Chapter 1885: Public Service
While Larissa was busy interrogating Vanisher, Melly arrived to meet with her client, Ning.
Melly found Ning in the interrogation room and closed the door. She waited until they were alone before speaking.
"What the hell happened?" she asked.
Ning sat down at the metal table. "I killed Forgath."
"I know that. Why?"
Ning explained the entire night—the party, the threat he made to Forgath, the chase, the confrontation, and the confession he had recorded.
Melly’s eyes widened. "You recorded him?"
"Yes. I had to get a recording that he tried to kill me. Or else this would just sound like regular murder. So, I recorded everything."
"Everything?"
"His admission to poisoning me, trying to have me shot at the hero trial, his power to control people through money, and his threat to have me killed every day until I broke. Everything, and more."
Melly stared at him for a long moment. "So... you didn’t just kill him out of anger or jealousy?"
Ning lowered his eyebrows. "What sort of person do you think I am?"
Melly exhaled slowly. "Where’s the recording?"
"With Mira. She’s the wood elf that works with us. The one with red hair. Find her and get it from her."
Melly nodded and left the room immediately.
Ning waited as the minutes stretched on. Melly returned some time later, holding her phone. "I have it."
She sat down across from Ning and placed the phone on the table. "Let’s listen."
She pressed play.
Forgath’s voice came through clearly, every word of his confession perfectly audible. There was thankfully no random artifact in the recording or static buzzes that would’ve ruined the whole thing.
The admission of attempted murder, the description of his power, the threats against Ning’s life. All of it was there.
When the recording ended, Melly was silent for a moment. Then, a small smile formed on her face.
"This will work," she said, sighing in relief. "This will work wonderfully."
* * * * *
Frostveil gave the same info as Vanisher did, only her report was far more detailed.
"Forgath somehow bought me into doing things for him outside of my desires. He first paid me to protect him, and then paid me to kill Blackfang."
Frostveil reached into her pocket and brought out the two cheques she had received. One for 3 million Jorans, and the other for 10 million. She slid it toward Larissa.
Larissa paused for a moment, looking at the two cheques. "He gave this to you?"
She nodded. "All of us got one."
Larissa blinked. "All?"
"Blackfang received one too," she explained. "I don’t know why he wasn’t taken by Forgath’s power though. He took the cheque but nothing came out of it."
Larissa hesitated for a moment and pushed the cheque back to Frostveil. "Please continue."
Frostveil explained the rest of the event, all leading to when Ning killed Forgath and returned to the group. Once done, Frostveil was let go.
"By the way, please don’t cash in the cheque until the investigation is over. Depending on what comes out of this investigation, things might change."
Frostveil thanked her and nodded before leaving.
After the two heroes had done explaining everything, Larissa could only return to the last one that should now be in one of the interrogation rooms.
Larissa walked over to where Ning was and found his lawyer to be sitting next to him. She blinked for a moment, recognizing the woman.
"We meet again, miss..."
"Melly," the lawyer quickly said. "And yes we do, Detective."
Larissa nodded and sat down. She waited for a moment, blinking. "I thought you would be advising your client not to speak. May I ask questions then?"
Melly shrugged. "Go ahead. We have nothing to hide since my client has committed no crime."
Larissa narrowed her eyes for a moment before ignoring the woman and turned toward Ning.
"You couldn’t have done things less... openly?" Larissa asked.
Ning smiled. "I had to. I couldn’t be sure I would find him again. The moment he knew I had found him, he was never going to show his face again. So I had to act quickly."
"Well, at least you recorded the interaction. That might help in your case," Larissa said.
Melly looked confused for a moment before turning to Ning. "They’re aware of your identity?"
Ning turned. "How would I work here without them knowing who I am? You wrote the contract, did you not?"
"I... I did," Melly said. "I just thought you would hold back more information."
Ning shrugged.
Larissa gave a simple revision of the events that had transpired during the night, asking Ning to help fill the blanks. Ning did as asked.
Larissa was mostly curious what he had been doing in between the time after his press conference and before he found his way to a fundraiser.
Ning explained about the gnome he followed and how tracking the number he called led him to finding Forgath.
"I know it’s a murder, but—"
"It’s not a murder," Melly said quickly. "At this point, it’s public service."
Ning paused and turned toward the woman. "Huh?"
"Forgath paid to have people killed, did he not? He was a menace to society. He had already bought off two heroes and was using them beyond their will. He had also already tried to kill you twice before and was going to keep trying forever. All of this is to say that he was a bad person, and his death can only improve the society."
Melly lightly slammed the desk. "And according to the Hero policy of our country Conjora, a hero is allowed to hurt, even kill, someone if there is no other recourse. It would’ve been slightly problematic if Forgath’s powers didn’t work within the suppression field, but since it did, he couldn’t be taken to prison. So, the only recourse left was to kill him."
Melly grinned, more so to herself than anyone else. "I can use that. More than just use it, I can completely reverse public opinion of you in a single day."
"That so, huh?" Ning said, smiling. It was good to know there was someone capable in his corner.
