Chapter 36 A Sudden Storm Sweeping Past
Under the bright and sunny sky, Jonathan led the fellow security guards out and found six police officers coming out of two police cars. The police officers were all clad in dark blue uniforms.
At the forefront among the six of them was Amber, who was a female police officer who had crossed paths with Jonathan previously.
Catching sight of Amber and her colleagues, Jonathan heaved a long sigh as he greeted, “Captain Johnson, I’m pretty sure I have not committed any crime.”
With a frosty look, Amber walked toward Jonathan. Without saying much, she whipped out a pair of handcuffs. She then stated, “Mr. Lawson, you’re currently a suspect in a murder case. Please cooperate and come with us to assist in our investigation.”
Despite being calm all the time, Jonathan could not help feeling startled. “Murder? Who did I murder?”
The color immediately drained from the security guards’ faces too.
Furrowing her brows, Amber instantly handcuffed Jonathan. “Two days ago, you’ve severely injured a lady by the name of Bethany Ackerman at Jennifer Hoffman’s house, right?”
Jonathan nodded and admitted, “Yes. There’s no way she’s dead considering how fat and strong she is. I’ve only kicked her once. Even if she has died, it has nothing to do with me.”
“She has passed away at eight in the morning today due to a heart attack,” Amber replied.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Jonathan inquired, “I kicked her two days ago, so what does her death has to do with me?”
Amber continued, “Bethany’s family members said that after you had injured her, her health deteriorated and there was a problem with her heart. Bethany did not have any history of heart disease before that. Since you’re the cause for this, we’ll need you to come with us and cooperate with our investigation.”
Drawing a sharp breath, Jonathan comprehended the severity of the situation. The realization that it was a scheme by Leonardo began to dawn on him.
Jonathan responded, “All right, then.”
As he was in a country governed by law, Jonathan knew he would not be able to resist the police.
If he resisted the police, he would not have a clean record anymore and would not be able to protect Yasmin. Besides, for fear of hurting Amber’s feelings, Jonathan could not oppose her.
Thereafter, Jonathan was taken to the police car.
In the car, Jonathan was sandwiched between Amber and another police officer in the front row.
Amber remained silent, while Jonathan smiled wryly and asked, “Captain Johnson, surely you will not believe that I’m the murderer, right?”
Casting a glance at Jonathan, Amber answered, “My belief doesn’t matter. All that matters are facts and evidence. I’ll try my best to look into this case and give you a fair outcome.”
With that, Jonathan fell silent.
Ten minutes later, they arrived at the police station.
As soon as they entered the police station, Jonathan was taken to a tiny interrogation room. The room did not have any windows but was only lit up by a desk lamp.
Amber was responsible for Jonathan’s interrogation. After asking a few simple questions according to the procedure, she went straight to the point.
Amber did have some feelings for Jonathan, and she believed that he was not an evil and brutal man. However, she had to remain unbiased and take her responsibilities seriously.
Casting a glance at Jonathan who appeared resigned, Amber probed, “Two days ago, which is the eighteenth of July at seven-thirty in the morning, you’ve beaten Bethany Ackerman up mercilessly. Is that true?”
“I only kicked her once, so I don’t think that’s considered merciless. Besides, there’s a reason for that. It’s because Bethany was insulting Jennifer, and she threatened to hit me when she lost the argument. As a hot-tempered person, I then hurled my foot at her. Although I don’t usually hit women, that fat lady was way too much with her tart remarks,” replied Jonathan.
“So you’re acknowledging the fact that you’ve assaulted Bethany?”
Jonathan agreed, “Yes, I admit that I’ve assaulted her, but I did not commit murder.”
Jotting it down with a cold stare, Amber continued, “Bethany has always been in good health. But after your assault, her kidney began failing, and she passed away this morning because of a disease.”
“I have nothing to do with it. I’ve reserved much of my power in my kick.” With that, Jonathan was absolutely certain that it had something to do with Leonardo and was startled by how sinister Leonardo was.
“We’ll still have to investigate further to find out if her death was caused by you.” As Amber stood up, she continued, “For now, we’ll have to detain you at the police station. As soon as we gather sufficient evidence and get to the bottom of this, we’ll decide the next course of action.”
Just as she was about to leave, Jonathan stopped her. “Hold on.”
Amber turned around to look at Jonathan and asked, “Is there anything else?”
“Captain Johnson, judging from your qualities, you must have come from a well-to-do family. You can opt for a much better future, so why did you choose to become a captain at the grassroots level?”
Feeling displeased, Amber snapped, “I’m sure that’s none of your business.”
With a faint grin, Jonathan answered, “I got it! It must be because you’re virtuous, and you like to uphold justice by punishing the evil. Becoming a police officer is your ambition, right?”
Astonishment flashed across Amber’s eyes as Jonathan had guessed it correctly. Belonging to an influential family, her father was the secretary of the neighboring city council, while her other family members were all politicians. If she wished for a promising future, she could easily join any other institution to gain experience.
However, that was not what she wanted, as she desired to become a righteous police officer.
