He frowned and thought to himself, ‘Why is her phone turned off?’ She had no other place to go to
other than the campus, which was already empty by now. He looked at the man and asked, “Did she
say where she was going?”
The man shook his head, “But I think she probably went to the crematorium first, otherwise where
would she put the body?”
Boyce looked at the time. The crematorium was already closed by now. He replied, “Okay.”
While pushing the door to his office open, he thought of something and called the man again, “Is there
a record of her hometown’s address in the file?”
“Where’s that?”
“J county.”
Boyce asked again, “Is there a detailed address?”
The man doesn’t remember, “It should be there.”
“Bring me the file.”
Then, Boyce walked into the office while the man had to go and get the file for him. When he came
back, he passed the file to Boyce.
“You can go home now.” Boyce took the file over and looked at the address section of her record. J
county, which was a mountainous place, was quite a distance away from City B. Initially, Boyce wanted
to send his men to accompany Jasmine back to her hometown when she came and claim the dead
body since he didn’t have the time to spare.
She was a girl and needed to be taken care of.
But it looked like she left already.
Boyce closed the file, feeling uneasy as he sat back in his chair.
Public transportation required the passengers to purchase tickets with their IDs now, so if it wasn’t this
late, Boyce could’ve found out how she traveled back home.
However, he was fidgeting from his worry for that girl.
In the end, he couldn’t sit still anymore. He took his keys and left the office. Once he got into the car, he
used his phone to navigate the way to J county. After planning his route, he drove on the road
according to the navigation.
Actually, Jasmine hadn’t left yet. She wasn’t planning to return anymore after leaving, so she was still
settling her school matters for dropping out.
That was why even after the sun came up the following day, Boyce couldn’t find any of her traveling
records after getting his people to check on it.
“She didn’t purchase any train, high-speed rail or plane tickets? There’s no record at all?” Boyce’s heart
skipped a beat. ‘How did she go back then?’
“Yeah, there’s nothing. If she took a cab or bus, then we cannot be sure about this. A lot of buses don’t
pick their passengers up at the stations, and no IDs are required, so we can’t find anything from that.”
Boyce said, “Got it.”
Then, he hung out. As he was still worried sick about Jasmine, he decided to head to J county.
Jasmine settled her schooling matters and came to the police station to bid farewell to Boyce. She
wasn’t coming back, and they wouldn’t have a chance to meet each other anymore.
“Boyce isn’t here.”
“Where did he go?” Jasmine asked.
“I’m not sure either. Why don’t you go to his house?” The police officer suggested.
Jasmine thought for a moment, “Could you tell me his address?”
The police officer told her Boyce’s address, and Jasmine left in a cab after saying her thanks.
When she arrived, she knocked at the door but no one came to it. Then, she just sat outside and
waited.
When it was time for Jasmine to leave, Boyce was still nowhere in sight. She turned on her mobile
phone, which she switched off yesterday, not wanting anyone to disturb her as she locked herself up in
the hotel room. She was not feeling good as her mother just got cremated.
The main reason she was turning her phone on now was to give Boyce a call. Initially, she wanted to
bid farewell to him in person, but it seemed that she couldn’t wait anymore and had to say her
goodbyes through the phone.
She made a call, but the other person’s phone was turned off.
Boyce’s phone ran out of battery after he used it for navigation the whole night. Currently, he was
buying a phone charger.
After driving for one night, Boyce finally arrived at J county. With the help of the locals, he managed to
find Jasmine’s house. Her house was empty, deserted, and her neighbors said they had not seen her
come home.
Boyce did not leave immediately but asked a little about Jasmine’s family. It was pretty much the same
as what Jasmine had told him.
After her father’s death, her mother served a sentence. There was no one else at home after she went
to college, so it got deserted.
It was a tile-roofed house and looked to be in bad condition after being deserted for a long time.
The house seemed like it was inhabitable for now.
Boyce only left the village at noon. He rested in a motel in the county for two hours before rushing back
to City B.
Driving for a long time had worn him out, so he went home to rest right away instead of going to the
police station.
He was in deep sleep when his phone rang, awakening him.
He grabbed his phone and picked the call up. Officer Miller’s voice came through, and he sounded
rushed, “Where are you?”
Boyce replied, “Sleeping at home.”
“How are you still in the mood to sleep? Come to the station now.”
Boyce was more clear-headed now, and realised something must’ve happened from Officer Miller’s
tone. He hung up the call and went to get ready right away.
On the other hand, Officer Miller was dealing with people from the supervision department. He vowed
to them, “This is absolutely impossible. I know what kind of person Boyce is. He would never take
bribes.”
“We are investigating this matter because our superior received a report. We are unwilling to believe
that any public officials have such a rumour too. Please trust us to investigate this matter thoroughly.”
Officer Miller served them some drinks, “Of course I believe you guys, but I trust Boyce too. I mentored
him all these years, and I’m sure you guys are clear about what kind of person I am.”
Officer Miller was known for being upright and honest. He had a good reputation in the field and was
respected by many.
“We know that. Don’t worry. We’ll investigate this through. We won’t accuse Boyce of doing the things
he never did.”
When Boyce arrived at the station, he headed right to Officer Miller’s office without going into his own
first. Upon seeing the room which was filled with uniformed officers, he was stunned for a moment. He
knew who they were, but who were they going to investigate here?
“Come here, Boyce.” Officer Miller called him. Boyce had a hunch that this situation involved him. If it
were about somebody else, Officer Miller wouldn’t call him here with such urgency.
Boyce walked over. Officer Miller pulled him closer, mumbling lowly in his ear, “You got reported for
bribery. These people are here to interrogate you, be prepared.”
Something exploded in Boyce’s mind. ‘Bribery?’
“You’re Boyce Shawn?” A uniformed officer from the supervision department stood up.
Boyce replied, “I am.”
“You got reported for taking bribes. We are the investigators of this case, and this is the investigation
order.” The man placed the paper in front of Boyce, “We need your cooperation for the time being.
Also, you are not allowed to work until this case is clear.”
Officer Miller frowned, “Since this matter hasn’t proven to be true yet, why can’t he work?”
If Boyce wasn’t allowed to work, that was equivalent to being suspended. Suspension was serious in
their field.
“It’s a must for him to be suspended from work, and he can only resume working after we settled this
case.” The officer insisted in a business-only tone.
Officer Miller wanted to retort, but Boyce stopped him, “I accept all sorts of investigations.”
“Great. During this period, please ensure that you can be contacted at all times. We’ll need to be able
to find you right away when we need you in the investigation.”
Boyce just nodded.
After the officers from the supervisions department left, Officer Miller asked Boyce, “What happened?”
Boyce thought for a moment, “Perhaps someone is trying to frame me.”
“Have you offended anyone?” Officer Miller asked.
Boyce thought of all the people he had contact with in his mind and came up a wild guess. Declan was
the only one who could cause such a big fuss.
“I guess I did,” He said.
Officer Miller had a headache from anger, “What can I say now? You’re not one to be impulsive. How is
it possible for you to offend anyone?”
Boyce stayed silent.
That only made Officer Miller sigh, “I’ll do all I can to help you.”
“Thanks.” Boyce thanked Officer Miller sincerely.
“Pfft. What’s the point of thanking me? I’m not from the supervision department. I can’t do much.”
Officer Miller took off his hat angrily. He knew Boyce best, and he knew Boyce wouldn’t take bribes.
Someone was clearly trying to frame him for it, and the worse thing was that ‘someone was someone
of power.
There was a limit to what Officer Miller could do.
If this matter was not handled well, it would definitely affect Boyce’s career.
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