Volume 1: First Arrival Chapter 048: Thick Mist
"Are you crazy? Do you think this is Mexico?"
Before he finished speaking, Paul's chin was stained with his own saliva because he was too excited. It was so embarrassing that Paul frantically wiped his chin clean. Then he saw that his chin was as shiny red as his forehead, and it was symmetrical.
Callum quickly lowered his head. He was almost, just a little bit, about to laugh out loud.
Kirk looked calm. He pointed at the corner of his mouth, indicating the corner of Paul's mouth, "Here, there's still a little bit here."
Paul looked at Kirk with shame and anger on his face, as if he was about to explode.
Kirk quickly changed the subject, "We need to make sure the murderer can't transport the body out of the hotel."
"Corpse? What corpse?"
"Mrs. Johnson's body."
Paul: …
I was speechless for a moment.
It's not that he couldn't fight, but the mixture of anger and annoyance, the surging emotions blocked his throat and he couldn't make a sound.
Paul took a deep breath, barely regained the last bit of rationality, and spoke word by word, almost gritting his teeth.
"Did I forget to tell you?"
"Mrs. Johnson just called the hotel front desk and asked for champagne and strawberries to be sent to her room because she is planning a surprise birthday party for dear Mr. Corbin-Johnson."
"If nothing unexpected happens, Mr. Johnson's assistant is taking him there now. If you don't believe me, you can become party crashers and confirm it with your own eyes."
"Dear Mr. Corbin-Johnson", not only was the emphasis added, but you could also hear the sound of teeth chattering, which showed Paul's anger.
Kirk, "Yeah, you didn't tell us."
Paul: …
The previous second, Callum was still immersed in shock; the next second, Callum could see Paul's Mediterranean hairstyle, which had few hairs, standing up due to static electricity or some physical effect. The scene of Paul's hair standing on end was more exciting than magic and it was simply astonishing.
Paul almost lost the breath in his chest, but in the end, he took a deep breath again, "Then I'll tell you now."
Kirk and Callum exchanged a quick glance—
After going around in circles, they are still at the same place. Without a suspect or a crime scene, now there is not even a suspected victim.
In fact, if you think about it carefully, this is completely in line with the context.
Kirk just concluded that Corbin should not be a suspect and he did not kill anyone; therefore, his wife was not a victim and it was not an accident.
Without a motive, there are no suspects and naturally no victims.
So, what does this mean?
——There is no case.
Callum cast an inquiring look at Kirk, and his peripheral vision lightly passed over Henry. Although he did not speak, his meaning was very clear:
Should they believe Henry?
One hypothesis is that Henry did not lie and he did see something; but is there a possibility that everything was just Henry's imagination?
Children have rich imaginations. They can imagine a non-existent friend, they can imagine a comic story happening in reality, and they can imagine a magical and magnificent world floating above reality. Maybe others can't see it, but they can indeed "see" it.
So, even if Henry did not lie, it does not mean that a crime really happened.
Maybe, they should give up.
Kirk turned to look at Henry——
Because of fear, Henry did not look directly into Kirk's eyes. He just tightly grasped the hem of Kirk's uniform, his eyes closed, his little cheeks wrinkled and squeezed into a ball. Although he tried his best to control himself, one could still see that his eyes were slightly moist and his shoulders were shaking slightly, as if he was waiting for the verdict.
It seems that Henry has heard what Paul said just now. He knows what will happen next, but he doesn't dare to face it.
Before Kirk could speak, Paul couldn't help but take a step forward, approaching Kirk and lowering his voice, "We all know that nothing happened. It's all just the nonsense of a child. This farce should end now, before it ruins your career and my career."
Tension, anxiety, a little threatening, but more of panic and fear.
Kirk was thinking.
Of course, it would be the simplest and easiest thing for Callum to call it a day now; and for a private detective, there was no need for him to waste time on a case that had no clue.
But at what cost?
They may forever destroy a child's ability to believe in others and his belief in justice. He will never believe in superheroes again, he will never call the police when , and he will never help the weak when he sees them in trouble.
Moreover, leaving Henry aside for the moment, Kirk himself still had doubts:
There is something wrong with things. Various clues are scattered around, but it is impossible to piece together a complete blueprint. There is a key missing.
Kirk believed in Henry; more importantly, he trusted his own instincts.
Looking up, Kirk looked at Callum, and then he could see Callum's eyes full of unconditional trust, completely leaving the decision to Kirk.
This look confirmed Kirk's idea——
Regardless, the bottom line is that it has only been 30 minutes since Callum arrived at the scene, which is not a long time. The police have every reason to continue to perform their duties and complete their work. This is in line with procedures and ethics. Even if there are complaints, public opinion is on the side of the police.
This also means that Callum's work will not be affected.
Then, Kirk leaned slightly closer to Paul's ear and said, "This child is Henry Wolfe, the child of Patrick Wolfe and Joey Walker."
This sentence, like thunder, exploded on Paul's eardrum. The next second, a thin layer of sweat could be seen oozing out of Paul's forehead again.
Kirk raised his voice again, "There are still some doubts that we need to confirm. Don't worry, I won't do anything wrong in the hotel."
In an instant, Henry opened his eyes, his little face completely blossomed, unable to conceal his joy and happiness, and stared at Kirk blankly.
Paul, not so happy.
Looking at Kirk's innocent expression, his nonchalant and laughing face, Paul felt a breath stuck in his chest and it took him a while to let it out.
Paul took a half step back and distanced himself with a look of disgust on his face, "Okay, I'll give you another thirty minutes."
Obviously, Paul also realized that this was still within the scope of police duties and he needed to cooperate.
"Everything will be back to normal in thirty minutes." Paul glared at Kirk fiercely, "Did you hear that? Everything is normal, and the baggage check needs to be removed."
"Shh." Kirk made a silent gesture without caring about Paul's gnashing of teeth. "We need to create chaos and make the murderer think that we will thoroughly investigate the entire hotel. So we must transport the body out as soon as possible. We can't let the murderer know our real plan."
Chaos? Thorough investigation?
Paul rolled his eyes and almost fainted on the spot when he thought of the possible disaster.
He never expected that before Paul fainted, a figure jumped out from the side. He was thin and small, like a bean sprout, and looked about six or seven years old. He ran like a headless fly all the way, and finally stumbled towards Kirk who was in uniform, stammering and shouting.
"Corpse...corpse..."
