Chapter 160

The officer blinked in surprise.

With clear enunciation, Cordelia slowly said, “When I walked in, I discovered that this place wasmistreating students. They have a bunch of dunk tanks in the yard, and many teachers, just like thishomeroom guy here, were holding the kids down, dunking them underwater. It’s not just Merry, butall the students in this school.”

The officer was taken aback, “That’s happening here?”

Cordelia nodded, “Yes, that’s why I rescued Merry, but I could only get her out. There are hundredsmore waiting for your salvation.”

Hearing this, the officers‘ expressions turned grave, “This is serious, and we must open aninvestigation immediately.”

The principal was beside himself, “What on earth are you saying? You’ve really gone all out to skipschool. This is absurd!”

Cordelia pointed toward the school entrance, her thoughts crystal clear, “I forgot to record it, butthose dunk tanks inside are evidence, along with the abused students. Do you dare let the policeenter for evidence collection right now?”

The headmaster fumed, “Our school is an upright institution, established to help misdirectedchildren get back on track. How can we just let the police in? What about our reputation?”

Cordelia remained silent, looking at the officers.

The officer furrowed his brow, lowering his voice to explain to Cordelia, “We need a warrant toproceed with the search. If your claims are correct and the principal denies us entry, we would haveto wait until the paperwork comes through.”

Cordelia’s brow tightened.

By then, who knows what else might transpire at the school?

The officer then turned to the headmaster with a sense of duty, “Mr. President, since this studenthas made allegations, and she claims to have witnessed it, why not let us have a look around? Itwould also prove your school’s innocence.”

The headmaster frowned, “Officer, kids these days are hard to manage and rebellious to boot. Ifevery time someone calls the cops, you want to search our school and disrupt classes, what willbecome of our institution?”

The officer’s brow furrowed as well. But without a search, he couldn’t be at peace.

As he pondered, he saw the headmaster sigh, “But we understand your concerns. We can’t letcrime happen right under our noses, right?”

The officer nodded.

The headmaster continued, “So, I will allow you to enter, and you may even question the studentsfor evidence.” The officer’s face lit up with hope.

The headmaster then turned to Cordelia, “But for a child who’s disobedient and spreads maliciousrumors, who even barged into the school and injured security and staff, you can’t just ignore that.”

The officers also turned to Cordelia, their voice full of righteousness, “Don’t worry about that. If weverify that she has made a false report, we will certainly detain her and impose the appropriate punishments. And we’ll issue a statement confirming there is no issue with your school.”

The headmaster finally relaxed and stepped aside, “Alright, come on in.”

The officers nodded their heads.

Once the officers were inside, the headmaster’s gaze narrowed, turning to Paulina and Cain, “Youtwo should also come in and see if there’s any truth to the mistreatment of your child.”

Seeing the headmaster’s forthright manner, Cain and Paulina trusted him more.

Following behind Merry, Paulina couldn’t help but say, “You were always a troublemaker, but thistime you’ve caused an uproar. Do you really not want to go to school that badly?”

Merry hung her head low, silent.

The group entered the school, at first disoriented by its atmosphere.

The headmaster explained, “All the students who come here have their own issues. To preventthem from running away, we installed metal gates and surrounded the place with sheet metal, out ofnecessity.”

The officer and Merry’s parents were skeptical. Soon, they bypassed the front yard and arrived atthe backyard. Upon entering, they were shocked by the dozens of dunk tanks, with puddles still onthe ground.

Cain and Paulina furrowed their brows, looking towards the headmaster.

The headmaster said, “The dunk tanks are actually for the students. If they get sleepy duringlessons, they can splash some cold water on their faces to wake up. It’s not forced, but we don’t allow sleeping in class.”

It sounded somewhat reasonable.

Cordelia’s brow tightened.

The headmaster spoke up again, “Let’s call the students out.”

Once he said this, the teachers began herding the students out.

The recently mistreated students had damp hair but had changed into clean clothes and redonetheir hair, looking like they’d just washed it, nothing amiss.

The headmaster sighed, “Officer, go ahead and ask them.”

Shaking his head, he put on a disappointed and sorrowful expression.

The officer looked at the students, asking, “This student reported you were being mistreated. Is thattrue? Will anyone speak up?”

At this, all the students lowered their heads, not a single one speaking up.

Seeing this, Cordelia was stunned.

These kids were clearly bullied, so why wouldn’t anyone speak up? The police were right there.

Her gaze swept over her classmates, finally pulling aside one she had seen being mistreated uponarrival, asking, “The police are right here. Speak up.”

The student stepped back in panicked fear, shaking their head rapidly, “No, it’s not, I wasn’t…”

The reaction was suspicious, but there was no evidence.

Cordelia looked at the others, “Speak up, will you?”

The rest of the students also remained silent.

The headmaster addressed Cain and Paulina, “Merry is too rebellious for our school to manage.Please take her away.”

Paulina begged, “Please give her another chance.”

But the headmaster was unyielding.

Paulina turned to Cordelia in anger, “You got Merry kicked out of school. Are you happy now?.”

The headmaster turned directly to the officer, “Do you understand the true situation now, Officer?She’s caused a commotion in our school and tarnished our reputation. We request your assistancein rectifying this matter!”

The officer asked Cordelia, “Do you have anything else to say?”

Cordelia’s face was tense, but her expression remained cool.

Before entering, she had guessed the headmaster might have cleaned things up.

But she was here to save Merry, to have the police search the school. Even if it meant getting Merryexpelled for the sake of the school’s reputation. Her mission was complete.

But these people…Without anyone to corroborate Cordelia’s account, she was helpless to rescuethem.

The police officer broke the silence, “Well then, I have no choice but to detain you for 15 days andcontact your guardian to cover the damages to the school.”

But before he could finish, his phone rang. He answered, and his expression shifted to one of utterbewilderment as he turned to the headmaster, lowering his voice, “What? There’s evidence?”