Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 817: A Friday Without the Master (4)

Mr. Alfie is quite casual when he works and doesn’t always maintain a serious demeanor. In fact, in the office, taking off his suit, loosening his tie, and rolling up his sleeves makes him feel much more at ease. At 7:40 PM, Mr. Alfie, having completed the tests for the new monitoring equipment, still did not leave his workplace and chose to work overtime. There were still some unresolved issues from the afternoon news conference held in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and according to intelligence, a group of foreign agents had infiltrated the country with unclear intentions. “Sir, we unexpectedly captured a few people!” Suddenly, the secretary burst into Mr. Alfie’s office, looking very anxious. Mr. Alfie knew something serious must have happened, and his expression immediately darkened. “Who did we capture?” “They are FBI agents, two men and one woman!” the secretary said seriously. “What’s going on?” Mr. Alfie quickly realized the gravity of the situation. “Sir, you asked me to thoroughly investigate the guest list from the day of the hostage incident. I compared the surveillance footage from the front entrance with the guest list and found several individuals who did not match up.” The secretary hurriedly explained, “They were planning to take the 4 PM train to leave. Luckily, our people arrived in time... but during the pursuit, one managed to escape.” “Did these individuals say anything?” Mr. Alfie quickly asked. The secretary shook his head. “They are tight-lipped and refuse to say anything, only insisting that we should treat them humanely. I’m considering whether we should use truth serum on them.” “Agreed.” Mr. Alfie said decisively. “Prepare it, and make sure to interrogate them as quickly as possible. I’ll head over immediately! Also, the guest list needs to be checked again; I want to ensure we miss no one!” “Yes!” The secretary promptly left. Mr. Alfie rubbed his forehead. The deeper he investigated the theater hostage case, the more issues seemed to arise, as if it were an endless abyss. He took a sip of coffee to refresh himself, planning to rush to the interrogation room, but suddenly remembered something and called home. “Hello, it’s me, Barbara... um, has Louis come back?” “Dr. Franky took Louis home this afternoon. He’s being very good, writing his reflections on today’s visit to the science museum in his room. I’m keeping him company.” “Thank you for your hard work, Barbara.” Mr. Alfie nodded and suddenly asked, “What about him? Is he not at home?” Mr. Alfie’s relationship with his father, Dr. Franky, was quite poor, which was something Barbara, as the maid, understood very well. So she did not mind Mr. Alfie using ‘he’ as a reference. “Oh, the doctor came back to watch the news and heard about another memorial gathering at the theater. He wanted to go take a look, so he went out after dinner.” “Hmm... it’s nothing.” Mr. Alfie said indifferently. “Please stay with Louis a bit longer; I might come back very late tonight, or I might not come back at all.” “It’s fine; I can work overtime.” Barbara quickly agreed and then sighed, saying, “Mr. Alfie, I really suggest that you should find another wife; this home is still missing a mistress.” “Barbara.” “I’m listening, what’s the matter?” “Sorry to trouble you.” After Mr. Alfie finished speaking, he directly hung up the phone, then loosened his rolled-up sleeves, buttoned his shirt, put his tie back on, and took his suit jacket off the hanger to put it on. As he left the office, Mr. Alfie suddenly covered the photo frame on his desk... it was a picture of him with his late wife. … … The fingers of his left hand tapped a few times on his right elbow. 'Cousin Two' suddenly frowned and checked the time. It hadn’t even been ten minutes, but he suddenly felt a rush of intuition, sensing that something might happen. At that moment, a woman was about to enter the nearby ladies' restroom. Without saying a word, 'Cousin Two' placed a hand on the woman's shoulder and coldly said, “It’s under maintenance. Go somewhere else.” The woman unwillingly replied, “Who are you? There’s no maintenance sign posted here; why can’t I go in?” 'Cousin Two' narrowed his eyes. “I said you can’t go in, so you can’t.” His fierce gaze and the forceful grip on the woman's shoulder frightened her, causing her to back away repeatedly, and she turned to flee the area in terror, not daring to look back. 'Cousin Two' glanced around and then quickly slipped into the ladies' restroom—there happened to be a woman touching up her makeup in front of the sink. When she saw a fierce-looking man enter, she immediately screamed. 'Cousin Two' simply lifted his shirt, revealing the handgun tucked in his waistband, and shouted, “Shut up and get out!” Terrified, the woman pressed herself against the wall, moving past 'Cousin Two' as she hurriedly fled. 'Cousin Two' quickly approached the accessible stall, banging on the door. “Come out, time's up! Get out now!” But there was no response from inside. 