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At the same time, Xavier received a message on his phone.
Apparently, the accelerant for the fire had been found.
Initially, he thought that the accelerant would be something like gasoline, but the photo he received was
a photo of a few empty wine bottles.
The wine bottles… Xavier narrowed his eyes and turned toward the wine bottle on the rack. This guest
room has a bottle of wine as part of its decoration?
Winnie noticed Xavier rooted to the spot by the doorway for a long time, so she could not help but walk
over to him.
“What’s the matter?”
Xavier glanced at Jacinta before keeping his phone back in his pocket.
“Nothing. I’m going to the security room to take a look. I’ll send a few security guards over, but you and
your granny should still be on your guard. Call me right away if anything happens.”
Instead of answering him verbally, Winnie nodded and smiled at him.
Xavier furrowed his brows amidst her silence.
“I’m talking to you. You should be careful. If there’s anything—”
“If there’s anything, I should call you. I heard you.” Winnie was amused. “Aren’t you supposed to be a
cool and aloof man of few words? Why have you become long-winded?”
“Are you trying to say I’m annoying?” Xavier arched a brow. If not for the fact that others were around,
he would have sealed her lips right away.
Winnie knew what he wanted to do, but she did not want to flirt with him in front of her grandmother.
Moreover, Jacinta did not like Xavier all that much.
“To be honest, I’m tired, and I’m out of energy to talk. I’m thinking of resting. You should do the same.
Leave your men to deal with this. Don’t overwork yourself.”
“Okay.” Xavier nodded. Then, he raised his hand to ruffle her hair. “Rest now. Just leave me be.”
Winnie nodded. “I’ll send you off, then.”
With that, the two discreetly held hands and ambled out of the house.
It was breezy outside, and Xavier didn’t want Winnie to catch a cold despite how he wished he could
carry her all the way into his room.
“Go in now. See you tomorrow.”
As Winnie looked at the gentle and tender man under the warm light, she was suddenly disinclined to
see him leave. That was a sensation she had never experienced before.
When she turned around, she noticed that her grandmother was no longer behind her, so she dashed
forward to wrap her hands around the man and bite his lower lip.
“Good night!”
Having been abruptly kissed by the woman he loved, Xavier’s eyes lit up with passion.
Just as he was about to take a step forward and pull her into his embrace, Jacinta’s voice came from
inside the house.
“Winnie, why aren’t you coming in yet?”
Winnie instantly answered, “Oh, I’m coming.”
It was only then the two reluctantly parted.
When Winnie entered the house and closed the door behind her, she noticed that Jacinta was no
longer in the room. As it turned out, the elderly woman was washing clothes in the bathroom.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtJacinta was rubbing the bloodstain on the sleeve when Winnie entered.
Once she saw Winnie enter, she explained, “It reeks of alcohol, so I’m washing it. The wind is strong
tonight, so if I hang it up in the corridor, you’ll be able to wear it the next morning.”
“Let me help you wash it, Granny. You were frightened earlier today, so it’s best for you to rest earlier.”
“It’s fine,” Jacinta insisted. “I’m almost done washing. They have a clean bathrobe in the room cabinet,
so get a piece out and start washing up.”
Winnie did not think much about it. By the time she brought the bathrobe and towel over, Jacinta was
already done washing the thin long-sleeved shirt.
The two of them then lay down on the bed and began talking about how Zyon had fired a gun and
committed arson.
All of a sudden, Jacinta asked, “I remember you installing a camera at the hot spring and even installed
some kind of application on your phone the last time we were looking for people here. Didn’t you hack
the Fairchild family’s surveillance system too? Will your phone be able to see what the Fairchild
family’s cameras recorded?”
Winnie hummed in agreement. “Yes, but my phone broke after it went for a dip in the ocean, and after I
changed to a new phone, I didn’t install the application again. What’s the matter, Granny? Why did you
suddenly mention that?”
“Nothing. I just think that Zyon’s too dangerous. If only we can see the Fairchilds’ surveillance cameras.
