Chapter 707: The Earnest Girl

"Ronnie, go borrow a pair of pliers!" the female doctor said helpfully.

Karen Ford pursed her lips but went to borrow them anyway. A moment later, she returned with a pair of pliers. Adrian Hawthorne carefully parted the fur on Dollar’s neck, revealing an iron wire. It was stained with blood that had already darkened, and the wire was embedded deep in his flesh. Tang Xiaonan’s tears immediately began to stream down her face. Poor Dollar was in such a pitiful state.

"Dollar... does it hurt a lot? It’s all my fault. Why didn’t I check you more carefully..."

Tang Xiaonan hugged Dollar, crying softly. She was filled with a bone-deep hatred for Jacqueline Spann. ’That venomous woman is worse than a beast! From now on, I’ll be her sworn enemy!’

Dollar gently licked away Tang Xiaonan’s tears, as if to comfort her. Adrian Hawthorne carefully tried to remove the wire with the pliers, but it was embedded too deep. Several days had already passed, and with every slight movement of the wire, Dollar would tremble.

Tang Xiaonan gently massaged him, whispering words of comfort. Jim Thorne was so angry he clenched his fists. ’If Jacqueline Spann were here right now, I’d absolutely kill that little bitch.’

"Who did this?" Karen Ford asked, her eyes filled with anger. ’Someone who abuses animals definitely has twisted criminal tendencies. They have to be found and stopped before they become a danger to society.’

"We haven’t caught the culprit."

Adrian Hawthorne replied curtly. He didn’t want anyone else meddling in the matter of Jacqueline Spann. ’I’ll deal with this myself.’

’I’ll punish Jacqueline Spann my own way and get revenge for Dollar.’

"That person is just despicable! They used poison, too. A whole family of six was poisoned, and one person died," the female doctor said indignantly.

Karen Ford’s expression grew even more serious. "Have you reported this to the police?" she asked.

"Not yet. We don’t know who it was," Adrian Hawthorne said, feeling a vague sense of unease. ’This is going to be trouble.’

"That’s exactly why you’re supposed to let the police investigate! Someone has died; how could you not report it to the police? What village are you from? I’ll have my uncle investigate," Karen Ford said sternly.

"And who’s your uncle? You think he can solve it just by saying he’ll look into it?" Jim Thorne challenged her deliberately.

"My uncle is the captain of the detectives. He’s solved lots of cases, so he can definitely find the culprit." Karen Ford shot him a displeased glare. ’How dare he doubt my uncle’s abilities? My uncle is an expert at solving cases!’

Adrian Hawthorne’s heart skipped a beat. ’This really is a hassle,’ he thought. ’So what if the police get involved? It’s not like they can punish Jacqueline Spann anyway.’

"So what village are you from?" Karen Ford asked again, determined to get to the bottom of the matter.

The doctor also tried to persuade them. "My brother is very good at solving cases. Perhaps he could help your village catch the culprit!"

"Mom, it’s not ’perhaps,’ he *definitely* can," Karen Ford corrected her, annoyed. ’How can she doubt Uncle’s abilities?’

The doctor gave a dry laugh, feeling a little stung. Her daughter practically worshipped the ground her uncle walked on, but she always looked at her and her husband with an air of disappointment, as if they’d never amounted to anything. ’After all,’ she thought, ’my husband and I are contributing to building a socialist society, too! We’ve made plenty of contributions!’

"My family said not to trouble the police. It’s the New Year, and they deserve a rest, too. We don’t want to put them through any extra trouble," Adrian Hawthorne said politely.

"It’s no hardship to serve the people. Catching a vicious criminal like this is the police’s duty! What’s so troublesome about it? Just tell me the name of your village, and I’ll have my uncle head over right away," Karen Ford said pompously, sounding like a little adult.

For the first time, the eloquent Adrian Hawthorne found himself at a loss for words. He had no idea how to handle someone so stubbornly persistent.

"My grandpa says you shouldn’t air a family’s dirty laundry in public. We can’t let outsiders know," Tang Xiaonan said innocently.

The doctor’s eyes flickered; she sensed something wasn’t right. ’It seems the adults in their village know who the culprit is,’ she realized. ’And it’s probably a relative. That’s why they don’t want to report it to the police—they want to handle it internally.’

’This kind of thing is common in the countryside,’ she mused. ’It’s an internal family dispute. Even the most righteous judge has a hard time settling domestic matters. I’m afraid my brother wouldn’t be able to solve this even if he went. It’s best not to get involved.’