'Cousin Two' frowned and decided not to wait any longer; he kicked the door open! To his anger, there was no one inside—Caroline was gone! The handcuffs were left dangling on the nearby grab bar, showing no signs of having been opened. However, 'Cousin Two' found a bottle of medical lubricant for anal use on the toilet. There was a sticky residue left on the handcuffs... 'Cousin Two' immediately understood how Caroline had managed to free herself from the cuffs! “SHIT!” He angrily punched the nearby door panel, but he quickly realized that he had been outside, unable to see Caroline leave. It was impossible for her to crawl out from inside the restroom! So she must still be here! Just then, 'Cousin Two' suddenly felt darkness enveloping him! Something was thrown over his head—it should be a bucket—one of those buckets used for mopping floors! He quickly realized that this was Caroline’s sneak attack! But the stall was very narrow; even though it was designed for disabled access, it wasn’t spacious at all! 'Cousin Two' only felt a hard kick to his back, sending him crashing forward into the sink. ___ Dr. Franky frowned. It seemed that gradually, more and more people began discussing a certain event that had occurred that day—he pieced together a rough idea from snippets of conversation he overheard. Most of them had heard the same voice, as if it were a call from the depths of their souls. That voice spoke the same thing to everyone. Some answered, while others did not, but the result was that their common wish was fulfilled; everyone remained safe. Then, in the aftermath of the kidnapping case, several bizarre incidents occurred. The kidnappers mysteriously fell unconscious, the weapons inexplicably disassembled, and the explosives lost their original power. The murmurs of discussion seemed to spiral out of control. At the memorial service, an already strange atmosphere was heightened by everyone wearing black, holding candles, and surrounded by a quiet environment. It felt shrouded in mystery. The feeling of mystery crept in quietly. Dr. Franky increasingly sensed something was amiss… Many people here seemed to have fallen into a peculiar mental state. They appeared to be dominated by their own conjectures and the inexplicable phenomena before them, leading to a sense of awe towards certain things that seemed to be beyond comprehension. Women hugged their children tightly, occasionally joining in the discussion. The men were sometimes silent, sometimes attempting to provide explanations, and sometimes unable to validate their own views. Some seemed to slip away quietly, unwilling to partake in this suddenly altered memorial. The pastor noticed that something was off during the memorial service. He cleared his throat, coughed a couple of times, and solemnly said, “Please remain silent.” At this, the crowd settled down. “Really... I truly heard it...” It seemed that they hadn’t completely calmed down; they were still whispering. Dr. Franky shook his head, feeling a desire to leave. As a scientist, he couldn’t agree with those who supported mysticism. After all, he had already laid flowers and observed a moment of silence. “Thank God’s mercy for saving us in times of disaster…” The pastor seemed eager to wrap up this atmosphere that felt wrong, so he quickened his pace. Dr. Franky had turned to leave when suddenly, a man’s voice emerged from the crowd, slightly hoarse and laced with disdain. “God cannot save. He only creates people, and after creating them, He does not care.” “Who!” The pastor’s face darkened as if he had been stepped on by a cat, “Who is blaspheming!” “I…” Once again, the man’s voice came from the crowd—people began to part, following the source of the voice, clearing a path to the front. A figure in a somewhat loose suit, wearing a mask, raised his left hand and slowly said, “... I’m the one who said that.” The mask was of the kind commonly seen at carnivals, giving the impression that it was simply bought from a street vendor. This peculiar man saw that the crowd had parted and swaggered up confidently, directly approaching the pastor. “Sir, is there something you need?” The pastor maintained his composure, even though this guy seemed to have ill intentions. The masked man looked around… He was, of course, the fugitive Bucky, who had been abandoned by the maid. Bucky felt quite desperate; what could he do? The memorial was surrounded by police maintaining order. In the past, this wouldn’t have been a problem—but now, he was a wanted criminal. Was it really safe for him to appear so brazenly in front of the police? Fortunately, he had found a store selling carnival masks—after all, in the carnival city of Rio, finding such masks was far from difficult. Even so, Bucky's heart raced. God knows whether those police officers would come over and rip off his mask, leading to all sorts of consequences for him! He felt as if someone was watching… that scheming maid! Bucky gritted his teeth and suddenly snatched the scripture from the pastor’s hands, shouting, “I’m not targeting you; I’m saying your faith is garbage!”