Michael looked at Jasmine and said, “This must be Mrs. Shawn. We are having a meeting. You can’t simply join in even if you’re the wife of Mr. Shawn. Please leave!”
Jasmine walked past Boyce and placed the box of ‘apples’ onto the table and said, “I am aware that as a family member I am in no position to speak here. But there is definitely a reason why I am here.”
She then pointed to the box and said, “Yesterday, I received this box of apples when I went home after work. As the family of a civil servant, I know that I should not even accept gifts, even if it is a box of apples. That is why I am here to surrender the box of apples.”
Michael looked at the box and asked, “Are there really apples in the box?”
Jasmine asked in return, “Could there be bananas in a box marked with apples?”
“It’s just a box of apples, it’s fine…” The inspectorate said.
“Although it’s just a box of apples, I cannot accept it because it was given by someone I did not know. Although I’m young, I remember Chairman Mao’s teachings that government officials must not take even a needle and a thread from the citizens. This box of apples is worth at least twenty dollars and that’s worth many needles and thread.”
Michael rolled his eyes and said, “I haven’t eaten apples for a while. Why don’t we open it for a bite?”
Jasmine said, “As you wish. This isn’t mine and I can’t decide what to do with it.”
Michael went ahead to remove the duct tape and opened the box.
He removed the contents for all to see and asked, “Are these apples?”
Jasmine appeared surprised and all eyes were on Jasmine.
Michael spoke again, “Could it be that you knew that something was happening and you used this manner to return this ill-gotten money?”
Jasmine looked towards Michael and recalled that Dolores had warned her of the possibility of someone using this against her. True enough, it happened as Dolores had expected. Dolores had coached Jasmine to persist that she did not know about the money.
Jasmine persisted, “I didn’t know that there was money in the box. This box was insisted upon me. If I had known that it contained money, I would have brought this last night. The reason why I am here only now is I thought that it was just apples. Had I known that it was money, I would not waste a moment to surrender it.”
“Ha, insisted upon you? I don’t believe it.”
Jasmine replied, “You can investigate, additionally…”
She took out her cellphone to show them the security footage, “If you don’t believe it, you can watch this video.”
A person beside Boyce took the cell phone and transferred the video onto the computer for all to see. However, Michael did not end his attacks and looked towards Boyce, “Don’t tell me that you knew nothing about this. Why didn’t you surrender this money on your own?”
“He knew nothing about it. There are location and time stamps on the video. You can see it for yourself…” Jasmine interjected.
“What have these got to do with whether Mr. Shawn knew about it?” Michael interrupted Jasmine and questioned.
Jasmine was confident in her reply, “Just look at the time. This happened after six o’clock yesterday. I was already asleep when Boyce returned home. That was why I did not inform him. Surely someone here can validate what time Boyce left the station yesterday?”
As soon as she said this, someone spoke, “Mr. Shawn was with us yesterday. There were new leads in the previous case and Mr. Shawn was with us until midnight. It was only expected that Mrs. Shawn would be asleep by the time he went back.”
The evidence lined up tightly to prove that Boyce did not know of this incident. His wife had received a box of apples and surrendered it the next day.
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