Chapter 394: A foiled assassination.

Outside the interrogation room, the members of the special team in charge of the operation were celebrating. They had never made such abundant progress in their investigation.

Elias was not finished. He took a sip of water from the bottle on the table and continued. "Do the managers of the supermarkets report to someone?"

Bonzo’s voice cracked. "All the supermarkets are run independently, but every manager reports to Master Vikram, the Sandjorg accountant who vanished six years ago after embezzling tens of millions from his company. Itai offered him shelter and a noble title in future, in exchange for his services. He finds a simple man or woman and convinces them to register the business legally for a share in the dividends.

These people don’t know anything about the businesses. Master Vikram coordinates funds, laundering them through discount sales and loyalty cards. Customers think they’re earning points, but they are funding weapons. The donation codes at the entrance of every supermarket fund orphans Itai is raising for his army."

Lenard’s jaw dropped. "Shit! What a scheming mind."

Elias shook his head. This Master Vikram knew what he was doing.

The questioning lasted for a whole night. By the time Elias stepped out of the room, it was almost 6 a.m. Much like Lenard, he was grim faced. Freiser’s supermarket had somehow caught fire at 3 a.m, and so had every other supermarket Bonzo had listed. It was as if they knew what Bonzo had confessed.

Commander Dyson, who led Bonzo’s capture met Elias and Lenard outside the interrogation room, with two cups of hot coffee. "Gentlemen, good work. Enforcers and fire fighters are already at the scenes of every fire. We will find evidence, if its there. Even if we don’t, this testimony is enough for us to make arrests. Engineer Quilla and others have been arrested. This is a win."

A cafeteria worked shuffled by them, balancing a tray of steaming tea, and warm bread. His hands trembled, his eyes darted nervously. He greeted the group and walked into the interrogation room.

Elias was about to take a sip of his coffee, when he suddenly froze. The cafeteria worker had been too nervous. Too rushed.

He turned and burst into the room, before Bonzo could reach for the tea. He lunged forward, knocking the tray aside.

Another enforcer burst through the door, tackling the cook to the ground. "Poison! There is poison!" he shouted.

The enforcer was an older deer beast man, with thick but greying hair. He held the cook down and said rapidly, "Lord Elias, I received information last evening that Itai Stormfeather had ordered for the assassination of Bonzo. I have been trying to get in touch with you since then, but I was blocked at every turn. By the time I got here....." he looked down at the cook. "she was already on the job."

He rose, forcing the cook up as well, before handcuffing her. Lenard lunged and punched the woman with a brutal force that dislocated her jaw. "She has a poison capsule."

Commander Dahl checked the woman’s mouth and scanned it. There was no poison capsule! The woman was in tears, and in pain.

The doctor that had treated Bonzo was called in to fix her. He did not even hide his contempt Lenard.

"She could have had a poison capsule." Lenard said, with no apology or shame for what he had done. "Even if she did not, she attempted to murder someone inside an enforcer station. She deserved the punch."

The cook was taken away, while the doctor went on to examine the tea and bread. He tested both items, frowning. "Alone, both items are safe. Together, they form a lethal compound. Subtle. Ingenious. Designed to slip past routine checks."

Lenard punched the wall in anger. "There are still traitors within the agency."

Elias’s lips curled into a cold smile. "Then we have no time to waste. The rebels are already moving. If they can infiltrate the cafeteria, they can infiltrate anywhere."

Bonzo, pale and shaking, whispered, "They....they know I talked. Itai will not silence only me, my sister is in danger." He looked at Commander Dahl. "Uncle..."

Elias and Lenard turned their heads so fast, pulling weapons too at the same time.

"To think we were looking for traitors." Lenard huffed. "Talk fast or die."

Dahl raised his hands. "Woah! Woah! Woah! Gentlemen, can we take a second to breathe? I am not his biological uncle, I knew his father. He used to be one of us, and he died saving me. Since then, I have been looking out for the siblings because the favor I owe them is a big one. Bonzo is not just foot soldier in Itai’s rebel movement, he is Maris Stormfeather’s brother."

Elias raised his brows. "As in wife of Itai Stormfeather, the current leader of the rebel movement?"

Dahl nodded. "For what its worth, I advised Maris not to marry into the Stormfeather house. As soon as she did, I took a step back and stayed out of her affairs. It was not because I knew Itai was a rebel, but because the Stormfeather’s had offended the royals somehow. It is no secret that they have always thought the throne belonged to their lineage. I have always had a feeling that sooner or later, they would be wiped out. I didn’t want to die with them."

Neither Elias, nor Lenard lowered their weapons.

Commander Dahl sighed. "Maris is the one that warned me about the assassination of her brother. Itai made it clear that he was a loose end that needed removing, as soon as he got wind of Bonzo’s arrest. Maris is willing to come in and share everything she knows about Itai’s and his rebel movement. What she wants in return is immunity for herself and her brother."

Lenard sneered. "Immunity for the wife of the rebel leader, do we look stupid?"

"Don’t rush. The supermarkets have been set on fire. I am sure Itai has an escape plan already. Nobody understand the inner operations of this movement more than his wife." Elias raised his hand. "Immunity is impossible. We all know that the only possible outcomes are life in prison or exile. Even if exile is granted, their memories will be wiped. Brother and sister will not even remember each other."

Commander Dahl sighed. "That brings me to the second reason why I am here." He went to explain Maris’s desired final fate for her daughter Oprah.

Elias shook his head. "I have enough rebel ties of my own, and I am not looking to add another. Send the girl to the white snakes."

Lenard made a call to the king. Within ten minutes, the paperwork was finished. The verdict was ten years in prison, and then exile, for Maris and Bonzo. Their memories would be wiped too. They would not even remember their original names.

The commander sighed. It was as he expected, but at least the siblings would get to live. From now on, his debt to their father was paid off.

All that was left was for Maris to hold up her end of the deal, and bring doom to a noble house.