Chapter 2

Sophia never thought a little girl, maybe six or seven, could be so strong.

"Grab her!" she yelled, sprinting after the kid.

The girl's mom looked freaked out, standing there for a second before shouting, "Sweetheart, where are you going!"

The mom was yelling like crazy, but the girl didn't even look back and darted into the fire escape. Frank Jones and Kate Wilson were coming up from downstairs and saw the chase.

Frank instinctively tried to stop the girl. But she must've seen it coming and bit him hard before bolting away.

Sophia came down from upstairs, saw the chaos, and snapped, "Useless!" She picked up the pace, chasing after the girl.

In a few quick moves, she pinned the little girl, who was trying to escape to the stairwell, to the ground. The girl, clutching a hairpin, glared at her fiercely.

With her military background, Sophia knew how to handle situations like this. She didn't make a big deal out of it; she just snatched the hairpin and lifted the girl with one hand.

Upstairs, Frank pointed downstairs, looking shocked. "Did you hear that? She called me useless!"

He gestured at his face. "Is there such a thing as a handsome useless person?"

Sophia came up with the kid, glanced at his name tag, and said, "You couldn't even catch a child. If that's not useless, then what is? And you were late. Go take your punishment."

Sophia's punishment was a 5,000-word reflection and standing in the sun for two hours. Writing the reflection was a no-go, but standing was mandatory.

Outside the community gate, Frank and Kate stood straight. The sun was blazing above, scorching the ground below.

Frank gritted his teeth, unable to hold back, and complained, "Did you see that? Female leaders are such a pain. We were only a minute or two late, and she made us stand as punishment. And how many years has she been in criminal investigation compared to me? Yet she dared to call me useless!"

The more Frank talked, the more annoyed he got. Joseph came over with two bottles of water and handed them to them. "Enough with the complaints. You were late."

"I was trying to give her a hard time," Frank muttered, quickly taking a sip of water when he saw Sophia wasn't looking.

Kate, listening, couldn't help but gossip, "I heard she came from the special forces. Is that true? Would someone from the special forces want to come here?"

Joseph glanced at the makeshift interrogation room. "I don't know, but she's not someone to mess with. You two better be careful."

Inside the interrogation room.

Sophia pressed the little girl into a chair and sat across from her, staring intently. The girl seemed to have calmed down but was trembling.

Sophia crossed her arms and sternly asked, "Why did you steal this? Does it have anything to do with you?"Sophia's gaze was intense, like she was trying to see right through the girl's soul.

The girl bit her lip, staying silent, trembling even more.

Sophia thought for a moment and switched tactics, saying, "This is actually yours, right? The lady who died bought it for you? If you don't talk, that lady will haunt you."

"You saw how she died, right? She'll stand by your bed at night and say she wants to gouge out your eyes." Sophia deliberately lowered her voice.

The girl finally couldn't hold back and started crying.

Frank and the others, watching from outside, shivered. "No way, she can be so harsh to such a young girl?"

Kate also shivered, saying, "If it were me, I'd be traumatized."

As they spoke, Chief Howard came over with a young man. Seeing them standing at the door, he curiously asked, "What are you all doing here? Aren't you supposed to be working on the case?"

Frank and Kate stammered, so Joseph explained. "They offended the new captain and are being punished."

When Sophia came out of the interrogation room, Frank and Kate quickly stood straight. Sophia glanced at them, then focused on Howard. "Mr. Smith."

Howard nodded and introduced, "This is Alan Anderson, newly transferred. These two are Frank Jones and Kate Wilson. This is Joseph Miller, whom you have known. Ms. Brown, you asked for more people. They're your team now."

Alan stepped forward and saluted Sophia. "Hello, Ms. Brown!"

Sophia nodded and opened the door behind them. "Since you're all here, let's discuss the case."

Sophia was straightforward, and Howard, eager to learn about the case, followed her inside.

The others followed, and Sophia had all the statements and records brought over, using a broken board as a makeshift blackboard. "After the examination, we confirmed that the deceased, Tammy Davis, was beheaded and died from excessive blood loss. The exact time of death was the evening of the 24th, but she was found on the morning of the 29th. Before she died, there was a violent struggle, but there were no extra traces or items in her room, except for this."

Sophia took out the hairpin found in the room.

Joseph said, "Isn't that the hairpin the little girl stole?"

Sophia nodded. "But this hairpin doesn't belong to that girl. It belongs to Tammy's niece, Anna Davis."

Sophia showed a photo of another little girl. "According to neighbors, Anna was very close to Tammy and visited her every weekend. But she suddenly stopped coming the day before Tammy died."

Frank couldn't help but ask, "Then why did the little girl steal the hairpin?"

"That's what I want to explain." Sophia pulled over a chair and sat down. "I asked the girl. She stole the hairpin because she was afraid we'd suspect Anna of murder, so she tried to destroy the evidence."

Kate said incredulously, "A thirteen-year-old girl committing murder? How is that possible?"

Sophia interrupted her. "It's not about whether a thirteen-year-old can commit murder, but why she thought we'd suspect a thirteen-year-old of murder?"