*SLAM!*

Clearly, Carl was starting to lose his temper. He slammed the table and stood up, towering above the seating Andrew. It seemed like the 'good' cop was gone and now the 'bad' cop had taken his place.

"Even if we have information, that is not something that I can disclose to you! this is a private investigation and you are not an agent or have the right to enquire anything from me. We have our reasons to investigate her and make sure that she's not our primal suspect in this case!"

"That's good and all, but you haven't denied to me that Sophia's case was a murder, Officer Carl".

!!!

All gazes fixed on the cop who for the first time started to stutter.

"I didn't catch onto-" He was about to say that he didn't pay attention to the sentence enough to correct Andrew's mistake, but... Andrew wasn't going to allow him. In this battle words could be altered and interpreted for anyone's convenience, he had to take this chance, this recording... to get as much out of him as possible.

"By the way, officer... I have more things than just a mouth declaration. I have a video… Sophia sent me a video of Sasha being hit by Mariah and her friends in Downtown until she passed out and was left there. Sophia had been hiding and recording everything to get something on Mariah".

!!!

It was time for even the ghost to be confused and clueless, she never said any of that! let alone recording Sasha while she was being hit would have been a merciless action to do. Nevertheless, Andrew had set the trap which was meant for an individual in this room, sadly... the officer was there to prevent her from making a mistake.

"That is a li-!"

The man glared at her and Mariah shut up, making Andrew twitch his tongue in frustration... that was all he needed to settle everything down.

'I see, she can't point out that you lied, otherwise… she'd be incriminating herself!' It took a while for Sophia to understand his intentions, alas... Clare was totally lost but even within her cluelessness, she could already tell what Andrew's intentions were, he was going hard on against Mariah without leaving her even time to breathe or answer any of his accusations.

Mariah was a spoiled rotten girl, but one that had a lot of contacts and social experience to know what to do in this situation: follow along.

"I-I have seen that video, sir... t is quite horrible!" She didn't even think twice about pretending to clean some fake tears; throwing further charcoal and wood to liven up the fire. It was clear to her by now that Mariah was involved in whatever had happened to Sophia.

"Let me see that video, boy" The fuming officer extended his hand forward, expecting to get Andrew's phone, but the boy declined such a video didn't exist. If he was ever sent to speak to the judge, he could always say the video was erased or he lost it.

"I'll show it to you in the police station in front of other witnesses and authority".

Andrew's response was simple, 'I don't trust you'.

"Show me, boy! I'm the authority!" The man was outraged, nothing was going according to the plan, he lost his temper and seemingly forgot to pay attention to any possible 'bug' in the room.

"I'm not showing anything to you, Mr Card… and please lower your tone in front of me, do you know who you're talking to?" Andrew wasn't upset, but he was irritated.

This irritation brought down his ultimate card: the flex. The only reason why he even dared to step up and talk in the first place was the Mayers family. It was his background.

'No one ever, not even his uncle and aunt, have ever yelled at me to my face'.

He wasn't about to allow a minimum-wage corrupt cop to be the first one.

!!!

This last card had an unexpected effect that was even beyond Andrew's expectations... Carl's eyebrows twitched and his whole countenance switched from a polite one, into a vicious one.

"You are the heir of the Mayers, and so what? you're just a brat while I am an authority. It would be a pity if you compromise the Mayers and force us to get involved in an in-depth investigation against Archonte… your uncle would be disappointed. Who knows? he may have some government taxation issues that he wants to avoid, and now... thanks to you, he's going to be placed in the spotlight, do you want that, Andrew Mayers?".

His intentions were laid bare, with this comment alone, Andrew felt Clare clutching onto his wrist with force. Even if he wanted to appear nonchalant, it was impossible... because that could very well be the case, he knew nothing about Archonte and his uncle's business status.

'He's threatening you… don't step back Andrew! that's what he wants, to force into you the fact that we are just high schoolers, I'll help you get my father's assistance in this case, you have nothing to fear!'

"I don't need you to tell me" Andrew exhaled loudly, confusing everyone with his words. Sophia's words had been reassuring.

He took out his phone to make a call and then spoke to Clare.

"I refuse to speak anymore. Clare… call your father… this is a corrupt cop".

The girl nodded solemnly and took out her phone, this was the last threshold, the moment Christian Mayers and Harrow Euston got involved... there was no going back.

"That's a huge accusation, boy!"

The cop started to get nervous, this was not the outcome that he wanted... it wouldn't be good for his underhanded paycheck and his 'boss' wouldn't be happy.

"Andrew, let's talk this out…" Mariah stood up, also agitated and tried to convince him, "this is not even your concern! why are you getting involved!?"

'This much is enough to prove that they at least know something... thank you, Andrew, this recording is going to help a lot' Sophia stated, falling on her knees, a lot more relieved. Her gaze fixed on Andrew whose phone was ringing.

His display had been way more than what she expected out of him.

Before either Christina or Harrow answered their phones, however... a nervous Carl stood up and started to make his way to the door, "Your representatives will get a citation about this, that's all... you can all leave".

Half an hour later, after a lot of talking between Carl and Leon. The man approached him to express his gratitude.

"Thank you, Andrew... please give me your number, I will contact you later".

"It was nothing, sir... you can call me any time" Andrew politely handed his phone number to Leon Jones who departed the school in a higher tone; leaving him, Clare and Mariah to finally start their classes.

"This is not over, Andrew, Clare... I can't believe you betrayed me" Mariah was nervous like never before, gone was her pretty diva persona, replaced by an anxious person with an unclear destiny.

Clare stood up in front of her with a regretful expression.

"Sorry, but we can't be friends anymore… I won't be your accomplice, Mariah. You're going to pay for what you did to Sophia, I'll make sure of that!"

'And Sasha too!' Sophia remarked to a departing Mariah.

Andrew sighed as if he had turned ten years older, his life was about to take a chaotic turn, everything because of this ghost girl.