Chapter 186: He’s Gone?

Chapter 186: Chapter 186: He’s Gone?

After he spoke, he seemed to feel his actions were a bit forced. He rubbed his nose again, mumbled a few pleasantries, and then came over to greet Zoe Sawyer and her group.

The customer who had spoken snorted with disdain and went back to eating, picking at his food.

After they ordered their usual dishes, Zoe Sawyer watched the owner walk into the kitchen. She lowered her voice and asked, "That owner’s mannerisms... why do they look so much like the telltale signs of lying Sean Hughes told me about?"

’Rubbing his nose, darting eyes, and his tone of voice was a little unsteady.’

’He was just giving away a tangerine. What’s there to feel guilty about?’

Something about it just felt off.

Barry Quinn stared in the owner’s direction for a while before looking away. "It is a little strange," he said, "but that doesn’t necessarily mean anything. We’ll just keep an eye on things."

Plenty of people have malicious thoughts, but very few actually act on them.

It’s rare for someone to cross that line.

If we started tailing people just based on a gut feeling, our workload would be enormous.

Zoe Sawyer thought about it and figured he was right, so she put the matter out of her mind.

The four of them chatted quietly, but the complaints from the nearby customer grew louder and louder.

He nitpicked everything from the restaurant’s decor to the uncomfortable chair he was sitting in, and then moved on to criticizing the owner’s cooking.

All in all, there wasn’t a single thing about the place that pleased him.

"Tch, so annoying. He eats here every day and complains every day. As if anyone can’t see his little scheme. If the food’s so bad, he should just get lost and go home." The speaker was a woman eating in the corner. Besides Zoe Sawyer’s group and the perpetually complaining man, she was the only other customer. She was a regular who came over for a meal whenever she didn’t feel like cooking.

Hearing the man’s complaints, the woman seemed to finally lose her patience and muttered a curse under her breath.

Her voice wasn’t loud, so only Zoe Sawyer and Barry Quinn, who were sitting near her, heard it clearly.

When she caught Zoe Sawyer’s curious glance, the woman raised an eyebrow, gave them a nod, and left, taking the tangerine the owner had given her.

The complaining customer didn’t leave after finishing his meal. Instead, he leisurely tucked the tangerine into his pocket, took out a small pill bottle, popped a pill, and then propped his feet up on the table and started picking his teeth.

Zoe Sawyer frowned. ’How can someone be so unhygienic? With him carrying on like this, how is the owner supposed to run a business?’

’If any other customers came in and saw this, they’d be completely disgusted.’

The owner in the kitchen seemed to have grown used to it. He glanced at the customer, then went back to his work.

Sure enough, just after the food for Zoe Sawyer’s group was served, several potential customers who were about to enter stopped in their tracks. Upon seeing the man’s feet on the table, they shot him a look of disgust and walked away.

After half an hour, seeing that the owner still hadn’t come out to confront him, the customer grumbled and finally took his feet off the table. He spat on the floor, then stuffed the napkins from the other tables into his pocket before leaving.

The whole sequence was so smooth and practiced, it was obvious he did this all the time.

As soon as the man left, the owner came out with a rag and mop. With practiced motions, he cleaned the spot the man had dirtied and refilled the napkin dispensers.

"Sir, why didn’t you just come out and stop him? You lost a lot of customers because of that," Zoe Sawyer finally couldn’t help but ask.

The owner paused what he was doing and gave a bitter smile. "It’s no use. Trying to stop him just makes him double down."

"It’s happened before. Usually, the day after I try to stop him, his behavior gets even crazier. He’ll do things like take off his shoes to pick at his feet in public, or even start coughing in the direction of other customers."

He’s done things you wouldn’t even imagine.

"The root of it all is that his son opened a competing restaurant right next door. He came up with this underhanded tactic to ruin my business."

"And for several weeks now, he’s managed to scare away a lot of my business."

"At first, I tried to refuse him entry, but he just threw himself on the ground and pretended to have a seizure, refusing to get up."

"If I don’t open my doors, I can’t do any business at all. If I do open, he only comes for an hour or two, and I can still operate normally after he leaves."

"After thinking it over, I decided to just stay open and clean up after he leaves."

"Thanks to my cooking and my loyal regulars, I can still break even."

"So, you’re just going to keep putting up with it? You haven’t thought about calling the police?" Barry Quinn asked, raising an eyebrow.

’This is the kind of thing you’d normally call the police for, right?’

The owner rubbed his nose. A guilty look flashed in his eyes, but he quickly concealed it. "It’ll pass if I just bear with it. You officers are busy, and even if I did call the police, it would just end in mediation. Maybe he’ll give up eventually."

Barry Quinn just smiled, not letting on whether he believed him or not.

As they left with their takeout, they could see the man from earlier not far away, leaning back with his feet up and staring in their direction. Several tangerine peels were scattered at his feet.

When he saw Zoe Sawyer and her group come out, he grinned at them and pointed to the shop next door. "Officers, you should try this place next time!"

"The food’s better than this place, and it’s cleaner and cheaper. I guarantee you’ll be satisfied! Mention my name when you go, and you’ll even get a discount!"

Although they were disgusted by his tactics, they had to remain polite on the surface.

The four of them gave a noncommittal reply and then quickened their pace, heading back toward the station.

That whole scene had been disgusting. Zoe Sawyer felt it would be a long time before she’d even consider eating there again.

She had to admit, as immoral and underhanded as his tactic was, it was incredibly effective.

「Several days later.」

Just as Zoe Sawyer and her group were about to head to the cafeteria for lunch, a group of people burst into the police station.

"Police! Where are the police? Someone’s been murdered! Aren’t you going to do anything about it?" a woman shrieked as she rushed into the station. Behind her, two men carried a stretcher with someone lying on it.

Zoe Sawyer and the others exchanged a glance and hurried over to see what was happening.

In the main lobby, the three of them were wailing and crying dramatically around the person on the stretcher.

"Dad! Oh, Dad, this is horrible! I’ll make sure the police arrest the person who did this to you!"

"Dad! You’ve had such a hard life!"

Zoe Sawyer took a closer look. Wasn’t the person on the stretcher the same customer who had been causing a scene at the restaurant the other day?

Zoe Sawyer poked Barry Quinn’s arm, gesturing for him to look.

Barry Quinn nodded to show he saw it too.

"Is he dead?" Evan Keller asked, hearing the family’s wails. He rushed over to check for the man’s breath.

"He’s still alive, but he says he’s in a lot of pain and feels like he can’t breathe."