Bai Xiao set down his glass of water and listened with complete focus.
"That day, Exusiai and I had just finished delivering a package. When we were coming downstairs, we noticed someone standing beside a dumpster, putting something inside it... After that person left, we went over to take a look ourselves, and that's when we found the Originium."
"...That's it?" Hoshiguma asked suspiciously.
"Of course. We have no reason to hide anything. It really is that simple." Texas's face remained expressionless. "It was a parcel. After we retrieved it and discovered it contained Originium, we immediately contacted Officer Ch'en."
The whole story was so simple that Hoshiguma hadn't even finished the drink in her glass.
"I see. Tch. Fine, then. Bai Xiao, do you have anything you want to ask?"
Hoshiguma really didn't seem to know how to conduct an inquiry at all. Bai Xiao honestly had no idea how she'd ever made it to inspector. One look at her and he knew he couldn't rely on her. He'd have to handle this himself.
"Ahem. Miss Texas, could you describe the suspect's features for us? His appearance, gender, height, race—anything like that?"
Texas answered almost instantly, as if she had already prepared the response in advance.
"A middle-aged man. He was wearing a gray jacket and black trousers. Beyond that, I don't know."
Bai Xiao narrowed his eyes, faintly sensing that something was wrong.
That description was far too standard. Eight out of ten middle-aged men on the street dressed like that.
Of course, if you were going to do something shady, dressing in ordinary clothes made sense. But the way Texas said it carried a strange sense of deliberate calculation.
More importantly, Exusiai, standing off to the side, had already guiltily averted her gaze and started whistling...
Except she clearly didn't actually know how to whistle. She just puckered her rosy lips and kept making breathy "whoo-whoo" noises.
If you can't whistle, then why are you doing that? Isn't that practically announcing that you're lying?!
Bai Xiao had no strength left to complain, but he already had an idea. Pretending to speak casually, he said, "So from upstairs, you were able to see the man's gray coat? I see. The rain that day wasn't exactly light—didn't he even carry an umbrella?"
Texas froze for a moment, then instinctively glanced at Exusiai. Exusiai immediately forced an awkward laugh and said, "Of course he didn't carry an umbrella. He was wearing a transparent raincoat."
"That's right," Texas added at once. "A transparent raincoat."
Bai Xiao sighed.
"Was it really a transparent raincoat?"
Texas said nothing. She seemed to have realized something. Only Exusiai kept nodding eagerly.
"Yep, that's right. A transparent raincoat. I remember it clearly."
Without another word, Bai Xiao took out his phone and placed it in front of Texas.
"To cover one lie, you need even more lies." He looked straight into her eyes, his face blank. "December 3rd. Twelve days ago. The very day you found the Originium. You said that man was wearing a raincoat?"
"But it didn't rain that day at all."
The moment she saw what was on the phone, Texas knew her lie had been exposed. Her expression darkened instantly.
"Officer Hoshiguma... what is the meaning of this?"
"I should be asking you that!"
Now that matters had reached this point, Hoshiguma naturally understood that something was off. She stood up at once and confronted Texas head-on. Her investigative skills might not have been much to boast about, but once she turned serious, her aura was first-rate—no weaker than Ch'en's at all.
"Ridiculous. If you won't talk here, then you can explain yourselves at the Guard Department. Right now, you're suspected of giving false testimony and obstructing official duties. Come with me."
After saying that, Hoshiguma added coldly, "For the Emperor's sake, I won't use force. The two of you can walk there yourselves. Don't make this more troublesome than it needs to be."
She tossed down that sentence and turned to leave.
Seeing that, Exusiai hurriedly vaulted out from behind the counter. She didn't dare chase after Hoshiguma, so instead she grabbed hold of Bai Xiao, who hadn't yet had time to leave.
"Wait! We can talk this out!"
"Talk?" Bai Xiao glanced at her. "Miss Exusiai, giving false testimony is a very serious matter. If everything could be settled by talking, then what would Lungmen's courts even be for?"
"I..." Exusiai was struck speechless for a moment. Then she turned around and immediately complained, "I told you your acting wasn't good enough, Texas! You couldn't fool Inspector Hoshiguma... No, I mean, you couldn't fool the Guard Department!"
Texas clearly knew the situation had become serious, but she still shot back, "Your plan was the flawed part. You didn't even check the weather. Otherwise how could I have been caught on such an obvious inconsistency?"
Hoshiguma was practically at the bar's front door already, and these two were still arguing.
"Enough!"
Bai Xiao shook Exusiai's hand off and cut the two of them off.
"I'm only asking one thing. Does the Originium have anything to do with Penguin Logistics?"
Exusiai immediately raised her hand.
"Of course not! We're victims too!"
"Then why did you give false testimony?"
"I..." Exusiai faltered again, but instead of answering, she said, "You're Bai Xiao, right? Could you please ask Inspector Hoshiguma to come back? This time we'll tell everything. We definitely won't lie again."
"Really?" Bai Xiao looked openly doubtful. After someone had lied once, he wasn't about to trust them so easily.
"Really!" Exusiai clutched Bai Xiao's hand and pleaded pitifully, "We all know each other here. There's no need to make things bigger than they have to be, right? Please, Bai Xiao, just help me out this once, okay? Please, please!"
Exusiai knew exactly how to make use of her strengths. A cute, beautiful girl like her only needed to look a little pitiful, and very few people could bring themselves to refuse her.
"Fine. I'll go try. But you two can't lie again."
"We won't, we won't! Absolutely not!" Exusiai immediately straightened up, then turned and snapped, "Texas, say something too!"
Texas sighed. Her expression was still as cool and indifferent as ever, but now there was a trace of strained pride in it.
"Sorry to trouble you. We'll tell the truth."
Seeing that the two of them had finally settled down, Bai Xiao quickly went after Hoshiguma. She had already gotten into the car and was waiting for him so they could leave together.
"Hoshi-sir, could you give them one more chance?"
Hoshiguma frowned. Truthfully, she didn't want to tear things apart with Penguin Logistics either. But what Exusiai and Texas had done was too much. They had blatantly lied to law enforcement officers. That was a direct challenge to the Guard Department.
If something like that could be tolerated, then the Guard Department might as well disband.
"They promised they'll tell the truth now," Bai Xiao persuaded her. "Dragging them in would lead to the same result anyway—it would just create unnecessary complications. Our priority is the smuggling case. There's no need to dig in our heels over this right now."
That was Hoshiguma for you. If Ch'en had been here instead, she would have insisted on hauling Texas and Exusiai straight back to the Guard Department no matter what.
Hoshiguma couldn't win the argument, so all she could do was look at him.
"But they broke the law."
"I know. But sometimes we have to consider the bigger picture, don't we?"
Hoshiguma spread her hands. "Fine. We'll do it your way. I don't mind. I'm not much help here anyway, so I'll wait in the car. You handle those two."
Bai Xiao flashed her an "OK" sign.
As he turned to go, Hoshiguma added, "Still, be careful. That Exusiai may look like a pretty little girl, but she's sharp as hell. She's an old hand. Know why we're so familiar with each other? Because she's been bailed out so many times that we practically got acquainted through repeat arrests."
"Honestly, even if we had taken them in today, it probably wouldn't have led anywhere in the end. Penguin Logistics' boss isn't an ordinary person... uh, I mean, not an ordinary emperor penguin."
Bai Xiao indicated that he understood. That piece of information was actually pretty important. At the very least, Exusiai really didn't look like the sort of seasoned troublemaker Hoshiguma had just described.
This Penguin Logistics really was anything but ordinary.
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
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