Chapter 337

“I called the police!” Russell said, still fuming. He was determined to send Melody to the police station to teach her a lesson.

The police officers nodded, verified identities, and started asking questions.

After understanding the basic situation, one of the police officers asked incredulously, “So you called the police because your daughter hit your other daughter, and you want to press charges?”

“Yes! And we won’t accept any reconciliation!” Russell declared righteously, leaving the officers stunned.

These police officers had never encountered such a situation before.

The officers glanced at Melody with a complex expression, unable to hide a trace of pity.

Melody and Mabel were both Russell’s daughters. It was fine if there was a huge difference in the two’s appearances, but the fatherly love Melody and Mabel received was also worlds apart.

But with Russell adamant about pressing charges, the police officers had no choice.

“How about this…” one of the officers said. “According to the procedure, we need to get a medical examination first. As for this person called Melody, she’ll come with us to the police station for an investigation. Once the medical report is out, we can decide how long Melody might be detained.”

When Yolanda heard this, her smug eyes gleamed with satisfaction.

Taking care of the medical report was easy. Yolanda could just have Mabel insist on feeling dizzy, and the doctor would diagnose a concussion without any problem.

A concussion, even considered only a minor injury, could lead to Melody being detained for up to fifteen days.

The duration wasn’t as important as the fact that Melody would have a criminal record.

Someone with a record would never be accepted by the Swanson family. The only person who could marry into the Swanson family would undoubtedly be Mabel.

Yolanda felt elated, for the first time thinking Mabel had done something right.

The police officer walked up to Melody and said, “Miss, please come with us to the police station for questioning.”

“Questioning? Just detain her already!” Russell snapped impatiently.

The officer replied firmly, “We have to follow procedure. Even we can’t detain someone without a proper investigation. We’ll take her in for questioning first.”

The officer’s firm and upright demeanor seemed to intimidate Russell. Russell muttered a few words but didn’t insist on the detention anymore.

At this point Melody spoke calmly Officer, I didn’t hit anyone.

Hearing that Russell couldn’t help but speak again. “The police are here, and you still dare to lie?”

Ignoring Russell Melody said to the police, “Mabel was the one who managed to snatch my suitcases first. I only blocked her a little to protect my property. If you don’t believe me, you can check the surveillance footage.

The officers looked up and noticed the surveillance camera with its red light on, indicating it was recording.

Seeing this the two officers discussed it briefly and then asked Russell for the surveillance footage.

The servant in charge of the surveillance, following Yolanda’s earlier instructions, had deleted the footage. Without hesitation, the servant pretended to access the footage.

During the process, one of the officers glanced at Melody and reassured her quietly, saying, “We won’t let any bad person go unpunished, nor will we wrong any innocent person. If you didn’t do anything wrong, we’ll see that justice is done”

“Thank you,” Melody said gratefully and lowered her eyes bitterly.

Even this stranger offered Melody comfort, while Melody’s own father was determined to send her to jail.

Melody took a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears stinging her eyes.

Just then, the servant spoke up, “I’m terribly sorry, but our surveillance system has been unstable, and today’s footage wasn’t saved…”

The officer frowned, sensing something was off.

He felt an air of chaos and deceit in this household, and the servant’s expression was suspicious.

At the thought of this, the officer took the phone that was controlling the surveillance camera and tried to retrieve the footage himself.

However, the truth was just as the servant had said. Today’s footage was indeed missing.

“Well…” The officer hesitated, looking uncertain.

Without the surveillance footage, the existing testimony would imply that Melody did hit Mabel.

The officer said, “Miss, about the footage…”

“The footage was deleted,” Melody stated bluntly, hitting the nail on the head.

Yolanda’s expression stiffened at those words. She scowled and said, “Melody, we’ve all been here the entire time. Who would have had the chance to delete it? And why would we? You did hit Mabel. Deleting the footage would only make it harder for us to explain, right?”

Russell’s anger flared up again. “Melody! Stop trying to stir up trouble!”

Ignoring them, Melody turned to the officer. “Can you give me two minutes? I can recover the deleted footage.”

“Of course.” The police officer nodded. “This is beneficial to our investigation. You can do whatever you want.”

Yolanda, panicking, quickly said, “Officer, you don’t understand. Melody grew up in the countryside and only went to a third-tier college. She doesn’t know anything about this. She’s just trying to buy time.”

“That’s right.” Mabel nodded. “Officer, Melody’s just stalling. Don’t believe her!”

The officer frowned. “We deal in facts. Two minutes won’t hurt. We’ll soon see if Melody’s telling the truth.”

Yolanda still wanted to stop Melody from accessing the surveillance footage.

Although Yolanda was not sure if Melody knew how to do this, Yolanda’s instinct made her not even want to give Melody this chance.

Just as Yolanda was about to snatch the phone away, Melody looked up and said, “The footage is recovered. You can check it now.”

Melody had done this many times before, so her skills were even more refined now.

It took Melody less than thirty seconds to restore the footage.

Hearing that, the officer took the phone and reviewed the footage, finding the cached videos intact.

“You’re really skilled!” the officer praised, deeply impressed.

Yolanda and Mabel both turned pale as they thought, ‘Melody actually restored the footage!’

The next moment, the officer announced, “We have the footage from the incident now.” Then he carefully scrutinized the video.

Just as Melody claimed, the “victim” was indeed the one who aggressively tried to snatch the suitcase Melody was sitting on.

Under such circumstances, Melody then used defensive moves on Mabel for self-protection.

The subsequent fall was entirely the “victim’s” doing, followed by Mabel lying on the ground for a long time, accusing Melody with a contorted face.

The officer’s expression hardened. He handed the phone to Russell, who then watched the footage and paled in anger.

Russell hadn’t expected this to be a self-staged act by Mabel.

“You see that?” the officer scolded. “Is this how you parent?”

Russell coughed awkwardly, casting a reproachful glance at Mabel, who shrank behind Yolanda.

Yolanda, ever the quick thinker, stepped forward. “So, it was all a misunderstanding! I apologize, officers, for making you come out here for nothing. How about coming inside for some coffee?”

Yolanda tried to brush it off as a simple “misunderstanding”.

“No need!” The officer’s tone was cold. After turning down the offer, he turned to Melody and said, “Miss, the truth is out. You’re not at fault. But if you want to press charges for defamation and attempted theft, we can help you file a case.”

Russell’s heart skipped a beat. Forcing a stiff smile, Russell said, “Melody, we’re all family. It was just a simple misunderstanding. Why make it a big deal? If word gets out, wouldn’t it be humiliating for you?”