chapter 143

Mark and Lucy stepped out of their car. He led the way as he took her inside his home. She was stunned to see the state of his house."It is even worse than my house. Now I feel I am so organized. At least a thousand times better than you.""Hey, don't compare a university student's home to a cop's, okay? Your life is easier," he snorted.Lucy smacked him. "We have horrible tests!""If you have a brain, the test isn't any hurdle. Here I have real-life cases that can be as small a robbery to as serious as murder and drugs.""..."Lucy couldn't retort to that.She gritted her teeth. "What do you mean if I haven't a brain?"He chuckled. "I think you understand the meaning yourself. Now get to work. Take a seat and show me the letter."Lucy quickly handed it to him.His mouth twitched, seeing the state. "What the hell is that stain? Why is it like that?"She felt bad and lowered her head guiltily. "It was an accident. I am sorry…"He shook his head. "It's such an important letter. Let me check. I hope we don't miss any important information."Mark carefully read through it, every word and every sentence. He quickly got the gist of it. But as he reached the part of identity revealed, he couldn't read it further just like Lucy."This is bad. The ink has worn off."Lucy felt even more embarrassed. "Can we not do something to clear the stain?""We could have immediately treated it. But you seemed to have only roughly wiped the stain and then kept it to dry.""Yes…""That doesn't work. If we don't do something as early as possible, the stain quickly settles on the paper and it slowly begins to erode the ink. The erosion process depends on the ink used too. Printed words in books and magazines are a little harder to get ruined. But this is a simple ball-point pen used to write the letter. If the words had been visible, I would have cleared it by dabbing cotton soaked with diluted vinegar on that part. But now there is no hope. The words are already illegible and wiping anything on it now will just ruin it even more."Her shoulders slumped in defeat. His long explanation went a little over her head. But his point was clear.They would not be able to know the Mafia King's identity.Mark said, "Don't be so bummed down. We have got something to work upon."Her disheartened face brightened up a bit. "Like what?""First, Luca seems to have some personal grudge against the Mafia King's family. Did she mention this?"Lucy thought about it and slowly shook her head. "No. Sis never mentioned anything. I don't know any personal reason. But how could she get entangled with that family?"He sighed. "Only Luca can tell. Maybe that's why she agreed to take this mission."Lucy was in deep thought."The other thing that we know is that the Mafia King is a CEO of a company whose name begins with a E.""Oh yes!" She realized it.He nodded. "That narrows down our work quite a lot. If we had to investigate all the CEOs of this city, it would have taken forever. Now, we have to make a list of only those corporations whose name starts with E and investigate those CEOs. We are bound to get some connection with the Underworld."