Chapter 187: He Said He Would Kill Us Sooner or Later

Chapter 187: Chapter 187: He Said He Would Kill Us Sooner or Later

Hearing what the man beside the stretcher said, Evan Keller became furious. He slammed his palm on the adjacent table. "This is ridiculous! He’s in distress, and instead of rushing him to the hospital, you carried him all the way to the police station?

What were you thinking? Do you actually want your dad to die?"

The three people, who had been wailing, fell silent at once. They looked at each other, at a loss for words.

Evan Keller, having just unleashed his tirade, was panting heavily with anger. Beside him, Sean Hughes had already dialed for an ambulance the moment he heard the man was still alive.

The police station wasn’t far from the hospital. Soon, an ambulance arrived and whisked the man away.

Evan Keller had one man accompany the patient, while the other two were kept behind.

"All right, talk. You were shouting about a murder. What’s this all about?" Evan Keller said, picking up a notebook and sitting down across from them.

Although their interaction had been brief, Evan Keller had already confirmed that the patient had no visible external injuries. It was likely caused by something he had eaten.

Zoe Sawyer pulled Beau over, and Sean Hughes also drew closer, wanting to hear what was going on.

On that topic, the two who remained had plenty to say.

"My dad was definitely poisoned! It must have been that restaurant owner! He can’t stand my dad, so he poisoned his food!" the man exclaimed, slamming the table with an urgent tone.

He also blurted out the restaurant’s name, vehemently demanding that Evan Keller arrest the owner, give him the death penalty, and force him to compensate their family.

Zoe Sawyer raised an eyebrow. ’It’s the owner of that restaurant I ate at a few days ago?’

’Did he finally snap and decide to make a move?’

Evan Keller ignored the man’s increasingly frantic demands and instead looked to the junior officers beside him, telling them to bring the owner in.

Soon, the owner was brought in.

The moment he saw the owner, the man lunged forward, grabbing him by the collar and shaking him violently. "Murderer! You’re a murderer! If anything happens to my dad, I’ll make you pay for the rest of my life!"

The woman with him didn’t stand idly by, either; she reached out to scratch the owner’s face.

The officers standing by quickly separated them.

It was only then that Zoe Sawyer and the others noticed several other customers trailing behind the owner.

"Your turn." Evan Keller looked at the owner, now seated in another chair, and tapped the table with his pen, signaling for him to speak.

"Officer, I’m being framed! All my ingredients are fresh and clean. You can’t blame me if he got an upset stomach!

Besides, after he finished eating, he stayed in my restaurant for over half an hour. When he left, he was walking steadily—he didn’t look like he had an upset stomach at all. If you don’t believe me, check the surveillance footage! I have cameras in both the dining area and the kitchen!" The owner had clearly found out what was going on before he arrived. He didn’t seem flustered as he calmly recounted the sequence of events.

After explaining everything from start to finish, the owner protested the injustice, "He was fine for over half an hour after eating in my restaurant, but something happens after he gets home, and I’m the one to blame? That’s not fair!"

The other customers who had followed him all nodded in agreement, confirming they could vouch for that.

"Is that true? The problem only started after he got home?" Evan Keller asked, turning to the accuser with a serious expression.

For a moment, the man’s expression flickered with panic. But then, as if recalling something, he became defiant. "So what if it is! My dad only ate the food and fruit from his restaurant. He collapsed the moment he got home! If it wasn’t his fault, are you saying it was ours?"

Evan Keller couldn’t be bothered to listen to them argue. He sent Sean Hughes with a team to retrieve the restaurant’s surveillance footage and any food scraps.

They would find out what really happened after reviewing the footage and getting the lab results.

While they waited, the owner’s composure stood in stark contrast to the accuser’s fidgeting, making it all the more conspicuous.

"Aren’t you worried about what we might find?" Evan Keller asked, studying the owner’s stoic expression with a hint of doubt in his voice.

"I didn’t do anything. I just run my restaurant honestly. I have no idea why that man fell ill!" the owner replied, his face a mask of innocence and his tone self-righteous.

But contrary to his expression, his fingers were nervously twisting the hem of his shirt.

Zoe Sawyer noticed this, but given the circumstances, she didn’t speak up. Instead, she quietly whispered a few words to Heath Hale.

Afterward, they both kept a closer eye on the owner.

They both felt that the owner was definitely hiding something.

Sean Hughes soon returned with everything.

After sending the food samples to the lab, they pulled up the restaurant’s surveillance footage right there in the office.

They watched the footage from the relevant time period from start to finish. The owner’s food preparation was all by the book; he didn’t add anything unusual to the customer’s meal.

He even took care to wash the peel of the complimentary tangerine he gave him.

The only thing out of the ordinary was that, just before leaving, the customer expertly helped himself to the restaurant’s napkins again. He also swiped a grapefruit the owner had placed on the counter for himself.

Zoe Sawyer noticed a phone propped up next to the kitchen stove, its screen glowing white.

"Sir, what’s your phone doing there?" Zoe Sawyer asked, pointing to the screen.

The owner rubbed his head sheepishly. "My daughter suggested it. You all know how business has been... I figured I could start a livestream, teach some cooking, and earn a little extra cash.

If things keep on like this, in a few months I won’t have any customers left and won’t be able to pay my rent."

The main culprit behind his loss of customers was precisely that diner’s disgusting behavior.

"That’s because our family’s food is clean, hygienic, and a good value! That’s why people prefer to come to our place!" the man retorted, full of bluster despite being in the wrong.

The surveillance footage revealed nothing, and soon the food analysis report was ready.

A junior officer came over, handing a report to Evan Keller. "The lab report shows there are no issues with the food samples," he said.

Hearing this, the man refused to accept it. He started shouting that the owner must have bribed the police to alter the report.

He flung all sorts of accusations at Evan Keller, stopping just short of openly claiming he had taken a bribe to side with the owner.

"If you don’t have any evidence, I can charge you with slander." Evan Keller tapped the table again, fixing his gaze on the man. He then added, "If you don’t trust our test results, you’re free to pay for your own independent analysis at a lab of your choosing."

The man looked like he wanted to say more, but the woman, who had been silent until now, tugged on his sleeve. He reluctantly shut his mouth.

"I’m sorry, Officer," the woman said. "We’re just so worried about our father, we weren’t thinking straight.

But it’s only natural for us to suspect him. He’s threatened us several times, saying that sooner or later, he’d kill us."