Chapter 451 - 447: Detective

"What should we do then? We have no clue about what actually happened and who was really behind that guy going rogue and killing the director," the man told the woman as he frowned.

"Who says we have no clue. We have a living clue," The woman answered.

"Who?" The man inquired.

"You know what Mark was investigating. The source of Ray. And the old man came here to meet Ray despite not meeting him before, according to Ray. What do you think this means?" The woman asked after giving a vague explanation.

"That... Do you mean that Ray is lying?" The man asked softly.

"It's either that Ray is lying or his source had some kind of attraction that managed to bring the Owner of one of the biggest companies to him despite not knowing him. And their death is linked to this person as well. This person... Is our clue? We need to find his source," the woman said as he lazily.

"Good. I will start interrogating him about the source," the man nodded his head as he turned back to leave.

"There's no need," the woman called out as she stopped the man.

"Hmm?"

The man turned back, confused.

"You forgot, didn't you? He already told us that he doesn't know his source. And that he had no ways to find him," the woman said. 

"He's obviously lying," the man let out, rolling his eyes. "How can he not know who was helping him."

"Even I know that he is lying but trying to get him to confess is a wasted effort. He already lied to us, and he would stick to it. There's no benefit in asking him. We wouldn't get anything from him," the woman said. 

"So what should we do, Mam?" The man asked the woman who was in a much higher ranking position. The woman was the Direction of National Security of this country. Her position was higher than the position of Mark, who was the Director of FBI before his death.

"Let him go," The woman answered.

"What?" The man inquired in a slightly unusual tone, wondering if he misheard it. 

"I said let him go. Free him. You're the acting director. He was arrested because he wasn't telling the source who made the FBI waste their resources based on false information. You're the acting director now. You will soon be permanent and take Mark's position."

" Go and free him. Tell him that you don't care about a little waste of resources. We can't keep such a talented person locked in prison for such little things. Go show him your support. He is supposedly one of the best agents, after all. Free him." 

The woman said lazily as she commanded the man.

"But what about this case? Are we going to drop it as well?" The man asked.

"Sigh, Drake. Sometimes you make me regret my decision of nominating you as the next Director. You still don't understand what I'm trying to say? Free him, but don't free him. Keep his phone tapped and have agents on his tail. He would most probably contact his source of these deaths if he knows something about these deaths and has links to it," the woman let out as she rolled her eyes.

She was in disbelief that she still had to explain such little things to this guy.

"Ah, right. I was so immersed in the possibility of interrogating him; I didn't think of this possibility. I'll do this right away." The man nodded his head. He opened the door to leave.

"Make sure he doesn't get suspicious. And arrange everything in his phone before giving it back. Also, get me the unlocked laptop of Mark when you come back. Our team should have unlocked it by now," the woman said again.

"Yes, Mam," the man said before he left. He didn't forget to close the door.

*****

Ryder took the cab back to DiskeyLand from where Alice was still sending her pics of the ride she was taking as per his commands.

He stepped out of the cab and entered the amusement park before he called Alice to know where she was.

"You're back?!" Alice exclaimed in surprise to know that Ryder was back.

"Yeah. I'm back. Give me your location. I should be there soon," Ryder replied.

"I'm in front of the Ronald Duck ride. It's towards the-"

"It's fine. You don't need to explain further. I'm in front of the map of this park. I know the ride you're talking about. It's towards the south, right?" Ryder asked while cutting her off.

"Yeah, that's where it is," Alice agreed.

"Good. I'll be there in a few minutes. Stay there," Ryder let out as he started walking towards the ride after disconnecting the call.

He soon reached the ride, which had a big gate at the entrance. The gate seemed like the face of a white duck that had its mouth wide open. A person had to walk through the mouth to enter. 

He could see Alice standing near the gate. Alice saw Ryder at the same time as he saw her. 

"Did you find out about brother Shu?" Alice asked Ryder as soon as he reached her. He had gone to find the whereabouts of Shu. She was also concerned about that. 

Now that Ryder was back, she decided to ask.

Ryder grew stunned as he heard her question. He hadn't thought that this would be the first question she would ask.

He wasn't yet ready to tell her about it. It wasn't the right time. He wanted to talk when they were in a more secluded place, preferably back in the hotel. Now was certainly not the time. 

"What happened? Why aren't you saying anything? Did you not find out anything?" Alice asked softly.

Ryder nodded his head and decided to go with the story that he didn't know. In this case, he could later confess the truth to her and say that it was then that he got the information. In this way, he could delay these talks. 

"Yeah. I didn't manage to get answers. I went to his office, but the higher-ups weren't there. And the receptionist didn't know anything," Ryder answered. "I guess they all left on some business trip outside the country. These low-ranking people in the Organization would certainly not know about this."

"But why wouldn't he tell you that he was going to go outside the country?" Alice inquired.

"How would I know. Maybe there's some problem with his phone. Or it could also be that he called in the night. That's it. He must be in a country where it's night when here is day. So he didn't call us because he didn't want us to be disturbed at night," Ryder gave an excuse.

In his haste to find a justification, he had forgotten something crucial.

"Couldn't he have messaged you? From someone else's phone?" Alice asked.

Ryder felt like smacking Alice's head lightly for asking so many questions.

"Miss Detective, how should I know everything? I'm only guessing too. Shu would give his own explanation when he returns. As for your question, maybe his phone got corrupted, and he lost all his numbers. You don't know, but that guy is pretty lazy. He certainly wouldn't have any numbers remembered. That must be why he didn't send a message or call," Ryder answered.

"In any case, it's only been a few days. He is so careless; he wouldn't know how worried we are for him. Just let him come back. I'll have him give all the answers with a big apology," he let out as he placed both his hands on Alice's shoulder.

"Now, can we stop this interrogation? Let's have some fun. You went on all the rides alone, but I didn't even get to go on a single. Let's not delay anymore," Ryder insisted as he caught the hands of Alice before he started walking inside the mouth of the Duck.

The ride was nothing more than a basic Ferris wheel. The only thing special about it was its design which was based after a popular cartoon, Ronald Duck. Another special thing was its speed. It was said to be the fastest Ferris wheel in existence.

Ryder and Alice entered the chamber of the Ferris wheel while holding hands.

They sat inside and started waiting for the ride to begin.

****

"You are free. I can't even believe that Mark had kept you in arrest for such a little thing like false information. Many pieces of information turn out to be faulty. This doesn't mean we must arrest all informants," the new acting director of the FBI opened the hands of Ray and freed him.

"Here is your phone and your gun. Welcome back to duty, agent Ray," he continued.

"As you know, we have a big case about Director Mark's death. You saw the culprit yourself— the Vice-Director. Come, let me explain the updates on this case. You'll be leading it."