, then left.

"Old surveillance." Luna switched to the next day, and the little girl would still sit by the window, dazing.

Elliana was suddenly a bit surprised, "Where did you get this from?"

Luna only glanced at her sideways and continued staring at the screen.

...

For a moment, she was speechless and had to quietly watch.

As the speed increased, the scene jumped to February of this year, the day the little girl had the accident. It seemed normal. After coming back, she would still daze at the window.

Until May 7th, the girl never appeared by the window again.

Was she sent away? No, that didn't seem right. You could see the little girl came back, with no signs of leaving. So how could she vanish?

If she didn't leave, how could someone suddenly change their habits?

The little girl's login range yesterday was in Whitesun Town. Maybe the range was a bit broad.

The scene froze in June. Beyond that, the surveillance was inaccessible.

Luna closed the tablet, leaned back on the sofa, and slowly closed her eyes.