Honestly, I don’t trust the Fairchilds at all. They’re all in cahoots, and maybe someone will try to stir up
a ruckus soon!”
Jacinta still felt that the entire Fairchild family was unreliable.
Winnie let out a wry chuckle when she heard that.
“Granny, I think you’re overthinking this. Zyon can barely keep himself safe now. If he wants to be in
league with the people in this house, he’ll have to fork out something in return for it. But he doesn’t
have anything now, so who will do anything for him? Moreover, not only did he hurt Old Mr. Fairchild’s
grandson, but he even wanted to burn Old Mr. Fairchild and the rest of the people in the Fairchild
residence alive. Things are already so bad between him and the others. Moreover, the people in this
house aren’t stupid. Even if someone did secretly help him out earlier, they’re either pretending to know
nothing about it now or getting ready to flee. How can they possibly continue causing trouble?”
Jacinta mulled over her words for a while.
“I think you’re right. I just want to know whether or not Zyon has been caught… Why don’t you ask
Xavier about it?”
Winnie was confused by Jacinta’s question.
“Granny, why are you so concerned about this matter? Though, I doubt they’ve found him. If they’d
found him, Xavier would have told me about it. By the way, I installed the application on your phone the
other time too, but I forgot to remove it later on. If you log in again, you’ll be able to watch the
surveillance footage in real-time.”
“What? The one on my phone?” Jacinta scoured through her memories. “I’ve long deleted it. I didn’t
know something like this would happen.”
Winnie solemnly commented. “Oh, that’s good too. Frankly, it’s illegal for us to watch someone else’s
surveillance cameras. Deleting it is a good choice. At least we’ll be in less trouble. But if my memory
serves me right, the house we’re in is facing east. The surveillance cameras there are older and have
not come with infrared rays. If it’s too dark at night, I’m afraid the cameras won’t be able to get a clear
record of the people.”
If Zyon had gone through the house eastward earlier, the surveillance cameras might not have
captured him. However, he might not have been aware of that. After all, not even Xavier noticed such
details.
“I see.” Jacinta let out a sigh of relief in the dark. “Xavier still has no news of him, so it looks like Zyon
has coincidentally gone east.”
Winnie knitted her brows. “I hope he doesn’t have such good luck.”
“Well, let’s forget about him and get our good night’s sleep. Everything will be fine as long as he doesn’t
come back here.” Jacinta turned and yawned. “I’m so sleepy.”
“Sleep, then.”
Two hours later, Winnie fell deeply asleep.
Unbeknownst to her, while she was sound asleep, Jacinta abruptly sat upright and turned on her phone
to delete a surveillance camera application.
She had been studying the Fairchild family’s surveillance system for a long time, and she knew the
exact locations in the residence that the cameras would not be able to get a clear record of at night.
The next morning, Xavier personally sent Winnie and Jacinta back.
They sat in a limousine. Winnie and Jacinta took the seats in the first row at the back.
Xavier sat in the second row, diagonally opposite them.
Right opposite them was Josiah, who had come to hitch a ride after being summoned over to give
Rufus a body checkup the night before.
With four people in the same vehicle, especially with the chatty Josiah around, the atmosphere in the
car was quite lively.
Of course, they ended up talking about Zyon as well.
Josiah wistfully said, “I can’t believe he managed to escape despite the huge commotion. I have to say,
your residence’s surveillance cameras are disappointing!”
“It’s time to change them,” Xavier noted with a frown. “I’m planning to change everything during the
reparation.”
“Fortunately, no one died.” Josiah then ruminated about it before voicing his suspicion. “Is there a mole
in the house? How did he enter? He shot Nate first. Then, he went to start a fire. Don’t you think the
gap between those two events is too short? Moreover, they found empty wine bottles at the scene.
Clearly, he used it for the fire. Is it possible he already had the bottles with him when he shot Nate?
Then how did he manage to take the bottles with him while he was sprinting? Unless someone has
been helping him. Otherwise, this makes no sense.”
