Chapter 704: Concealing Some Truths
Chapter 704: Chapter 704: Concealing Some Truths
They weaved through the gaps between buildings, walked down a narrow corridor, and finally stopped in front of a building with an exterior of red ceramic tiles.
Forian Road.
This building only had one apartment per floor, and the hallways on each floor were not equipped with security cameras.
"She lives on the fourth floor," Carmen Lane said.
When they reached the fourth floor, a conspicuous black number "4" was painted on the wall.
"Here we are." Carmen Lane raised her hand and knocked on the door. "Hello, is anyone home?"
She knocked a few times before someone came to open the door from inside.
Diana Young’s sister, Dana Young, answered the door. She only opened it a crack, her expression wary. "Can I help you?"
"Hello, we’re from the Jaelara Major Crimes Division." Carmen Lane showed her badge and explained their purpose. "We brought in a special consultant from the Zenvia Major Crimes Division specifically to see the alpaca Diana Young was raising."
Standing inside the doorway, Dana Young sized them up, then coughed twice before speaking. "You’re looking for the alpaca? After you took my sister away, there was no one to look after it, so I had someone take it."
"Take it?" Carmen Lane asked with a frown. "Are you saying the alpaca isn’t here anymore?"
Dana Young glanced at Renee Jennings before saying, "It’s not here anymore."
Carmen Lane’s colleague, Shawn Cheney, spoke up. "Who did you have take it? Do you have their contact information?"
Dana Young explained, "I posted about it online. Someone called me and said they wanted to adopt the alpaca."
Shawn Cheney said, "Then please provide us with that person’s phone number."
"Let me look for it," Dana Young said, turning and going back inside.
She quickly returned to the door with her phone, scrolling through her call history. "I don’t remember which number it was. I get a lot of calls every day."
She showed them her call log for that day, which did indeed display many calls.
Carmen Lane and Shawn Cheney exchanged a look, their expressions equally grim.
Dana Young said, "I’m a real estate agent, so a lot of people contact me."
Carmen Lane nodded. "That’s fine. We’ll just collect all the numbers and call them one by one."
"Okay," Dana Young replied.
"Was Diana Young the one raising the alpaca?" Sheryl Sawyer, who had been silent until now, asked.
Dana Young looked at her and replied, "My sister was."
"Then why did she stop?"
"Isn’t my sister under investigation? I’m busy with work, and there was no one to look after the alpaca at home."
"So you gave the alpaca away?" This question came from Renee Jennings.
Dana Young nodded. "Yes."
"An alpaca isn’t a child. You just need to feed it at set times each day; there was no need to give it away," Renee Jennings said, finding it very strange. "Besides, if your sister’s actions qualify as self-defense, she’ll be back soon. If you didn’t have time to care for the alpaca, boarding it somewhere would have been the more logical choice."
Dana Young frowned slightly, lowered her head, and said softly, "Because my sister got the alpaca on an impulse. She’d actually been wanting to get rid of it for a long time."
"Oh, I see." Renee Jennings gave a slight nod. "Understood."
Dana Young pursed her lips before asking, "Is there anything else? If not, I have to go meet a client."
Carmen Lane took a picture of her call log and asked a few more detailed questions about the person who took the alpaca. "Thank you for your cooperation. Goodbye."
"You’re welcome." Dana Young took back her phone and closed the door again.
Back on the ground floor, Shawn Cheney looked up toward the fourth floor and frowned. "Why do I get the feeling Diana Young’s sister is a little strange?"
"Yeah," Carmen Lane agreed with a nod. "But she wasn’t home when the incident occurred. She was showing a house to a client, so she has an alibi."
"I just think getting rid of the alpaca seems very deliberate," Sheryl Sawyer said softly. "Could the alpaca have seen something?"
Renee Jennings also spoke up. "I noticed that Dana Young kept sneaking glances at me. I have a feeling she knows who I am."
"If she knows you, then giving the alpaca away must be her way of covering something up," Carmen Lane said, her voice growing heavier.
"In that case, we might not be able to find the person who took the alpaca," Sheryl Sawyer analyzed. "Maybe the alpaca has already..."
She didn’t finish her sentence, but everyone understood what she meant.
"That’s a real possibility," Carmen Lane said, her expression grave.
Shawn Cheney sighed. "Well, we don’t have any other leads right now. We’ll just have to start by checking her call records."
Back in the car, the four of them started calling the numbers from the log to ask about the situation.
Half an hour later, they had come up with nothing.
Everyone they called said they hadn’t adopted an alpaca recently.
Carmen Lane ran a hand through her hair. "So is Dana Young lying, or is the person who took the alpaca lying?"
"Probably no one adopted an alpaca," Renee Jennings said softly.
Sheryl Sawyer said, "I think Dana Young disposed of the alpaca herself because she wants to hide the truth about something."
"So what do we do now?" Carmen Lane pouted. "We had Consultant Jennings come all the way from Zenvia, and it turns out the alpaca is gone!"
Shawn Cheney looked just as troubled. "Yeah, this is so awkward."
"You should report this to the bureau," Carmen Lane reminded him.
"Right." Shawn Cheney nodded and picked up his phone to make a call.
Renee Jennings tilted her head to look out the car window. A bird was perched on a branch, and a stray cat by the roadside was watching it intently.
Something suddenly occurred to her. "Hey, you think a bird might have seen the crime scene when it happened? Or, when the alpaca was taken away, do you think it might have disturbed any of the stray cats and dogs around here?"
"That’s actually possible." Sheryl Sawyer’s eyes lit up. "If we can’t find the alpaca, we can try to get information from other animals!"
Hearing this, Carmen Lane turned around and asked excitedly, "Do you have a plan?"
"I’m not sure if it’ll work," Renee Jennings answered conservatively. "But if we don’t have any better options right now, we might as well give it a try."
"Let’s do it!" Carmen Lane said immediately. "Is there anything we can do to help?"
Renee Jennings blinked. "Well, could you help me buy some feed? I’ll see if I can find some of the local ’residents’—the little birds and cats—to ask them what’s going on."
"On it!" Carmen Lane agreed. "I’ll go buy the feed. Shawn, you stay here and protect Consultant Jennings and Officer Sawyer."
"Okay, got it," Shawn Cheney nodded.
Renee Jennings and the others got out of the car again and walked back toward 188 Forian Road.
She looked around and saw that there were indeed quite a few cats and dogs nearby.
Renee Jennings stopped walking. The cats and dogs sniffed the air around her and began to gather.
"MEOW~ This human lady smells so good!"
"MROW! I like this lady!"
"MEW! I like her too!"
"WOOF~ Actually, this doggo likes her too, hehehe~"
"..."
Hearing their words, the corners of Renee Jennings’s lips curled up slightly, and she chuckled. "Thank you all for liking me. You’re all so cute. Can I chat with you for a bit?"