Chapter 4

It turned out someone in the crowd had already called the police.

The officer's gaze swept across the whole scene.

I was being dragged along by two security guards. Lola had a fist in my collar, Nanette stood off to the side, and Clint wore a look like none of it had anything to do with him.

"What are you doing? Let her go!"

The guards' hands let go at once.

I gasped for air and slowly climbed to my feet.

The officer came over and looked me over.

"You were the one shouting to call the police? What's going on?"

I wiped some of the blood off myself and spoke.

"Officer, someone has falsely accused me of child trafficking, and the mall management is trying to illegally detain me."

Lola reacted first, quickly squeezing out some tears.

"Officer, you're finally here!"

"My son was taken by her—she's a child trafficker!"

The moment he heard the words "child trafficker," the officer's eyes turned wary as he looked at me.

I explained right away.

"I've never had any contact with her child. I said all along that I wanted to call the police, but they wouldn't let me."

"The property manager wants to illegally detain me over a three-second screenshot from the CCTV!"

Nanette's expression shifted, and she spoke up at once.

"Officer, I'm the mall's property manager. This really does involve a missing child, and we're handling it—"

The officer's face darkened.

"What evidence have you found to pin her as a trafficker?"

Nanette hesitated a moment.

"We're still investigating, but Yolanda Joyce won't cooperate and keeps making a scene here—"

I gave a cold laugh.

"You have no law enforcement authority. Why should I cooperate with you?"

"You've got the numbers, so in a public place you dare to lay hands on me. If you'd taken me away, whatever you did to me, who could I go to about it?"

I stared at her.

"If you have evidence, then show it here in the open!"

"Otherwise I'll defend my rights—including damage to my reputation, slander and defamation, and physical assault!"

I said it with total conviction, and the people around me couldn't help but start to waver.

The officer looked at Lola and Nanette.

"Tell me, how did the child go missing?"

Lola let out another wail.

"I brought my child to the mall to play, but I only stepped into the restroom for a second, and when I came out he was gone."

"The property manager helped me look into it, and an hour ago—right when my child went missing—Yolanda Joyce took my son away!"

Nanette produced the surveillance video.

Timestamp 8:30 p.m.: a woman leading a child out of the mall through the north gate.

The camera caught only the woman's back—wearing the same coat as me.

Lola shouted.

"Look! She's the one who took my son!"

Everyone looked at my coat, their eyes turning suspicious again.

I shook my head.

"That's not me."

Lola screamed in fury.

"Of course you won't admit it."

The officer was watching me too.

"Going by the evidence, you really are a suspect. When the child went missing, the last one seen with him was you."

I still shook my head.

"I have proof that it wasn't me."

I pulled a movie ticket stub out of my coat pocket.

The top floor of the mall, Starlight Cinemas.

Film title: Chinese Restaurant in France

Showtime: 7:00 p.m.

I handed the stub over.

"The movie started at 7:00 and let out at 8:40."

"The footage shows the child left the mall with someone at 8:30, so it wasn't me!"

Nanette's lips twitched.

"You could have left the theater early—"

"And what if I can prove I didn't come out early?"

I walked straight up to Clint and took my phone out of his pocket.

He moved to stop me, but caught the officer's eyes and held back.

I raised the phone and opened the video I'd already saved.

Everyone craned their necks, and the moment they saw what was on the screen, every face changed.