“A hundred thousand?”
It was a formidable sum to name.
The police officers paused momentarily, and their expressions turned a little more serious.
“Hah… Clary, what are you talking about? Hah… She’s just a kid, and she’s joking with you guys. I’m so sorry for all the trouble caused, kind sirs. It’s nothing big. She’s jealous of some of the expensive things my daughter owns and called the police out of spite. There’s no need to take her seriously…” Aunt Gloria immediately walked toward the officers with a stiff smile on her face.
“Joking?”
The two police officers turned to look at Clarissa.
Clarissa remained calmed and replied, “Sir, I’m not joking at all. I also believe that you can see for yourself that this household cannot afford such items. I can’t care less about her daughter’s expensive possessions. I’m simply calling the police because mine has gone missing. When I came to visit my dear aunt today, she even bickered about how I should catch the thief myself. I don’t think that’s the right way to resolve this, so I called the police.”
Of course, the two police officers also had their suspicions in the first place.
With Clarissa’s words and their own judgment, they began to go through the standard protocol.
The two officers began questioning Clarissa about the details of the theft – what was stolen, the estimated price of the items stolen, where the items were last found, as well as the rough time of the theft.
Meanwhile, the Lesters simply sat there with uneasy looks. Mimi seemed especially tensed as she glared at Clarissa with her eyes wide.
“Alright. Clarissa, thank you for providing us with the necessary information. Any other things you wish to add?” The police officers asked.
“Oh… right! I just remembered I have a security camera at home.”
“What?” The Lesters exchanged nervous looks with one another.
On the other hand, the police officers pursed their lips into a subtle smile. They could easily tell that Clarissa was bringing it up late on purpose.
“That’s great.”
“Clarissa! Why do you have a security camera installed in your house? Are you nuts? Who does that?” Mimi screeched, unable to contain her dread and unease.
“Well, I need a security camera for safety reasons. My grandmother is really frail, after all. Oh, and to safeguard against incidents of theft such as my current situation. Sir, I think we should get going. I’ll pass you the footage from my security camera at my house. I really want my lost items back as soon as possible.”
“We’ll try our best.”
With that, Clarissa was about to leave the place with the two police officers. Jacob quickly gave Gloria a sharp look.
Getting the hint, Gloria hurried to the door and stood before Clarissa, blocking her way.
“Clary… Oh, Clary. I… I forgot to tell you that I got Mimi to clean up your grandmother’s belongings last time when we took her to stay with us for a bit. Hah… she got the wrong idea and took all of your grandmother’s things to our house. We’ve wanted to return them to you, but it just slipped our mind. Am I right, Mimi?”
Jacob also stood up and added, “She’s right. Mimi, you’ve made Clarissa so worried! Quick, apologize to her now!”
Mimi remained silent and pouted her lips, unwilling to apologize. Hmph. I don’t want to return those things.
Clarissa broke the silence. “Sir, correct me if I’m mistaken, but I remember that the punishment for theft of over a hundred thousand would be jail time of three to ten years.”
“Clarissa! How dare you!”
Mimi stared daggers at Clarissa. “And I’m just a student!”
“Hmph. So what if you are a student. You had just become a legal adult last month,” Clarissa scoffed.
“You…”
“Hey! Cut it and apologize to her. Do it, and she’ll let you off this time. Quick! Just…”
Jacob nudged his daughter with a frantic look on his face.
“It’s alright. There’s no need to apologize. How could Mimi be the thief? Didn’t you guys say that the things that she took don’t belong to me? I have a voice recording of that,” Clarissa said.
Without any hesitation, she played the voice recording.
“Clarissa Quigley! You…”
“There’s no need to be so amazed. I know. My intellect is really on the next level,” Clarissa said with a smile.
“Pfft…”
The two police officers could barely control their laughter but soon resumed their professional demeanor.
“Ms. Quigley, would you like to resolve this privately, or do you wish to continue with the police investigation?” One of the officers asked Clarissa.
“We’ll settle this between us! We’re family! Sir, she isn’t serious about taking legal action!” Gloria’s voice was a little shaky.
“Clary! I’m so sorry about this. I’ve not done my best as your aunt. I really forgot to check on Mimi back then, and she probably didn’t do it on purpose! We didn’t know that those items were yours! Mimi, apologize to Clary right this moment!”
“I… I don’t…” Mimi mumbled.
“Now!”
Despite her reluctance, Mimi had no choice but to go pick up the things she stole under her father’s fiery gaze. Even as she handed the items to Clarissa, she hesitated and held tightly to them.
“Clare… You’re so well-off, but why are you so stingy? Can’t you just give these to me?”
“Hah… You’re saying that I should give you my things just because I’m well-off? How about I give you all of my money? Do you want it?”
“…”
Mimi rolled her eyes at Clarissa.
“Alright, alright. Now that everything is resolved, sir, I think you have no more business here.”
“Hold on…” Clarissa gestured at the police officers.
She then began to rummage through the bag that Mimi passed to her, checking each item carefully. Mimi suddenly averted her gaze.
