While Julie and Kieran were en route to Dylan's, a call came through from Harding Ladd.
Harding sounded a bit excited on the other end of the line, "Kerry, you will never guess what I just saw!"
"A naked Mr. Watson?" Kieran quipped, casually steering the wheel.
In the passenger's seat, Julie, who'd chosen a black cashmere coat from the stack in Kieran's office, chuckled at his comment and shot him a thumbs up.
Harding silently reminded himself that he was a man of class before responding with a calm tone, "Just spotted Zenith and Kyle hopping into the same car at the hospital entrance. They seem to be acquainted."
"Kyle?"
"Zenith?"
Kieran and Julie echoed simultaneously, taken aback. Harding, presumably grinning ear to ear, confirmed, "Yes, Zenith and Kyle. I arrived late and only saw them get into the same car, Kyle's car. I was so shocked that I pulled the hospital's CCTV footage. I'm sending it to you."
"Okay," Kieran hung up after a short reply.
A video arrived on Kieran's phone shortly after. As he was driving, Julie took the phone to view it.
In the footage, Lisa was holding a black umbrella for Kyle. From the CCTV perspective, Kyle and Lisa's expressions weren't visible, but they were standing at the entrance of Tranquil Care Hospital, hesitant to go in. Sansa was inside. It wasn't hard to guess Kyle's intentions.
Julie had never thought of Kyle as the type to resort to kidnapping as a means of threat. So when she learned from Julien that Kyle had kidnapped Emily to threaten Professor Fred to not treat Sansa, she had blacklisted Kyle. She'd even specifically instructed the hospital staff to keep Kyle away from Sansa.
So, Kyle's hesitation at the entrance was likely due to this.
Zenith, originally standing behind them, had just gotten out of the car and was on his phone. His gaze fell on Kyle's back, and after about half a minute, he abruptly hung up the call and walked towards Kyle.
Kyle turned to face Zenith. Due to the umbrella, Julie couldn't see Kyle's expression, but she did catch sight of Zenith's face. He seemed to be communicating with Kyle. In the end, Kyle and Zenith got into the car together.
From the video, it seemed like they were old acquaintances.
"Do you think Zenith and Kyle could know each other?" Julie asked Kieran. She could only think of a work-related reason for their acquaintance.
One was a crisis management expert; the other was the head of a law firm. It was plausible that they would occasionally collaborate.
But when Julie searched for JS and Zenith Group together on the internet, she found no related information.
"Does the lack of online reports mean they know each other personally, not by working relations?" Julie turned to Kieran for answers.
Instead of answering, Kieran recalled something else.
"Do you remember when Julien went to rescue Emily?" he asked Julie.
Julie nodded, "What about it? She was saved, right?"
"On the day Julien went to rescue Emily, he encountered another man who was there to save Emily. The man looked a lot like Zenith from behind," Kieran added, "but we haven't confirmed it yet."
Hearing this, Julie became even more confused.
"Zenith and Professor Fred are close. If Zenith went to save Emily, it would make sense. So the man Julien saw could indeed be Zenith. But considering the situation today, Zenith and Kyle seem to have a close relationship. If Zenith knew about the villa, why wouldn't he just ask Kyle directly for Emily?" Julie tried to analyze the situation, but in the end, she was left more baffled. She tossed her phone aside and declared, "No matter. All I want to know now is if Zenith is Lucian, and whether his appearance today was a coincidence or premeditated."
Julie clutched the boxed white coat stained with Zenith's blood.
"Can we identify him just by this bloodstain?" she asked Kieran worriedly.
"QuadDylan can," Kieran affirmed.
At this, Julie finally cracked a smile.
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