When James heard Winnieâs question, he instinctively handed her the phone.âHere, you can seeââ As soon as those words escaped his mouth, James stopped abruptly, remembering that Winnie could no longer see.Coughing drily to cover up his embarrassment, he quickly retracted his hand. âThe texts that he had previously sent you are still kept in the phone,â he explained.Winnie furrowed her eyebrows upon hearing that. âThe chat history between him and me is kept, but not the others?ââThatâs right. He probably cleared the data on his phone before contacting you. Even the call history had been cleared.
Howeverâ¦â James changed the point of focus. âThereâs a missed call during the day of the incident.
Unfortunately, we only discover this now. It has been a few days since the incident. If the caller was Haroldâs ally, they would have probably gotten the news that Harold had gone into hiding.âWinnie nodded in response. âAre there any clues we can obtain from the phone number?âJames shook his head no. âI donât think so. Itâs obvious that this is a fake number generated by the internet. We most likely wouldnât be able to find anything, but these are all just my assumptions.âAs he spoke, he passed the phone to David, who was standing beside him. âTake a look.âDavid accepted the phone from James and confirmed that it was a fake number with just one glance. âPhone numbers like this are usually a one-time random generation. Thereâs not much value in this discovery. The number will definitely be unavailable.âThe keys of the old phone were proportionately much smaller compared to Davidâs thumb.
As he was inspecting the phone number, he accidentally pressed the dial button.Startled that he had pressed the button, he quickly reassured the others, âItâs ok. Everythingâs fine. It wonât affect anything.
After all, the number is unavailable.âAmused, James teased David in feigned anger. âYouâre almost forty years old. How are you as clumsy as a prepubescent boy?ââHehe.â David chuckled sheepishly before handing the phone back to James. âSee? Nothing happened!âWinnie had lost her sight.
Naturally, she had no clue about what had just happened.Frowning, she tilted her head toward Xavier and whispered, âWhat happened? Whatâs wrong?âA dull pain could be felt in Xavierâs heart as he saw Winnie in that state. It was as though someone had stabbed his heart repeatedly with a blunted knife.He zoned out for a solid two seconds before explaining, âCaptain Gibson accidentally dialed the number.ââAh,â Winnie replied lightly. âI see. It probably wouldnât change anything.ââThatâs right.
Everythingâs okay!â When David heard the conversation between Winnie and Xavier, he turned the speakerâs volume up. The automated voice of the device could be heard loud and clear. âThe number you have dialed is unavailable.ââThank goodness itâs unavailable,â James commented. âWe have neither the tools nor the skills right now. It could have been a disaster if someone were to pick up the call. We should send this phone back to the station as soon as possible and let the tech guys try to restore the data.âWhen he had finished speaking, he turned to Winnie and became solemn. âMadam Winnie Garland, on behalf of the police department and the school, we would like to bestow our utmost honor unto you for your immense bravery and selfless sacrifice. Hand, salute!âAt the command of execution, Greta and David stood up straight and gave Winnie a respectful salute.Even though she could not see, Winnie could hear the shuffling noises of all three of them standing straight before resuming their positions simultaneously.Turning her head toward their direction, Winnie stood up and returned the salute in a similar manner. âAll right, then.â Seeing that their job there was done, James sent Winnie his final greetings. âWeâll be taking this phone with us now and stop disturbing your peace.
Rest well. If you find any clues or are in need of our assistance, feel free to contact us any time.ââOkay.â Winnie smiled. âPolice are working for the sake of our country. I will contact you if I need help.ââIn that case, weâll be going now.â Greta approached Winnie with a smile. âOnce your quarantine is over, Iâll bring you out for a meal.ââAll right, deal!â As she spoke, Winnie took a few steps to the front.Upon seeing that, Greta quickly stretched out her arms and stopped Winnie in her tracks. âItâs okay. Weâll see ourselves out.âWith that, the three of them turned around to leave.At that precise moment, the old phone in Davidâs hand suddenly rang.Startled by the sudden sound, David quickly glanced down at the caller ID.He froze, dumbstruck. It was as though he was holding a ticking time bomb in his hand.âWho is it?â James inquired immediately.âItâs an unknown number with a similar structure as the other number. Itâs probably a generated online dial as well. Could it be the same ally that called Harold a few days ago? What do we do? There is no equipment here.âJames thought about it for a short while before making a brisk decision. âPick up. Itâs too big of a coincidence that the phone is ringing now. Perhaps they received the notification from your call just now and are calling back to probe. If we pick up now, we might be able to lure them out, but if we donât, they might never call this phone ever again.ââOkay!â David agreed with Jamesâ analysis, but there was still one concern. âBut what about my voice? I sound completely different from Harold.ââHereâs the plan.â James gestured for David to come closer and whispered a quick command into his ear.Cognizant of what Jamesâ plan was, David flashed the former an okay sign before answering the call.The caller was the first to speak. It sounded like a female voice. âYouâre not dead yet? Where have you been in the past few days?âDavid immediately lowered his voice and growled at the phone. âDid you wish that I was dead? Iâm still hiding in the chemical plant. I donât know if there are police outside, so you better come up with a plan as soon as possible to rescue me.âThe caller was not born yesterday. It didnât take long for her to realize that Davidâs voice was different. She immediately raised her guard. âWhat happened to your voice?ââIâm wearing a gas mask. Three out of the four bottles had been broken. I almost lost my life trying to salvage the last one, but there also seemed to be a crack on the surface of this bottle. I donât want to gamble my life trying to guess whether or not this sh*t is poisonous, so Iâve found myself a gas mask for protection. Where the h*ll are you? Can you come and rescue me or not?ââOf course, I will.
Iâm impressed. Canât believe youâre that hard to kill. Youâre still at the abandoned chemical plant, am I right?ââThatâs right. They thought I had escaped, so they probably wouldnât expect me to still be hiding in the chemical plant.ââAll right, then. Wait for me.â The woman at the other end of the call chuckled suddenly. âIâll inform you once Iâve made the arrangements.ââOkay.â David gave James another okay sign to signal that everything was settled without forgetting to grumble, âHurry up! Iâm almost starved to death!ââGot it. Once Iâve bought that thing, youâll be able to feast to your heartâs content. Oh, thatâs right. I almost forgot. Thereâs something that I want to ask you.âDavid paused. His forehead creased as his eyebrows inched toward each other. âWhat is it?â He took a deep breath to calm himself, praying to the heavens that the caller would not ask him something he did not know. Otherwise, his cover would be blown!