“I’m missing a bracelet worth thirty thousand and a necklace worth eight thousand, not to mention the severe damage done to my bag and clothes. Also, Mimi Lester, you’ve taken almost three thousand worth of cash from my drawer. Give them back, or you’ll still be serving jail time.”
“You… How dare you accuse me?” Mimi shrieked.
“I have my security camera footage as evidence anyways. Sir, let’s head to the police station now.”
“Hey, hold on! Clary, how can you be so cold-hearted? Mimi is like a sister to you. She’s still young, and she would be going to college soon. Are you trying to ruin her life?” Gloria gulped. “Clarissa, are you really doing this to your own aunt? Have I not treated you well when you were young? Now that you’re so well-off, does it really matter if your sister takes something she likes from you? Are those items and money worth more than your sisterhood?”
Gloria proceeded to put on a weeping act and wobbled around as if she was about to faint. Mimi quickly gave her a hand.
Glaring at Clarissa, she snarled, “Clare, is this how you treat your aunt? You don’t have any blood relatives other than us now. Are you sure you want to turn on us like this? If someone were to hear about how cold you are toward your family, nobody would ever want to be with you!”
“Clary, listen to me. We are still family, right? It’s never good to fight with your family like this. You shouldn’t talk to your aunt like this. You’ve been so disrespectful. Now, apologize!” Jacob chimed in.
Clarissa blinked. How amusing. They could totally get an Oscar for that. Hmph. And the title of their drama would be “The Three Thick-skinned Losers”.
As those thoughts filled her mind, Clarissa could not help but burst out in laughter at how ridiculous the situation was. Her crisp chuckles echoed in the room.
After a lengthy outburst, Clarissa wiped her tears off and told the police officers, “Let’s get going. I am serious about filing a case, and I hope that justice would be served.”
The two police officers nodded. It was an eye-opener, too, for them to meet such an absurd family.
With that, the three of them left the house without any hesitation.
Upon watching them leave, Gloria was overwhelmed by panic and rushed to the gates, yelling at the top of her lungs. “My niece is trying to kill me! She has turned against us poor souls now that she made some money!” On the other hand, Clarissa seemed completely unbothered.
At the police station, she handed the officers the footage from her security camera.
“Ms. Quigley, you’ve provided us with all of the evidence we would need to gather. You’ve saved us a lot of time.”
Clarissa smiled. “Well, you guys also tagged along with me despite the inconvenience. It’s nothing, really.”
“Hah… That’s part of our job. Oh, by the way, based on how this case is heading, that cousin of yours is definitely going to jail. Do you intend to…”
The police officer did not proceed with the rest of the procedures because he could tell that Clarissa was kind-hearted and wanted to give her relatives a chance. She could very well have reported the case at the police station straight without going through the trouble of calling the police from her aunt’s house.
Clarissa shook her head. “I think she would learn enough from her fright. However, I still want to file the case. As you’ve seen just now, those relatives of mine need a good warning in court, or they’ll never change. Thank you for helping me despite all of those troubles.”
“Don’t sweat it. You’ve had it hard too, with relatives like that.”
After filing a case at the police station, Clarissa went home.
As it turned out, the Lesters had come to her house. Clarissa’s grandmother, Catherine, refused to come out to meet them, and Matthew was having an awkward stare down with the family of three.
Somehow, the Lesters looked tensed and dared not speak at all.
Upon seeing Clarissa return, their eyes lit up as if they had seen their last ray of hope.
“Clary! You’ve come home! We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Clare… Clare… I’ve been gravely wrong, please forgive me…”
All of a sudden, Mimi and her mother got down on their knees before Clarissa, pleading and staring at her with desperate looks on their faces. Jacob stood on the side and talked about how Clarissa should resolve this in private. “I’ll be sure to keep an eye on Mimi, and I’ll compensate for your losses too!” he said.
Hmph. Little cowards.
Clarissa did not respond. Instead, she walked right past them and sat down beside Matthew, keeping an eye on how the Lesters responded to her actions.
Mimi immediately clenched her teeth, her expression and gaze becoming more aggressive.
Clarissa snorted and looked away from her.
Matthew was pleased to see her. Stroking her face with his big hands, he raised an eyebrow.
“Your cheeks are so cold. Was it chilly outside? You should have worn a jacket.”
“It’s alright. It was simply a little windy.”
Clarissa grasped Matthew’s hands, and their fingers intertwined. The two of them seemed to have completely disregarded the fact that the Lesters were still there.
“Did you go to the police station today? Why didn’t you get me to go with you?”
Clarissa smiled at him. “I did just fine by myself. The officers there were kind. They told me that they would definitely bring the case to court and that I would just need to wait.”
“That sounds great.” Matthew smiled back.
On the other hand, the Lesters had completely lost it. Gloria began wailing in the living room, screaming, “Catherine! Catherine! You’ve got to come out now. Your granddaughter, Mimi, is going to jail thanks to Clarissa! Oh, god. How humiliating. And would you just say something to Clarissa? Hmph. With a heart that cold, nobody would ever want to marry her.”
