Although she was dressed in clothes, which prevented Rod from recognizing her immediately, an odd sense of familiarity made him scan her several times.
Once he mentally removed the clothes, Rod quickly remembered her.
Wasn’t she the leading lady from that Crystal Ball film?
But encountering the star of such a film did not chill Rod’s heart.
What truly chilled him was that Lauren referred to her as:
This was not only not "Donna" as Reslin and the others had mentioned, but it was also the name he had heard from the residual echoes of the Doomsday believer Bas’s soul.
Was this a coincidence?
If it were just that, it would be too coincidental, somewhat unbelievable.
But if she truly did have connections with the Doomsday believers, why would she record such a video? Why would she show her true face? Why would she change her name and associate with Karamon?
Countless questions echoed in his mind, and it took Rod a while to notice Lauren poking him while everyone in the Administration Hall of the Second District was giving him displeased looks.
The young and beautiful governor covered her mouth and chuckled, "This young friend is quite interesting."
Lauren calmly said, "Please forgive him, Miss Alex, he is young and does not understand the etiquette of meeting beautiful ladies."
An employee complained, "That’s very rude; who stares at people like that?"
Lauren smiled, "Perhaps he is deeply enthralled by the governor’s beauty and cannot extricate himself, this is an innocent young man’s silent adoration of your beauty."
Rod glanced at him in surprise, not expecting the Inspector to be so cunning.
The beautiful governor laughed vibrantly, much like a certain motion from the previous night.
Rod forcibly dispelled the inappropriate images from his mind.
He decided to observe the situation for now and keep his findings to himself.
He couldn’t tell Lauren about "Alex" before getting a reasonable explanation.
Otherwise, he couldn’t explain where he got this information from.
During his patrol duty tonight, he could ask Karamon about his ex-girlfriend "Donna" to figure out whether this was an awkward coincidence or if there was some deeper secret.
Once his thoughts were settled, Rod stopped indulging in wild thoughts and quietly listened to her conversation with Lauren.
Lauren first asked many trivial things, then inquired about many personal matters related to her, which annoyed the staff in the hall.
Alex, so young to be the governor of a large district, was an idol to them all; her capabilities were evident, she was kind and approachable, and stunningly beautiful, a veritable angel in everyone’s eyes, secretly admired by countless.
Although Lauren was from the Internal Affairs Court, he still shouldn’t invade Miss Alex’s privacy .
Of everyone, only Rod knew that Lauren was obfuscating the real questions, mingling them with numerous routine ones.
This was an excellent criminal investigation technique, enabling him to obtain the desired answers without alerting the subject.
After listening for a while, Rod quickly understood what Lauren really wanted to know:
"Do you know the gray cat Aley?"
"Are you familiar with the situation at Blessing Church in your district? Have you had any contact with the former priest Bas?"
"The management of resources within your region?"
But Alex’s responses were very official and airtight.
The conversation lasted two clock hours, and the information Lauren obtained was very limited.
But after leaving the Administration Hall, Lauren said in a low tone, "She has issues."
Rod was startled and quickly asked, "Why?"
"All of her testimonies are very unfavorable to you. We found out you lived on Baker Street for three years, and when I asked whether there has been Doomsday activity in Baker Street, she hinted in several ways that there had been many strange incidents, pin-pointing your former address."
Rod’s heart felt like it had dropped into an ice cave.
Baker Street, wasn’t that the address he had heard from Bas’s soul?
Lauren continued, "The management of resource transport between districts is very strict, and leaving the Royal City requires thorough inspections, it’s an ironclad rule. The Polluter Sect wanting to conduct any cult rituals would need spiritual materials, which are indispensable. If gray cat Aley and Bas wanted to move certain materials out of the Royal City, it would be tough to bypass the district’s governor."
"And her answers almost perfectly exonerated herself, as if she knew what I was going to ask."
Rod anxiously asked, "Then why not arrest her immediately?"
Lauren shook his head slightly, "No, the district governor’s position is quite sensitive, we cannot arrest at will. The information I obtained will be submitted for review upon return, only then can the next steps be decided. Currently, this looks very unfavorable for you, and my deductions are conjectures, Judgment Committee might not agree, and the order to arrest the governor is unlikely to pass."
For a moment, Rod thought about pulling out the Crystal Ball to tell him that the governor was even more suspicious, with even more indications.
But reason stopped him; even if the Judgment Committee saw the Crystal Ball, it would only prove that Alex’s physique, skills, and intensity were top-notch, perhaps leading someone to become involved under the table, developing into secret relationships or something.
This would be even more disadvantageous for him.
The definitive evidence was the voice echoing in the Doomsday believer Bas’s soul, but he couldn’t present it.
Even Bas’s soul had already been cast into the stars and burned.
As Rod returned to the college, taking the Spirit Bus to Iron Cross Street, he continued to ponder this problem.