The Return Of the Invincible Heiress
Chapter 87

Chapter 87: Chapter 87

Rufus said, "This brat is quite talented. He is also tight-lipped. I’m wondering if I should use another method to force a confession out of him."

Avery replied, "Let me do it. Is his phone and computer here? Maybe I can hack in and find conversations between him and his client."

Rufus shook his head. "The brat is ruthless. He threw his phone into the river while escaping and refused to tell us where he lived."

Avery asked again, "Does he have a bag? Did you find anything valuable on him?"

Rufus shook his head again. "We searched him but found nothing." At this point, he slapped his forehead and laughed. "I almost forgot to tell you. This guy is a hardcore fan of yours."

A bunch of question marks appeared in Avery’s mind. "What fan? I’m sure I don’t know him. There’s a high chance he doesn’t know me either."

"Look at this." Rufus excitedly picked up a book from the countertop. "Looks familiar, doesn’t it?"

Avery took a look. Her eyes widened as she thought, ’Holy shit. It’s "The Case Chronicles of Detective Lockwood Holmes"?’ Moreover, it was self-printed and bound. It looked very worn too. Avery wondered how many times it had been read.

Rufus smiled, "We found this precious item on him. He said Lockwood is his only idol. He also said he was going to be a private detective like Lockwood. Doesn’t that sound interesting? How would he react if he knew you were the protagonist and author of this book?"

Avery’s gaze darted. She sighed inwardly. When she was younger and still immature, she secretly wrote detective novels online. She even called herself Lockwood Holmes and had a large number of fans. Now that she thought about it, it was quite embarrassing. Even so, Avery took the book, opened the glass door, and walked into the interrogation room. "You guys can leave."

The two thugs left respectfully. Avery squatted in front of Daniel, who was beaten until he was weak. She waved the book. "You’re always doing illegal stuff. Are you worthy of being a fan of Lockwood? If Lockwood finds out about you, you’ll have your a** kicked, trust me."

Daniel lay on the ground limply. His face was red as he said, "I-I did steal a lot, but I only stole from rich people. I’ve never stolen from the poor. I-I even used the money I stole to help many poor people and secretly sponsor their children to go to school."

"Are you proud of yourself then? You think you’re a hero, don’t you?" Avery sneered. "How do you know that the rich people you steal from are bad? How do you know the poor you help are good?"

Daniel choked and argued, "I can’t be sure, but it’s definitely not a big loss for the rich. I didn’t harm anyone."

Avery snorted. "You’re still trying to defend yourself? Let me ask you, when you sneaked into Vlento Court and took photos of the Carter family’s apartment, were they rich? Did they do anything bad? Do you know how much trouble you caused the Carter family after the photos and videos you secretly took were made public? They couldn’t even go out to work. Isn’t that harm?"

"W-well..." Daniel stammered, not daring to look into Avery’s eyes. "I don’t know the Carter family. I didn’t do it."

Avery said, "Do you know how many years you’ll be sentenced for trespassing?"

Daniel shouted, "Don’t even think about slandering me. There are very few surveillance cameras in Viento Court. You can’t prove I trespassed into the Carter family’s apartment."

Avery was speechless. Daniel was even more cunning than she had imagined. It was to be expected of a veteran who had been sent to prison many times. After some thought, Avery said, "You think you’re very smart, don’t you? Let me ask you, who was the killer of the last case that Lockwood wrote on the Internet? How was the poison given to the victims?"

"You’ve read Lockwood’s book too?" Daniel’s eyes immediately lit up. His severely injured body seemed to have been injected with steroids. He got up and sat up, gesturing vividly and babbling non-stop, "What’s your favorite case he ever solved? My favorite is the case of the rich kid who poisoned the escort at the clubhouse. There were only two people in the private room when the crime occurred. The escort was killed by the poisoned wine. The rich kid claimed to be drunk and that the escort was still alive and well before that. He didn’t know what happened after he was drunk. When he sobered up, he realized the escort was already dead."

At this point, Daniel suddenly shut up and stared at Avery. "If you’re also a fan of Lockwood, you must know how Lockwood found the real culprit. I don’t need to say more. Or did you read the book just to make me talk? Give me back my book!"

Daniel shakily reached out to snatch the book from Avery’s hands, but he was frail and could not raise his hands high.

Avery said, "I’m not a fan, but I know Lockwood. We’re close."

"Really?" Daniel’s eyes blazed ever brighter. He even crawled forward and said excitedly, "How old is he this year? What does he look like? Where did he study? Can you ask him for an autograph for me?"

Avery asked, "If I help you get an autograph, will you confess?"

Daniel was stunned. He tilted his head and had a bitter expression on his face as he fell into a dilemma. After waiting for a while, Avery said coldly, "You will never become Lockwood, and you are not worthy of being Lockwood’s fan."

These words were like a blow to Daniel’s head. He wilted at once. "I-I don’t want to be like this forever either, but I can’t do anything else except this. Besides, I’m used to being free. I hate to live my life looking at other people’s attitudes, and I can’t stand the rigidity of working. I only feel free when I do this."

Avery thought for a moment. "Why don’t you work for me?"

Daniel had a wary look on his face as he shrank back. "What do you want me to do?"

Avery replied, "Sneaking around... Uh, it’s similar to what you’re doing now. A private investigator or someone like Robin Hood. You’ll be free. But what I do will never hurt the good or the innocent. You will earn enough to buy a house and a car and be financially free."

"Hmph. Who do you think I am? Do you think I’ll be deceived by you?" Daniel sized Avery up and snorted. "From your voice, you’re just a little girl. Do you have the money to hire me? Are you good enough to be my boss?"

Avery was not angry. "If Lockwood hires you, would you agree?"

"Of course!" Daniel came back to life and gestured excitedly. "When I read *The Case Chronicles of Detective Lockwood Holmes* in prison, I decided to switch careers to become a private detective. You don’t know this, but all the inmates in prison idolized him."

Avery wasn’t sure if she should be happy about that. The more Daniel spoke, the more excited he became. "To realize my dream, I studied hard in prison. I consulted my cellmates from all walks of life and swore I would become the best private detective in the future. I would even solve big cases that the police could not solve..."

Avery was speechless. She had the urge to punch someone. However, Daniel quickly regained his senses and stared at Avery. "If you take me to see Lockwood, I’ll confess. However, don’t try to fool me with a random person. I will check if he’s the real deal."

Avery pointed at herself and stated, "I am Lockwood Holmes."