Chapter 53 A sudden turn: Unmasking the fraud

Linda was freaking out at first, but Assistant Lee's words helped her chill out a bit.

Lee was right. Even if they nabbed her, so what? She didn't do anything wrong, right? Worst case, she was just an investor in the training class. So what if she played middleman to help folks get cards?

No solid proof, they could only hold her for 24 hours tops, then let her go, right? The key thing now was to stay cool. As for Isaac, she just needed to keep her distance from him.

They busted their butts to trick him and ended up with this huge mess. The boss would handle him.

Linda strolled over to the resting area, not planning to bail just yet. Leaving now would look super suspicious.

Since Isaac was the one planning to bolt, the cameras would be all over him. She could just pin everything on him.

As Linda plopped down in the resting area, Allie glanced over at the counter.

Still no sign of Isaac. She couldn't help but ask, "What's taking Mr. Richardson so long with a charger? Break time's almost over."

"Who knows..." Linda leaned back on the sofa, replying absentmindedly.

Allie turned her gaze back to her and asked, "You look so down. Did your period really show up?"
Linda was super annoyed and really didn't feel like chatting. She just shook her head slightly, lost in thoughts about what would happen if she got busted and how she could pin everything on Isaac.

What she didn't see coming was that just five minutes after she sat down in the resting area, undercover cops, along with a bunch of uniformed officers, barged into the training class.

Everyone freaked out, especially Linda. She couldn't believe the cops showed up so fast.

"Don't panic, we're here to investigate a cross-provincial fraud case. If you have your ID cards, show 'em. If not, give us your name, household registration, and home address..."

"Let's get everyone registered first," the officer said.

Hearing about the fraud case, Linda immediately thought of her excuse that she was just a small fry. The anticipation of being caught was making her feel sick.

She frowned and clenched her fingers, then saw the plainclothes officer leading the group heading straight for her. He pointed at her, and two uniformed cops quickly came up, flashing handcuffs.

Her heart skipped a beat, but Abigail forced herself to stay cool. "Why are you arresting me?" she asked.

"Why? Well, Linda Abigail, we've had our eyes on you for a while. Cuff her!" the officer replied.

'Watching me for a while?' Linda was stunned. Was Isaac, that jerk, actually right?
As soon as everyone in the training class heard that Linda was mixed up with a fraud gang, they all stared at her in shock. But no one was more stunned than Allie.

The plainclothes officer glanced at Linda, now in cuffs, and scanned the room. Seeing it was all women, no men around, he frowned and asked her, "Where's the other one? Don't you have a male teacher surnamed Richardson?"

Linda swallowed hard and replied, "Mr. Richardson went to the locker room to grab a charger."

Hearing this, the officer's face turned serious. After asking where the locker room was, he signaled two team members to follow him to the door.

The officer made a gesture, and the two cops quickly took positions on either side of the door. He knocked, asking for someone to come out.

But after a minute of silence, the officer asked for the key to the locker room. When they opened the door and went in, they found it empty—he had already bailed!

"Damn it!" the officer muttered under his breath and quickly called George on his phone.

At that moment, George was already driving away from the building with Ellie, heading to her parents' house.

Later, he'd have to go back and grab all the surveillance footage. He didn't want Ellie to know she'd been under watch for a long time.
Plus, there was a ton of stuff going down tonight, and he might not be able to make it back. It'd be easier for Ellie to stay with her parents—they'd have company, and the three of them together would be safer...

"Hello?"

"Captain Stone, one of them got away."

George frowned. "Mr. Richardson, right?"

"Yeah, as soon as I got your call, I notified the team watching Abigail. Didn't see anyone leave, but by the time we got here, he was already gone!"

"He probably bolted right after I left," George said, changing direction as he opened his phone. "It's fine. First, confirm Mr. Richardson's identity and address, set up surveillance at his place, and then bring Linda and the others back to the station. No need to talk to them, just keep them in the interrogation room."

"Got it."

"Alright, I have something to handle here. I'll touch base with you in twenty minutes."

"Understood."

George hung up and turned to see Ellie staring at him, her mouth slightly open. He couldn't help but chuckle.

"What's with that look?"

"Um... Are you leaving as soon as you drop me off?"

"Yeah, I gotta work with the criminal investigation team on this case."

Work with the investigation team? Why did it feel like the investigation team was working with him? It seemed like he was the one calling the shots...