Demons Beside You

“Obitos, come and apologize.”

Everyone saw a fireball charge out from the room.

They quickly jumped back in shock. With his mouth wide open, Obitos looked really frightening.

A normal person would not dare to raise a giant lizard that was two meters long and over fifty kilograms heavy at home, let alone come too close to one.

Of course, many people in America raised lizards.

“What breed is this? Why is its skin red?” Leonardo asked curiously.

“It’s called Obitos. It’s new here, so I haven’t had the chance to discipline it. It just went hunting alone and then killed this lady’s pet dog. I’m really sorry. Miss, if you need compensation, we can discuss about it.”

Melson and Leonardo finally understood what was going on, but the girl still refused to give up.

“Since you have such a dangerous pet, you need to discipline it properly. What if it bit a human or a child instead?”

“Yes, I’ll be careful. I promise it won’t happen again.”

Chen Zhao knew that he had to apologize since he was in the wrong.

“Obitos, apologize.”

Obitos lifted his head and looked at Chen Zhao. Then, he waved his tail and nodded at the girl.

The girl stared at Obitos with some envy on her face.

“Then compensate me with this lizard.”

Chen Zhao rolled his eyes. The girl was actually not embarrassed to ask.

“I don’t think so. I can give you money as compensation, but not my pet.”

Such a civil conflict would normally not turn into a criminal case, so the police would not interfere.

Of course, one of the parties may choose to appeal to court, but even so the judge would at most charge the wrong party with a fine.

Chen Zhao was in the wrong because he did not look after his pet properly. Therefore, there would also be some light punishment for him, such as ten or twenty hours of community service.

“Lend it to me for a month.”

Chen Zhao still shook his head. “No.”

“Then can I come and play with it?”

“Err...”

“Chen, I hereby sentence you. In the next month, this beautiful lady must be able to play with your pet for an hour. Of course, it’ll only be when you’re around,” Melson said with a serious voice.

“...”

“Thank you, Mr. Police.” The girl hugged Melson’s waist enthusiastically. Melson was very tall, so she could only reach his waist. “Can I start playing with it now?”

“Fine. Obitos, you need to now pay for your mistake. And you three, also come out.”

Beelzebub, Carrie and Raymond ran out. They stood before Chen Zhao in a row, all looking like they had just done something wrong.

“Wow! You’ve got so many pets! Why can’t you just give me one? So stingy.”

Chen Zhao gave a bitter smile. Then, he looked at Melson and Leonardo, “Why are you here?”

“Chen, we’ve heard the recording of the conversation between you and Trede Pentom. We want to know where Trede is now.”

“I don’t know.”

“Didn’t you catch him there?”

“Come on. He had a gun. I didn’t dare to chase him.” Chen Zhao had already thought of an excuse.

“Hope that he’s still alive.”

Clearly, Melson was suspicious about whether Chen Zhao had secretly killed Trede.

“Isn’t it better for him to be dead?” Chen Zhao said, unconcerned.

“He’s hidden his wealth, but the families of the victims of that winery fire have yet to receive their compensation. Do you still think it’s good?”

Chen Zhao was stunned. He had indeed never thought about this.

Nevertheless, it was already too late. Trede was already dead, and Chen Zhao was pretty sure that he was somewhere in Hell at the moment.

Of course, Chen Zhao had no idea where his soul was, or whether it was even complete.

“I can only hope that you can arrest him ASAP.”

“Chen, can you guarantee that he’s still alive?”

“You suspect that I killed him? Or perhaps I pocketed his properties?”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I can promise you that I didn’t kill him or detain him to ask him about his wealth. I didn’t get myself involved for his money in the first place. Otherwise, I won’t have given the recording to the police. I only want to help my friend to clear his name.”

“Alright, Chen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that,” Melson apologized.

“Apology accepted.”

“If you have any clues, can you tell us please?”

“Yes, I will.”

“Then we’ll leave now. See you.”

Melson turned around and left, while Leonardo hugged Chen Zhao. “Chen, this is too much. Why didn’t you call me for the operation? Am I not your friend?”

Leonardo had already found out that Chen Zhao, David, Sienna, and the rest were all involved, but he was excluded. Surely, he was somewhat disappointed.

He felt that since David was a police and was willing to cooperate with Chen Zhao to catch the culprit, he could too. Moreover, he was in charge of this case in the first place. If Chen Zhao had found him instead, he could have provided more clues.

“Leonardo, I’ve indeed considered calling you, but I didn’t know your position. I apologize for my doubt.”

“Fine, I forgive you, but if something similar happens next time, remember to call me.”

“Of course.”

“And don’t forget about my party tomorrow!”

“I won’t.”

Just then, a person walked into the courtyard. He scanned the few people in the yard and his eyes eventually locked onto Chen Zhao.

“Hi, are you Chen?”

“You are?”

“Do you not know me? I’m the mayor of Mountain Town. Name’s Deon.”

Deon Slote was bald and looked like he was just past fifty years old. To be honest, he looked more like a fighter than a mayor.

He had a bad, extremely bad reputation in town.

There were rumors which claimed that he had accepted bribes for himself and sold common properties of the town to private enterprises, such as the chemical factory.

“Mr. Deon, how can I help you?”

“I heard that you want to purchase the five hectares of land near Mirror Lake. Is that true?”

“That was indeed my plan, but I encountered a problem with my cash flow recently. I’ve already given up the thought.”

“I can sell it to you at a lower price,” Deon said.

“Lower price? How low?” Chen Zhao was interested in the deal.

“Chen, you should know that something happened in town recently. A few families are in trouble because of that. It’s probably the last thing I can do for them as the mayor, so I can’t lower the price too much. Four hundred thousand is my bottom line.”

Chen Zhao had no idea if Deon was acting or being sincere, but the fact that he had such a thought should only be good for the victims’ families.

Nonetheless, Chen Zhao really did not have so much money at the moment.

“Can I have a few days to think over it?”