Chapter 52 - Where'd he go?

POV: Aiden

The phone took about three rings before I heard the phone going to voicemail. I tched out loud and called Nero two more times before everyone's favourite bored tone droned out.

"What do you want? I'm at work if you haven't figured it out already."

"Is that really how you greet your favourite best friend?" I figured keeping up the British accent would not help my case and would result in Nero ending the call and blocking my number.

"You're legit my only best friend, Assden."

"Hence, you're favourite."

"That's not how it wo–"

"Look, I didn't call to annoy you or have a friendly banter."

"I'm shocked."

"ANY FUCKING WAY, you know how you used to read up on a shit ton of poisons and drug during college years?"

"Yeah..."

"I kind of need that knowledge and I kind of need it fast."

"What? Why? What happened? Are you poisoned?"

"No, no. Not me. Just my temporary boss."

"Your– Erwin?!"

"Look long story short, Erwin is missing, no one knows except me and I'm trying to keep it that way. How he went missing is mystery and I'm trying to solve it. I found some sort of sweet smell in his black coffee and it doesn't smell like sugar. So I'm here to ask you if there's any lethal or non-lethal drugs that smell. I'm hoping for a non-lethal answer."

"... well, from what I can recall... there isn't many sweet smelling lethal poison and the ones that do exist are really hard to get. Like they're all in the black market. Um... there are non-lethal drugs that put you either to sleep or near coma state. They kind of work like chloroform except they're digestible. They're a lot more common and so my bet is riding on that. Then again... it might some rich person who decided to mess with him."

"Ok, no need to create a negative sandwich. The latter comment was not necessary and now I'm just going to pretend you never said it. He is not dead. Confirmed."

"Well, not conf–"

"Confirmed."

"... yeah sure. He's not dead. Now I'm going back to work. You just got all my neighbouring co-workers to look at me weird and fall behind in tasks."

"Surely you can't be that mad at me. It's for a legit reason."

"Yeah whatever. Call me if you need my assistance or if something else happens. I'm sure your boss is fine."

"Ok Nero. Thank you, bye."

"See ya."

I ended the call and went back into detective mode, once again mumbling to myself.

"So the guy definitely got drugged, meaning now it's confirmed that someone else involved. He's most likely kidnapped, right? Considering how they didn't kill him. Or maybe they'll kill him elsewhere. Regardless, there is now another party involved. So the new question is now who is it and how did they get away with it, without getting caught. We're on like the 40th floor or something with like airtight, unopenable windowpanes and there is no signs of smashed windows and it's not like they could just waltz in from the front door and then waltz back...out... hang on... I think I just had an epiphany! Why can't you just waltz in through the front door? You could... if you had some sort of meeting booked with Erwin! Then, you'd get in without any sort of suspicion. How the culprit left is another mystery completely but let's deal with that later. We have some sort of lead that can actually be answered."

With that in mind, I dashed back out of the office and stopped in front of Shinsou's desk in such haste that he flinched back a little. His face was a mixture of shock and annoyance, so when he began to open his mouth, it's probably to scold me or express his negative emotions. That's why I quickly intercepted, again. I was really hoping the man didn't strangle me for doing that twice because something told me he didn't tolerate that kind of shit.

"Before you say anything, I apologise for annoying but this is very important. When was the last time you saw Er- I mean Mr. Fonzo?"

Shinsou looked exasperated and I thought it was towards me but surprisingly not. "Huh? Is Erwin still not out of the bathroom? It's been twenty minutes. Does he have diarr–"

"Please, could you answer the question? It's kind of urgent."

"Why is it–"

"PLEASE! All will be revealed in due time. Just answer the question."

The other man looked at me sceptically but answered the question anyway. "It was about an hour ago or so."

"Ok, where?"

"When he left to show the way out to one of his business partners. He went up to the elevator and talked to them for a while before the other party left. I still don't where–"

"All in due time, trust me. Which is weird coming out from someone who isn't even your employee but that's not the point. The point is, did he come back to his office after bidding them farewell?"

"Well, yeah. He still had work to do. This line of questioning is making it seem like he–"

"Mysteriously disappeared? It's because he did."