Amber took a glance at Jonathan and left the interrogation room without saying a word.
Meanwhile, Jonathan was taken to the detention room.
Amber had also sent someone for Jennifer, as Jennifer was also a key person in this case.
Jennifer was dumbfounded when she learned that Bethany had passed away, and it was suspected to be because of Jonathan’s kick.
Jennifer tried to compose herself throughout the entire interrogation process as she was aware that her statement was crucial to Jonathan.
After understanding what had happened on that day, Amber heaved a sigh of relief as it proved that Jonathan was not a malicious person. He had only assaulted Bethany because she was indeed hateful.
However, Jonathan was still unable to shirk his responsibility for the case.
Very soon, Yasmin and Jessica also found out about the matter. They had followed Jennifer to the Southern District Police Station. After Jennifer had undergone the interrogation, both of them were filled in about the entire incident.
After that, three of them requested to meet Jonathan, but to no avail.
Without any options left, Yasmin pleaded to her uncle for help as he was a politician.
Half an hour later, Yasmin and Jessica managed to meet Jonathan, who was escorted by two police officers to the isolation room in handcuffs.
Through the window, he met Yasmin, Jessica, and Jennifer. The ladies, especially Jessica, were all extremely concerned about him.
Believing that she had implicated Jonathan, Jennifer was filled with remorse.
Yasmin, who was much calmer, inquired, “What’s the current situation?”
Both Yasmin and Jessica were still confused about the situation as they were only informed that Jonathan had murdered someone.
Drawing in a sharp breath, Jonathan answered, “Leonardo has made his move.”
Jennifer, Jessica, and Yasmin instantly turned pale. Jessica chimed in, “I’ll call my Granddad later.”
Perplexed, Jennifer asked, “Who’s Leonardo?”
Yasmin explained, “He’s from Strikezone Martial Arts.”
As realization began dawning on Jennifer, she felt more worried about Jonathan.
Taking a deep breath, Jonathan stressed, “I definitely did not exert my full strength in my kick at Bethany. I’ve been trained in martial arts, so I definitely have a grasp on my own strength. Besides, they mentioned that Bethany’s cause of death is kidney failure. It’s obvious that she’s been injured by an expert’s Latent Force.”
Upon hearing that, Yasmin’s expression turned grim. “So, what do we do now?”
Jonathan replied lowly, “Don’t worry about me. How about this? Help me inform Polly that I want to meet her. She’ll be able to figure out a way to get me out of this.”
Yasmin replied, “No problem.”
After Yasmin and Jessica had left, Jennifer stayed back, looking extremely anxious.
Tears began welling in Jennifer’s eyes. “How can I help you?” Feeling guilty, she continued, “It’s all my fault.”
With a smile, Jonathan consoled, “This isn’t your fault. Leonardo will find another way to frame me even without Bethany’s death. It’s inevitable.”
Pausing briefly, Jennifer went on, “Will Ms. McDaniels be able to help you?”
Not wanting to worry Jennifer, Jonathan grinned and reassured, “Don’t worry about it. Everything will be fine. I’ll find my way!”
Jennifer felt relieved at the sight of his smile. Just then, time was up and Jonathan was escorted back to the detention room.
The content of their conversation had been captured by the surveillance cameras. Undoubtedly, they would be seen by Amber later that night.
After Yasmin and Jessica left the police station, Jessica immediately gave Morgan a call, and he was startled after learning about what had happened to Jonathan.
With bloodshot eyes, Jessica pleaded, “Granddad, you must think of a way to rescue Jonathan!”
Morgan answered solemnly, “We’ve just arrived at Jipsdale, and we’ve sent words. However, Leonardo is out of town, so we’ll have to wait for him to return.”
Jessica asked, “Isn’t he avoiding you on purpose? He’s trying to bring Jonathan down, right?”
Morgan heaved a long sigh. Considering how powerful Leonardo was, Morgan knew very well that he could not do anything if Leonardo did not want to meet him. If they met after Jonathan died, there was nothing Morgan could say to Leonardo.
Leonardo is indeed a ruthless man!
After ending the call, Yasmin and Jessica fell silent. They once again witnessed the cruel and sinister side of society. People like Leonardo could disregard the laws and take others’ lives lightly.
After Jessica’s fruitless attempt in seeking help from Morgan, she and Yasmin immediately went to look for Polly at her coffee house.
Yasmin offered, “Polly, Jonathan said that you’re the only one who can help him. Please help him. Feel free to let us know if we can help in any way.”
Polly smiled wryly and remarked, “This is obviously a ploy by Leonardo. He’s determined to end Jonathan’s life. If Old Mr. Hayes can’t do anything about it, I don’t see how I can be more helpful.” Upon hearing that, Yasmin and Jessica felt their glimmer of hope extinguished.
Polly then went on, “Indeed, I don’t have any means to help him, but that doesn’t mean that Jonathan hasn’t figured out something. Since he mentioned that I’ll have my ways to help him, I’m sure he needs me to run some errands for him. How about this? I’ll meet Jonathan first.”
