bookrebus Chapter 193: Police at the Door
Chapter 193: Police at the Door
Iris Weldon was jealous!
Why did her daughter only prepare a gift for her brother?
Why didn’t the three of them get anything?
"What did you do over at your sister’s place? You didn’t ask her for it, did you?"
Warren Valentine’s lips curled slightly, a trace of imperceptible smugness in his voice. "How could I? I didn’t do a thing. My sister gave it to me of her own accord. Maybe she just likes me more."
Riley Perry pursed her lips. ’Yeah, right. As if I’d believe you.’
Iris Weldon felt like hitting someone. If she had known, she would have driven her daughter home herself. She might have even been able to stay the night with her. But no, her son had beaten her to it. It was infuriating.
Seeing his mother was about to explode, Warren Valentine quickly downed the warm water a servant had just poured for him. "Mom, I’m going to head up and rest. I have to take my sister to her audition tomorrow, so I won’t stay and chat!"
Before the words were even out of his mouth, he was already at the staircase.
Iris Weldon: "..."
’That brat actually managed to slip away.’
...
Whitney Valentine had driven over herself. She was still fuming as she left the family compound. One moment, her mind was cursing Holly Summers for being so useless she couldn’t even handle a small task and ended up getting herself kicked out of the industry.
The next moment, she was cursing Riley Perry for opposing her at every turn.
Then she was cursing the main branch of the family for insisting on bringing Riley Perry back. Lost in her anger, she almost hit an old lady crossing the street, which scared the soul right out of her!
The old lady wanted to curse her out, but Whitney Valentine beat her to it, rolling down the window and unleashing a torrent of abuse that sent the frightened woman scurrying across the street.
The car continued on its way, the window rolling back up. The colorful streetlights of the night cast shifting shadows across her face, and Whitney Valentine’s expression gradually twisted into a snarl. "Since you won’t cooperate, then you can just go die. The Valentine Family only needs one true heiress, and that’s me!"
...
Not long after Warren Valentine left The Elysian Gardens, two police officers showed up at the door. Riley Perry opened it, a look of surprise on her face. After hearing the purpose of their visit, she quickly ushered them into the living room. Only after they were seated did she ask, "You’re saying something happened to Holly Summers, and she’s claiming I did it?"
The older officer explained reassuringly, "Ms. Perry, please don’t overthink this. We know your profession is a special case and that it would be inconvenient for you to appear at the station, which is why we decided to visit you in person. When the police investigate a case, we look at evidence. We won’t just take one person’s side of the story."
Riley didn’t know why the police were being so mild-mannered, but she knew it was her duty to cooperate with the investigation.
"Please, ask your questions."
"Where were you the night before last?"
Riley answered every question directly. The statement was quickly completed, but Riley added a few more words of explanation. "Honestly, the grudge between Holly Summers and me isn’t that serious. Getting smeared online is normal in the entertainment industry. If everyone sought revenge over something so minor, there’d be no one left in showbiz.
"Besides, she tried to defame me, and I’m perfectly fine, while she was the one who had to leave the industry. I have no reason to retaliate against her.
"On the contrary, I think the person who attacked her has a grudge against both of us. They targeted Holly at this specific time and deliberately made her suspicious so she would focus her attention on me."
The two officers exchanged a glance. "Do you have anyone in mind?"
Riley shook her head. "No one comes to mind right now. I’ll have to rely on you to investigate thoroughly."
Having asked all their questions, the two officers put away their notes and stood up to leave. This was just a routine inquiry. Compared to Riley, the two D-list celebrities who had been trending with Holly Summers were much more problematic.
As soon as the police left, Riley immediately opened her laptop and started looking into Holly Summers’s schedule. Then she hacked into the bar’s system again. The interior cameras were fine; Riley saw Holly drinking with the two wannabes.
But the cameras outside the bar were broken, so there was no way to track the taxi that took Holly away.
’Then I’ll just have to hack into the phones of those two wannabes.’
Soon enough, she found something suspicious on the phone belonging to the one named Rose Lynch.
Before Rose had contacted Holly, she received a call from an unknown number. Immediately after, she received a transfer of 100,000 yuan, and then she called Holly.
Riley then tried to trace the owner of the phone number, but unfortunately, it was an unregistered burner phone, and the number was already out of service.
’Looks like the only option is to trace the bank card used for the transfer.’
Five minutes later, the police department received an email.
The sender was unknown, and the department’s tech team couldn’t trace it even after several attempts. However, following the clues provided in the email, they identified the criminal suspect.
That night, Gigi Walsh’s assistant was arrested and brought to the police station.
But the assistant was tight-lipped. She insisted that she just couldn’t stand Holly Summers because Holly had caused her to lose her job. That’s why she spent 100,000 yuan to bribe Rose Lynch, planning to get Holly drunk and dump her on the street. She claimed to know nothing about what happened after that.
But soon, the taxi driver was also found, thanks to another email from the mysterious sender. Even the three thugs who beat up Holly Summers were quickly apprehended.
After that, the mysterious person sent two call recordings between Gigi Walsh and her assistant to the police department.
The recordings clearly documented the entire process of Gigi Walsh instructing her assistant to go after Holly Summers.
Gigi Walsh was finished.
Early the next morning, four police officers knocked on Gigi Walsh’s door and took her to the station.
It was just Gigi’s bad luck. If the matter hadn’t implicated Riley, she wouldn’t have lifted a finger to care about who beat up Holly Summers. As it was, all she could say was that Gigi got what she deserved.
At 8:00 AM on Tuesday, Riley headed to Caelus Tower in her brother’s car.
It was the same place where she had auditioned for *Starfire* right after she transmigrated.
"Bro, it’s fine if just Rocco comes with me. My agent is waiting for me upstairs, too. People will inevitably be taking pictures at the audition, and it wouldn’t be good if you got caught in one."
Warren Valentine didn’t insist. "Alright, I’ll wait for you downstairs. Just focus on your audition, and call me when you’re done."
Riley nodded, then went upstairs with Rocco.
She had spoken with Nana on the phone earlier, so Joanna was already waiting by the elevators when she arrived. As soon as Riley stepped out, Joanna pulled her aside. They found a secluded spot before she relayed the information she had gathered. "I just found out that a total of nine actresses were called in for the audition today. Among them are three A-listers, one award-winning actress, two popular starlets born in the 90s, and two newcomers fresh out of film school.
"You need to be smart about this. If it’s not working out, switch to another role early on. That secretary who follows the male lead isn’t bad. She has a lot of screen time, you don’t have to change your expression much, and she’s in every action scene..."
Riley deadpanned, "And gets beaten up every single time!" ’And always by the female lead, no less! The kind who cries every time she gets hit. Crying and a stone-cold face are that secretary’s two main settings, so it’s true you don’t have to change expressions much.’
’But what’s the point of me playing a character like that?’
’Just for the money? It’s not like I’m short on cash!’