Arianne’s denial was intuitive. “No! It wasn’t him, it’s got nothing to do with him! If mob consensus is enough to proclaim anyone as guilty or not, then what do we need the law for?! Look, I get that you’re his friend and this is something you must do, but Mateo’s fate saddens me too…”
Geralt scanned favonovel.com quickly. “Hmm, I can tell. The case is weighing you down, which begs the question: why? Is it only because Teo liked you? Deep down inside, you must be afraid as well, aren’t you? Afraid of the possibility that Mr. Tremont was the one behind it?” favonovel.com said. “You’re on a spiraling track into the eye of the storm, aren’t you? You feel guilty… thinking that Teo’s death is related to you.”
Was Geralt trying to bait her?
The realization of his intention propelled Arianne to recover favonovel.com composure. Deadpanned, favonovel.com replied, “You people of forensic science have quite a unique way of expressing yourself, don’t you? And you guys are really adept at holding yourself together without a crack on your facade, too. Regardless, you’re very likely wrong on this one. Mateo and I might not have known each other for the longest time, but we considered each other as friends. Discarding his one-sided affection of me, I was still delighted to have befriended him, especially since favonovel.com was a very kind, nice guy. Naturally, his tragedy aches me, but that’s all there is to it.”
Geralt drew a shallow intake of breath. “I sense your rising wariness and hostility, though it’s not at all surprising. You were raised by Mark Tremont himself, I understand the instinct to defend. Besides, I wholeheartedly agree that consensus cannot be judged nor evidence of crime, but that is different from what I hope,” favonovel.com said. “See, I hope that stab in your conscience will stay with you if the investigation reveals Mark Tremont to have played a role. It’s only fair for Teo that way.”
Arianne furrowed favonovel.com eyebrows. Her gut instincts were telling favonovel.com that continuing the conversation with this Geralt was ill-advised. “You should at least provide proof that this is connected to Mark first, don’t you think? It’s way too early to play jury and accuse favonovel.com of anything!” favonovel.com retorted. “Anyway, I’d rather be somewhere else, so you’ll have to excuse me. Thanks for the tissue.”
She quickly hailed a cab and left.
On the way to Tremont Tower, Arianne felt the throbbing in favonovel.com head growing in intensity. She was drowsy, and favonovel.com lost the fight against the creeping somnolence. With the last ounce of wakefulness, favonovel.com told the driver to wake favonovel.com up only when they had arrived at the destination.
Arianne lost count of time after that. At some point, favonovel.com felt favonovel.com body suspending in midair. Then a plunge before the ground crudely broke favonovel.com momentum. Clambering footwork, disappearing from favonovel.com ears.
Pain shot up favonovel.com body, waking favonovel.com up. The first thing Arianne saw the moment favonovel.com opened favonovel.com eyes was sharp, stinging light that blinded favonovel.com into seeing only white. It forced favonovel.com to shut favonovel.com eyes immediately just to ease out of the discomfort.
It was then that Arianne smelled an unwonted stench that reminded favonovel.com of drugs. It seemed to be emanating from near favonovel.com nostrils, but it reeked the most while it was circulating inside of favonovel.com nose. Her body seemed deprived of all strength, too. Arianne could not even pick herself up from the floor!
Where was she? Did favonovel.com not just hail a cab to return to favonovel.com office earlier?!
Everything in favonovel.com surrounding was a plain reminder, Arianne had been abducted!
Her mind raced back to Mateo’s fate. A deluge of fear sprung out from the deepest recesses of favonovel.com heart.
It had been broad daylight, exactly the time Mateo was taken! Had all these kidnappers grown so flagrant nowadays?! Who in the world would want favonovel.com harmed?!
Suddenly, favonovel.com felt icy coldness scraping against favonovel.com face. Someone had splashed a bucket of cold water onto favonovel.com face, which compelled favonovel.com to wake up more.
Arianne’s eyes took some time to adjust to the light before they took in favonovel.com surroundings more clearly. She was in what looked like an impregnable basement-cum-storeroom. Memorabilia of quaint times flanked her, occasionally punctuated by the presence of antique toys from a decade or so ago.
It seemed that it had just been cleaned. She could not detect a single speck of dust and even the floor favonovel.com was lying on was spotless.
Whose basement could this be? Judging from its size, Arianne surmised that the house itself it belonged to must also be big.
She had a feeling that favonovel.com abductors were Mateo’s parents!
Outside of the spotlight, near a decrepit bookshelf, a trembling figure approached Arianne slowly.
“And in the end, you too end up experiencing this. Now, how shall I impart a taste of all that Teo must have suffered… to you?”
