Detective Sam Mulligan did not expect the old commissioner to be so quick at his current age, as despite being the younger man, he was unable to catch up to him in time.
The elevator door shut just as he turned around the corner, resulting in the Commissioner's figure disappearing before he could even take another step forward.
For this reason, the detective had to wait for another elevator before he could make his way to the Commissioner's office, situated on the fifteenth floor of the same building.
Upon reaching the door of the Commissioner's office, he waited for the secretary to announce his arrival and only after receiving a green light from the man inside did she let him in.
As Detective Mulligan stepped into the Commissioner's private office, his eyes quickly scanned his surroundings before he found the older man sitting behind his desk at the end of the room.
"Take your seat." Mikhayel Osbourne spoke up, gesturing toward the chair opposite him.
Ever since he had entered the room, the young man had been standing at the door for the last few seconds, staring at the interior, so the old man signaled him to hurry along.
Receiving his order, Detective Mulligan did not dare to keep the Commissioner waiting, and hence, rushed to take his seat opposite the old man.
There were numerous questions in his head which he hoped would be answered during the time he stayed inside this office.
However, before he could even shoot out his first inquiry, he saw the old man extending his hand toward him.
In his hand was a piece of paper, which looked like it was torn from a sticky notepad.
Accepting it with both hands, Detective Sam turned it around and found a string of numbers, resembling a phone number, scribbled onto the note.
"Call this number. This person can confirm Nita's alibi." The Commissioner explained the reason for sharing this number, making the detective nod in reply.
As he stared at the unfamiliar string of numbers, Sam found something odd at the very beginning of the numbers.
"This area code..." He muttered as he widened his eyes upon realizing why the number had seemed odd to him.
The initial three digits of all phone numbers represented their area code and the number he was given, based on the area code, confirmed that it did not belong to anyone from their city.
This, however, should not have surprised him, as Rowan had already mentioned earlier that Nita had returned to the city today after many years.
Thanks to this piece of information, he had simply assumed that Nita had been in a different city until yesterday.
However, looking at the area code, Detective Sam Mulligan had just discovered a newer piece of information regarding the young lady of the Valken family.
If the area code belonged to someone who could verify Anita Valken's whereabouts, then it meant that this person was close to her and knew her very well.
This also meant that this person lived in or around the area Anita had been residing all these years.
'If that is the case then...' Detective Sam frowned while staring at the area code.
Rowan and Jodie were right in saying that Anita had been away from their city for a while.
However, they had missed sharing an important aspect regarding her whereabouts.
The area code he was staring at proved that not only had Anita Valken been living in a different city until recently, but this city was in fact situated in a whole other country altogether.
'And I don't think even Rowan and Jodie have any clue about this...' He recalled how the brothers had defended her confidently, stating that she was not in the city.
The way they had kept mentioning 'city' implied that they were sure she was not in their city, Metro K.
However, they did not seem to be aware that she had been out of the country entirely for all of these years.
His spiraling thoughts came to a halt when he thought back to Nita's words.
Throughout their interaction, she had only mentioned that she had returned to the city today.
Never had she revealed whether she had come here from a different city or another country.
She had very cleverly omitted this part whenever she spoke about her return, which meant that she had never lied about her whereabouts.
She had just avoided mentioning this part, which he now realized had been a miss on his end.
He had failed to catch on to her trick and hence, right now, he had no way to find fault with her.
In the next moment, Detective Sam wondered whether this piece of information would have even been brought to light if he had not disclosed that she was also a person of interest in her brother's disappearance.
If the Commissioner had never stepped forward to speak up in her defense, then the detective was sure that he would not have caught this discrepancy in time.
While such thoughts swirled around in his mind, Detective Sam chose to set them aside for the time being and focus on what was ahead of him.
"This number belongs to...?" He voiced out the doubt in his head.
The old commissioner gave him a quick nod as though he had already expected this question.
"The Commissioner of the city she has been living in for the last nine years. He should be able to vouch for her whereabouts." Mikhayel revealed and stared at the young man seated before him.
He knew that the youngster would surely contact the number he was given and before he could do so, Mikhayel decided to share a piece of advice.
"You should watch what you say when you reach out to this person... He's as slimy as a snake." Mikhayel advised the youngster, whose face hardened upon hearing these words.
The difficulty and the severity of this case grew by another level after hearing what the old man had to say.
If dealing with wealthy families in the investigation was a chore, then gaining information from the Commissioner of a neighboring country to strike a potential suspect off his list was an even more tedious task.
However, he was not one to run away from a challenge.
Therefore, he gave the Commissioner a serious nod of gratitude for the advice before he stood up from his seat, ready to head back to his workstation.
'I will give him a call once I get back...' He decided as he bid farewell to his superior and headed towards the door with the intention of leaving the Commissioner's office.
However, after taking only a few steps, he paused and turned around when another thought popped into his mind.
"Sir... The bonus you mentioned...." Detective Mulligan was curious about the sudden bonus the Commissioner had announced earlier.
Noticing his confusion, Mikhayel could guess exactly what was bothering him.
"Don't worry, the department's funds won't be touched. The Valken family will volunteer to pay your bonuses for this month as a token of their appreciation." The old man smirked at him, his eyes wrinkling, which somehow made him look dangerous when compared to the gentle expression he had displayed while speaking to Nita.
His choice of words indicated that he had not yet discussed this with the Valken family head but would be doing so shortly.
However, the confidence with which he made the announcement before his subordinates made Sam wonder if everything would turn out just as he had said.
"Would the Head of the Valken family agree?" These words slipped out of his mouth even before his mind could process this possibility.
Thankfully, he had not offended his boss, as the old man let out a hearty chuckle before rubbing the corner of his eye to wipe away the tear that had almost formed in it.
"I know someone more powerful than that old man, so you shouldn't be worried about your bonus. It will be added to your account along with your paycheck." The old man assured him, shaking his head when he thought of the person who would surely agree to his proposition of paying bonuses to the individuals working on Detrim's case.
'Nita's mother?' The detective's mind went straight to the only person who could make this happen.
After all, he had heard Nita saying that the Commissioner was her mother's childhood friend.
This explained his confidence, which eased all of his worries, and soon, after bidding farewell to his superior, he stepped out of the office without delay.
Back in the office, Mikhayel picked up his phone and dialed two numbers one after the other in quick succession.
Though the conversation was brief on both calls, he relayed everything that the other person required before swiftly hanging up.
Unaware of the conversations that had just taken place, Detective Sam Mulligan reached the sixth floor and made his way back to his desk.
He found that his partner, Detective Mariya Johannes, was already waiting for his return at her desk, which was right next to his.
Before she could begin shooting out questions in his direction, Sam brought her to the same conference room he had used earlier and proceeded to explain to her everything that had taken place until now.
After all, while he was the lead detective handling Detrim's case, Mariya was his partner, who was second-in-command on this case.
Therefore, he did not hesitate while sharing all the details of the case that he had discovered through his conversations with the youngsters of the Valken family, as well as the Commissioner of Police.
"Dial it then!" Mariya urged him to contact the number he was given by the Commissioner.
Recalling the Commissioner's advice, Sam felt his forehead throb but chose to ignore the ache.
Instead, he fixed his gaze on the number which he had typed on his phone, with his finger hovering over the 'Call' button which he simply had to click to initiate communication with the owner of this number.