Chapter 141: Going Off on Tangents (1/2)

I walked over to the elderly gentleman. From up close, he looked familiar. Very familiar. I was not someone who forgot faces, and this was one I vaguely knew but couldn't place.

”I think you are looking for me?” I asked softly. The man looked relieved and nodded.

”I was. I saw you and recognized you immediately.” He tried to give me a smile but it looked more like a grimace.

”I have a vague recognition of your face but I don't recall who you are. Have we met before?” I asked. I glanced towards Harshit and saw that he was tense about something. Probably not a good connection between these two people.

”Evie, let me introduce you to Ross Reynolds. He was Sebastian's mentor about seven years ago,” he said in a low voice. Harshit scrutinized my emotions carefully.

I blocked any emotion from appearing on my face.

”Ah, yes. I remember now. You took up the Elegant Butcher case after my father was killed.” I offered him a polite smile, one that he didn't deserve. ”Pardon me for not remembering you. The last time I met you, I wasn't in the best of mental conditions.”

He frowned. ”Ah, yes… the interview.”

”The interrogation,” I corrected. Harshit startled. He hadn't expected me to talk so freely. ”You interrogated me and accused me of helping Alicia Williams in her murder spree. Before that, you spoke to the media and convinced your team that I had slaughtered my whole family in cold blood and then run away from home.”

”I am sorry about that.”

”You also wrote a book about the case, I have been told. I haven't read it because you contributed little to the killer being caught… or the victims being rescued.” I tilted my head to inspect his expression. ”But I also know that you have been riding on that fame for some time. I didn't know you would be at this conference, though. Did you change your specialization?”

He kept staring at me, stunned from the onslaught. ”Oh, no. I was always interested in this sphere. I am giving the primary speech tomorrow, so I came to check out the papers presented today.” He paused. ”I hear that you have been interning with the police and also working under Sebastian…”

”You have received the correct information.”

He nodded, satisfied that I wasn't attacking him. ”Your father would be proud.”

”I know.” I didn't offer him more. ”Why are you seeking me out?” I asked bluntly.

”I think we need to sit down and speak for a while to explain why I acted the way I did.”

I sighed. ”Is this important?” I asked.

”Evie, let's hear him out,” Harshit spoke softly. ”You need some closure on this.”

Closure? What good would that do to me? I had already come to terms with the event.

”Okay. Let's go to the hotel's café and speak. I don't have much time on my hands because I have to work.” I walked past them and heard Harshit sigh in relief.

The elderly gentlemen followed.

He sat opposite me and looked down at the table until our drinks arrived.

”Please speak,” I said finally.

He thought about how he should start for a minute before doing anything.

”Your dad and I were rivals back in the day. When we reached your place, I was the one who inspected the area. No outside fingerprints or even footprints or dust were there in the house when we arrived. And with you missing and none of your blood spilled, we assumed you had run away.”

I shook my head in disbelief. ”A sixteen-year-old that killed her family and ran away. What motive?” I scoffed.

”We see a lot of cases like this, I will have you know.”

I rolled my eyes. ”I have been working for a while, too, and I assure you that your judgment is impaired. You probably didn't want to think that my father was close to solving the case and someone was trying to stop them.”

I shook my head.

”Well, his letters always came to the post-office and his face was nowhere on the news. No one knew what Charlie looked like, let alone where he lived.”

”But someone did!”

”Yes. Because he was working on such a high-profile case, all his information was classified. There was no way someone would know who he was.”

I frowned. ”Did she tail him home?” I wondered. But then… someone would catch her there.