Chapter 19 - Lies And Deception

Isaac looked at Halia in surprise, "Your drink was spiked?"

"That explains it. I think my drink was spiked too!" he replied.

Halia looked at the man in confusion. This was not the answer she expected to hear.

"How did you carry me out of the bar, then?" she asked.

"I didn't, I actually blacked out inside a toilet cubicle and by the time I woke up, it was 4am the next day and the bar was cleaning up. But...I did see your friend carry you out," Isaac explained. "I was worried about you, that's why I called you out for dinner today."

"Did your friend get you home fine?"

Halia continued to look at Isaac in confusion. What friend was he talking about?

"He looked really worried about you. I guess he's not that bad."

At that moment, their steak arrived so Isaac stopped talking. Halia wanted to question Isaac a bit more, but a violinist suddenly came around and began playing.

Halia sighed and started cutting into her steak.

Soon, the meal was finished and the violinist stopped playing.

But, just as Halia spotted an opportunity to speak again, Isaac beat her to it, "Halia, can you consider me as your friend?"

"Of course," Halia replied.

"I'm glad. I felt bad when you told me that you only had one friend in Beijing."

"One friend?" Halia asked.

"Yes, the guy that brought you to the hospital when you fainted. I was glad to see him carry you out of the bar last night. You must have called him to get you. Is that why you were on the phone?"

Halia stared blankly at the man as she tried to decipher what he was talking about.

All of a sudden, she remembered a recent conversation she had with Isaac. Last time, she panicked and told him that she only had one friend in Beijing.

That friend was...Jackson Wu!

That's when Halia remembered Jackson's voice in her ear, "Listen to me. I'm going to get you out of here. You're going to be OK."

For some reason, his voice sounded so trustworthy.

Halia pinched her hand. "Snap out of it, he's a gangster," she whispered to herself.

"Are you OK, Halia?" Isaac asked.

"Uh, yes...I'm lucky that my friend came to get me," she smiled. "I don't know what would have happened if he didn't."

Halia looked at Isaac. Why were they both spiked? Was it the killer? Did this mean Isaac was innocent?

...

The next day, Halia headed into the hospital for another morning shift. Even though she knew the 5 suspects were going to be questioned the next day, she still had to keep her cover until the killer was caught.

As soon as she arrived, she ran into Alex.

"Hey, Halia. How was the other night at the bar?" he asked.

"Oh, it was good at first..." Halia replied, but she didn't say anymore. She didn't want the hospital to hear how she got spiked and was carried out of the bar by a gangster.

"Did something bad happen?" he asked worriedly. "I asked around for you and I found out that the doctor that rejected the dead nurse was Isaac. He supposedly takes new nurses down to the bar, sleeps with them and throws them aside once he's done."

Halia looked at Alex in surprise. Was that what Isaac had planned for her? Maybe Jackson had interrupted his plan, so he lied about being spiked too.

"The nurses are going to dinner and then heading down to that same bar after work today. Do you want to go with us?" Alex offered.

Halia immediately nodded. She had to go back to the bar to check if Isaac had been lying to her...

...

That evening, Halia went home to get changed and then headed to the restaurant to meet the nurses.

But, when she arrived, only Alex was sitting inside. "Is everyone else late?" Halia asked.

"Supposedly, 5 of the hospital's doctors were suddenly told to report to the police station for questioning tomorrow. The hospital was notified of the inconvenience and the nurses were all worried, so some of them stayed back to see what was happening and some are helping to call other doctors in to fill in the shifts for tomorrow," Alex explained.

"So you came here on your own?"

"You left really quickly and missed the drama, so I knew you'd​ have no idea. I didn't want you to turn up here on your own. Plus, you know that I don't get along with the doctors," Alex replied.

Halia nodded and ordered some food.

...

Meanwhile, down at the police station, the senior detective in charge of the case, quickly flipped through his files again. He had done a background check on the five suspects as per the police chief's request, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Even so, he still called the five doctors and told them to report to the station the next morning. He also sent out some men to watch over them for the night to make sure they didn't run away or do anything suspicious. It was already 7pm and time was ticking. These last few hours were critical, he had to find as much evidence as possible to hopefully reprimand one of the suspects the next day.

At that moment, the detective's phone suddenly rang. It was an unknown number.

"Hello, Detective Murray Yang speaking."

"Detective, it's me. I just remembered something about my daughter that might be of help," an old woman said on the other end of the phone.

It was the first victim's mother.

"Mrs. Wong, thank you for calling."

"My daughter's ex-boyfriend...he was a doctor. I'm not sure what hospital he worked at, but they broke up about 6 months before she died. It didn't cross my mind since it was a while ago and I was sure she hadn't been in contact with him, but after you left, I thought about what you said and something didn't feel right."

"Do you remember his name?"

"I...errrm...Isaac! That's it, his name was Dr. Isaac Yan!"

The detective glanced down at his list of suspects. "Can you send me a photo of this doctor, I have something to confirm..."