Pa! Dum!
A carton of milk and a bottle of juice were placed on the desk. “The milk is for you, and the juice is for Sonia.”
Alessandro was lost for words.
Sonia picked up the juice and had some, before she said in a low voice, “We ran into Lucas Barton when we were checking out the bowling alley just now. It almost turned into a fight.”
Luke didn’t stop drinking as he hinted with his eyes for her to continue.
Sonia said, “The guy was almost killed by a body that smashed through the skylight. When we ran into him, he interrogated us like we were prisoners. He certainly didn’t look like an officer who hadn’t received a complaint for two years running.”
Luke was amused; after encountering this massive incident, the mask that Officer Barton used to fool the rest of the world had crumbled.
“Also, after he inspected the men in black who fell from the sky, Officer Barton’s expression… was pretty ugly,” Sonia added. Luke nodded calmly. “Anything else?” Sonia shrugged. “Then, the guy kicked us out.”
Luke wasn’t surprised at all.
The place where the fundraiser was held was the county officers’ turf.
There would be dozens of county officers in the bowling alley; Sonia and Alessandro certainly wouldn’t be able to do anything.
Sonia looked at Luke. “After this incident, I don’t think Lucas Barton will be in the mood to deal with us.”
Luke nodded. “Then let’s drop the case for now. Are you working on any other cases?”
Sonia shook her head. “Only minor ones.”
She still wanted to work on a few more cases with Luke, as Luke was very capable and wasn’t greedy for credit.
Luke nodded and said, “Have you looked at the case of the girl in pajamas, who was hit by a race car?”
Sonia shook her head.
Luke gestured at Selina, who gave the case file to Sonia.
Luke said, “You can study it first and do some background research, but don’t alarm the family.” Sonia asked, “Which family?” “The Elsworths,” Luke replied.
Sonia paused just as she flipped opened the case file. “Them again?”
Luke nodded but murmured to himself, No need to be scared. There’s one less Elsworth to worry about; let’s see when the obituary comes out.
For now, he was the only person in the police department who knew that Henry Elsworth was dead.
Checking his watch, Luke rounded up Sonia and Alessandro, as well as Elizabeth and her partner, for lunch together.
When they returned from their early lunch, their colleagues at the department were headed out for their own food, so Luke and Selina didn’t have to hide the takeaway boxes as they brought them to Elsa’s office.
Alessandro sighed in his seat. “I want to be rich too.”
Sonia was freshening up. She laughed when she heard that. “He doesn’t smoke, drink or go to bars. He works hard during the day and works out when he’s off work. You better learn from Luke’s lifestyle first instead of envying his wealth. That way, you’ll be a lot stronger, and you’ll save a few thousand bucks a year on your social expenses while you’re at it.”
Alessandro was lost for words. Was that how a human being lived? Besides, how would she know that Luke didn’t have any hobbies? In any case, even if Alessandro drank, smoked, and went to bars to pick up girls, he was a good officer, so why did he need to change?!
It wasn’t like Sonia had investigated Luke; she was drawing her conclusion from her daily contact with him.
So, a lot of her assumptions were wrong.
For example, Luke had so many hobbies that he was always busy after work.
He had to craft equipment, familiarize himself with all his abilities, practice shooting and combat skills, and relax with Jenny or Jimena once in a while.
Not knowing that his colleagues viewed him as an ascetic, Luke entered Elsa’s office and gave her the lunch takeaway. “Boss, here’s your lunch.”
Elsa hummed a response. A moment later, she raised her head. “What’s wrong?”
Luke gestured at the takeaway Selina was holding. “That’s for Dustin.”
Elsa dropped her pen. “Really, what’s wrong?”
Luke’s face didn’t change. “Nothing’s wrong. I treated Sonia’s and Elizabeth’s teams to lunch, and I thought I should bring some for you and the boss.”
Elsa looked at him suspiciously and got up. “Put mine in the drawer.” She then took Dustin’s lunch, and went off to give the lonely middle-aged man some warmth.
Selina watched Elsa walk past the lounge to Dustin’s office in a corner opposite, and said in a low voice, “Did you really plan for her to deliver lunch?”
Luke chuckled. “Who knows. Let’s just wait and see. In any case, you can’t return takeaway.”
They waited for more than half an hour before Elsa finally returned from Dustin’s office with a strange look on her face.
With Luke’s eyesight, he had easily been able to see Elsa and Dustin conversing.
From their expressions, he knew that they were talking about something important.
Elsa closed the door the moment she came back. “You knew?”
Luke was confused. “Huh?”
Elsa glared at him and sat back down in her chair. “Enough. Don’t play dumb in front of me…”
Luke still looked at her innocently.
Elsa could only give up. “Fine, let’s talk business. Henry Elsworth is missing. The word is that his plane crashed, and the coast guard is now searching where the plane went down.”
Luke looked shocked. “Really?”.
Elsa said, “…Yes, but it’s unclear exactly what happened to Henry. Also, he’s not the only Elsworth. Don’t do anything reckless.”
Luke nodded solemnly.
Elsa, however, found his attitude unusual, and stressed again, “I mean it. Don’t do anything stupid, okay? Old Elsworth isn’t dead yet. Henry is just a rookie compared with him.”
This time, Luke and Selina nodded at the same time. “Got it, boss.”
Lost for words, Elsa waved her hand and said, “Okay, get the hell out of here. If you’re free, look into this case.” She threw a case file at them.
Luke picked up the case file and said, “Alright, boss. Not a problem, boss.”
Elsa frowned and muttered in a low voice, “Why do I always feel like this guy is up to something? Am I being too sensitive?”
A moment later, she dropped it.
Luke had always been diligent and prudent, and had never committed any grave mistake, which was one of the reasons why Elsa and Dustin trusted him.