Chapter 28: The Punishment for Excessive Recklessness

Chapter 28: Chapter 28: The Punishment for Excessive Recklessness

The owner of the neighboring stall suddenly grabbed Zoe Sawyer’s arm, stopping her from going any further.

At the same time, he started pulling her toward his own shop.

Zoe Sawyer’s expression darkened. ’I got carried away!’

She’d seen the person and just followed without a second thought, completely ignoring her surroundings.

"No, thanks. I have other things to do." Zoe Sawyer struggled to pull her arm back, her eyes warily fixed on the man. Her other hand tightened around her stun baton, ready to defend herself at a moment’s notice.

The stall owner grinned. He didn’t have the teacher’s soft heart or his principle of not involving others. This woman looked delicate and pretty. If he sold her, he could make a fortune!

Whether it was a big score or a small one, this was a gift-wrapped opportunity—a guaranteed profit.

"Now, now, this is just a humble little business. Since you’ve stopped by, you ought to buy something, right?" the stall owner said, trying to drag Zoe Sawyer inside.

Girls like this, who looked naive and inexperienced, were the easiest to deal with. They weren’t strong and weren’t devious. Even if they had a weapon, they’d hesitate to use it, worrying if they might kill someone and get into trouble.

They were afraid of being charged with murder, afraid of public opinion turning against them.

The time they spent hesitating was more than enough for him to drag them inside and lock them up.

Besides, the stun batons they bought were usually imitations. Many shop owners, afraid of liability, sold low-power versions. They were nothing to be afraid of!

The stall owner recalled his past experiences, glanced at the unremarkable stun baton in Zoe Sawyer’s hand, and felt even more confident. He unconsciously quickened his pace.

Zoe Sawyer swung the stun baton in her hand and, without hesitation, jabbed it into the stall owner’s stomach.

This one was a police-issue model—high-powered enough to knock someone unconscious, but not lethal.

It was perfect for a situation like this!

"You... you actually!" The stall owner stared at Zoe Sawyer in disbelief. ’She actually managed to buy a real one!’

The stall owner convulsed a few times before collapsing to the ground, unconscious.

Zoe Sawyer looked at the unconscious stall owner on the ground, then toward the alley where Teacher Scott had vanished.

She fumed inwardly. ’If it weren’t for this guy, I might have caught up to him!’

At that thought, Zoe Sawyer kicked the stall owner in the thigh.

A cloth-wrapped object fell out of the stall owner’s pocket and rolled to Zoe Sawyer’s feet.

Just then, Evan Keller and Captain Lynch, who had been tracking her location and racing over, finally arrived.

As soon as they entered, they saw a strange man lying on the ground and Zoe Sawyer bending down to pick something up.

Evan Keller rushed over immediately, grabbing Zoe Sawyer and looking her over. After confirming she wasn’t hurt, he smacked her on the back of the head.

His tone was harsher than ever before. "You saw him, fine! But why did you chase him?! What if he had a weapon? You’ve never had any formal combat or self-defense training. Going up against desperate criminals like that, you could have easily gotten hurt, don’t you know that?!"

Perhaps imagining a terrible outcome, Evan Keller slammed his hand against a nearby wall as he spoke, his expression furious.

If it weren’t for the fact that Zoe Sawyer had been just an ordinary person a few days ago, with no systematic exposure to this kind of thing and very little training, he would have been tempted to grab her and give her a beating!

"Tonight, you’re going home and writing a ten-thousand-word self-criticism report. I want you to reflect, from start to finish, on this reckless, impulsive nature of yours!" Evan Keller said with a cold expression, laying down Zoe Sawyer’s punishment.

Zoe Sawyer wanted to defend herself, but as she opened her mouth, she saw Captain Lynch’s equally disapproving expression.

Then she looked back at Evan Keller’s emotionless face and the cold aura radiating from him, and swallowed the excuses she was about to make.

"I know I was wrong. It won’t happen again," Zoe Sawyer’s voice grew quieter and quieter under the two men’s gazes.

"All right. Don’t let it happen again. When you get back tonight, I’ll have Sean keep an eye on you!" After speaking, Evan Keller took a pair of handcuffs from his pocket, cuffed the unconscious stall owner, and with Captain Lynch’s help, lifted the man into the back seat of their car.

Zoe Sawyer remembered what was important and quickly said, "I really got a clear look this time. It was Teacher Scott! And this... this fell off that man!"

As she spoke, she handed Evan Keller the object she had picked up, wrapped in her handkerchief.

’After watching so much Detective Conan, she knew enough not to touch evidence with her bare hands. She had that much common sense, at least!’

Evan Keller placed the object in an evidence bag from the car, while Captain Lynch was on his phone, repeatedly calling a colleague.

One call, two calls.

Finally, on the fourth try, the person answered.

"What’s going on over there? Why weren’t you picking up?

Also, where are you now? I’ll come find you!" Captain Lynch blurted out as soon as the call connected.

For those three unanswered calls, heaven knew how worried he had been!

"I’m at the hotel. The signal is pretty bad here for some reason, I just got your call, Captain Lynch.

Teacher Scott bought some exercise books from a teacher at the local school, then went back to the hotel and locked himself in his room. He said he needed to organize them for his students and told me not to disturb him." The colleague on the other end of the line explained, a little confused, then seemed to remember something and added, "Don’t worry, I checked before he went in. The hotel balcony is sealed off, and the windows are tiny. There’s no way he could have slipped out. 𝑓𝑟ℯℴ𝓂

Besides, we’re on the eighth floor, and I’ve been guarding the door. It’s impossible for Teacher Scott to have gotten past me. In fact, I just peeked in a moment ago, and he was lying down, resting inside."

A sealed balcony, tiny windows, an eighth-floor room, and a police officer guarding the door.

Logically speaking, there really was no possibility of escape.

But Zoe Sawyer was also certain she hadn’t been mistaken. There had to be something they were missing.

Captain Lynch asked for their address. It wasn’t far from their current location, only a few minutes’ drive.

So, the three of them decided: they would take the captured stall owner to the police station first, then go meet up with the colleague still waiting at the hotel.

On the way to the hotel, Zoe Sawyer recalled all the variety shows, novels, and dramas she’d seen. Her voice laced with curiosity, she asked, "Is it possible there’s a secret door in that room?

Like in the movies and TV shows, a small hidden door in an inconspicuous corner, like in a closet or a bathroom, and Teacher Scott used it to sneak past the officer and get out?"

She was sure she hadn’t seen the wrong person.

So the problem they needed to solve now was how Teacher Scott had managed to evade surveillance and leave the hotel.

"All right, don’t get worked up about it. We’ll find out when we get there and give the place a thorough search."