Your Guise Is Slipping, Miss Pearl

"Hugo?"

The officer was stunned when he heard that name.

"Silas?"

The officer broke out in a cold sweat. "Mister Richard, please don't joke around."

"I'm not joking. This is serious," Richard insisted.

Finally, the officer's legs gave out, and he began to tremble in his chair.

"Spill everything you know. If not... you know what will happen."

*

Outside, Pearl was growing increasingly impatient. She wanted to barge in, but the officers at the door kept blocking her path.

"Miss Pearl, please don't interfere."

"Richard wouldn't evade taxes or run his company illegally. Let me in. I have something to say."

"Miss Pearl, our team leader doesn't like disruptions during interrogations. Please cooperate."

Feeling helpless, Pearl reluctantly sat down again.

Ten minutes passed, and the voices from the interrogation room gradually faded. Soon, there was silence.

"Why is it so quiet? Did something happen? Let me in!" Pearl stood up again, determined to get answers.

This time, nobody stopped her, as the nearby officers also sensed that something was amiss. Just as they were about to enter, the door swung open.

The officer said to Richard with a nervous smile, "It was all a misunderstanding, Mister Richard. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Richard glanced at him calmly. "No problem. I'm just glad it's all cleared."

"Thank you for your understanding. You all, see Mister Richard off quickly," he ordered his fellow officers.

Confused, the two officers complied, escorting Richard out. Once they were alone, they turned to their team leader with puzzled expressions.

"What happened, sir? Why did you suddenly stop the investigation, especially after Mister Silas requested it?" one of them asked.

The team leader sighed, casting a frustrated look at his subordinates. "Idiots! Do you think dealing with Richard is easy? If I had known he was this crazy, I wouldn't have taken Silas's bribe. We're out of our depth here." NôvelDrama.Org owns © this.

"How are we going to explain this to Mister Silas?" another officer asked nervously.

"We'll return his money and offer our apologies. It's better than dealing with this mess any longer," the team leader replied, reluctantly acknowledging his own limitations.

Suddenly, an angry voice interrupted them. "B*stard! How could you accept others' money to do this kind of thing? Don't you know it's illegal?"

"M-Mister Jake... we..."

The team leader turned to face Jake Parker, the furious police chief, nearly dropping his cup in fright.

"I can't believe you would lead them into something like this!" Jake raged. "You all need to write me a reflection paper. Ten thousand words. You're not going home until it's finished!"

The three officers trembled and promptly complied with Jake's demand.

*

As Pearl and Richard left the police station, Pearl couldn't help but ask, "What happened in there? Why were you accused of tax evasion?"

"It's a setup by Hugo and Silas."

Pearl was shocked. "Hugo is involved too?"

Richard asked, "What's the matter? You seem to know that Silas has something to do with it."

"I had a feeling Silas was involved when they took you away. He had this smug look on his face," Pearl said seriously.