第1章厨房春潮-我的妺妺h

As they currently walked toward the exit of the mall, Donald\'s nervousness grew. Being in a crowd made him incredibly anxious, especially now that he wondered if more of those "things" were among the people around them.

As if sensing Donald\'s doubt, Don suddenly spoke up. "Don\'t worry too much. Just stick to the plan, and everything will be all right."

Donald swallowed hard, nodding in agreement as he muttered to himself, "Right… stick to the plan."

Finally, they reached the entrance, still attracting stares because of Winter, who followed them at a steady pace.

Immediately upon stepping outside, Don spotted Benjamin standing by one of the pillars, engaged in a serious conversation with the police officer beside him. Without missing a beat, Don began walking toward them, and Donald had no choice but to follow, his anxiety growing with each step.

Seeing Don approach, Benjamin moved away from the pillar. The officer asked, "Is it them?" to which Benjamin nodded, "Yeah."

Don stopped just a few inches from Benjamin and the officer before extending his hand to Benjamin. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."

Benjamin seemed skeptical. From what he knew of Don, he was usually a bit more nonchalant. But given that Don\'s expression hadn\'t changed and he wasn\'t overly smiling like someone trying to butter him up, Benjamin concluded Don was just being polite and shook his hand.

Afterward, Don extended his hand to the officer, who shook it without hesitation. "Good evening, officer. Sorry for the trouble," Don said politely, keeping his expression neutral.

Meeting Don for the first time, the officer couldn\'t help but think of him as polite and well-mannered.

The officer had a rigid face with strong features, but his brown eyes carried a certain warmth. His large mustache gave him the stereotypical appearance of a United Provinces police officer, making him seem approachable.

He smiled slightly as he shook Don\'s hand firmly. "It\'s no trouble at all, young man. If what Ben here says is true, you\'ll be the one helping me."

Don returned the smile with a nod, then stepped aside, drawing attention to Donald. "This is my friend and neighbor, Donald. He was the one inside the church and saw what I described to Benjamin. I\'m honestly a bit skeptical myself, but I can\'t think of anything else that explains what happened in there."

Don\'s smile faded as he put on a more serious expression, acting like he had a lot on his mind.

The officer, though polite on the surface, had been gauging their reactions from the moment he saw them. For now, nothing seemed too out of place, so he maintained his polite tone as he offered, "Why don\'t we go down to the station so you can tell me in detail what exactly you saw?"

Neither Don nor Benjamin disagreed, and soon they all headed to the police station. There, both Don and Donald were interviewed for about four hours collectively.

———

Don\'s side of the story was fairly simple. He explained that they had arrived at Eastend Mall, planning to do a bit of shopping in preparation for school the next day. But before they could start, Donald had shown interest in visiting the church to pray after Don mentioned going there with his family earlier.

So, they walked to the church while Winter stayed behind to look after the car.

After arriving at the church, Don waited outside, thinking Donald wouldn\'t take long since he only wanted to say a quick prayer.

However, after 15 minutes passed, Don grew impatient and tried to go inside, but found the doors locked. Since Don had left his phone in the car, he couldn\'t call Donald. So, he started banging on the door.

Two men who appeared to be churchgoers came out and told him to leave. Finding their behavior strange, Don protested, and to his surprise, they became violent. Even more surprising, they were incredibly strong, but Don fought them off and eventually forced his way into the church, where he found Donald gasping for breath near the altar.

To his shock, benches were stacked on top of one another and set ablaze, with some people walking directly into the fire. It was like something out of a horror movie.

From there, they fled.

Donald also shared his side of the story, aligning with Don\'s version but with a few minor changes.

After both had told their stories, the officer asked questions to see if they were lying or withholding details.

Don was questioned about why he left his phone and android behind, especially since they could have helped in a dangerous situation. The officer found that part of the story suspicious, but Don answered straightforwardly, "I didn\'t think I\'d need my phone, and who brings a tall, busty android to church when everyone considers her a sexbot?"

Donald, on the other hand, was asked why he didn\'t call for help. He didn\'t need to act for this part, as he answered honestly, "If you were suddenly attacked and chased by creepy men and women, would you stop for a moment to call the police?"

Though the police lacked substantial evidence, crime investigators were already on-site, and autopsies were being conducted. It would take time to verify their story, so the officer didn\'t press them further.

Considering Don and Donald were still young, they were allowed to leave after the questioning.

———

Benjamin and Winter had waited in the station\'s lobby during the interview. When Benjamin saw Don and Donald approaching, with the officer behind them, he heaved a sigh of relief and stood up, though inwardly he was irritated, thinking, \'This better have been worth my time. I\'m going to be so behind on work now.\'

Outwardly, Benjamin forced a smile, though it was slightly askew. "Finally. I was starting to worry I\'d have to call your parents to bail you out," he joked, gesturing toward the officer behind them.

The officer chuckled and shook his head. "That won\'t be necessary. Though I can\'t say anything for sure until we get more details from the scene, it looks like these boys were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. If what they say is true, they\'re lucky to have gotten out in one piece," he added, patting both Don and Donald on the shoulder with a small smile. "You boys be careful moving forward.

Now, you\'d better head home before your parents get worried."

"Thank you, officer," Donald said quickly before turning toward the exit.

Don gave the officer a nod, then turned to Benjamin. "Thanks for coming out. I\'ll call you again if anything else comes up."

With that, Don turned to leave, and Winter stood up from her seat, casually following him out.

Once they were gone, the officer\'s smile faded. He sighed and scratched his head slightly. Benjamin, no longer smiling, asked, "Well, what do you think?"

The officer sighed again, his gaze lingering on Don and Donald\'s retreating figures. "Personally, I don\'t think they had anything to do with it. But their stories seem a little too well-connected to be the complete truth. We\'ll know for sure once the forensics and autopsies come in."

Benjamin nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Are you going to tell your higher-ups about them?"

The officer shook his head. "Right now, this is being treated as a murder case, and those two are suspicious, given the circumstances. But if I were to alert the higher-ups, we\'d have to hold them, and that could backfire if it turns out they\'re innocent—or worse, victims."

Benjamin gave a weary smile. "I guess neither of our organizations needs bad press right now."

The officer scoffed. "You\'re telling me."