Xavier had the same analysis as Josiah the night before.
However, he had not come to a conclusion yet.
He drew his brows together and did not answer Josiah, but his eyes were fixed on Jacinta.
When Josiah noticed Xavier ignoring him, he turned to ask Winnie, “Ms. Garland, you’re a smart lady.
What do you think?”
“I thought he was the only one involved, but after hearing what you’ve said, I realized someone must be
helping him too. The one who fired the gun and the one who set the fire should be two different people.
Moreover, Zyon must have escaped the scene with the other culprit’s help. I saw the surveillance
footage last night, and the one who started the fire was someone else. Nevertheless, the person’s far
too familiar with the Fairchild family’s surveillance cameras. They seem to know every single blind spot
in the house. This makes it hard for us to find any clues that will lead us to their identity. Now, the only
thing we can do is find out whether or not that person can be patient enough. If they’re not patient
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmenough, they might end up revealing themself soon.”
“So you’re saying that… they’ll flee?” Josiah adjusted his glasses.
“Mhm.” Winnie nodded. “If someone suddenly resigns or applies for a long leave, they’re suspicious.”
“That’s right. I agree with you.” Josiah nodded.
Right then, Xavier abruptly asked, “What if the person isn’t part of the Fairchild family?”
As he voiced his question, his eyes were fixed on Jacinta.
Josiah’s brows snapped together. “Are you suspecting the involvement of the Frasers? No outsiders
came to your house last night, right?”
“What do you mean by no outsiders came?” Xavier was still staring at Jacinta. “Someone came to
deliver fresh fruits and vegetables, and someone came to deliver the milk. They all had the chance to
enter the house, hadn’t they?”
“That’ll be tough to look into, then. There were plenty of people who came and went.”
“Yes. They might have left the area we’re investigating last night or even this morning. Maybe they’re
running now as we speak.”
Xavier paused as soon as he finished his sentence.
He then asked Jacinta, “What do you think about that, Granny?”
The one who reacted first to his question was Winnie, who gave him a confounded look.
Although she did not say anything, the look she gave him was more than enough to tell him what she
was thinking.
She was unhappy with his question, for he sounded like he was suspicious of her grandmother.
Xavier and Jacinta were already on bad terms, and the former’s question was going to make things
worse. Jacinta wouldn’t be able to stand him if he were to accuse her of arson.
Yet, to Winnie’s surprise, Jacinta was unfazed by his question.
Perplexed, Winnie leaned over to glance at her grandmother.
It was then she realized her grandmother was asleep—her eyes were closed.
“Granny? Granny,” Winnie quietly called out, but Jacinta was completely unresponsive. It was apparent
that she was fast asleep.
Subsequently, Winnie lowered her voice and questioned Xavier, “What were you trying to do? Are you
suspecting my granny? She abhors Zyon, so how can she possibly help him? Moreover, it’s impossible
that she’d even contact Zyon. It was a spontaneous decision to go to the Fairchild residence yesterday.
If anything, you should be suspecting the one who delivered the milk!”
Xavier’s brows creased. Honestly, the apology was already at the tip of his tongue, but still, he
swallowed it.
He was indeed suspecting Jacinta, but before he had the evidence to prove his suspicion, he was not
going to tell Winnie about it.
That was because he did not want his suspicions to affect their relationship.
Therefore, he lied without batting a lash, “No, I’m not suspecting her. Granny looks asleep, but I’m not
sure if she’s really out, so I asked her for her opinion.”
As he spoke, he picked up a blanket from the seat beside his and passed it to Winnie. “You should
drape this over her.”
Winnie’s jaw dropped a little as embarrassment washed over her. It looks like I’ve jumped to
conclusions.
After reaching out for the blanket, she cleared her throat and said, “Sorry for my harsh tone earlier.”
“It’s fine. You can do anything you want to me,” said the lying man who kept a straight face.
Without missing a beat, Josiah uttered, “Halt the car! I don’t want my ears to bleed from hearing your
lovey-dovey exchange this early in the morning.”
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