Chapter 32: Investigation

North City, Vicars Hotel.

Norman Bennett sat alone in the living room, a cup of unsweetened black coffee by his side.

Just then, his cell phone buzzed with a message.

Raymond Wood: "President, Mr. Reeves has invited you to a party at Sunny Grace Manor the day after tomorrow."

Norman Bennett just gave it a glance without any intention of refusing.

The Reeves family is a business giant in North City. The Bennett and Reeves families have never crossed paths, but this could be a good opportunity to get acquainted.

Seeing that it was almost time, he had to head to the next meeting. He wondered what his little girl was up to at the moment.

―――1:00 PM.

Whitesun Town.

Elliana Lyle had come again to Rupert Zeller's family store, pretending to shop as she browsed through the items.

Rupert's mother naturally didn't suspect anything. The chubby kid was sitting at the counter playing with a phone, but it wasn't the Xiaomi MIX2S from the morning.

This wasn't a big deal, but when she saw Rupert's father holding the phone, Elliana suddenly recalled something.

She remembered a corner of a black phone poking out from Rupert's mother's jeans pocket, exactly like the one the kid was holding.

She had unintentionally noticed it when she was chatting with Rupert's mother earlier in the morning.

If the kid had his own phone, he wouldn't be playing with his parents' phone.

Seeing Elliana stop at the local walnut section, seemingly lost in thought, Rupert's mother introduced, "These are our local specialty, good for health."

"Really? I'll take a bag." Elliana smiled as she picked up a bag and glanced at the chubby kid, telling Rupert's mother, "Mrs. Zeller, your child is still young. It's best not to buy a phone for them to play alone. They can easily get addicted."

Hearing this from Elliana, Rupert's mother quickly replied, "We didn't buy him a phone, that's mine."

After saying this, Rupert's mother snatched the phone playing a game from the chubby kid, saying, "All you do is play on the phone, you don't even look at the drawing book I bought for you! Go look at your drawing book."

After paying, Elliana noticed among the card players was a middle-aged woman holding the Xiaomi MIX2S!

What does this indicate?

Even Elliana wasn't sure. She rushed back to her rented room, but Luna had already left, and she didn't know where she went.

With no other choice, she could only call Luna to inform her about this.

Luna on the other end of the call wasn't concerned and merely responded perfunctorily, "Okay, I got it."

...

By 6 PM, Luna had still not returned, and Elliana had no idea where she had gone. The longer the time dragged on, the more uneasy she felt.

Knock, knock!

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

She opened it, and it was Luna who had returned.

Seeing Luna's dirty feet, accompanied by a strange smell, Elliana asked curiously, "Where did you go?"

Luna didn't respond, just walked to the sofa and sat down.

"I went to handle some other business, and the woman you mentioned lives next to Rupert Zeller's place."

Hearing Luna's words, Elliana thought for a moment and asked in surprise, "Did Rupert's neighbor kidnap Rupert?"

"What makes you say that?" Luna did not answer but questioned back.

Elliana said, "Didn't you say Rupert was using the same model phone as..."

Before Elliana could finish, Luna interrupted, "There are many people using that model of phone."

"Alright, I'm going to take a shower."

Elliana said, "There doesn't seem to be a water heater here..."

Luna: "Then let's go out and inquire again."

The two had just left the room and went downstairs from the side of the building to the first floor.

Soon after, they drove to the entrance of the town, where quite a few elderly ladies were already sitting.

They were chatting noisily, creating a lively atmosphere.

There was also a tiny shop here, filled with small snacks, some of which might have already expired.

At this moment, Luna led Elliana in a brisk walk directly to the shop's counter.

The shop looked kind of dirty, but then one of the elderly ladies stood up, hunch-backed, approached, and asked, "What do you want to buy?"

"Grandma, I want this tub of lollipops. Can you count them for me?

Luna acted like a nouveau riche, but in the end, it was still Elliana who paid. Luckily, she didn't rely solely on mobile payments and had a few hundred in cash.

After paying, Luna started asking, "Granny, may I ask you something? Do you know why Rupert Zeller withdrew from school?"

On hearing this question, the granny got spirited but asked in return, "Why are you asking about her? Who are you to her?"

"It's like this, I'm a classmate of Rupert's. Her sudden withdrawal seemed strange to me." Luna explained.

"Then you've come to the right person!" The granny replied with disdain, "How else could she have withdrawn? She got knocked up."

"Ah?"

Seeing Elliana's disbelief, the granny continued, "Don't disbelieve it. That young girl has always had a tempting look. Around New Year, I saw her get off a small car with two men. I greeted her, but she didn't reply and just left. Even the way she walked was off. A few months later, her parents made her leave school. If it wasn't because she got pregnant, then what?"

The granny spoke confidently. After hearing this, Luna and Elliana left.

Sitting in the car, Elliana felt a bit helpless. Sometimes she thought Rupert was just staying well at home.

If she were really pregnant, maybe Rupert secretly had an abortion at home. So, was Rupert's cry for help just a prank or genuine?

Soon, Luna stopped the car at an intersection, "Get out."

"Where are we going?"

"Behind Rupert Zeller's house."

The sky was gradually darkening. They made their way down an alley, finding the back of Rupert Zeller's house, surrounded by an open field and a few old-fashioned houses.

Following Luna, Elliana arrived at the back of Rupert Zeller's house. There indeed was a back door.

"If Rupert left from here, it would be believable," Elliana said.

"Not quite!" Luna squinted her eyes, reaching out to touch the rusted iron door, then tiptoed to the window and shone her phone flashlight inside.

"Hey~ What are you doing? Aren't you afraid of being discovered?" Elliana hurried to pull Luna away, fearful of being mistaken for a thief.

However, Luna didn't heed Elliana's words, gently pushing the window.

The creaking sound of the window made Elliana's heart feel jittery. She looked around, dreading being discovered.

Luna suddenly said, "Give me a boost."

...

"Take off your shoes before stepping on my shoulders."

"Ouch, you're heavy. Please hurry up!"

Suddenly, Elliana felt her shoulder lighten up. Huh?

Looking up, Luna had disappeared!

Where is she?

Did she go in?

Before Elliana could react, the iron door cracked open, followed by a faint noise as the door opened.

Elliana: "..."

Luna said, "Come in."

"No way!" Elliana shook her head, trying to persuade Luna to leave.

Such behavior, if discovered, would land them in a police station!

"Shh! Listen." Luna gestured for silence, indicating Elliana should be quiet.

Whimpering...

Whimpering...

It seemed, there was crying!

Luna was already walking inside, Elliana's heart raced, scanning her surroundings. Seeing no one noticed, she reluctantly followed.

"Luna~Luna~"

"Shh! Follow me." Luna took her hand, carefully leading her inside. This didn't seem like the first floor, as Elliana didn't see any shelves.

Nevertheless, the sobbing seemed even more distinct here.

Once Luna felt it was safe, she turned on the flashlight, and the whole room was immediately illuminated.