Chapter : 314
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Chapter : 314
"I know absolutely nothing," Anny cried softly. She shook her head. Her blonde hair fell perfectly over her shoulder. "He never told me anything about his work. He was so paranoid. He was so incredibly secretive. He would come home, lock the doors, and just stare out the window. I begged him to tell me what was wrong. But he refused. He wanted to protect me."
Laxmi frowned. The fire user felt a little bit bad for her. "He really did not say a single word? Not even a hint?"
"Nothing!" Anny sobbed louder. She buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders shook violently. "He was my whole world! And then he was taken from me! The police did nothing! They just closed the case and left me alone in this big, empty apartment!"
Zinia sighed quietly. The tough earth mage uncrossed her arms. The sadness in the room was very convincing. Sayma stopped writing in her notebook. She looked at the crying woman with genuine pity. Princess Iris stepped closer and offered a comforting smile.
They were all buying the performance. They felt terrible for the grieving girlfriend.
Ken Eliot stood at the back of the room. He slouched against a gold-painted pillar. He did not feel bad. He did not buy the performance at all.
Ken just watched her. He took a slow, loud sip of his iced coffee. The plastic straw made a loud slurping sound. Sluuuurp. The ice cubes rattled noisily in the cup. Clack. Clack.
The loud noise completely ruined Anny's dramatic pause.
Anny peeked through her fingers. She glared at Ken for a fraction of a second. Her eyes looked very sharp and very annoyed. Then, she quickly went back to sobbing.
Ken grinned lazily. He knew exactly what she was doing. He had seen this exact scene in dozens of mystery novels. She was acting. She wanted them to feel sorry for her. She wanted to look like an innocent victim.
"She is very good at fake crying," Ken thought to himself casually. "But she is not sweating. Her breathing is totally controlled. She is just putting on a show to avoid getting in trouble. I will just stand here and drink my coffee. Let us see how she spins this."
Anny lowered her hands. She looked up at Princess Iris. She manipulated their innate sense of justice flawlessly. She clasped her hands together in a desperate, begging motion.
"Princess Iris, please," Anny pleaded. Her voice was full of raw, desperate emotion. "You are a Royal. You have power. You must find the people who took my love away from me. You must avenge him. I cannot sleep at night knowing his killers are walking free. Please, bring them to justice!"
Iris placed a gentle hand on Anny's shoulder. The Princess's violet eyes were full of determination. "We will find them, Anny. I promise you. We will not stop until the truth is known."
Anny smiled a weak, trembling smile. "Thank you. Thank you so much."
She dabbed her eyes one more time. Then, she slowly looked down at her lap. She strategically slipped the crucial detail into the conversation. She made it sound like a completely random, casual memory.
"I wish I could give you more," Anny murmured softly. "He was so quiet at the end. The only strange thing... the only different thing he did in those final months... was his new partnership."
Sayma immediately raised her pen. "Partnership? Did he start working with a new company?"
"No, not a company," Anny answered innocently. She looked up at Sayma. "He started conducting intense, shadowy research alongside an old friend. A man named Luis."
Naomi stepped forward. "Luis? Who is Luis?"
Anny let out a small, confused sigh. She acted like she barely understood the situation. "Luis was his estranged childhood friend. They grew up together. But they hated each other as kids. They had a terrible falling out years ago. It was very strange when Carrion suddenly invited him to the laboratory. They spent every night locked in the lab together."
Zinia frowned. "An estranged childhood friend? Why would he suddenly trust someone he hated with top-secret radiation research?"
"I do not know," Anny sobbed quietly. She wiped her nose with the silk tissue. "I asked him. He just said Luis was the only one who understood the math. That is all I know. I swear."
Sayma wrote the name down quickly. She underlined it twice. The clue was perfect. It was a solid lead. An estranged friend who suddenly appears right before a murder. It was incredibly suspicious.
"Do you know where we can find this Luis?" Princess Iris asked.
"He lives in the industrial district," Anny replied softly. She pointed a delicate finger toward the window. "He owns an old, rusted warehouse near the train yards. That is where he works."
Princess Iris nodded gracefully. She gave the crying woman a final, comforting smile. "Thank you, Anny. You have been incredibly helpful. We will take it from here. Please, try to rest."
"Avenge him, Princess," Anny whispered dramatically. She looked down at the floor.
The 13th Unit turned around. They walked toward the private elevator. They felt very motivated. They had a name. They had a location. They had a brand new target to hunt down.
Ken followed his team. He took one last, loud slurp of his iced coffee. The cup was completely empty. He tossed the plastic cup directly into a very expensive, fancy gold trash can near the elevator.
He stopped in the doorway of the elevator. He looked back at Anny.
Anny was sitting on the white couch. She was no longer crying. She had lowered the silk handkerchief. She was staring at the elevator doors. Her face was completely flat. Her blue eyes were cold and calculating. The sad, grieving girlfriend act was totally gone.
Ken gave her a lazy, goofy wink. He slouched his shoulders and let the elevator doors close in front of him.
"Wow, what a tragic story," Ken said cheerfully as the elevator zoomed down to the lobby. He put his hands in his pockets. "She is so sad. We definitely need to go talk to this Luis guy. I bet he is super friendly."
"He sounds like a prime suspect," Naomi stated firmly. She cracked her knuckles. Her green eyes flashed with energy. "Estranged friends do not just show up randomly. We are going to the industrial district right now. We are going to find Luis, and we are going to make him talk."
The 13th Unit stepped out of the luxury apartment building. They marched onto the bright streets of the Inner City. They were completely ready to confront the childhood friend. They did not know they were walking directly into a meticulously planned trap. They just wanted answers.
Ken dragged his shoes on the marble floor. Scuff. Scuff. Scuff. He smiled lazily. The real mastermind was still hiding, but the investigation was definitely getting very exciting.
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