Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Chapter 356 - Interrogating Frederick

While Joshua was busy trying to appease an indifferent Ivy, Valarie had a lot to deal with. She was with Ryder and Preston, and the trio were supposed to interrogate the man who had once been their Chief, Frederick Clarke. 

The previous day had been quite hectic for them as they had to go to the factory to find out more about what was happening in there. Just as Ivy had suggested, she along with her team members had gone to the food package factory. Their sudden, uninformed visit along with an arrest warrant brought chaos among the people who were working there. However, they were not factory workers. Instead, they were Jared and Frederick's men who had been waiting for Frederick's return.

Valarie had come prepared. She had brought along with her a lot of policemen, even more than the people who were in the factory. She did not want even one among them to escape. Valarie knew that the men would try to call someone for help. So, she made sure that each person was being watched by her men. Although she could not stop them from calling the person they wanted, she could at least find out what they would talk about.

They had sealed the entire factory. Nobody was allowed to either enter or leave the premises. Valarie followed Ivy's guidance and she took a thorough look at the factory. And just as expected, she found nothing. She then found the secret stairways and to their surprise, it was just as Ivy had described. There a huge laboratory that covered the entire basement of the factory. 

Although she could not get inside the laboratory, she could guess what she would find in there. Her eyes turned cold immediately and she surveyed the place once again. She could not help but chide herself for allowing a criminal to work with them and moreover, he was their Boss. How shameful!!!

They had taken in all the people present in the factory under custody before they called for the forensics to find out more about it. They had waited the entire day to get the reports and just as they had predicted, this was the storage laboratory where the group temporarily stored the organs. Although there were no organs as of now inside, that did not mean it would not be the case once the doctors working for Frederick started their work. 

The entire day had gone with them trying to find out more about the factory and the workers, and the police were interrogating the people one by one. Valarie had had no time to rest and when she finally returned home, it was way past midnight.

Unlike her who had at least returned home to take some rest, Preston had stayed back at the police station making sure none of the culprits could escape while he was also in contact with the forensics. The man was grumpy in the morning as he had not had much sleep. However, he was not ready to take a day off as he wanted to be present while Frederick was being interrogated.

"Damn it. These monsters are doing this job this openly and we did not even know. I am going to kill those bastards." Preston cursed loudly and kicked the table with full force. It was somewhere around eleven in the morning when he had reached the Intelligence. After visiting the factory and being at the police station for long, he found himself stinking. So, he had gone home to change and take a rest for a few hours.

"I wonder how they have been undercover," Ryder added, his eyes not leaving the video Ivy had sent them. He was trying to see if she could detect anything from it. "What if this factory has been under this use since the time your father starting investigating the organ trafficking incident?"

"It might have been the case, though we cannot be sure about it," Valarie said, as she arranged the documents in order. She had received the reports from the police station as well as the forensics. Now, she had to go through all of them and reach the depth of the issue. 

"Do you think somebody is with him in this?" Ryder asked the question as the trio made their way towards the isolation cell. While all the other suspects were taken to the police station, only Frederick was held in the Intelligence. They did not want to take any risks with the man knowing that he was the one behind the poison attack.

"We are going to get the answer to this right now," Valarie said with a smile which the two men were familiar with. It was chilling to the bone but to them, it meant business. 

Frederick was leaning against the wall with his head lowered when Valarie and her team entered the cell. As soon as the three people entered inside, the man glared at them as though he was trying to burn them to death using his eyes. But the trio remained unfazed. They had faced a lot of people since they started working for the Intelligence and Frederick was just one among them.

"Hello, Frederick. How are you doing?" Preston was the first one to speak. His blatant disrespect angered the man and he glared at him once again.

"Give me some respect. I am your Chief and your superior." The man seethed, gritting his teeth. He observed a small document in Valarie's hands and he wondered what it was. However, instead of asking about it, he focused more on Preston who seemed to be trying to irritate him.

"Correction. You were our Chief until yesterday." Ryder interrupted him suddenly, his eyes narrowing. "Now you are just a criminal who will soon be going to prison for your deeds, or better even executed." 

"How dare you?" Frederick left his place and came to stand in front of Ryder. It looked as though a fight may ensue any moment from now.

"How dare you?" Ryder's calm voice turned ferocious all of a sudden and the man was ready to punch Frederick if he was given a chance. "I never expected that a man like you would turn out to be a scumbag and what more? I am ashamed to think that you were my superior." Ryder gritted her teeth, his anger rising above the roof.

"I did nothing." Frederick attempted to lie even though he knew that it would not work. Not when there was a strong proof against him. 

"That is the problem, Frederick. You did nothing..." Preston stopped suddenly, his mind contemplating his next choice of words. 'as the Chief as Intelligence. You did nothing."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" 

"How is it nonsense? I don't know how you ended up becoming the Chief of Intelligence and who helped you to acquire the position. But I am sure of one thing." Preston noticed the man waiting for him to continue speaking. "Will you not ask the next question?"

Stunned by his words, Frederick could not help but mutter, "What?"

"Exactly. That was the question I wanted. You took over the position of the Chief of Intelligence so that you could help your men do their work while you could suppress any issues related to them yourself. Am I right?" 

This time Frederick had no answer. The man had hit the bull's eyes and he had deduced everything accurately. It was true that Frederick had joined the Intelligence so that he could help Jared in his work. But who knew that he would get caught before they could even complete their mission? 

"Ah, seems like I predicted it right," Preston observed the changes in Frederick and knew that the man had become speechless. By now, Valarie was ready with her questions and Ryder had fixed the cameras to record the session. 

"Frederick Clarke, please sit down." Although it seemed that she was requesting him, her tone was more or less condescending. It came out as an order.

"Valarie, mind your tone. I am your senior."

"If I minded my tone, you would not be sitting here," Valarie replied, her gaze not wavering even though the man was shouting like a maniac. "Now, will you sit down or.." She gave one look to Ryder and the next second Frederick howled in pain. Ryder had pushed him to sit on the chair and the force he was exerting on the man's shoulders was too painful for him to bear.

"I'll take care of all of you once I leave this place." Frederick spat.

"Sure. We will be waiting for you to get out of here first. Then you can take care of us." Valarie gave him a befitting reply and once again nodded at Ryder who moved back two feet. "Shall we start? I hope you will cooperate with us or we know how to make you cooperate. I suggest you don't make us use the second option or else, I don't think you will be having any limbs by the end of the day."

Frederick could see that Valarie was not faking the threat. The two men accompanying her definitely looked like the ones to break bones if he did not follow their orders. So, she sat still without uttering a word. 

"Good. What is your name?"

Her question made Frederick to laugh out loud. "Valarie, I think it's time for you to leave your post. What kind of a question is that? Don't you know what my name is? Or have you forgotten it? In that case, let me remind you. My name is Frederick Clarke."

"Let me rephrase my question. What is your real name? I hope I will get the correct answer this time."

"Okay, my name is Frederick Clarke."

"That is not what the initial records say, Hubert Augustus."