Chapter Twelve: Passing By Without Meeting

Zeiss nodded solemnly, pulling out a cigarette and offering it to Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi waved his hand in refusal, so Zeiss, seeing Zhou Yi didn't take it, merely sniffed the cigarette and put it away.

"It was a car accident, apparently caused by street racing. When the crash happened, the girl riding with him died on the spot. He survived the initial impact, but died later due to inadequate medical treatment at the hospital.

His father believes it was the doctor's fault, so he had people shift the blame onto the physician. I understand his mood—he just wants someone to be held accountable for his son's death, as if that could bring some comfort."

Zhou Yi clenched his teeth. Clearly, Zeiss was involved as well, but Zhou Yi knew the matter was far from simple. He paused for a moment.

"Does death mean I can't pursue liability anymore?"

Zeiss shrugged. "If a criminal suspect dies before a case is reported, charges won’t be filed. So don’t bother hoping for that."

Zhou Yi sighed and nodded, rising to his feet. "Thank you. I’ll go have a talk with the other kid. Of course, if we can’t reach an understanding, I’ll be back!"

Zeiss immediately got up and reached out to shake his hand. "Anytime."

Zhou Yi grunted in acknowledgment, turned, and walked away, his steps unhurried and his body slightly leaning forward. Just as he pushed open the door to leave, someone entered from outside the glass door.

A jolt of panic shot through Zhou Yi.

It was Alderson. Why was he here? Had he been exposed?

Zhou Yi didn’t pause or look at Alderson; he just kept walking, thinking that if Alderson tried anything, he’d get to his truck first and make a run for the eastern shore—his only chance to escape.

As they brushed past each other, Alderson waved to Zeiss. "Just as well you’re here. I need to talk to you urgently. I called you last night—why didn’t you answer?"

"Hah, I was on a date last night. You really killed the mood. Come in, let’s talk."

By the time Zhou Yi closed the door behind him, the two had already gone into Zeiss’s office.

Zhou Yi didn’t need to guess; Alderson must have come to talk about his escape. He hurried to his pickup, slid into the driver’s seat, and started the engine.

If Alderson found out he’d been investigating those two, who knew what the consequences would be? Shaking the thought off, Zhou Yi drove toward the sea.

He parked in a lot and glanced at the back of Zeiss’s business card.

Right now, overturning the case was nearly impossible. Jennifer’s death was shrouded in mystery, the real culprit unknown. It couldn’t have been her own father—could it?

Zhou Yi’s mind was a mess. The address on the card was in a wealthy district—clearly, this was Gore’s house. Would a rich kid like him actually be home in broad daylight?

The answer was yes. If he was going to meet him, he’d have to be well prepared.

As a doctor, Zhou Yi knew he’d be no match in a brawl, but killing someone? That wasn’t so hard. He remembered many reports from his homeland—someone stabbed a dozen times and it was still considered minor injury. That was easy to arrange.

He ran through all the non-prescription drugs he knew.

Then he started the truck and drove to a pharmacy. He needed a lot of supplies, and couldn’t buy everything in one place—he’d need to purify them, after all.

After some effort, the back of the pickup was full of boxes. Zhou Yi drove to the address and parked by the roadside, sipping coffee and eating a hot dog, occasionally raising binoculars to observe the house.

As expected, the place showed no signs of life.

He waited half an hour by the curb. The main gate was tightly shut, and the garden was empty. After some thought, he drove back to Sophia’s house; the garage door was open.

He parked inside and walked to the back door.

There was a window there. Zhou Yi knocked and peered inside, but all was quiet. Just as he was about to leave, he noticed a Calabash Kid keychain tied to the doorknob.

He took it down and examined it—it wasn’t just a plush toy. From below, it looked like a pouch. He squeezed it, and a key shook loose into his hand. Zhou Yi smiled.

The Calabash Kid saves the grandpa—so this was a key left for him. He remembered Sophia calling him Grandpa Watts before she left; she was clever indeed.

He tried the key in the back door, but it didn’t fit. Zhou Yi paused, puzzled. Whose key was this? Why hang it on her door?

He quickly circled to the neighboring yard and tried the key there. With a click, the door opened. Zhou Yi breathed a sigh of relief. The girl had been cautious; even if someone took the key, it wouldn’t open her own house.

He made several trips, assembling everything in the neighboring house. The hood he wore was stifling, but with Sophia gone, it was absolutely necessary not to remove it.

Once everything was ready, he set up a makeshift lab table and began purifying the chemicals. In theory, it was straightforward, but hands-on work proved more difficult. Finally, as dusk fell, he was done.

A bottle of "enhanced" mineral water.

He held it up to the incandescent lamp, rotating it to inspect the spot where he’d inserted the needle—it was nearly invisible now. Carefully, he reapplied the label. He’d made four bottles, just to be safe.

Syringes filled with the prepared solution were set in a box, everything ready. He cleaned up, packed everything back into the truck, and glanced at Sophia’s house. No lights—she hadn’t returned.

Without pausing, Zhou Yi got in and drove toward Gore Roger’s address.

As he entered the neighborhood, the streetlights were unusually bright. The most expensive real estate in Mist City lined this coastline.

At the edge of the coast, a small road ran along the cliff. There were no streetlights, no surveillance cameras.

Zhou Yi turned off the main road, parking not far from Roger’s house. The whole building was lit up; whether or not Roger was home, someone certainly was.

Zhou Yi pulled out his phone and dialed the number handwritten by Zeiss.

Zeiss’s intentions had been clear—he wanted Zhou Yi to hire him as a lawyer. The Jennifer family wouldn’t gain anything more, but Gore would be easy to fool. With a judge for a father, Gore’s family would never come forward directly.

So, Zeiss wasn’t tricking him; the fact that he’d handed over the number so easily meant Gore was no pushover.

The phone rang ten times. Zhou Yi was about to hang up when someone answered.

"Hello? Who’s this?" A lazy voice came through the line. Zhou Yi’s eyes narrowed—he remembered this voice from the night his girlfriend died. This was the kid who’d fired at another girl, shouting in excitement the whole time. Zhou Yi forced himself to focus.

"I’m Destiny’s grandfather. Don’t tell me you don’t know my granddaughter. She hasn’t been home in days. I know she was close with you and Jennifer. Tell me where she is, or I’ll come to your house every day and call you nonstop!"

He roared out the words, rapid-fire, like a frantic old man searching for his missing child—anxious, agitated, desperate. Sure enough, there was a pause on the other end.

After several seconds, it seemed Gore was trying to recall if he knew a girl named Destiny. The old man had mentioned Jennifer too, so this wasn’t recent. Thinking of his friend, and some other details, Gore’s urge to shout faded.

"The name Destiny does sound familiar. I can’t quite place her—maybe she was a friend of Jennifer’s."

Zhou Yi narrowed his eyes. It was a good sign Gore brought up Jennifer himself; it saved him the trouble.

"I know that kid too—wasn’t he boasting about being some councilman’s son? I don’t care who you people are. I just want to see my granddaughter.

I’m right now on the little road east of your house. If I have to come in and catch you, it won’t look good for anyone. Get out here and tell me where my granddaughter is—why has she missed college for over two months and disappeared?"

Zhou Yi didn’t give him time to react. Catching him while Gore was thinking of Jennifer, he pressed for a meeting. Even if Gore didn’t want to see him, he’d come out—this was basic psychology.

Sure enough, after a moment, Gore Roger sighed. "Alright, I’ll come over now."