Chapter 136
Chapter 136
After the call, Christian planned to drive to the café. However, as he sat in the driver’s seat, he remembered that the traffic cops had detained his driver’s license. With a frown, he dialed his driver’s number.
“This is the fastest I can go, Mr. Christian! If I go any faster than this, I’ll get into trouble!” Even though they had only been on the road for ten minutes, the driver repeated himself for the umpteenth time.
Christian clearly wasn’t pleased with what he heard. He pursed his lips and furrowed his brows as he looked at his watch.
Fifteen minutes later, they reached the café.
Christian stepped out of the car and into the café, his steps quicker than usual. The driver quickly followed.
“Wait for me in the car,” Christian stopped and said.
The driver gave a light hum and returned to his car, puzzled. Christian had always let the driver follow him wherever he went, but today he did the opposite. The driver began to wonder if Christian had come to the café for an under-the-table issue.
Christian entered the café and, under the glare of the waitress, walked straight to the man wearing a baseball cap in the corner.
He approached the man and asked, “Where’s the thing?”
“Don’t be so anxious, Mr. Thatcher,” Michael said, pointing to the seat across from him. “Please take a seat first. The problem appears to be more complicated than you believe.”
Hearing that, Christian took the seat in front of Michael. Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
“Does that accident bother you a lot, Mr. Thatcher?” Michael asked, smiling as he handed Christian a paper bag.
Christian took it. Just as he was about to open it, the waitress came over. Smilingly, she asked, “Sirs, what would you like to have?”
“A cup of cappuccino. Extra sugar, please,” Michael said.
After taking down his order, the waitress then turned to Christian. “What about you, sir?”
“I’d like a latte,” Christian stated, As he was opening the paper bag, he suddenly stopped and added, “Serve it quickly. Thank you.”
After taking the orders, the waitress returned to the coffee bar and quickly delivered a cup of cappuccino and latte. She did not, however, leave after placing them on the table.
Christian began to become impatient. His usual reserved demeanor was absent in the face of the paper bag containing the accident’s evidence. “Do you have anything else?”
“Sir, could…” The waitress’ face was flushed. She gathered her courage and asked, “Can I get your number?”
“No,” Christian replied without even a slight hesitation.
Before the waitress could say anything further, he quickly continued, “We have some important matters here. Thank you.”
“Of course.” She then left unwillingly.
Michael was surprised by what had happened. She’s a pretty lady, but she has terrible taste!
Christian pushed his latte to the side before opening the paper bag and removing the contents.
“Mr. Thatcher, why did you order the coffee if you’re not going to drink it?” Michael took a sip of his cappuccino and smiled, content.
“They’ll keep coming here if I don’t order something. That will disturb our discussion.” Christian’s face darkened as he flipped through the papers and extracted the other contents of the paper bag.
Michael’s smile faded and it was replaced by an annoyed and indignant expression as he placed his cappuccino on the table. “I think I’ve finally met my match this time!”
With a sigh, he continued, “Let me make a guess. I suspect that the red sports car Miss Coleman was driving was not hers.”
“It was hers.” Christian furrowed his brows and unbuttoned his collar while saying, “The model, car plate number, as well as the scratch at the door on the left side all showed that it was hers.”
Victoria scratched her car two days before her birthday, necessitating the importation of a foreign paint. As a result, the scratch was still there at the time of the accident.
Hearing that, Michael took a sip of his cappuccino and said, “Don’t be anxious, Mr. Thatcher. Hear me out first.”
“Okay.” Christian put his right palm on the table and began tapping his fingers.
Michael wiped the corners of his mouth before placing both arms on the table and leaning forward slightly. “I discovered that the car plate had previously been altered, but I couldn’t find any useful fingerprints on it. My guess is that the car was not Miss Coleman’s. Someone swapped her car for another identical car, and transferred her license plate to this vehicle. Following that, I checked numerous surveillance cameras but found no leads. Subsequently, I discovered that when Miss
Coleman did her manicure on September 24th, she parked her car in a surveillance camera’s blind spot. On that day, a strangely dressed man appeared around the manicure shop, and he even followed Miss Coleman for a while. When I finally found that man, he had died because of his lung cancer which was diagnosed two years ago.” Michael sighed regretfully as he said this.
“That appears to be too much of a coincidence.” Christian’s tapping speeded up as he frowned. “Did anyone do something to him?”
Michael shook his head in response. Disappointed, he answered, “No. His doctor predicted novelxo.com fast updatethat he would only live until last year. It was already a miracle that he survived until I recently discovered him. He was single and had no family, so I had no one to ask about his personal information. But I persuaded a banker friend to check on that man for me, and I discovered that he received a transfer of 500,000 two years ago. That sum of money may not seem like much to you, Mr. Thatcher, it is astronomical to the average person.”
Christian did not expect there would come a time when he couldn’t keep his cool. He wasn’t in the mood to hear about Michael’s entire investigation. “Even if Victoria’s car was swapped, can that prove she’s innocent?” he asked candidly after taking a sip of his latte.
“No,” Michael stated flatly. “To be honest, if Miss Spritz was behind this, she would have prepared everything a long time ago. The car’s brakes were damaged due to normal wear and tear. To be more specific, someone must have driven the car in a way that intentionally damaged the brakes, causing them to fail. So, even if it could be proven that the car was swapped, there’s no evidence that someone intended to harm Miss Coleman through the way he or she used the car, because the brakes were damaged due to normal wear and tear. In fact, nothing we say here has any effect. The most difficult one is still the recording.” Michael hit his forehead with his hand as he muttered, “The car’s brakes were problematic. If the recording is proven to be false, the crash can be classified as an unintentional accident. However, if the recording cannot be said to be tampered with, the accident becomes a deliberate act of murder, whereas the damaged brakes are merely an accident.”
“Oh my.” Michael then took his cappuccino and took a few sips. “I’m confusing myself now!”
There was a long moment of silence.
“Don’t tell me that all you’ve said was just to conceal the fact that you didn’t manage to get any useful information?” Christian said, his gaze fixed firmly on Michael and coldness revealing from his eyes.
“You can’t say that!” Michael smiled sheepishly after drinking his coffee. “It took me nearly a year to figure out about the car swap, and more than six months to find that man. That amounts to nearly two years.”