“The black sheepskin bag with butter-yellow trim on the zipper is basically only used on the new men’s backpacks they released this season. See? It’s this one.” Logan Bennett tapped one of the pictures with his chopsticks, clicked to enlarge it, and said, “Given that the seasonal model just launched, sales are limited, and luxury stores always keep customer records, I’ve already sent a team to the International Finance Center boutique to pull the surveillance footage.”

Mason Reed said, “Damn, you can do that?!”

“Whether it works or not, it’s just a trip. Even if we bet wrong, there’s nothing to lose. Where’s the case file for Emily Carter I asked you to check?”

Mason Reed was dumbfounded, took a moment to react, then hurriedly handed over the manila envelope with both hands.

Logan Bennett leaned back in his chair, opened the file and started reading, while Mason Reed immediately snuck a piece of eel into his mouth, so delicious his eyes filled with tears.

The case with Emily Carter wasn’t complicated. Essentially, the original shop owner suddenly raised the price and broke the contract before signing, so Emily Carter sued in a fit of anger. But because the contract itself had loopholes and the paperwork was incomplete, she was very likely to lose the case and get dragged into a long, tedious appeal process. From Logan Bennett’s semi-professional perspective, Emily Carter would be best off withdrawing the lawsuit before the hearing and accepting the loss, otherwise she’d likely lose both time and a lot of money.

Yet she won.

It had nothing to do with the lawyer—at least after reading the trial records, Logan Bennett didn’t think the lawyer was worth a damn. The only explanation was that the judge fell in love with Emily Carter’s stunning beauty right there in court.

Or, just like how this woman had miraculously escaped prison twice in Gongzhou, someone powerful and hidden behind layers of fog had stepped in to help her again.

Mason Reed reached for the eel a third time, only to have Logan Bennett smack the back of his hand with lightning speed using his chopsticks. “Ow!”

“Two packs of instant noodles aren’t enough for you? Careful you don’t end up like Director Hayes next door—his figure is the result of snacking every damn day!”

Mason Reed felt deeply wronged. “We ordinary folks work overtime every day and at best get a self-heating hotpot. You, as the boss, not only don’t lead by example, but you’re also enjoying your own little capitalist feast?”

Logan Bennett snorted, “This feast was earned with my good looks. If you’ve got what it takes, go charm someone yourself.”

Mason Reed: “What? So the KTV owner lady really fell for your handsome face?!”

Logan Bennett: “……”

“I knew it! Yesterday she was giving you weird looks, her eyes lingering on your strong chest and biceps! Her weak, pale boyfriend can’t compare to your masculine hormones. Brother Bennett, do your best—whether we get to sing at KTV for free in the future is all up to you!…”

Logan Bennett snapped, “Get lost! Stop talking about my biceps, unless you want people to say we’re a couple?!”

Mason Reed immediately turned on the charm: “Give me some eel rice and I can be your ‘couple’ for ten minutes…”

Logan Bennett kicked him away from the table without hesitation, and Mason Reed declared that his pink, fragile heart was shattered. As they were bickering, the phone rang. Logan Bennett covered the eel rice with one hand and answered with the other: “Hello? This is Logan Bennett, speak quickly.”

“Brother Bennett, we found the surveillance at the International Finance Center! In mid-April, the deceased went to the FENDI boutique and bought the men’s backpack you mentioned—18,000 yuan, paid in cash. We’ve got high-res images and the sales record!”

Mason Reed, who’d never seen such things, was wide-eyed, his face screaming ‘what, 18,000?!’

Logan Bennett praised, “Efficient. Do we have the deceased’s identity info?”

“Yes, yes, yes,” the person on the other end rustled around, probably looking for the registration card. After a moment, the voice came again: “Here it is—the name is Ethan Brooks, ‘慈’ as in ‘compassion.’”

Chapter 5

After spending the whole night tracking the source of a new drug, Noah Wright rushed back to headquarters as soon as he heard that the criminal investigation team had identified the body. But the moment he pushed open the door, he was struck by a bolt from the blue:

“But… but he’s alive?!”

Mason Reed held his forehead. “Our investigation team’s work isn’t quite up to par…”

Logan Bennett stood outside the interrogation room with his arms crossed, saying coldly, “Why don’t you go in and finish him off first?”

Noah Wright’s mouth twitched, his eyes saying loud and clear: not messing with this, not messing with this.

Inside the interrogation room sat a young man in his early twenties, wearing a light gray shirt and a white lab coat. He probably hadn’t processed why, after just stepping into the lab early in the morning, he was suddenly brought to the police station by officers breaking down the door. So he looked very cautious and guarded, hands on the table, fingers tightly interlaced, veins standing out on the backs of his hands.

“You’re Ethan Brooks?”

“Yes.”

“How old are you, and where are you from?”

“Twenty-one, Guizhou.”

“What do you do?”

“Graduate student in Beijing, majoring in chemistry.”

“So what are you doing in Jianning?”

“I’m about to graduate. My advisor arranged an internship for me at a chemical company here.”

The detective wrote it all down, then asked, “Which company? Which university in Beijing? What’s your advisor’s name?”