"What?!" Shinsou shot up from his chair and leaned across the desk, palms grounded on the wood. His face was filled with sheer panic and he looked ready to faint. I'd never seen the man so uncomposed before. He's usually like Sebastian from Black Butler, cool, collected and completely unfazed by the weirdest things and employees. Well, except when Erwin and I met for the first time. I don't know why he was so shocked then.

"Calm down!" I practically yelled, getting frustrated by how much time was being lost. "This is why I didn't want to say anything yet. Can you just answer my fucking questions – mind the language – so I can find out what's going on?"

"I- I- yeah, ok. I don't how you're so composed..."

"It's because I do something like this on a daily basis."

"What?"

"Never mind. It's not about me and I wouldn't tell you anyway. Back to the questions, you said he entered his office after that one meeting, yes?"

"Yes."

"And he never left his office ever since?"

"Yes, I've been here the entire time so I can practically guaranty that."

"Ok, good. Onto the real shit now. Did he have a meeting with someone from that point onwards?"

"Well, the only known person coming in the next hour, was you. However, someone did end up coming without booking an appointment or prior notice about... forty five minutes before you came to the floor."

Bing-fucking-go. Looks like we just found our possible culprit. "And this person, did they tell you why they needed to meet with Erwin?"

"It's Mr. Fonzo to you and no, they just said it was an emergency and they really needed to talk to Erwin. Boss said it was fine and I sent them in."

"How vague indeed... so who is it?"

"Huh?"

"Who's was the person that came in before me?"

"Unfortunately, I can't tell you that. It's confidential information and you don't have the authority to have access to that information."

My mouth dropped down in utter disbelief and looked for some sort of feature on his face that would tell me that he's kidding but he was dead serious. My eyes turned into a glare and I hissed out, "Are you fucking with me right now?"

"Absolutely not." He sent a glare back and his lips were in a straight line.

"You sound like a fucking computer. Stop being rigid for once and tell me. This is for your boss."

The glare softened a bit but the man was still hesitant. "But I can't... it's sensitive information and–"

I couldn't hold it anymore and snapped. "Listen here you loyal dog–"

"Oi, that's not ni–"

"Don't care. As I was saying, there's a 95% chance that your boss has been kidnapped and I'm trying to get him back before any serious damage has been done or before he's been fucking murdered. So, I need you to fucking cooperate with me and tell me who it is because it's highly likely that it was them who took your man away!"

By the time I finished my outburst, I was panting heavily and trembling slightly. The other man's eyes were very wide and there was pure fear that took over this body. He was beginning to sweat from every gland possible, visibly shook and I swore there was tears forming in his eyes that were refusing to fall out, onto his cheek. I never thought I'd ever see him so shaken up. He took a couple of deep breaths to calmed himself down before shakily saying, "I need to call the police."

I was quick to shut the idea down. "You will do no such thing. You will answer the questions and I will go get him back for you."

"B-But the police will know what to do and–"

"The police are fucking useless garbage who turn a blind eye to real issues of the world if they get fucking paid off. We are not relying on them. Also, once we get them involved, the situation will get out of hand and become a big deal when it doesn't need to be. You have a huge project that's coming out in a couple of months and the last thing you need is negative attention."

The man stared at me with helplessness in his eyes. He whispered out, "Why are you so confident that you can get him back?"

I sighed softly. "Because it's something I do on a regular basis."

"What does that me–"

"Who came in before me Shinsou?"

The other man took the hint about not wanting to delve into that topic of conversation and opted to finally answering the main fucking question. "It was Wendy Hayes."

"... Wendy Hayes as in THE Wendy Hayes?

"Uh, yes?"

"As in famous actor, Oscar nominee and bachelorette Wendy Hayes."

"That would be the one."

Who would've fucking thought? That would explain the water against the painting and the carpet. Now what's the relationship between the two and why– my thoughts were cut short by the insertion of new information from the assistant. Surprising information.

"But it can't be her."

"Huh? Why not?"

"Because... she left through the front door and walked passed me, alone."

Just when I was this close to solving this mystery, god pulls a what the fuck on me.