After a moment of contemplation, Roxanne suppressed her suspicion toward Colby and scanned the group of staff in front of her.
“Have you guys carried out the scheduled periodic inspections on the herbs and store lately?” she asked.
The staff in charge of the inspection last week hurriedly took a step forward.
“I inspected every single storeroom last week, and I’ve only left after confirming that everything was in order,” he replied.
Roxanne took a closer look at the man, and she recognized him as one of the experienced staff of the research institute. Hence, she had no doubt of his work ethic.
Every staff present knew the inappropriate storage of medicinal herbs could put the entire lab in peril.
Hence, nobody dared to take the matter lightly.
However, if there was indeed no problem with the storage of the herbs as claimed by the staff, why would the store suddenly catch on fire?
The more Roxanne thought about it, the more befuddled she was. Hence, she merely nodded at the staff’s explanation.
“Now that the fire has been put out, other areas in the research institute are now safe. Do proceed to your respective workstations and resume work,” she added.
Then, she turned around and headed for the surveillance room.
It would appear as if only the surveillance room had the answer she was looking for.
Afraid that Colby might have sensed something, Roxanne hastened her pace.
She bumped right into Colby who was heading out of the surveillance room when she arrived.
As the two of them locked gaze with each other, Roxanne’s heart sank.
Colby was wearing a gloomy expression. It was as if he hadn’t found out anything useful from the footage.
“Did you find out anything?” Nonetheless, Roxanne decided to try her luck and asked.
Colby frowned and shook his head. “I didn’t see anything.”
Roxanne knitted her brows.
“Well, I think it’s better for you to see for yourself,” Colby replied grimly.
Then, he led Roxanne into the room. She stood before the control center and tried to access the footage in the morning.
The crease between her brows deepened the longer she looked at the footage.
There was nothing but black smoke in the footage.
It seemed like the store didn’t catch on fire just that morning.
The fire could have started way earlier in the wee hours of the night.
“Can we have a look at some earlier footage?” Roxanne turned to Colby and asked.
He shook his head helplessly. “For unknown reasons, the surveillance cameras were down from yesterday afternoon till this morning,” he explained.
Then, Colby started to retrieve the footage.
There was nothing but static on the screen. It would appear that the surveillance cameras had indeed malfunctioned.
Roxanne felt her heart sank yet again.
Even though she trusted the staff and believed that they had no reason to sabotage the research institute, it was clear as day that someone had deliberately tampered with the surveillance cameras.
After some time, Roxanne nodded at Colby and said, “All right. Let’s get out of here.”
Colby nodded and turned off the footage. A cold glint fleeted across his eyes as he watched her leave.
When Roxanne turned around to rush him, however, the cold glint in his eyes was gone.
“Have you found out what happened?” he asked.
Roxanne kept her eyes low, unable to conceal her distress. “No. I have to ask around and find out what happened.”
Roxanne felt a heavy weight bearing down on her chest as she thought about how she would have her answer very soon.
Colby didn’t ask further questions and followed her all the way to the research area.
In the research area, the researchers had just regained their composure from the fire incident earlier and got back to work.
When they saw two people walking in, they stopped what they were doing in unison.
With a grim expression, Roxanne swept a glance at everyone and asked, “Did anyone come to the research institute yesterday afternoon?”
Coincidentally, the surveillance cameras were down, so Roxanne could only assume that someone had gone over at that time.
As soon as those words fell, everyone exchanged glances with each other silently. Yesterday was a Sunday. It was such a good opportunity to rest at home. So why would anyone come to the research institute without a reason? Besides, she’s asking questions that has something to do with the fire. Even if someone was here, why would they admit it?
Suddenly, Roxanne was exuding a fearsome aura as she threw a cold glance at everyone. “I have no desire to suspect anyone here, nor can I think of a reason why an employee at the research institute would do something like this. However, the truth is that the person responsible for the fire is someone from the inside. Hence, I would like to know who that person is. Please step forward and don’t cause the other employees unnecessary trouble.”
After that, she added coldly, “The fire caused a huge loss to the research institute. When I find out who’s responsible, I’ll have no choice but to press charges. However, if that person is willing to come forward now, I think there’s still room for negotiation.”
Everyone lowered their heads when they saw the look in her eyes.
In an instant, pin-drop silence ensued and the only sound left was of the boiling liquid in the research area.
“Ahem!” Colby suddenly cleared his throat to defuse the tension in the air.
At that precise moment, one of the male employees shuddered.
However, Roxanne didn’t notice it because she had shifted her attention toward Colby.
Colby started slowly, “I’ve been hiding something from you. After hearing what you said, I think I ought to spill it. This is for the sake of that person.”
With that, he raised his head and looked at everyone.
He spoke softly, but everyone could hear him clearly.
The crowd was taken aback when they heard those words. Judging by Colby’s tone, it seems like the person responsible is really someone from the research institute!
Realizing what those words meant, everyone quickly turned toward the person next to them, wondering if it was really an inside job.
Within those few minutes, all the researchers there became on edge.
Seeing that, Roxanne’s heart sank. However, she suppressed her anger and waited for Colby to continue. After this, he’s most probably going to expose the culprit. I’d like to see just who it was that had done something so heinous to the research institute!
Colby cleared his throat once more as if he was giving the culprit the chance to come forward on his own.
He then began, “Yesterday afternoon—”
The moment he started talking, there was a sudden commotion among the employees.
Colby’s voice trailed away to nothing, and everyone turned to look in the direction of the commotion.
“It’s me.” A scrawny man came forward and stood in front of Roxanne with an apologetic expression.
Everyone was dumbfounded when they saw that.
“Jason?”
“How could that be? Why would Jason do such a thing? He has been working for the research institute for almost a decade. He has contributed so much…”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.