I Am Tired Of Being A Hero-Chapter 219: Taking the manager to the station

"You said you were the place. Can I see your badge?"

Arlen passed it to her and she took it hesitantly.

"You can also go online to the place’s website to confirm."

She picked up her phone and checked, her eyes darting from the screen to him. After she took a deep breath, "Officer, my father is dead. He has been dead for over a year."

The three of them looked at each other. This lead just suddenly became a dead end. Arlen was calm and his face did not show any shocked expression. He smiled gently at the lady, "We are sorry for your loss."

The woman shrugged her shoulders, "It has been over a year. Besides, we were not close, he and my mom divorced when I was very little. I was actually shocked to learn that he had left everything to me."

Arlen placed the file on the table, "We take it that this company now belongs to you."

The woman held a cigarette in her hand but she did not smoke it, frowning, she collected the file and shook her head mere seconds later, "I auditioned everything. My father...well, he was not a good person. I did not want to get involved in something I had no idea about so everything, his shares, his cars, I auditioned everything away. I used a foreign audition company, ’Wrap it Up’." Her cheeks flushed a bit, "It is not like I don’t support local businesses but they were asking a lot of questions and I needed everything to be good. Before my parents divorced, I grew up here so I wanted to keep the house. It was the only thing that I wanted to keep. I am sorry, I can not be of much help but I can email the company and ask for the records of those who bought the properties. Would that help?"

"Very much so, thank you for your time, Miss Thompson."

"Glad I can help."

The three of them stood up and left the building, heading back to the office.

"Her heartbeat was calm except when she was talking about her father. I think she is telling the truth. Should we return to the Office?"

Arlen shook his head, "Call Officer Brown and Officer Johnson. Tell them to follow up with the Wrap it up company. The three of us are going to the club."

They drove to Club Lush. It was a one-story building painted in light blue and brown oak color as if trying to depict an elegance that was missing from the video that the Ghost eye had sent back to him last night.

On their way, Arlen called the Club and booked an appointment with the manager.

"Won’t it take away our element of surprise?" Sarah asked.

"It would. But if we do not book an appointment, the workers would claim the manager is not around and would waste our precious investigation time." That was the main reason that he had asked whether he was around and had not introduced himself as the police at first. It was useless to run around now, the video surveillance was still there.

When they came down from the van, they walked straight to the bar. The bartender was a woman. Her charming eyes had been emphasized with makeup. When they walked in, she gazed at them before smiling warmly.

"Captain Sinclair, you are here."

Arlen directly asked, "We have an appointment with your manager."

The bartender smiled and turned, her hips swaying," Yes, Ten minutes ago. He is waiting for you in the office, going upstairs. The room facing the stairs is our manager’s office."

"You guys go ahead, I think I will stay here. Have a drink." Sarah said and Arlen shook his head.

"Come with me. Officer West can keep the pretty lady company." He bent over to whisper in Ravi’s ears. "Be nice. Try and fish for information."

Ravi nodded, he was not upset. Arlen liked to use Sarah’s ability to look and listen for fluctuating heartbeats when he was interrogating people.

"Can you do it?"

"Of course."

He watched as Arlen and Sarah went upstairs and he looked at the woman who was still smiling at him and he slid into the seat.

"Give me the Macallan, 25 neat."

"Left behind?" She poured him half a glass of whiskey and passed it forward. The bar was almost empty, aside from a man who was sleeping at the very end. People were moving around, sweeping, and cleaning the floors.

"Well, I was left behind to interrogate you. Fish for some information."

The woman widened her eyes and then burst out laughing, she looked at the man again, taking him in. The ambiguous lightning deepened his facial features. He looked very much like a delicate young man from a rich family who had not seen much of the world.

"Hey! Don’t you know that you were not supposed to tell me that?"

Ravi blinked and looked a little embarrassed, "Could you forget that please?"

***

"Officer Adams." Arlen called out and Sarah nodded, understanding what Arlen was not saying.

They opened the door and there was a man in his mid-forties sitting down across the desk. He looked relaxed and unruffled and did not stand up to greet them, just smiling politely.

Arlen’s lips twitched and Sarah was taken aback at how similar it was.

Arlen looked at the man, "Mr Boone, Captain Sinclair from the Davenport Police Bureau." He raised his hand to show off his badge.

"So you said, Captain Sinclair, you are trying my hand, Our club is in the middle of expanding..."

"So you would not mind answering a few questions to aid in our investigation. If you are not capable of answering these questions here, you can also follow us to the police station to answer the question. The choice is yours." Arlen interrupted him, his voice was clear and sharp.

The man coughed, and the calm and unruffled expression on his face broke a little.

"Please officers, sit down."

Arlen sat comfortably, it was almost like it was his office.

The silence soon became uncomfortable. The manager felt it was irrational that he was the one that was sitting on the commanding chair and it felt more uncomfortable the more Arlen stared at him. The distance between them was also awkward. They were about two meters apart- a distance that was not too far nor too near, the feeling of the two of them facing each other.

"Officer..." The manager cleared his throat.

"Tell me about your club?"

The manager seemed to have received some kind of retrieve, "We are a respectable establishment. We are one of the best in Davenport, with good music, and good drinks, Club Lush is a place you can come to relax with your friends." When talking about the club, the manager seemed to have turned into the world’s best salesman. He raised Club Lush to the end and the heavens. One hearing him talk would doubt that he was talking about a club and talking about a tearoom in the Capital.

"Oh! It sounds quite respectable." He looked at the man and thought for a while. This manager was different from what he thought, "I have changed my mind, Mr Boone. Come down with us to the Station."

The manager stood up.

"It is just a few routine questions. I do hope you will cooperate with the investigation."

He had thought that the manager would be more slick but he seemed like someone who could be easily turned.

When Arlen did not smile, his aura could be so cold and sharp. Sarah thought as Arlen stood up and stared at the manager. She did not know why her boss changed his mind when he met the manager but she trusted him so she made her best effort to stare coldly at the manager.

The manager swallowed and asked hesitantly, "A few questions."

"We forgot to get the files we need for the questions in a hurry."

Ravi raised an eyebrow when he saw them come down with the manager, why did the man’s expression look like they were kidnapping him instead?

When he saw Arlen, he raised his finger and made an ok sign to show that he had gotten some needed information.

The interrogation room was one of the worst places for a citizen to visit. Many people would not visit the interrogation room in their entire life. They were the lucky ones. If one has an opportunity to resolve a case before reaching the information room, one should.

The lights in the interrogation room were extremely depressing and the seat was not at all comfortable. On one side, there was a large signboard with the words, "Confession begat leniency" and on the other side, "Police are your friends."

The manager sat down and swallowed. The quiet interrogation room seemed to answer him, at this moment he knew that he should not have taken this job, he had his reservations and now, he truly believed when his psychic had told him that an imminent disaster was up ahead.

How was he to know that new information had come about to spin the case in a whole different direction?