- 5.
When I was released from the interrogation room, I saw Captain Miller from yesterday vigorously confronting Dean Henderson.
“A pack of lies!”
“I don’t care what schemes your university is cooking up, our dozens of officers all have clear eyes.”
“Just the way you blamed her without a second thought, your own suspicions are greater than hers.”
Dean Henderson was so furious he could barely speak, trembling as he retorted, “But the surveillance caught her, and the access records showed she was the last to leave! We’re just making a reasonable suspicion!”
“That just makes it more interesting.” Seeing me, Captain Miller flashed a smile. “Didn’t you give me a bunch of ID cards yesterday to look at? Was your access card among them?”
“Yes.” I took my card out of my bag and handed it to Detective Captain Hayes. “My access card has been with me the whole time. If someone used my card to enter the lab at the same time, then you might want to look into that discrepancy.”
2:14 pm P PP.
<
“Captain, there are a lot of reporters outside!” A young officer rushed in.
“They heard we caught a university arsonist and want to interview us.”
“Who leaked the information?” Detective Captain Hayes‘ suspicious gaze swept over the university
officials.
“We never publicly stated this was arson. It could only have come from you.”
He scrutinized each of their faces. Sweat began to pour uncontrollably down Dean Henderson’s face Dr. Silas Vance remained calm, though his eyes flickered.
Finally, Detective Captain Hayes sternly addressed the surrounding officers: “Take these
individuals, question them separately!”
Watching the university officials being led away, Detective Captain Hayes turned to Captain Miller
and me, his grim expression unwavering. “This isn’t simple. Someone wanted to frame her as a scapegoat. This fire is probably more than just an accidental blaze.“‘
“If your unit hadn’t come to testify, even if she had livestreamed the entire thing, she might still have
been manipulated by malicious parties. Getting off wouldn’t have been easy.“”
I gave Captain Miller a grateful smile, then turned to Detective Captain Hayes. “Could it be that they started the fire to cover something up?”
“Are you saying…” Detective Captain Hayes also thought of the lab where the fire first started.
“Dr. Silas Vance kept emphasizing that my research had failed. If I had actually been arrested, who would care about this project?”
“And you said he only returned from the States less than a year ago?” Detective Captain Hayes‘ eyes lit up, and everything began to click.
I looked at him approvingly, and he looked a bit embarrassed. “Apologies for being so rough with you earlier. But for your safety, I suggest you stay here at the precinct. If there’s truly a problem with the university, they’ll definitely come after you again.”
Captain Miller and I exchanged a look. He then told Detective Captain Hayes, “I’ll stay with her at the precinct.‘
Detective Captain Hayes went into the interrogation room. From behind the one–way glass. I
2:14 pm P P P s
<
checked social media. It was already a firestorm.
Under the headline “University Lab Explosion: Suspect Is a Mentally Unstable PhD Student?”, most
of the comments were mocking.
“I go to that school; I haven’t heard this fire was intentional. Where did you get this gossip?”
“Editor, editor, just make something up, right?”
“They even included a picture! Isn’t this the girl who livestreamed her fainting yesterday?”
“Busted! The suspect was fainting at the federal facility gates at the exact same time! Editor, why don’t you make up a new culprit?”
“I didn’t! This really has nothing to do with me!” The voice was so loud it penetrated through the joor. Dean Henderson truly sounded panicked.
I put away my phone and watched Dean Henderson, his face twisted, defend himself. “I just wanted o find someone to take responsibility for this fire so I wouldn’t be held liable.”
“Then what about the surveillance and access records? Who forged the evidence?” Detective Captain Hayes‘ hawk–like gaze pinned him, and he instantly broke into a sweat.
“Dr. Silas Vance said he found Audrey Hayes was the last one to leave. Regardless of whether she ntentionally started the fire, there was a lapse in oversight, so it was easier to let her take the full blame.”
“We checked this data from the backend ourselves. I never forged any evidence, I really don’t know why it’s false.”
Watching him desperately trying to make the officers believe him, I saw my own helpless past self.
How ironic. What goes around, comes around.
