Chapter 44: Can I Make A Call?
After breakfast, Kate changed her clothes and wanted to go out. Laura, the middle-aged housekeeper, said awkwardly, “Mr. Fox said you were not well and had to stay home for rest.”
Not well? That was his conclusion after last night’s examination?
Kate felt a lot of spite toward him. Recalling the details of last night, her face went red and white for a while.
She caught a chance when nobody was looking and snuck to the door, but as soon as she opened it, she saw an expressionless face. It was that of Buzz-cut.
He just cut his hair not long ago, and his scalp was almost visible. His dark face had a further deterrent effect.
Kate’s heart sank to the bottom of the ocean. So she was under house arrest?
“Can I make a call?” She asked.
“To whom?”
“The supermarket.”
“You don’t have to go to work. They have been told.”
“Then…”All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.
Before she finished, Buzz-cut’s dark face interrupted her coldly. “You cannot call anybody else.”
Kate was anxious. “I need to keep in touch with my family.”
“Boss said this was punishment.”
“You cannot make calls for three days. And if you don’t behave yourself, it will be extended.” Sam spoke this like a recital. And then he closed the door.
She was shut from the outside world.
Kate stood there blankly and could not accept this as a fact.
Laura said with some sympathy, “There are still a lot of things to do. You can watch TV, read books, and see the sea from the windows upstairs…”
Kate curled her lips and said, “I got it.” And she walked upstairs.
The cat followed her heels. Kate was upset and lifted her feet, pretending to kick it. It stepped back a little but soon followed her again, looking pathetic.
Kate felt sorry for the cat. In some ways, it was just like her, imprisoned here. Tristan Fox didn’t look like a person fond of little animals. She bent down to carry it but wasn’t ready for its weight and almost dropped it.
The cat was scared, and with a meow, it clung to her arms. Kate was amused by it and pushed it closer to her arms and said in a low voice, “Too heavy. You should lose weight.”
Jimmy hadn’t gotten his hands on any big cases, but he didn’t stay idle.
He looked through the missing person cases of the past year but couldn’t find a woman named Caroline or any other similar person.
Jimmy checked the files of all female bodies found in that period, the pictures, forensic identification, and related materials, but no one was even close to Kate’s description.
That was to say, even if Caroline had been killed, her body had not been found yet.
Jimmy checked the phone company’s records and got the number of Caroline’s house. He called, and Caroline’s father answered it. He was scared to death when he heard the call was from the police. He asked if Caroline did something wrong and said they had not seen Caroline for over a half year, which corroborated what Kate had told Jimmy.
Next, Jimmy went to the place Caroline worked, the recreation center of the hotel Kate had told him about. The chief and staff told him that Caroline resigned a year and a half ago, and nobody had seen her ever since.
It was not easy to find someone whose permanent address was not in the city. For a person with a career like Caroline’s, it was even more difficult.
After inquiring and exploring for some time, Jimmy finally found the place where Caroline was known to have lived.
When Jimmy contacted the landlord, he said that Caroline moved away over six months ago. As for which day exactly, it couldn’t be known, as she didn’t give the landlord any notice. He told Jimmy that their things were tossed all around the house.
“Their?” Jimmy asked, surprised.
“Right. The couple.” The landlord said.
But the landlord elaborated, explaining to Jimmy that Caroline had signed the lease contract and that her husband was not present.
Jimmy thought this could be another clue. So his next step was to talk with the neighbors to get some more information.
But the block was filled with some quite dilapidated buildings. Most of the people living here were tenants who rented the houses temporarily and stayed no more than a few months.
There was only one woman, who was fumbling in the garbage bin, who said that she had seen Caroline. When Jimmy asked about Caroline’s husband or boyfriend, the woman became confused and sometimes said he was square-faced and sometimes round-faced, sometimes with glasses and sometimes without.
Jimmy was disappointed. Looking at her dazed condition and ragged clothes, he worried she might have mental health issues.