Free Web NovelChapter 491: Interrogation
It wasn’t that Lane hadn’t expected that. He had known from the start that whatever the Allens might have planned for him, they would try to spin it in a way that would make it ’his fault’ afterwards. Still, just because he had known it, it didn’t make it any less annoying.
Especially when they were so blatant about it. The Team Leader had already made his conclusions as to what had happened before he even interrogated Lane, the only person who had been involved and was still alive. Right after Lane and Brian’s corpse had been fished out of the lake.
There shouldn’t have been enough time for them to conduct an investigation, not even a short initial one.
Lane bit down a scoff, trying not to let his true feelings show. There were too many witnesses, most of whom were likely neutral towards him, despite being from the Allen Guild (his parents wouldn’t get too many people involved in their plans, after all, as that would have been too risky). It was in his best interest to keep a facade. He could act shocked, distressed, exhausted, numb - that would be suitable for his situation - but perhaps not annoyed. In other people’s eyes, Team Leader Patel likely had no ill will towards him. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
"That’s not it," he just shook his head, his pink hair sticking to his forehead and cheeks and falling into his eyes. "I didn’t rush Guide Jensen."
Team Leader Patel lifted his brows, unconvinced. "In that case, why didn’t you wait for Esper Cox to return? According to the protocol-"
"It was Guide Jensen who rushed me, saying that we should enter the lake as soon as possible. That there was no need to wait for his partner."
Team Leader Patel paused with his fingers hovering over the screen. He was clearly displeased about being interrupted, but he didn’t lecture Lane about it, despite how disrespectful it was. He just coldly measured him with his eyes,
"Esper Allen." His voice dropped a few degrees, getting even more stern and serious than it had been. "Guide Jensen might have passed away, but that doesn’t mean it is alright for you to push your mistakes onto him..."
His words got interrupted once again, this time not by Lane, but rather by voices coming from his phone.
"Let’s go. The sooner we take care of it, the better."
"Shouldn’t we at least wait for his return?"
"I’m sure he’s already heard us arrive and will be back here soon. We’ve already wasted too much time... Let’s not make it any worse for them, shall we?"
Lane paused the recording, staring at Team Leader Patel wordlessly.
There was no need for him to say anything. The recording of his conversation with Brian was sufficient for what he was trying to prove: it was Brian who had rushed them into the lake. Lane had been the voice of reason.
Luckily, when he had gone to notify Cora and Arlo, he started an audio recording on his phone. It lasted from when he and Brian had left the hotel, all the way until right before diving into the lake, when Lane had to put his phone in the spatial bag. It had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, and he hadn’t known whether it would be of any use...
But, as it turned out, it had been a great idea. It saved him from being blamed for the breach of protocol.
Team Leader Patel’s gaze remained focused on the phone in Lane’s hand for a good minute even after the recording ended. There was something in his eyes that made Lane grip the phone even tighter with both hands, as the man seemed ready to snatch the phone from him and toss it in the lake to dispose of the evidence...
Eventually, though, his expression returned to the norm. Team Leader Patel wasn’t an idiot, he knew that with so many witnesses who had heard the recording Lane had played just now, it would be difficult to cover it up. Even if the Allens paid everyone off to keep silent, someone was bound to slip up and say something they shouldn’t. And that would have made the Allen Guild look even more suspicious...
It was simply not worth it. Brian Jensen was dead, so even if the ’mistake’ couldn’t be pushed onto Lane, the Allen Guild wouldn’t suffer any further losses, at least no significant ones.
"So that is what happened," Team Leader Patel nodded his head, noting a few things down on his tablet. He didn’t apologize to Lane for falsely accusing him or anything, he just accepted his explanation (albeit unwillingly), and carried on. "You entered the lake... And you were wearing an oxygen cylinder? Where did you get it from?"
"From my spatial bag."
"You carry scuba diving equipment around?"
"Yes, is that a problem?"
Team Leader Patel didn’t answer. He just took a few more notes, before asking, "Why didn’t you give the equipment to Guide Jensen? As an Esper, you should be able to hold your breath for longer than Guides."
"I wasn’t wearing it from the start, since it seemed unnecessary. We were supposed to resurface whenever Guide Jensen needed. But as we dove to examine the cages, we accidentally ended up swimming through the open door, and..."
Lane briefly explained everything that had happened, or at least his ’outsider-friendly’ version of events. The beginning of the story was pretty much the same, with the two of them swimming into the open cage, and the door closing, shutting them in. After that, however, he changed his story a bit, describing how he realized that they were trapped and decided to hunt the monsters before they could hunt them... Then, at the end, he returned to the true version of events - after defeating the monsters, he put on the mask and waited for the rescue.
The story was not perfect, as his feat of defeating five monsters alone, when fighting underwater at that, seemed nearly impossible, but overall, it was the best he could think of. There were no obvious plot holes that Team Leader Patel could pick on, at least not immediately.
However, that didn’t mean that the man couldn’t find anything to criticize Lane for.
"When you realized you were trapped, why didn’t you give the oxygen mask to Guide Jensen? You should be aware that a Guide’s physique isn’t much different from a civilian’s."
"I was too busy dealing with the monsters to think about that."
Team Leader Patel tapped the screen of his tablet a few times, looking at Lane with disapproval. "What about later?"
"He was already dead."
"And you could tell it for sure? As far as I know, Esper Allen, you don’t have any medical background."
"I..."
"You should have taken better care of your teammate, especially when you were partnered with a Guide. It is Espers’ responsibility to protect our Guides with our lives."
Team Leader Patel paused for a moment, turning his eyes to Lane’s diving equipment. Satisfaction flashed through his face, as he suddenly realized something.
"Esper Allen. I’ve noticed that the oxygen level in your cylinder is low. Could it be that you purposely abstained from sharing the oxygen with Guide Jensen in order to conserve it for yourself?"
Lane’s eyes twitched once again.
’This fucker...’
He gritted his teeth, struggling to remain calm as whispers started rising around him.
There wasn’t really a good way to argue with that. Even if he denied it, not that Team Leader Patel framed it that way, no one would believe Lane hadn’t done it on purpose.
