Lilia shifted nervously in her chair. Her gaze swept across the interrogation room where she was currently in. Apart from her, there was only a senior policeman in that room.
The policeman stared at Lilia closely. The middle-aged man's hand held the victim's report about Mellie's assault last night. He cleared his throat before asking, "Miss Lilia, you claim that you are the suspect's sister?"
"Yes, true." Lilia nodded and tried to look confident, "I'm her sister."
The senior policeman let out a heavy sigh, "If you really are her sister, why don't you stop her from committing illegal acts like this? I'm sure if you know what she did was illegal here!"
This reply stunned Lilia. The policeman's words were so precise that she could not immediately answer. Lilia thought for a while before finally saying, "… I only found out about it today. Was her action really that bad?"
The policeman frowned, but he still answered Lilia, "I can't say how bad it was, but it sure was enough to encourage the victim to report this incident. Last night, the suspect and her subordinates broke into the victim's house without permission and committed vandalism."
When he saw Lilia tilting her head in confusion, the policeman immediately explained.
"I mean, they smashed glassware like vases and sprayed paint all over the house. Then they also got into a fight with security guards who were trying to catch them." The cop explained, "Their actions are clearly detrimental to the victims, so they have to pay the consequences. You understand, right?"
Lilia nodded with a bitter expression. She was sure that Mellie also knew that what she had done was not right. However, the woman had no other choice. Mellie wouldn't be able to survive if she didn't do this.
After answering a few more questions, Lilia was released by the policeman. She sat in the waiting area while waiting for Jean's arrival. Lilia was sure that man would definitely come. Even if she hadn't told Jean earlier, Clifford would have reported the situation to his boss.
While waiting, Lilia looked for information about professional debt collectors using the internet. Unfortunately, there was currently no clear definition of this profession in Indonesia. It could be said that the profession fell in a gray zone between legal and illegal. If the person Mellie charged yesterday didn't report to the police, the police wouldn't be able to arrest the woman.
*****
About twenty minutes later, a Mercedes Benz stopped in front of the police station. Two men stepped out of the car. The two of them both had handsome faces, with tall and sturdy bodies wrapped in expensive clothes. The appearance of the two men immediately caused a commotion at the police station.
Jean ignored the stares and whispers of everyone there. His eyes were only on the figure of his wife, who was sitting alone in the waiting area. Without waiting any longer, Jean immediately approached Lilia.
Andrew, who accompanied Jean, could only smile slightly to see Jean's protective side. He followed behind his brother-in-law while nodding at the familiar police officer. Andrew's extensive connections were the main reason why Jean asked him to come here. Jakarta was the territory of the Austin Family, unlike Surabaya.
Jean arrived beside Lilia and immediately rubbed her head. His eyes never left that woman's figure, "How long have you been here? How is the situation?" Jean asked, worried.
Lilia looked up and met the man's eyes. Jean's warm gaze gave her a feeling of calm, as if everything was going to be alright. Lilia smiled bitterly and said, "Thank goodness you're here. I don't know the details, but the police are interrogating Mellie right now."
Jean turned to Andrew, who immediately nodded and took out his cell phone. The man called someone, but he didn't explain anything.
Andrew only said briefly, "I'm here." Then he hung up the phone again.
Lilia had doubts that such a brief conversation could solve this situation, but she was proven wrong. In just a few minutes, an inspector on duty emerged from one of the interrogation rooms. His stout build and a giant-like stature made him look intimidating. The man's sharp gaze also reinforced that impression.
Andrew walked over to the man and shook hands with a warm laugh, "Leo, looks like I'm going to trouble you again today."
"No problem, no problem. What do you need today?" Asked the policeman while glancing at Jean and Lilia.
The man with the nickname Leo nodded at Jean. But when his gaze fell on Lilia's face, shock colored the man's face. Even so, Leo didn't say anything.
Andrew let go of Leo's hand and turned towards the couple, "Let me introduce you. He's the senior inspector here and my old classmate, Leonard Adler. Leo, they are Jean Widjaya and Lilia Pangestu." He said.
Leonard shook hands with the two of them before turning back to Andrew. The man was waiting for his classmate to explain his arrival today. But Andrew looked at Lilia instead.
"Lilia, can you tell us what happened?" Andrew asked.
The man actually did not know what had happened that led to Lilia being taken to the police station. Jean suddenly called and asked him to come without explaining anything. Since Lilia was his sister-in-law and Claire herself really liked her, Andrew agreed to help.
Lilia nodded and began to briefly describe the incident at the cafe. She did not miss the change in Leonard's expression when he heard her story.
The inspector sighed silently. So this whole fuss was due to a group of professional debt collectors targeting their victim's house lately. He thought he'd finally caught them, but it turned out that the leader of the group had a connection with Lilia Pangestu!
After Lilia finished telling her story, Leonard didn't say anything. Andrew became worried and nudged his friend, "Leo, how difficult is this situation? Can we finish it with a little money?"
Even though Andrew said 'a little', Leonard knew that the amount that was on the man's mind was not small at all. He sighed and said, "I will try to visit the interrogation room and have a little chat with them. If I need anything, I'll tell you later."
Andrew nodded, "I'm sure you can do something about this."
Leonard turned around and headed for Mellie's interrogation room. Lilia's gaze continued to follow the man until he disappeared behind the door. Even though Leonard had promised to deal with this situation, the worry that was filling Lilia's mind refused to disappear.
Andrew glanced at Lilia and saw her frown. He said, "Lilia, you don't have to worry. Leonard can be trusted. If he said he would try, that means he had a plan." Andrew's voice was filled with deep trust in his classmates.
Lilia nodded, but Andrew's words weren't enough to get rid of her worries about Mellie. Lilia's bad experience when being interrogated by the police over Sara's accident didn't help either. What if Mellie got assaulted by them?
Jean watched Lilia for a moment before he took the woman's hand. Then he pulled Lilia back into her chair. Jean's large hand wrapped her slender hand in his.
"Don't worry." Jean whispered in Lilia's ear, "Even if Brother Andrew can't solve this problem, you still have me."
Those simple words were able to dispel Lilia's worries, like a gust of wind blowing over dark clouds. For the first time since Mellie was arrested, she smiled broadly, "Thank you, Jean.." Lilia whispered back.
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