Chapter 300: Chapter 300: Follow the Money

Maisie Lynch had originally planned to throw this down jacket away last night, but when it came down to it, she couldn’t bring herself to do it.

Ever since she stubbornly dropped out of school to be with Ivan Warren, her family hadn’t given her a single penny.

Maisie Lynch had arrived at Ivan Warren’s home without a penny to her name. Every day, besides trying to get pregnant, she did chores and waited on Ivan’s entire family.

She had no job and no income. If she needed money, she could only ask Ivan Warren for it. Even if she wanted to buy clothes, she had to get his approval first.

Ivan Warren liked sexy women, so he was only willing to buy Maisie Lynch sexy, mature-looking clothes.

Moreover, Ivan Warren wouldn’t buy her expensive clothes, only cheap stuff that looked good but wasn’t practical.

Take the wool hip-hugging skirt she was wearing, for example. Ivan Warren had bought it for her for 50 yuan before the cataclysm. It looked nice, but it was stiff and scratchy, irritating her skin and making it really uncomfortable to wear.

That’s why Maisie Lynch was so reluctant to part with this down jacket. Its design was fresh and beautiful, the materials were solid, and it was thick and warm. It was one of the few good pieces of clothing in her closet, and she truly loved it.

If she threw it away, she didn’t know if she’d ever have the chance to own a piece of clothing like it again.

Yesterday, she had stood in the snow for over ten minutes, clutching the jacket and agonizing over what to do. In the end, she had quietly brought it back and hidden it in a bag of old shoes in the storage room.

Maisie Lynch reassured herself. ’Melody Summers doesn’t know I bought this jacket. She probably won’t suspect me.’

But she never expected Melody Summers to actually know!

Officer Tate looked at Maisie Lynch’s pale face, held up the down jacket, and asked her, "Is this down jacket yours? Then why did you just deny it and say you didn’t have one?"

At his words, Maisie Lynch swayed slightly as if she were about to faint. She lowered her head and stammered, "I... I..."

Maisie Lynch was now too flustered to speak. Facing Officer Tate’s stern gaze, she could only press her lips together tightly, forcing herself to stay upright and not pass out.

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton exchanged a look, and both saw the unease in each other’s eyes.

They hadn’t expected this woman, Maisie Lynch, to be so useless, falling apart at such a critical moment.

In this situation, Maisie Lynch should have just denied it outright like Melody Summers did and claimed she couldn’t remember clearly.

After all, you couldn’t see a face in the surveillance footage. As long as she insisted that Melody Summers was the thief, there wasn’t much the police could do for the time being.

But looking at Maisie Lynch now, Mr. and Mrs. Sutton knew it was obviously impossible to count on her.

So Mr. Sutton cleared his throat twice and spoke up to get Maisie Lynch out of her predicament. "Officer, even if she has a similar jacket, that doesn’t prove anything, does it? We saw the thief’s face in the living room. The thief is Melody Summers!"

Mrs. Sutton nodded as well. She stepped forward and gently put an arm around Maisie Lynch’s shoulders, trying to calm her frantic heart. "Perhaps the poor girl was just afraid of getting dragged into this, so she didn’t dare to admit she owned the jacket."

Mr. and Mrs. Sutton were, after all, seasoned veterans of the business world. The current situation only proved that both Maisie Lynch and Melody Summers were suspects; it didn’t prove that they had colluded with Maisie to set Melody up.

But unexpectedly, just as Mrs. Sutton finished speaking, Melody Summers, who had been standing silently to the side, suddenly spoke up. "Officer Tate, I suggest you check the bank statements and transfer records for the Sutton Family, Ivan Warren, and Maisie Lynch."

Melody Summers’s voice wasn’t loud, but it exploded like a clap of thunder in the silent room.

Mr. Sutton, Mrs. Sutton, and Ivan Warren all looked up at almost the same time, staring at Melody Summers with expressions of utter shock, their eyes filled with panic and disbelief.

Feeling the entire room’s gaze lock onto her, Melody Summers remained perfectly calm and continued, "Just now in the hallway, the three of them repeatedly claimed this was the first time they’d met, that they didn’t know each other, and that Maisie Lynch was just a witness they happened to run into..."

"If that’s the case, then let’s check their bank statements. If they really don’t know each other, there shouldn’t be any transfer records between them, right?"

"If there are transfer records, it proves they’ve been lying the whole time. If there’s been a financial exchange between them, then today’s incident is nothing but a setup they orchestrated together to frame me!"

Melody had been wondering why Maisie Lynch and Ivan Warren would have the guts to participate in this frame-up right after she had threatened them at gunpoint.

Neither Ivan Warren nor Maisie Lynch had the courage to do something like this on their own.

Unless... the Sutton Family had promised them a significant reward.

As the saying goes, money makes the world go ’round. With enough profit on the line, Ivan Warren and Maisie Lynch would be willing to take the risk.

And knowing Ivan Warren’s personality—he wouldn’t act without seeing a reward first—the Suttons must have at least paid a deposit upfront. That was the only reason he and Maisie Lynch would have dared to agree to this.

Melody Summers had only been suspicious at first, but when Maisie Lynch offered to buy apartment 1606 in full out in the hallway, Melody’s theory solidified.

If Ivan Warren and Maisie Lynch really had enough spare cash to buy 1606, why would they have bothered with the smaller unit, 1602?

It was highly probable the Suttons had given them the money.

The moment Melody Summers finished speaking, the room erupted!

When the four of them had made the deal yesterday, Ivan Warren, afraid that Mr. and Mrs. Sutton would burn their bridges after crossing, had demanded payment upfront. Since Ivan couldn’t appraise jewelry, he had insisted on a cash payment.

And so, Mr. and Mrs. Sutton had transferred a large sum of money into Maisie Lynch’s account.

If the police really investigated, everything would be exposed!

At this thought, even Mr. and Mrs. Sutton struggled to maintain their calm facades. Mrs. Sutton said anxiously, "Why check our statements? We’re the victims here!"

Mr. Sutton was a bit calmer than his wife. Forcing himself to stay composed, he said to Officer Tate, "Officer, checking statements is too much trouble. My wife and I are old, we don’t want to go through all this fuss... How about this? We’ll withdraw the case. There’s no need to investigate any further."

Mrs. Sutton quickly added, "Yes, yes, that’s right! Let’s not investigate. It’s just a plate of pastries and a ring. If they’re gone, they’re gone. We don’t want any more trouble."

With that, the two of them turned to leave.

Seeing this, Melody Summers almost laughed out loud.

’Trying to leave? It’s not that easy.’

Sure enough, Officer Tate took a few steps forward, blocking Mr. and Mrs. Sutton. He said with a grave expression, "Please do not leave yet. Wait for the results of the investigation."

Then, using the identification information of Mr. and Mrs. Sutton, Maisie Lynch, and Ivan Warren, Officer Tate began investigating their financial records on the internal network.

During the wait for the results, everyone in the room, aside from Melody Summers, had their hearts pounding in their chests with worry.

Maisie Lynch leaned against the back of the sofa, unsteady on her feet and looking like she might collapse at any moment.

Ivan Warren’s face was even paler, and he periodically raised a hand to wipe the sweat beading on his forehead.

To the four of them in the living room, the short span of ten-plus minutes felt like an eternity!

A little over ten minutes later, the investigation results came in.

The bank records showed that at around 10 p.m. last night, Maisie Lynch’s personal account had received a large transaction. And the owner of the account that made the transfer was none other than Mrs. Sutton.

The moment this result was revealed, before anyone could even react, Ivan Warren suddenly spun around and viciously slapped Maisie Lynch across the face!