Chapter 166 A Suspected Candidate

Chapter 166 A Suspected Candidate

In the end, Raymond followed Jocelyn back to her apartment.

Simon froze for a moment when he saw Raymond returning with his mother. After Raymond greeted him, he and Jocelyn headed into the study to review the surveillance footage on his phone.

Jocelyn sat at the desk while Raymond stood beside her. Both stared intently at the security camera footage playing frame by frame on the computer screen.

There were two camera angles—one from outside the restaurant and another from a shop across the street. Together, they provided a clear view of the madman's entire trajectory.

The vagrant had been crouching by a planter at the street corner, looking every bit like an unremarkable homeless person. Occasionally pedestrians passed by, but he never even lifted his head. Instead, he would glance toward the restaurant entrance from time to time.

Based on the timestamp, she and Philip were already dining inside the restaurant at that point.

The vagrant remained crouched in place without moving.

But the instant Jocelyn appeared at the restaurant entrance, he suddenly stood up, quickly pulled out a fruit knife, and began staggering toward the restaurant like a madman.

Along the way, he waved his knife threateningly at passersby. People fled in panic, quickly creating the illusion of a lunatic randomly attacking people in public.

Soon the vagrant reached the restaurant front, still appearing to attack indiscriminately.

After watching the footage twice, Jocelyn spotted the anomaly.

"This isn't an ordinary vagrant at all."

Before she could speak, Raymond said it first.

Jocelyn nodded. "He was crouching by the planter the whole time, even pulling out cigarettes from his pocket to smoke. He completely ignored the pedestrians passing by—until Philip and I walked out of the restaurant."

The moment she and Philip exited the restaurant, he started going crazy. But crazy or not, he hadn't actually hurt anyone—except Philip.

"This vagrant's target was you," Raymond stated bluntly.

Jocelyn remained silent, frowning as she let out a sigh.

It seemed she really did have quite a few enemies.

Raymond turned to look at her profile, his brows slightly furrowed. "I'll help you investigate and find out who's behind this."

Hearing this, Jocelyn looked up at him. They were very close, making her breath catch involuntarily.

She pressed her lips together and leaned back slightly, maintaining some distance from him. "I'll investigate on my own..."

The study fell silent for a moment. Raymond's frown deepened. He straightened up and looked down at her from his height.

"Even though we've been divorced for a long time, we're still friends, aren't we? More importantly, you're my son's mother. For Simon's sake, I can't let you be in any danger."

Jocelyn looked up, meeting his deep dark eyes.

"If something happened to you, what would Simon do?"

She opened her mouth but ultimately said nothing.

"Whatever."

Her attitude could be considered a compromise, though her tone remained cold.

Raymond gazed at her deeply without saying anything more.

"I'll have Jake expedite the investigation. And you—be careful when you go out these next few days. I'll look into that vagrant's background as well."

After saying this, he didn't wait for her response and simply pulled open the study door and walked out.

Raymond hadn't even left yet when he saw a small figure hurriedly scurrying back to the living room.

Simon quickly sat cross-legged on the sofa, holding a comic book in his hands—but it was upside down.

Seeing him looking both guilty and trying to act grown-up, Raymond's tense expression softened slightly.

He walked over and crouched in front of Simon, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "Simon, were you eavesdropping just now?"

Simon blinked those eyes so similar to his own and declared righteously, "No."

Clearly a lie.

Raymond couldn't help but smile.

At that moment, Jocelyn came into the living room, exhaustion evident between her brows.

He stood up, his gaze lingering on Simon's face for a moment before turning to Jocelyn. "I'm leaving."

Jocelyn didn't see him out, merely nodding faintly.

After the door closed, Simon immediately jumped down from the sofa and ran to Jocelyn's side, looking up at her. "Mommy, are you okay?"

Jocelyn glared at him somewhat irritably. "Didn't you say you weren't eavesdropping?"

Simon frowned. "If I hadn't eavesdropped, I wouldn't have known you almost got hurt again."

Jocelyn looked down at him and reached out to pinch his little cheek. "Mommy's fine."

Simon nodded solemnly with his little brows furrowed. "That's good then."

Jocelyn was amused by his little gentleman act, and the heaviness in her heart lightened somewhat.

Late into the night, Jocelyn lay in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

Her mind replayed the evening's events over and over.

That vagrant was clearly problematic, obviously targeting her specifically.

But the question was—who had sent him to do this?

Could it be him?

If it really was, she needed to stay even more composed and see exactly what he was planning.

The next day, Jocelyn made a special trip to the hospital.

Philip's arm had been slashed twice, requiring eighteen stitches total. The doctor had him stay overnight for observation.

After confirming he was alright, Jocelyn left the hospital.

Over the next two days, Jocelyn maintained contact with Philip.

On the third day, she received a message from Jake with information about the vagrant.

The vagrant's name was Hunk, thirty-two years old, with a history of drug use and a robbery record. He'd been released from prison just six months ago.

A week ago, fifty thousand dollars in cash had suddenly been deposited into one of Hunk's bank accounts.

Jocelyn stared at the information thoughtfully for a moment, then sent Raymond a message telling him not to reveal Hunk's information yet—to act as if they hadn't uncovered everything.

Raymond didn't understand why, but complied anyway.

That afternoon, Jocelyn had just finished organizing her experimental data when Philip called.

"Jocelyn, when are you free?"

After several days of contact with Philip, their relationship seemed to have grown much closer.

Jocelyn leaned back in her office chair, narrowing her dark eyes while keeping her tone casual. "What's up?"

"Well, I haven't seen Simon in all these years. I was wondering what kind of toys he likes. Next time we have dinner together, I can buy him something he'd enjoy."

"There's no rush, Philip. Focus on healing your injury first. How is your wound doing now?" Jocelyn smoothly changed the subject.

"It's fine now, really." Philip's tone remained gentle. "I just went to the hospital today to change the dressing. The doctor said the wound is healing well. But... I'm more worried about you."

"Worried about me? Why?"

"I don't know if that lunatic was genuinely insane or if someone paid him to hurt you. I'm very concerned about your and Simon's safety." After a pause, Philip added worriedly, "Why don't I move into your apartment building for a while? Just downstairs from you. In case anything happens again..."

"Philip," Jocelyn interrupted him, her tone warm but firm, "your wound hasn't healed yet. Right now, the most important thing is for you to recover. Don't worry about me."

Silence on the other end for two seconds, then Philip sighed. "Alright then. But if anything happens, you must call me immediately."