“Also, you said that not many people know Clarie’s identity, so let me ask you, there are 20 of you Bennett family members, do they know Who Clarie is?”
He frowned and nodded.
“So, you think everyone in your two dozen Bennett family is kind to Clarie? Can you guarantee that every one of them will accept Clarie? I was born in a small family, and I don’t understand the intrigue between you big families. But after all these years of ignoring the Bennett family fortune and following Dennis, you should know why.”
What happened to Clariana was so suddenly, and there were no cameras or witnesses. So, there was no way to know for sure what was going on.
Although I was prodded to say these words by Mario, it did not mean that the Bennett family did not have a plan in mind.
As Mario’s expression grew deeper and deeper, I thought he must have guessed something.
After a pause, he looked at me and said, “I’m gonna get Clarie back.”
This was a pledge, and to himself.
I closed my lips and spoke no more.
Leo called to ask where I was. When I got through, I gave him the address of the hotel.
After I hung up, I looked over at Mario and, without further comment, got up and left the cafe.
Dennis followed, but I ignored him. Since I had to wait for Leo, I sat directly in the hotel lobby.
Guys like Dennis, they sticked out everywhere. So, when he was sitting in the lounge area of the lobby, people who came in and out of the hotel inevitably looked over.
I was silent, and he was silent, too. I saw him texting on his phone all the time, and I thought it was about the company.
About half an hour later, Leo arrived, along with Link.
They came overnight, and both of them looked a little ragged. Leo looked at me and came forward, “Don’t worry. Link talked to the police department in H-Town, so I’m sure we’ll find Clarie.”
My eyes turned red when I saw him. I had been under pressure for a few days and now I was a little relieved. I looked at him with red eyes and nodded.
Link talked to Dennis, and the hotel room was ready.
Dennis and I didn’t say much to each other. So, before we got into the elevator, Leo frowned and asked, “Did you have a fight?”
I pressed my lips together, shook my head, looked up at him and smiled. “No, we were just too worried about Clarie.”
He raised his hand, ruffled my hair, and soothed me, “Don’t worry. We’ll find her.”
As soon as we got back to our hotel room, Link got a call saying they found a snow-colored teddy and asked if we wanted to see it.
Not knowing the details, we drove all the way there. It was an abandoned factory on the outskirts of H Town.
It seldom snowed in H Town, but it was always raining lightly, so it was difficult to walk in the suburbs.
The scene had been cordoned off by police. Just as we arrived at the gate of the factory, a middle-aged man in uniform came out.
He looked at Link and said, “Mr. Kennedy, there you are. We’ve been looking everywhere for the past two days, and all traffic routes in H Town have been secured. We’ve been canvassing every factory in H Town since yesterday. We didn’t find the baby, but we did find a white puppy. You go inside and see if it’s the one the kid was holding when he got lost.”
Link nodded and walked straight in without saying much. My legs were weak and I was in a terrible panic.
Everything in the factory was old and shabby and looked as if it had been abandoned for a long time.
We hurried into the factory after the police. Many of the things inside were old, and although they had been protected, they still looked very shaky in many places.
“How did you find the dog?” Dennis said, looking around the old factory.
Seeing that he was very impressive, the leader of the men said, “When we were searching, we found a lot of footprints around, so we followed them.”
Dennis nodded, “The rain didn’t last long, so you can follow up on footprints around here.”
The leader shook his head and sighed, “That’s what we thought at first, but there were a lot of stray dogs in the area after we found the footprints, and it started raining, and they were pretty much destroyed. It’s mostly farmland around here. It’s not easy.”
Inside the factory, the leader looked at Link and said, “Look, Mr. Kennedy, here it is. Look if it’s the same puppy the girl was holding when she got lost.”
Link didn’t know Snowball, of course. He looked back at me and said, “Clara, come and have a look.”
I had weak legs and had been shaking since I came in.
Looking at the lifeless Snowball lying on the ground, I almost lost all my strength and fell.
Luckily, Dennis was quick on his feet and put his arms around me. He looked at Snowball, frowned and said, “The dog belongs to Clarie.”
Then he put me on a chair and patted my hand, saying, “Don’t worry, no news is the best news. Well, if we can find Snowball, we’ll find Clarie soon enough.”
I pressed my lips together, tears streaming down my face. I choked, “Are they gonna hurt Clarie?”
He shook his head and looked at me firmly, “Trust me, no one can hurt Clarie.”
After calming me down, he got up and walked over to Snowball and looked at him.
The forensic doctor beside him said, “The dog was poisoned. He died less than 12 hours ago.”
Leo looked around and then looked at the lead policeman and said, “Are there any cameras around here?”
“It’s been abandoned for years. There’s no way there’s surveillance.”
I narrowed my eyes as I looked at Snowball on the ground and looked at Mario.
There was a chill in my heart.
After listening to them deliberating together for a while, I got up and stopped listening. I glanced at Dennis, who had been silent, and turned to leave.
I sat in the car for a while and Leo and Link came back. They got into the car and saw me sitting there in a daze.
Leo thought I was worried about Clariana, so he looked at me and said, “Don’t worry too much. If we can find Snowball, the police should find Clarie in no time.”
I pressed my lips together, looked up at him and said, “What if we’re looking in the wrong direction?”
He stared at me and said suspiciously, “What do you mean?”
“Snowball is a trained dog. He’s not very aggressive, but he’s very alert. Clarie got lost at Mario’s, and I thought at first maybe Snowball was poisoned at Bennett’s. But now it looks like someone took them out of the Bennett’s house. With all the cameras in Bennett’s neighborhood, how is it possible there’s nothing there?
Leo curled his eyebrows slightly, as if thinking of something. He hesitated and said, “So, you think the Bennett family did this?”
I nodded, “Plus, that person should be close to Clarie, or she wouldn’t have followed her out of Bennett’s house.”