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Winnie neither retaliated nor resisted and in spite of those exceptional circumstances, she was able to
maintain her extraordinary sense of composure.
“May I know what offense I am guilty of, officer? Why go to all that trouble to prevent me from boarding
the plane?”
“Are you Winnie Garland, the chairperson of Garland Group? Were you planning to depart Chanaea for
Yartran?” asked the police officer sternly.
Winnie affirmed that with a nod, “I am. But I don’t think that is the reason I’m being detained now, is it?”
Astounded by that young woman’s poise at first, the officer promptly followed up, “We’ve received a tip-
off accusing you of possession and transportation of illegal substances, so we must ask for your
cooperation with our investigations.”
That yielded a frown from Winnie, for the fact that she was bringing samples of drugs across the
borders to Yartran was a matter of great discretion. The only ones who were in the know about that
were Josiah, Louis, and herself. Even Xavier had been kept out of the loop.
Thus, it was puzzling to her that the police had received a tip-off from the public about that. Who is it,
exactly? And what grudge does that person have against me? Surely, it can’t be Josiah or Louis, right?
“Thank you for sharing the facts with me, officer. I am, however, a cautious person, so I must insist on
seeing some form of identification. Otherwise, I would be inclined to believe that someone might be
looking to set me up.”
“Certainly!” This time, there were a total of five police officers present. The group consisted of the two
who were restraining her arms from either side and the three others who stood apart from them.
The one who she assumed to be their captain duly produced his identification card as requested, and
the verification of the card’s authenticity got Winnie’s brow bunched up into an even tighter furrow.
“Satisfied now? Take her away!”
“Very well. I’ll come with you.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtThe police acted quickly to remove her from the scene in a bid to minimize disruption to the public.
Someone was documenting the entire sequence as it was happening, including the conversation
between Winnie and the police officers.
Apart from the small briefcase, Winnie had no consignments or any other luggage to her name along
on that trip, as she was only delivering some samples.
That small piece of luggage in question was now in the custody of the police officer in charge.
He opened up the briefcase in front of Winnie to reveal the two vials of drugs inside.
“Would you care to explain this, Ms. Garland?”
Winnie was sandwiched between two officers at the back of the patrol car.
“I’m not an expert on the nature of these two samples, so allow me to contact my lawyer and doctor
friends when we arrive at your station. I’m sure they’ll be able to provide you with a reasonable
explanation then,” she replied blandly.
Half an hour later, Winnie was brought to the police station in Avenport’s Northern District alongside her
briefcase.
Over ten minutes passed when Josiah and her lawyer also joined her there, arriving one after another.
While the two of them were liaising with the police, Winnie drank coffee inside the reception area.
It was only until she had patiently downed the last drop from her cup that the police captain from earlier
walked out alongside her lawyer.
“You’re free to go now, Ms. Garland. Please excuse us for this disruption to your schedule,” said the
police captain amicably.
In spite of those delays to an important undertaking, Winnie proved to be understanding of his position
and thus did not vent her frustrations on those officers.
Instead, she took the initiative to shake the captain’s hand.
“You’re too kind, officer. Assisting your investigations is my duty as a citizen. We can take pride in the
fact that we have responsible policemen such as yourself serving us in this city. Quite to the contrary, it
was I who had caused you much inconvenience.”
The police captain did not expect such magnanimity from Winnie. With this level of ability to keep
things in perspective, it’s no wonder she’s able to take charge of the entire Garland Group at her tender
age.
As a man who was nearly a decade older, he could not help but be impressed by her.
“We are grateful for your understanding, Ms. Garland. If only there were more people like yourself in
society, then there wouldn’t be a need for paranoid people like us. Please. Allow me to see you out.”
“After you then!” Winnie let the captain to lead the way.
After some consideration, she half-jokingly asked, “That reminds me. I kind of wonder who filed the
report. Surely it couldn’t have been someone who’s out to get me?”
“We are sorry, Ms. Garland, but the source is anonymous. Even if we knew anything about him, we are
not at liberty to share this information, so we hope you’ll be able to understand where we’re coming
from.”
“Of course!” Winnie only casually asked, being quite aware of their concerns about the potential
revenge their informant might seek against them.
Previously, Josiah had already explained that those samples had received authorization from the state,
and Winnie was transporting them abroad expressly for use in an academic exchange program with
Yartran’s First Institute of Applied Toxicology.
After the police captain had clarified the situation, he, too, had his suspicions that Winnie could very
well have been the target of malicious intent.
This young Ms. Garland had been riding on a high recently. With her background and marital status a
constant feature in all the major headlines every single day, she is a hotter commodity than even the
most popular celebrities in the country. Given such circumstances, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if she
managed to unknowingly draw the ire of one or two enemies along the way.
“Tell you what, Ms. Garland. Should you ever come across anything suspicious in the future or
encounter someone who means you harm, please don’t hesitate to come to us.”
“Here’s hoping that such a day never comes,” Winnie replied smilingly.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmWhen she exited the gates to the police station, Josiah’s car was already waiting outside by the
entrance.
With that tiny briefcase in hand, Winnie opened the door to the backseat and hopped in.
Josiah could not refrain from turning back to glance at her. “Seriously? Are you really going to treat me
as though I’m your driver? Is the privilege of being my co-driver not good enough for you?”
Winnie observed Josiah’s eyes through the reflection in the rearview mirror while she replied
indifferently, “It’s far too dangerous for me to ride shotgun, as I’m worried someone might be waiting in
ambush by the side of the road and looking to suddenly ram into us. My odds of dying while seated
next to you would be much greater than if I were to sit behind you.”
The two of them exchanged looks briefly through the rearview mirror, but Josiah quickly rescinded his
gaze.
His lips lifted in a somewhat self-deprecating fashion while he started up the engine. “What? Don’t tell
me that you’re suspecting me of reporting you. Do you think I’ve lost my mind?”
“I wouldn’t say that. Turning me in and preventing me from leaving wouldn’t exactly work in your
interest. But I have to ask, did you share information about my flight schedule today with anyone else?”
Winnie asked in a business-like manner.
Without even pausing to think about it, Josiah responded strongly, “Of course not. Why would I want to
do that? Do you think I’m crazy?”
“In that case, do you think it could have been Louis?” Winnie pressed further.
Josiah remained as steadfast as ever. “That would be even less likely. He doesn’t even have any
plausible motive for it. Besides, he’s been busy as heck; he probably won’t even be able to remember
your flight number.”
Winnie nodded in agreement. “I don’t suppose that either one of you could be responsible for it as well.
Who else do you think it could be?”
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