Back in the car, Chen Shi pulled out a gum, and asked, "Hey, officer, can I have one?"
"Whatever," Sophia said stiffly. "By the way, I'm going to pay you back."
Gabriel pulled out his phone and handed it to her. On the screen was a QR code. Sophia was about to scan it when she suddenly realized it was a Insta contact card. She frowned. "Who's going to add you on Indta?"
Gabriel smiled. "What's wrong with adding someone on Insta?"
"Who would want to add you? You're a suspect. Don't try to get close to me!" After a pause, Sophia asked, "What's your angle here?"
"My angle?"
"Don't you know what you did? First, you act distant around me, then you pretend to be some good guy, and now you're trying to make me happy with a pair of shoes. Don't think you can hide anything from me. My team's already dug deep into your background."
Gabriel gave a bitter smile. "Honestly, I don't know what I've done wrong. How about you remind me?"
"What were you doing on the night of September 9th?"
"Taking a job, having dinner with some friends, then going home to shower and sleep."
Sophia sneered, "That's it?"
"How exciting and glamorous do you think a taxi driver's life is? Can you help me remember something else? Maybe jog my memory?"
"Don't try to trick me. I'm not falling for it."
Gabriel made a bubble with his gum and pointed at his face. "Look at this face. Does this look like a suspect to you?"
"Criminals don't wear their crimes on their faces."
"That's not necessarily true. The signs of a bad guy aren't written in plain letters. You have to look closely. For example, I could tell right away that the pickpocket was panicking — not exactly the face of a good person."
His phone rang, and Sophia had already received several messages from Lin Kirchhoff: "Why aren't you here yet?"
Sophia said, "Let's get going... wait!"
She opened the car door, sat in the passenger seat, and took Gabriel's hand. It was white and slender — not the hands of a taxi driver who had worked for years. Gabriel smiled, "What's this? Can you read palms?"
Suddenly, handcuffs clicked on his wrists. Sophia was about to cuff her own wrist to the other end, but Gabriel warned, "You idiot, how am I supposed to drive like that? Handcuff my left hand to the steering wheel!"
Sophia glared at him angrily. Gabriel explained, "I have to shift gears and hold the wheel with my right hand. Ever driven a car?"
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Sophia unlocked his handcuffs, leaned halfway over, and secured his left hand to the steering wheel. Gabriel looked at Sophia, flawed as she was, and thought it wouldn't be hard to knock her out and take the keys.
At the same time, he thought, "This girl is really not made to be an officer"
After restarting the car, Gabriel smiled and asked, "What's your name?"
"I'm not wasting time talking to a suspect."
Gabriel scratched his cheek. "Look at yourself — you keep calling me a suspect. Doesn't that sound awful? What if I'm not one?"
Under those intense eyes, Sophia felt shaken. He didn't look like one, but then again, with his dirty past, how could he not be?
"That's impossible!"
"What if it's not? How about a bet?"
"What's the wager?"
"If I'm innocent, you take me out to dinner."
"No way!"
"Miss, look at me. I'm a taxi driver. I don't know what's going on, but even if you invited me for tea. For you, it may be nothing; for me, it's a big deal. And don't even start about what my coworkers and family will think. I missed work today and lost tens of thousands in earnings. Are you going to compensate me?"
"Tens of thousands? Do you think the car you drive is studded with diamonds?"
"Maybe. What if I was driving a wealthy woman to the hospital for childbirth? She'd be so happy she'd give me a big red envelope."
"Well, you're quite the talker," Sophia said, disgusted. She hated men like him even more than annoying Xaver Dorn.
Gabriel had zero shame and kept nudging her with his elbow. "What do you think? It's not a bad thing!"
"Fine!" Sophia snapped. "I agree. It's impossible anyway!"
"Nothing's impossible in this world." Gabriel smiled, looking ahead.
They drove in silence for a while. At a red light, Gabriel looked down and played with his phone. Suddenly, Sophia's phone buzzed. Someone new had added her on Instagram.
"Your Insta is the same as your name?" Gabriel asked with a smile.
Sophia glared. Gabriel pressed, "Accept it. If I invite you to dinner later, how else will you contact me?"
Never having met anyone so shameless, Sophia clicked "Accept" and quickly changed the settings to hide her moments from the new contact.
When they arrived at the criminal investigation department, Lin Kirchhoff and others were waiting outside, lining the street to greet them. Colleagues gathered around and praised Sophia for her incredible luck in bringing back the suspect right after he left.
Lin said solemnly, "Sophia, if this case is solved, you'll get a top merit award."
At that moment, the car door opened, and Gabriel smiled, waving to everyone. "Hello, everyone. It's almost noon. Is there food?"
Everyone was speechless. They'd never seen such a selfish suspect. Sophia whispered, "This guy's cunning. Don't be fooled by him."
Lin called out to two officers, "Max , Paul, take him to the interrogation room!"
Two hours later, the interrogation room door suddenly burst open, and two officers rushed out. "I can't take it anymore. This guy argues crookedly and his logic is too meticulous. I can't convince him. Chief, you need to come!"
Lin put down his tea and said, "I'll meet him."
Sophia grabbed her coat. "I'm coming too!" It would be a shame not to see her brother get bullied in person.
They entered the interrogation room. Gabriel complained, "This chair's so uncomfortable, my hemorrhoids are about to flare up. Can I have a cushion?"
Lin put aside the files and snorted, "If you choose to break the law, you get treated like this. Want comfort? Stay honest at home!"
Gabriel said, "One thing I want to make clear: I'm not a criminal, just a suspect. I believe your attitude toward criminals means you can't tell friend from foe and you misjudge the conflicts between the public and outsiders. At best, that's negligence, at worst, a problem with your attitude!"
Lin slammed the table angrily. "Stop with the diplomatic talk. I won't beat around the bush. Tell me exactly what you did the night of September 9th!"
"Fine, I'll answer directly." Gabriel counted on his fingers. "From 6 to 7:30 PM, I had dinner with a few friends at a food stand. From 7:30 PM until 2 AM, I was looking for customers. You can check my records. At 2:30 AM, I came home to shower and sleep."
The transcriber whispered, "That's what he just said."
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Nothing to say...