2: 2
The officers took us to the market management office.
The air conditioner was broken, and the reek of dead shrimp mixed with sweat turned my stomach.
The moment the old woman walked in, she set the basin of shrimp down on the desk with a thump.
"Officers, look, these were all live shrimp. That girl and her mother killed them."
Lucretia was shaking with anger.
"I never even touched them."
Patrick slammed the desk.
"My mother's seventy-eight. You think she'd frame you for nothing?"
I looked at the officers.
"Pull the surveillance footage."
Raymond James, the market manager, was sitting off to the side drinking tea. At those words, his hand paused.
"The east-gate camera's broken."
I asked, "When did it break?"
"Last week."
"Where are the repair records?"
Raymond frowned.
"You interrogating a suspect here?"
I laughed.
"There's a dispute at the market entrance, the camera's broken, and there are no repair records. What exactly is it you manage?"
Patrick cut in at once.
"Quit dragging in other stuff. The fake money's right here, the shrimp are dead. Pay up and apologize."
Just then a woman in a floral-print dress rushed in holding a child.
She started crying the second she came through the door.
"Mom, are you okay?"
The old woman immediately clutched her chest.
"Maddie, your mother's about to be worked to death over this."
Madeline Lawrence dropped to her knees in front of the officers, the child still in her arms.
"Officers, please, do something. This girl passed my mother-in-law fake money and then cursed her out for shaking people down."
The child suddenly burst into loud sobs.
I saw it clearly. She'd just pinched the kid's thigh.
The next second she opened a livestream and aimed the camera at Lucretia.
"Everyone, look, it's this college girl right here."
"Pretty face, but how can somebody be so rotten inside?"
Lucretia turned her face away at once.
I blocked the camera.
"Turn it off."
Madeline shrieked.
"What gives you the right to stop me filming? You scared, aren't you?"
An officer stepped forward to stop her.
"Nothing's been confirmed yet. No livestreaming."
Raymond started smoothing things over.
"All right, all right, that's enough out of everyone. The girl pays for the shrimp and apologizes to the old lady, and we're done."
"She's elderly. If this really makes her sick, who's going to answer for that?"
Lucretia's head shot up.
"Why should I apologize?"
Raymond sighed.
"Young lady, you're a student, aren't you? Don't let something this small mess up your future."
The moment Patrick heard the word "future," his eyes lit up.
"Which school?"
Lucretia said nothing.
Madeline was already yelling into the livestream.
"Everyone, help me place her. Isn't this girl from Harbor City University?"
My chest sank.
Last time, this was the exact step where they dug up Lucretia's school, her major, her dorm, and the posted grad-recommendation list.
I took Lucretia's phone and opened the class group chat.
Sure enough, Joanna Fox had already posted.
"Lucy, are you okay? Is that video online really you? Everyone's so worried."
She was ranked second in Lucretia's major.
Last time, after everything happened to Lucretia, she was the first to post on her feed:
"I hope everyone won't pile on Lucy. She just made one foolish mistake."
On the surface, telling people not to spread it. In reality, nailing down who it was.
Later, Joanna took Lucretia's grad-recommendation slot.
I replied straight from Lucretia's phone.
"I did not pass any fake money. The police have already been called. Do not spread false information. Whoever leaks personal data will be held accountable."
The group went dead quiet.
On Patrick's end, the pricing had already begun.
"A hundred fifty for the shrimp, five thousand for the medical exam, ten thousand for emotional damages."
I looked at him.
"Weren't you just saying you didn't want money, only justice?"
Patrick didn't so much as blink.
"We want justice, and the money has to be paid too."
The old woman dabbed at her tears.
"I don't want money. I want her on her knees, saying she was wrong."
Lucretia's fingers were ice cold.
I took them in mine.
"She's not going to kneel."
Patrick's face darkened.
"Fine. Talking tough, are we?"
"Let's see how long you can keep it up."
Out of the crowd, a tall, thin man got pushed forward, and he opened his mouth to say he'd seen Lucretia hand over the fake money.
I asked him where he'd been standing.
He said, "By the vegetable stall selling green peppers."
I laughed.
"Shrimp are sold at the east gate, green peppers at the west end. So you've got X-ray vision, or ears that see around corners?"
I took out my phone and snapped a picture of him.
"You can come down to the station later and give a statement. Giving false testimony is grounds for detention."
The man panicked instantly.
The comments were scrolling past fast.
"Dox her!"
"The school has to expel her!"
"Educated piece of trash!"
Lucretia watched those words, the color draining from her face bit by bit.
I turned her phone off.
"Don't look."
Her voice was very small.
"Mom, I didn't do it."
"I know."
"Then why are they cursing me like they saw it with their own eyes?"
I looked at those excited faces.
"Because cursing you costs them nothing."
"But this time, I'm going to show them exactly what it costs."
