Chapter 566: Uniting for a cause - Part 1

From the footage, they had found a lot of things and one among them was Linda's conversation with Aria and Ian. From the gist of it, it seemed that Linda knew about Jared's involvement in this matter. But what they could not understand was who was the other man she was referring to? Who was Charles and what connection did he have in this matter? Moreover, why did she take Jonathan Carter's name when the man was considered nothing but a ruler in the business world?

A lot of questions popped up in Preston and Valerie's minds, and they did not know how to tackle the situation they were in. It was completely different than what they had anticipated it to be. Linda's murder had now become a case that could help them find answers to some complex problems and what remained was to solve the case first.

They started with the easiest question first. "Doctor Lee, we do not know if you were involved in this matter or not. Since you were the one who administered the medicine to the patient, that triggered the reaction, you might be proven guilty until proven otherwise. Do you have any objections to this?"

"I understand, Miss. I will cooperate with you." Stuart replied immediately after getting a nod from Ian. He had already discussed with Ian the best possible solution, and the only way of escape they could come up with was cooperating with the Intelligence.

"I still have another piece of evidence for you," Ian stated and switched the tab on his computer, and it now showed the room where they had been before and had met Inspector Hudson and his team. He started to rewind to the time when they had first met him for the day and played it until Valerie entered the room, skipping the parts in between when they had been waiting for the reports.

Now, Neither Valerie nor Preston had no doubt that this was a master plan created to trap Aria, and just the thought of someone harming Aria made Preston boil in fury. He was now livid, and all he wanted was to kill those bastards who had even dared to plot against her to harm her.

Though Stuart was still suspicious for there was no conspicuous proof to show that he was somehow not involved in this matter, they more or less had an inkling that he was set up in this. He was an innocent who fell victim to the plan when Aria had been their prey, and this proved them right when they heard Ian's next words.

"I presume you guys are doubting Stuart and his intentions, and you have every right to do. But let me remind you that every ward and room in our hospital has a hidden camera that can record almost everything happening in the room, and not many people know about it." Ian stated as he walked around the table to stand in front of Valerie.

"Stuart too did not know about it until today. And I don't think the master mind behind this had an inkling about this. Otherwise, he would not have used such a plan to trap Aria. If we did not have cameras installed, the ones who would be doubted would have been Aria and me, for we were the last ones to visit her. Linda's reaction triggered only after we left the room. It was all a calculated plan."

Ian laid out all that he had noticed and analyzed in this matter, and Valerie was impressed by his thought process. He sure was smart and observant, and once again she was floored by him, only this time it was due to his intelligence.

"I agree with you on this, Doctor. We did doubt your colleague here, I will not deny it. There are chances that they might have collaborated with the other party to kill Linda, and maybe, just maybe, he knew about the secret camera before and planned all this. If we take the circumstances and the evidence, he is at fault and we might have to take him to custody."

Valerie explained her stance while everyone else listened to her intently. "But the Inspector's behavior only adds more to the suspicion. If the doctor here had collaborated with the other party to kill the patient, then he would not have blatantly accused him too. As far we can see, he has no idea about the secret cameras, and he first started with accusing you and Aria before he pulled in your colleague too."

Valerie thought about it carefully, and the pieces began to fall into their places one by one. Also, Stuart seemed too innocent to perform crimes of this sort.

Being in a field so dangerous and troublesome as hers, Valerie had more or less learned to read faces and from the young doctor's face, he seemed nothing but a victim in this deadly ploy. He was at the wrong place and wrong time to get caught in this matter when it was not he the mastermind was aiming at.

"I trust your colleague here. He was innocent in this matter. But I will still have to take him to custody. He and the nurse were the only ones in the room with Linda when she was injected with the drug. So, we will have to question both of them."

"In that case, you would be disappointed to know Deputy that the nurse has resigned from her work right after her shift ended in the afternoon. You will only have to take Stuart with you."

Valerie was not surprised by the turn of events. This was a common occurrence that she had been familiar with. Many times, the one who committed crimes at the workplace as a part of a plan would usually escape or resign so as to not get caught by the authorities.

"Was Linda already dead when she resigned from her work or was she still alive?"

"The receptionist informed us that her shift ended somewhere around twelve-twelve fifteen. At that time, Aria and I were still speaking to Linda."

"I see. This sure is complicated. We still do not know why they wanted to trap Aria in this matter. And before everything else, I need to catch that Inspector before he escapes for good. He might know something about this."

Valerie pulled out her phone and dialed Ryder, who at that time was watching Jared seething in anger in the cell room.

"Yes, Val." He picked up his phone as he continued to munch on his apple.

"I need you to track Inspector Hudson James as soon as possible. I will contact Maggie to find out everything about him. If you were to find him, keep an eye on him. But don't arrest him. I repeat, don't arrest him. I need to find out who he is in contact with."

"Sure. I am on it." Ryder dropped his legs from the table and pushed his chair closer to him before he started to search for the said Inspector in their records, and it did not take him long to find the man on their police employee register software.

Immediately after, he sent a message to his source and a picture of the Inspector, commanding him to find him as soon as possible while he waited for his positive reply.

Meanwhile, Valerie pursed his lips and looked at Aria when she remembered all that Linda had told her. "Does anybody here know who Charles is and why Linda was speaking about him to you?"