"With all due respect, your reasoning skills are a bit lacking, Lieutenant." Logan Carter responded to the accusation in a tone more suited to commentary, "First of all, if I were an accomplice, and my task was to help my partner check the scene for any leftover evidence from a criminal investigation perspective... why would I need to come to the scene under the pretense of 'taking over a police officer's assignment'? Couldn't I just come straight to the scene and help him out? This is the outskirts of Linyi, not Zurich—there are so few street cameras here I could count them all... With my abilities, do you really think it would be difficult for me to avoid all the street surveillance and enter this building?"

"This..." Scram was left speechless.

"Secondly, if I were an accomplice in this case, and responsible for the 'clean-up' work, I would never have let my partner use such an obvious method to kill from the very beginning, right? And... why would I have my partner call the police?" Logan Carter's rebuttal hit every point, "Doing it this way would definitely attract the EAS, wouldn't it? Of course, you could say that bringing the EAS into the case was also part of my plan; but the question is... what exactly is my plan?"

Logan Carter shook his head: "That brings us to the third point, which is the core flaw in your reasoning... motive." He paused for half a second, "You've been talking for a while, but my actions clearly don't hold up under conventional logic, unless you can provide a specific motive to make it all fit... However, you can't state that motive, because..." He took two steps forward, staring directly into the other's eyes, "I am, in fact, innocent."

At this, Scram's expression turned a bit awkward, because he really wasn't very good at reasoning; in the EAS Asia Division, he was a typical "action type," and compared to the elite FCPS investigator in front of him, playing at criminal investigation and logical deduction... it was just unfair to him.

In fact, even Scram himself felt his reasons for suspecting Logan Carter weren't very convincing—it was just a gut feeling.

He just felt that this FCPS guy was too calm, and there were too many coincidences in his involvement in the case, which made him feel something was off, but as for exactly what was off... he couldn't figure it out; the reasoning he just gave was something he blurted out on a whim, and in less than a minute, Logan Carter had completely and logically refuted it.

Just as the lieutenant was wondering how to get out of this situation, a rush of footsteps approached.

"Sir." A police officer appeared just in time to rescue him, "We have results on the matter you asked us to investigate."

"Huh? Oh, oh..." Scram hurried over and asked, "Well? What did you find?"

"Uh..." The officer glanced at Logan Carter beside him, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Should I step aside?" Logan Carter instantly understood that the matter being investigated was related to him, but he didn't want to make things difficult for the officer, so he offered.

"No need." Scram replied immediately, then turned to the officer, "It's fine, just say whatever you have to say."

"Yes, sir." The officer said, "Dr. Cui said the psychological evaluation for Mr. Carter ended at around 5:40..."

"Oh?" Scram seemed to have found a lifeline, and shot Logan Carter a sly glance, "Now that's odd..." He pretended to mutter to himself, "Detective Carter ran into Officer Zhang downstairs at the clinic at 6:22, right? So for those forty-some minutes in between... were you just hanging around nearby, waiting for your car to overstay the parking meter and get a ticket?"

"Uh... sir." The officer interjected, "I haven't finished... Dr. Cui said the psychological evaluation ended at 5:40, but Mr. Carter left at around 6:20; oh, and she specifically reminded us that the clock in her clinic is set ten minutes fast, so Mr. Carter might think he left at around 6:30."

"What?" Scram said, "Then what was he doing in the clinic for those forty minutes?"

"Dr. Cui..." Before the officer could answer, Logan Carter cut in, "is not only a psychologist, but also a single woman about my age, with a very open mind..." He looked at Scram, "I wonder if that information is enough for you to deduce what happened during those forty minutes... or do you need me to be more specific?"

Chapter Six: Compromise

November 24th, 1:00 p.m.

This was Ethan Logan's fourth day in the correctional center. In the previous two days, he hadn't done anything special, just observed and waited.

Waiting for certain things to be confirmed...

This matter was being handled by his partner; and his partner's name was Michael Bolton, Michael Bolton's Zhang, Michael Bolton's San.

This was a real name, but the person using it had no personal information registered in the Federation's citizen database.

More than two months ago, this Mr. Michael Bolton used a false identity to get acquainted with Professor Foster; Uncle Foster was something of a public figure, and also a local big shot in Linyi, so being "recognized" wasn't anything unusual, and this "acquaintance" didn't seem suspicious.