Chapter 203 Let Him Be
When the police car stopped in front of the brick kiln factory, Otto had already unlocked the gate and was greeting the two officers getting out of the car with a big smile.
Otto said, "Mr. Grey, what brings you here?"
"What's going on? The power company came to inspect, why wouldn't you open the door?" Isaiah Grey had a loud voice and took big strides, quickly reaching them.
Seeing Otto's fawning attitude, Caroline and the other two understood perfectly well—Otto treated people differently based on who they were.
Oliver was annoyed and spoke up, "Mr. Grey, thank goodness you came. Otherwise, this door would still be locked, and the three of us would've been standing in this blazing sun until we turned into human jerky."
He deliberately said to Otto, "See? When the police show up, suddenly you can open the door real quick."
Otto felt guilty, "You can't put it that way."
Oliver spoke loudly on purpose for the two officers to hear, "That's exactly how it is. If the police hadn't come, that dog would still be scratching at the door, barking at us."
Isaiah ignored Otto and walked straight toward the three people, greeting Caroline and the others. Only then did he turn to look at Otto behind him, his expression immediately becoming serious.
"Otto, did what they said happen or not?"
Otto didn't answer.
Isaiah asked again, "Was the dog tied up or not? Was the door locked or not?"
Otto grinned, rubbing the back of his neck, "I'm just a gatekeeper. My boss didn't tell me—"
Before he could finish, Isaiah raised his hand, "Alright, stop making excuses. You knew to open the door when we came, but when the power company came to inspect the lines, you wouldn't open it? What were you thinking?"
Otto said, "Can it be the same when the police come? We all know each other. They looked unfamiliar, and I had no way to confirm their identities. What if they were bad people coming to cause trouble?"
Ulysses was about to speak when Caroline raised her hand to stop him, signaling him not to be impulsive.
Ronan FitzRoy, the officer behind Isaiah, saw the three people drenched in sweat and couldn't stand it anymore.
He said to Otto, "They're wearing power company uniforms. Are you saying these three are bad people? Who would believe that? They're doing a normal inspection, why wouldn't you open the door? What are you so worried about? Got something to hide? Afraid of being checked?"
"There's no problem, don't talk nonsense," Otto's eyes darted around, "My boss hired me to watch the gate, I just listen to him. Without his word, nobody gets in."
Isaiah frowned but still patiently tried to persuade and explain.
"The power company's normal inspection work is legal and proper. Your brick factory must cooperate."
Otto nodded, looking like he was listening, his attitude clearly more cooperative now, "Okay, I'll do what you say. Next time they come to inspect, I won't stop them. I'll let them in."
"That's more like it." Isaiah's patient persuasion finally paid off.
Village work was all trivial matters and neighborhood disputes, mediating conflicts. Especially in this small village, the worst case in the past ten years was when an old man in the village lost a sheep, which was stolen and sold by a young man from the same village to a lamb soup restaurant in the city for a hundred dollars.
By the time Isaiah got there, the sheep had already become lamb soup. He brought back the confiscated proceeds, the young man compensated the old man for his loss, and the old man, considering they were neighbors, didn't pursue it further and treated the whole village to lamb soup.
But the young man's behavior was theft, so he was detained for five days as a warning.
Isaiah asked, "Where's your boss? Why hasn't he come out yet?"
Otto was about to say Parker wasn't there when he saw Parker coming out of a small gatehouse. He pointed that way, "Here he comes."
Oliver said, "You just said he wasn't here, so how come he's coming out from inside the factory?"
Hearing this, Isaiah said to Otto, "Do you ever tell the truth?"
Otto felt guilty, "I didn't notice where he went. I can't watch him all day."
Isaiah frowned unhappily and sighed, "Just cooperate when you should. What's the point of hiding? Only people with something to hide are afraid of being checked."
Otto was left speechless, standing there awkwardly.
Ulysses and Oliver caught Caroline's signal and stopped arguing. There was no point fighting now—they came to investigate electricity theft, and that was what mattered.
Caroline asked Oliver beside her, "Oliver, where's the brick kiln factory's meter?"
Oliver pointed to the small house Parker had just come out of, "According to the records, the meter is behind that house."
Caroline understood, "Go check it later, and be thorough."
"Okay."
Ulysses stood quietly behind Caroline the whole time.
Parker waved at Isaiah from far away, "Mr. Grey! Mr. Grey, what brings you here?"
When Isaiah and the others got closer, he said, "If you'd come out earlier, I wouldn't have had to come."
He began introducing them, "Ms. Caroline Tudor, Mr. Oliver Branpia, and Mr. Ulysses Devereux from Seaside City Power Company. They're here to inspect the lines."
Parker looked at Caroline with a big smile, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, "Hello, Ms. Tudor, want one?"
Caroline said, "Thanks, I don't smoke."
Parker offered them to the others, but nobody would take one, so he could only light one for himself. Smoking, he said, "Inspect what?"
Caroline showed him the "Power Inspection Work Order," "Mr. Parker Stafford, this is notice of an electricity usage inspection. You can take a look. Your wife should be here soon too. She's the legal representative of the brick factory. When our colleague starts the inspection, you both need to supervise. When the inspection is done and everything checks out, just sign this work order and we're finished."
Parker didn't take the paper seriously, and he didn't take Caroline's words seriously either.
His tone was impatient, "Just because she's the registered legal representative, the brick factory is hers? Ask anyone here—who's really in charge of this factory?"
Caroline maintained her professional attitude, speaking calmly, "In legal terms, this brick factory belongs to your wife."
"What belongs to her? This factory is mine. I just borrowed her name to register it. Ask the workers here—who's really the boss?" Parker pointed his cigarette-holding hand at Otto, "You tell them, whose brick factory is this?"
Otto was the only one present who had taken Parker's cigarette. He exhaled smoke, showing teeth yellowed by tar, and said, "Mr. Stafford's. This factory is Mr. Stafford's."
Caroline smiled slightly. Perfect.
The most effective way to handle someone like Parker was to ignore him.
The more you overlooked him, the more he'd try to get attention, jumping around like a clown performing in front of you.
Caroline said to Ulysses behind her, "We'll start the inspection when the legal representative arrives."
Parker clicked his tongue, feeling like the power company manager wasn't taking him seriously. She just wasn't putting him in her eyes. He had to make her understand that in this brick factory, he was the one who called the shots, he was the boss.
"What can a woman do when she gets here? If you want to inspect, hurry up." Parker pointed behind him, "Go inspect. I'm telling you to."
As soon as he finished speaking, a red car sped in, its wheels kicking up scattered dust.
The car stopped by the courtyard wall, and a middle-aged woman got out of the driver's seat. She was slightly plump with a trendy perm, and her semi-permanent eyebrows must have been freshly done—the color still looked a bit unnatural.
"Who are you people?" The woman charged toward the group angrily. Coming up to Caroline, her eyes flashed sharply, "Were you the one who called me just now?"