They walked towards the interrogation room, and Officer Wei said to them: “There are eight of them in
total and they are stateless. Yesterday they were interrogated by us for ten hours, and one guy finally
told us that they were paid to attack Mr Ye’s villa on December 27th . And that was the only order they
got.”
“Who is their employer?” Venus asked.
“They don’t know. They met that person once and that person was wearing a mask.”
Henry and Venus looked at each other. It was indeed Gavin. they thought.
Officer Wei noticed the way they looked at each other, and he asked: “So you know who he is?”
“We know someone who is wearing a mask all the time. His name is Gavin. This guy once kidnapped
me when I was traveling with Kerry abroad some time earlier.” Venus said.
“You were kidnapped? Why didn’t you call the police? Oh, sorry, you were abroad.” Officer Wei said.
“Henry, you fought against these people that night. I want you to see them and then we will close the
case. We will also keep searching for their boss.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Maybe their boss is among these eight mercenaries. I don’t know. Let’s see whether you can
recognize him.”
Venus nodded. She also thought Gavin was probably among these people, and that’s the reason why
she came to the police station.
They were now outside the interrogation room. Venus and Henry were standing on one side of a glass
wall. Officer Wei said something to the police officer in the room and then he came out again. Soon, a
foreign man was led into the interrogation room in handcuffs. He looks very strong and he has heavy
tattoos on his arms.
Venus looked down when the man raised his head and looked ahead.
“Don’t worry. We can see him, but he can’t see us, thanks to the glass.”
Venus sighed with relief. She looked at the man again, and found he is obviously not Gavin. Gavin is
not that strong.
“Next one.” The police officer said.
The next one walking into the room is a black man. He is tall and thin, and he has very deep eyes.
Obviously, he is not Gavin.
Another five people were led into the room, and none of them could be Gavin. Officer Wei said: “There
is only one man left. Are you sure that none of these seven people is Gavin?”
Henry shook his head. “I’m sure. I can tell Gavin is an Asian from the color of his skin. And also, he
speaks very good Chinese. So he is probably a Chinese.”
“I see. Bring the last one into the room.” Officer Wei said.
The last one was led into the room. He is an Asian. And he is basically as tall as Gavin. But he looks so
ordinary. He wore a sly smile and he stared at the glass unblinkingly as if he could see the people
standing behind the glass.
Venus looked into his eyes. But there is no resemblance between his eyes and Gavin’s eyes. His eyes
are brown, and Gavin’s eyes are dark.
“Pingan, is this Dudu?” Venus asked the baby.
Pingan shook his head. “No, this is not Dudu.”
Venus then looked at Henry and said: “What do you think?”
“I don’t think he is Gavin.” Henry said.
Venus didn’t want to jump to conclusion. So she said to Officer Wei: “Can I talk to him? I know Gavin’s
voice.”
“Sure.”
Venus then gave Pingan to Henry and walked into the interrogation room.
The man smiled coldly when he saw Venus.
“Is your boss Gavin?” Venus asked directly.
A flicker of shock crossed his face. He said coldly: “Who he is? I don’t know.”
Venus didn’t ask any other question. Because his voice is so different from Gavin’s.
She walked out of the room and said: “He is not Gavin. Gavin is not in here.”
Officer Wei frowned. He said: “This man obviously knows who Gavin is.”
“How do you know that?”
“His facial expression tells me everything.”
Venus felt great admiration for Officer Wei. No wonder he can make such a great police officer. He is so
observant. Venus thought.
“We will keep interrogating this man. Before Gavin is caught, you must be careful. I’ll let you know if
anything new comes up.”
“Thank you, sir.”
“Have you found Kerry?” Officer Wei asked.
Henry said: “No, sir. We are still looking for him.”
Officer Wei wore a serious expression. He patted on Henry’s shoulder and said: “Don’t hesitate to tell
me if you need the police’s assistance. Me and Kerry are very good friends.”
“I know. Thank you.”
Officer Wei then looked at Pingan. His expression softened and he said: “This boy is just a small
version of Kerry. He is going to have a wonderful life.”
Pingan smiled. He knew the police was saying nice things about him.
“So cute.” Officer Wei smiled.
“We need to get going. See you.” Henry said.
“See you.”
The weather was getting warmer. Summer was coming. And Pingan’s legs were getting stronger. But
Venus’s smile was getting rarer to be seen.
Three months had passed. Venus had visited every single village beside the ocean, but Kerry was
nowhere to be seen.
Venus kept waking in the night, drenched in cold sweat, wondering where Kerry was now. Is Kerry
really dead? She kept asking herself this question. She just couldn’t accept it.
Another day came. It was a very beautiful day.
Venus washed her face. She found she got very dark shadows under her eyes. She couldn’t cover it
even with some very heavy makeup.
During the breakfast, Kevin noticed how pale she had become. He said: “You didn’t have a good sleep
last night, did you.”
Venus laughed drily. “I don’t know. I keep waking up in the night.”
“Maybe we should ask Doctor Han to come.”
“That’s not necessary. I know what he is going to say. He is going to tell me that I’m under too much
pressure. That’s all.”
Kevin stopped eating. He remained silent for a long time, and then he suddenly said: “Venus. Just give
up.”
Venus’s hand was shaking after hearing what he said. She didn’t say anything. But her attitude was
very clear.
Kevin was very concerned with Venus. She had been losing weight and she rarely smiled. He also
wanted his brother to come back alive, but he knew the chance was slim.
“Venus, it’s been very long. He would surly be back if he was still......” Kevin stopped himself.
Venus took a deep breath. She held back her tears and said: “Kevin, please stop. I don’t want to give
up. Maybe I will give up someday in the future when I am really tired, but I can’t give up now.”
“I don’t want you to be so unhappy. Look how much weight you have lost!”
“It’s not a bid deal. Don’t worry.” Venus said. She didn’t want to keep talking about it, so she changed
the subject. “How is your job? Do you like it?”
Kevin sighed inwardly. He said: “I like my job. Now I can at least understand what they are talking
about in the conferences.”
“Good. Trust yourself. You can do the job very well. I need to check on Pingan.” Venus said. She then
put down her spoon and left.
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