Chapter 30

Ethan barged into Robert's office with a big grin. "Hey, Robert, guess what? Ryan's trying to snag some high-end talent for his department today."

"Sophia?" Robert raised an eyebrow.

"Yep. She's a forensic scientist, but Ryan's eyeing folks from the hospital's emergency department, which is already stretched thin. It's kinda over the top."

Robert chuckled. "What's Ryan's deal with her?"

"It's pretty wild. Ryan's all impressed by her knowledge of different killing techniques," Ethan said. "He thinks only someone who knows how to kill can easily figure out these methods. He says we need that kind of talent, so he's going after her."

Ethan continued, "He also mentioned that when he describes a case to Sophia, she always nails the key points with just a few words."

He added, "Ryan thinks they're practically soulmates."

Robert couldn't help but laugh. "Would he dare say that in front of his wife?"

Ryan's wife also worked at the station and had a fiery temper. She was someone Ryan didn't dare to cross.

"What can't I say in front of her?" Ryan strolled over, adjusting his posture. "In my house, I call the shots; my wife only takes care of the small stuff."

Ethan saw through Ryan's bravado and laughed. "Ryan, it's not a big deal to follow your wife's lead."

"I'm not explaining this to a single guy like you. You wouldn't get it," Ryan shot back, dismissively. "I'm here to see Robert."

He pulled Robert aside. "Robert, we've got a ton of work piling up, and we're short-handed. We need new people, and Sophia's perfect. Try to get her on our team, maybe use your charm."

Robert was exasperated.

"Seriously, a doctor like Sophia can probably see right through people with bad intentions." He listed various reasons to convince Robert.

Albert interrupted from a few desks away, "Robert, we've solved all our cases. Should we still go to Sophia's high school teacher's house?"

"Ethan and I will go. Send me her address and phone number," Robert replied.

Robert took the chance to escape from the persistent Ryan and left the station with Ethan. They arrived at Sophia's high school teacher's house.

Her hair had turned somewhat white. As soon as she saw them, she asked worriedly, "Is Sophia in trouble, officers?"

"No, we're just here for routine procedures related to another case. Sophia's fine," Ethan quickly explained.

"She's been through a lot. I'm always afraid something bad will happen to her again."

"Has she had trouble before?" Robert asked.

The teacher started explaining, "One winter night during her junior year, she called me in the middle of the night, asking if I could pick her up. It was so late, and she was just a 15-year-old girl out alone. I was worried some guy had done something bad to her."

She went on, "When I found her, she was standing by the roadside, neatly dressed, but with a slap mark on her face and a bleeding frostbite on her ear. She had a backpack, a duffel bag, and a big plastic bucket with some daily necessities."

The teacher recalled, "She told me her part-time boss wouldn't let her work anymore, so she had no place to stay. She asked if she could crash at my place for one night, promising to find somewhere else the next day. She was so well-behaved it broke my heart."

"I asked if anyone had bullied her, and she just smiled and said no one could bully her," the teacher said. "I let her stay at my house for a while, and she helped clean it thoroughly. My daughter, who is four years younger and usually a handful, became very well-behaved around her and even became her good friend. Every time I came home, Sophia had already cooked dinner and helped my daughter with her homework."

She said, "She was like an angel. Whoever helped her, she would repay them tenfold. When my daughter was prepping for the SAT, Sophia was the one who tutored her."

Robert looked around the cozy environment. This must have been one of the few places that brought warmth and shelter to Sophia.

He imagined what it was like for Sophia to live here. Only here would she genuinely smile. He had seen it before, so lively and touching.

Suddenly, Robert noticed something. He walked quickly to the bookshelf and pointed to a photo. "Did your daughter and Sophia also like to play with tarot cards?"

"My daughter liked to play with them. She was into those kinds of novelties," Sophia's teacher said. "Sophia didn't really like them."

Robert thought he might be overthinking, but then he heard her say, "But even though Sophia didn't play much, she was better at it than my daughter when she did."

He looked at the photo seriously. In it, two young girls sat at a desk: the teacher's daughter beamed, holding two tarot cards towards the camera, while Sophia gazed downward, her lips forming a slight curve.

One of the cards depicted a devil with horns, looking forward with authority, a pentagram on its head glowing, and the slaves bound and driven by the devil had grown devil horns.

This was the "The Devil Reversed" tarot card! It was also the nickname and avatar of the online friend Lyra knew.

'Could there be a connection between the online friend "The Devil Reversed" and Sophia? She was only about 8 or 9 years old at the time,' Robert thought.