Chapter 477: "Woof and Mimi Are Here to Help Catch the Bad Guys!
Chapter 477: Chapter 477: "Woof and Mimi Are Here to Help Catch the Bad Guys!
"Something has come up." Renee Jennings sat back down and used her chopsticks to give a pork rib to Shadow and the lion cat.
Seeing them start on the meat, she put down her chopsticks and said in a grave voice, "Shadow just told me something. There are some families having dinner here tonight, in the Purple Bamboo Hall."
The others exchanged glances, curious about what she was going to say.
Renee Jennings said, "It’s two families, both with children who took the college entrance exams this year. One is a boy, the other a girl. The girl did very well on her exams, but the boy has to repeat a year."
Jude Sherman raised an eyebrow. "The boy’s parents must be feeling terrible, then."
"Exactly," Michelle Fuller said, clenching her fists. "They might be thinking of doing something awful."
"You can’t be serious," Hilary said, her face a picture of shock. "Wanting to hurt someone over that? Are they insane?"
Jude Sherman frowned slightly. "That’s an extreme reaction."
Renee Jennings said slowly, "According to what Shadow told me, the boy’s parents may be planning to ruin the girl."
"What?" Michelle Fuller and Hilary gasped in unison.
Zachary Conway’s tone was grim. "We’ve handled similar cases, where a kid gets jealous of a friend’s higher grades and... does something. But parents getting jealous enough to commit a crime? This is the first I’ve ever heard of it."
Hearing this, Jude Sherman ventured a guess, "Are you... a police officer?"
Zachary Conway gave a slight nod. "Yes. My superior assigned me to protect Consultant Jennings and Miss Fuller."
Though surprised, Jude Sherman kept her composure. "I see. Officer Conway."
Zachary Conway waved his hand. "No need to be so formal. Just call me Kian Cole."
"Kian Cole, what do you think we should do in a situation like this?" After asking, Renee Jennings suddenly remembered her pending mission.
’Is this the tragedy I’m supposed to prevent?’
Zachary Conway said with a serious expression, "Generally speaking, most people won’t believe it without evidence. The usual procedure is to arrange for covert police protection."
"So, should we call the police now?" Renee Jennings asked.
Zachary Conway thought for a moment, then suggested tentatively, "Alternatively, we could try talking to the girl’s parents first. Perhaps they’ll believe us."
He paused, then added, "If they don’t believe us, we’ll call the police then."
"That works." Renee Jennings agreed that this was the best approach for now. "So what’s the best way to tell the girl’s parents? I pretended to walk into the wrong room just now and saw it was just their two families inside. We need to make sure one of her parents stays by her side."
"Understood." Zachary Conway nodded gravely and proposed, "Why don’t we have the manager here help us by calling one of the parents out?"
Renee Jennings said, "Alright."
Jude Sherman chimed in at the perfect moment. "Should I have Manager Lawson come in, then?"
Seeing Renee Jennings and Zachary Conway nod, she picked up her phone and made a call. "Manager Lawson, about the guests in the Purple Bamboo Hall, there’s a girl there who did very well on her college entrance exams..."
"Could you please bring the girl’s mother out? Just tell her that Caelus Zoo... would like to have a word with her."
After listening, Manager Lawson exclaimed, "Oh, Ms. Stone, what terrible timing! The guests in the Purple Bamboo Hall just left a little while ago."
"They left?" Jude Sherman’s expression shifted. She looked at Renee Jennings. "Manager Lawson said the guests from the Purple Bamboo Hall just left."
Renee Jennings frowned, immediately getting up and walking out of their room. She hurried to the entrance of the Purple Bamboo Hall, where a server was already cleaning up inside.
"Why did they leave so quickly?" Zachary Conway’s voice came from behind her.
"I know." Renee Jennings was kicking herself. She had forgotten to check how much food was left on their table.
Jude Sherman caught up to them. "I asked Manager Lawson. They only left a few minutes ago. Should we go after them?"
Renee Jennings and Zachary Conway answered in unison: "We have to."
Michelle Fuller and Hilary came jogging over, purses in hand.
Jude Sherman didn’t even have time to settle the bill. She shouted to Manager Lawson, who was rushing toward them, "Message me the bill and the license plate number of the guests from the Purple Bamboo Hall!"
Seeing how frantic the group looked, Manager Lawson quickly agreed. "Of course, Ms. Stone! Please come again!"
"I’ll drive," Zachary Conway said, stopping by the driver’s side door.
"Okay," Hilary said, quickly handing him the car keys.
The van drove off into the night, heading back the way they came.
Jude Sherman received a message from Manager Lawson. "Their plate number is... and it’s a red car."
The silence in the van was dreadful. Deep down, everyone was on edge, uncertain if they could find the two families.
"A-WOO~" A sudden bark shattered the tense atmosphere.
"What was that sound?" Hilary whispered. "I think I heard a dog."
Michelle Fuller said suspiciously, "I heard it too. Did it come from outside?"
Jude Sherman replied, "I don’t think so. It sounded like it was inside the van."
Hilary turned on her phone’s flashlight and discovered a dark, furry shape sitting next to her. "Shadow?"
"Huh?" Michelle Fuller turned to look. "It really is Shadow!"
Hearing this, Renee Jennings looked back. "Shadow, why did you follow us?"
"A-WOO~" Shadow let out a happy bark. "Me and Mimi are here to help catch the bad guys!"
The lion cat, who had been trying its best to stay silent and hidden, meowed angrily, "Why did you mention me? I was hiding perfectly fine!"
"Oh, the little cat came along too?" Michelle Fuller exclaimed, hearing the soft meows.
Jude Sherman said with an amused laugh, "I’d better let Manager Lawson know, so she doesn’t go on a wild goose chase looking for them."
A thought occurred to Renee Jennings. She turned her head toward Jude Sherman. "Director Stone, while you’re at it, could you ask Manager Lawson to check the security footage? If she can get a screenshot of the girl’s family, I can have a colleague at the station look up the parents’ contact info."
Normally, a restaurant wouldn’t grant such a request. But Jude Sherman was a regular customer, not to mention the director of Caelus Zoo. Manager Lawson assumed she had spotted some talent she wanted to recruit and readily agreed.
The van emerged from the bamboo grove and came to a fork in the road.
Zachary Conway slowed the van, his brow furrowed in frustration. "Damn it. I don’t know which way they went."
It was a frustrating problem, and the atmosphere in the van grew heavy once more.
"Go right," Renee Jennings said suddenly.
"Got it." Zachary Conway turned the steering wheel to the right.
Just then, Jude Sherman received the message from Manager Lawson. "Ms. Jennings, take a look. Are these the girl’s parents?"
She passed her phone toward the front passenger seat.
Renee Jennings took the phone and studied the image. "Yes, that’s her. The girl’s mother is very elegant. Director Stone, could you please send the photo to me?"
"Of course, Ms. Jennings. I’ll add you as a contact."
After they connected, Jude Sherman sent the screenshot.
Renee Jennings immediately forwarded the screenshot to a group chat: [Anyone at their station?]
She was about to call and ask when Kyle Morgan’s message popped up: [President Jennings, I’m here.]
Levi Hollis: [President Jennings, me too.]
Renee Jennings didn’t know why they were calling her "President Jennings," but she didn’t have time to ask. She got straight to the point: [We have a situation! Help me find the contact information for these two people!]
Kyle Morgan: [Got it. I’ll take the man.]
Levi Hollis: [Got it. I’ll take the woman.]
The two immediately split the task.