While still contemplating everything he had heard from the voice recording, especially now that he had confirmed who the culprit was and with the direction he should take also becoming clear, Christian still suddenly asked.
"Iris, why do I feel like I've read the name Damian Slate somewhere before?"
It was naturally another doubt he had initially ignored, but as he continued his contemplation, it kept nagging at the back of his mind, and he could no longer hold back from voicing it.
[That's because it's a name currently on the gray list of suspicious culprits, related to the incident involving Master's parents.]
But upon hearing the answer, Christian felt as if a storm had suddenly erupted inside his head.
The revelation was that much shocking to him.
He didn't bother entertaining the thought that it was just a name on the gray list and would likely be cleared soon enough.
No, hearing the name mentioned right now, Christian was a hundred percent sure, he was the culprit.
There was still no solid evidence, altogether, but suddenly discovering connections between things? It couldn't have seemed more suspicious to him.
And it's always in these kinds of situations where things turn out to be surprisingly connected, after all.
Still, he also needed to understand why it was on the gray list. So, while trying to calm his turbulent emotions, feeling like things had truly fucked up, he asked.
"Why is his name on the gray list?"
[The main reason is that he doesn't have the ability to stop the investigation and hide the incident like what actually happened, and secondly, even after a thorough search, there was clear evidence linking him to it.]
"Then why is he still on it?"
Hearing the answer, Christian didn't find it strange, but rather too obvious and ordinary, actually.
He, too, didn't think he had that ability, after all, especially after reading some of the information Iris had displayed just now.
And the culprit in his parents' case should have an ability on an entirely different level altogether.
That's why he's panicking now, in the first place!
[Because I couldn't access all his information, even though everything seems normal about him, so, I couldn't confirm that no kind of manipulation was used regarding his information with my current ability.]
[While the possibility of everything I'm saying is very small, it's still not zero, so I left his name on the gray list, planning to revisit it later.]
Hearing the explanation, Christian became even more certain that he was the one responsible for his parents' deaths, and his anger grew even stronger.
Not only had he taken his parents away from him, but now he was even ready to take his sister as well.
The consequences would also be something he didn't want to face, at least in the short term.
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Having finished hacking into the police database, Christian didn't wait and immediately checked the history record related to his parents' incident.
[Two times]
So, reading how it had actually been looked up twice, his heart sank as his worst fear was realized.
Still wanting to find more, he continued to examine the research history, only to discover that both attempts had been made by low-level police officers.
So, whatever they found was still not related to the truth.
Most importantly, as the ones looking at this report had too low of an access level, it meant that even the fact it was a confidential case wasn't visible to them.
This allowed his heart to finally relax, and he let out a sigh of relief.
Now that he found out it wasn't the worst-case scenario, Christian was prepared to take measures to ensure that he wouldn't be found out later on.
At least for the short term, because if someone were truly determined to unravel everything about him, they could still look at the written documents saved in some place.
So, while knowing that it was no more than a temporary solution, Christian, deciding how to move forward with this situation, finally informed Iris with his instructions.
He planned to alter the report, and change the entire case. That way, if anyone were to look into the incident involving his parents, they would see just a normal hit-and-run case, with some clues here and there, but ultimately failing to find the culprit. Moreover, if someone were to specifically search for this report, as he suspected they might, they would find different names listed - names other than those of his parents.
While he had already told Iris what she should do, Christian remained actively involved, subtly assisting and carefully observing her work to ensure she didn't make any mistakes or leave any trace of her manipulation behind.
Knock, knock.
But then, the sound of the door knocking broke him out of his concentrated state.
Stopping his fingers from clicking the buttons on the keyboard, Christian stared at the door for a moment, knowing that it couldn't be anyone other than his sister.
He hesitated, unsure how to face her, especially after everything that had been happening.
Knock, knock.
Then, hearing her knock a second time and knowing he couldn't avoid responding, Christian finally stood up, walked to the door, and opened it just enough for him to step out and stand in front of it.
He didn't forget that the trash bags, still filled with evidence of the assassin's visit, were still inside after all. He also naturally remembered to keep his injured hand in his pocket.
Then, standing across from him and taking in the ridiculous situation, where she had to stand at the door while watching her brother awkwardly lower his head, Annabelle couldn't hold herself back any longer and finally said.