The Urban Abyss

The Suspect

Max Real Estate was on the brink of a severe crisis. Following the death of Chairman Maximilian, projects that had been confirmed were being canceled one after the other. This was just the beginning; as sales plummeted to an all-time low, the company was bleeding money, struggling to cover the massive interest on a billion-dollar loan from the bank. The newly launched buildings of Max Real Estate were facing the grim fate of a bank auction.

With finances tightening, the quarterly bonuses for employees were canceled, leading to a wave of resignations. The HR department was overwhelmed, unable to fill the vacancies quickly enough, leaving some jobs unattended. Max Real Estate couldn't even maintain its daily operations. Liam, having completely fallen out with Rebecca due to his connection with Ariadne, was the first to hand in his resignation, paralyzing the operations he was responsible for.

Rebecca was tirelessly addressing the emergency, her complexion turning a ghastly shade of pale. According to Nathan's instructions, Vivienne was supposed to closely monitor Rebecca and Jennifer. However, seizing the chaos as an opportunity, Vivienne ignored the orders and sneaked out.

She found a public phone booth and, with a phone directory of Wellington city in hand, began dialing the numbers of star-rated hotels, asking the receptionists if her husband had left behind a shirt when he stayed there ten days ago. 

"May I ask for the guest's name?" the receptionist would inquire. 

"Theodore," Vivienne would respond. 

Three minutes later, the answer would come: "I'm sorry, we have no record of a guest by that name." 

"My apologies, I must have remembered wrong," she would say, hanging up.

It was on her seventh call that Vivienne finally found the information she was looking for, confirming her suspicion. When Maximilian met his fate, the deputy mayor's secretary, Theodore, was indeed in Wellington city. Someone of his stature would naturally stay at a star-rated hotel, where using fake identification was not an option.

Vivienne now had preliminary confirmation with just a few phone calls. But was a hotel stay enough to catch a suspect? 

Vivienne wasn't so naive. She sat down, her mind racing. What was missing in her deduction? That's right, even Theodore couldn't have pulled off the task alone. Maximilian, the cunning old fox, would have been wary of Nicholas and Theodore. And how would Theodore know of Maximilian's whereabouts? 

Of course, there must be an insider. Who could it be? Three minutes later, a face emerged in Vivienne's mind. She jumped up, unable to restrain herself, exclaiming, "Yes, it must be this person!"

Vivienne immediately sprang into action, seeking out the finance minister, Aurelia. Upon meeting, she flashed her police badge, saying, "Minister Aurelia, today, I come to you in my capacity as a police officer, seeking information about a person."

Aurelia, stunned by the transformation of the unassuming Daisy into Officer Vivienne, was speechless for a long while, even forgetting to offer her a seat.

An hour later, Vivienne emerged, her eyes sparkling with excitement and a triumphant flush on her cheeks. It seemed she had a plan. She made a call to Nathan, "Captain, please bring the forensic team to the following location. I suspect it's the primary crime scene of the Ariadne dismemberment case. Also, could you have someone check this account?"

Vivienne then called Gregory's mobile – a number given to her by Aurelia ten minutes prior – asking him to come to the company within half an hour. Subsequently, under the guise of conducting a police investigation, she informed Rebecca, Liam, and Jennifer to meet in the company's VIP conference room.

At precisely ten in the morning, Rebecca, Gregory, Liam, Jennifer, and Aurelia were waiting in the conference room. They were all taken aback to see Daisy walk in. Jennifer frowned in displeasure, "Daisy, what kind of joke is this? Do you think we have nothing better to do than to play your nonsensical games?"

Daisy, now Vivienne, simply smiled and showed her badge to Jennifer, "Minister Jennifer, please, hold your horses. After hearing what I have to say, you might find this to be a very interesting game indeed!"