Chapter 708: The Law is Not Devoid of Human Sentiment

"This is against the law. It has nothing to do with family shame. You can’t condone a crime." Karen Ford’s tone grew even sterner. ’Adults always try to smooth things over.’

’And that whole saying, "Don’t air your dirty laundry in public"—it’s completely wrong. The law doesn’t care about shame. If you break it, you have to be punished, and punished severely. If everyone decided not to air their "dirty laundry," wouldn’t society just fall into chaos?’

"Grandpa said I’m not allowed to tell. I don’t dare. Grandpa will spank me." Tang Xiaonan feigned a look of fear.

’This girl is such a stickler; she’d absolutely have my uncle hauled off to Millstone Peak for an investigation.’ Jethro Golding and Byron Thorne had already reached an agreement not to report it to the police or make it public. She couldn’t stir up trouble.

"Ronnie, once you’ve finished your homework, you should head home," the doctor said, shooting her daughter a meaningful glance.

Karen Ford frowned, displeased, but decided she should save face for her mother in public. ’I’ll ask Dad about it later,’ she schemed. ’Since those people were poisoned, they must have gone to the clinic for emergency treatment. Dad’s an internist, so he would have been part of the team that treated them. The patients’ addresses will be in their medical records. All I’ll have to do is ask.’

"I’ll go get some medicine to put on the dog."

The doctor returned with some gentian violet and dabbed it on the wound on Dollar’s neck. She then handed them the rest of the bottle.

"Thank you."

Adrian Hawthorne bowed gratefully. On his way out, he took the bolt of cashmere fabric from his bag. He smiled at the doctor but said nothing before opening the door and leaving.

"Hey! Take this back!"

The doctor chased after them with the fabric in hand, but Adrian Hawthorne and his companions were already too far away. Realizing it would be improper to chase them any further, she had to return to the house. There, she found her daughter staring at her sternly. The doctor’s confidence wavered, and she stammered, "They... they’re already gone."

"That doesn’t mean you should accept ill-gotten gains. When I get their address from Dad, I’m returning the fabric."

Karen Ford held out her hand. The doctor reluctantly passed the fabric to her. ’The cashmere feels so wonderful,’ she lamented internally. ’You can tell it’s top-quality material with just one touch. It would make a beautiful coat. I could have been the talk of the town wearing it for the New Year.’

But she didn’t dare defy her daughter, who had a habit of tattling. She was afraid of being criticized by her own father.

"Ronnie, I think it would be best for you to stay out of this. The village will resolve it themselves. It won’t do any good for you to interfere," the doctor urged.

"If you break the law, you face legal sanctions. There’s no rule that allows a village to just handle it themselves." Karen Ford’s face grew stern, clearly unhappy with her mother’s tendency to smooth things over. ’It’s because so many people think like her that lawbreakers are becoming more and more rampant.’

’If everyone could be strict with themselves, investigate every crime, and enforce the law as if it were carved in stone, the ideal society where people don’t have to lock their doors at night and lost items are left untouched on the road would surely be realized quickly.’

"Ronnie, you’re still young. Things are different in the countryside than in the city. Their sense of clan loyalty is very strong," her mother, Claire Jacobs, explained.

"How can ’clan loyalty’ be stronger than the law?" Karen Ford’s small face set into an even more severe expression. To her, the law was paramount. If you broke it, you had to face punishment.

"The law must be tempered with reason. Your grandfather should have taught you that. Yes, law enforcement must be strict, but you also have to consider the specific local situation. Ronnie, you’ve only learned your grandfather’s strictness, but not his flexibility. How about this? Why don’t you tell your grandfather about it when you see him tonight?" Claire Jacobs suggested, looking helpless.

’My daughter is still too young; she only has a superficial understanding of these things. If the law could solve everything, there wouldn’t be so many unsolved cases. The world isn’t just black and white—it’s mostly gray.’