Chapter 5 - Questions Without Answers
An ambulance arrived first, followed several minutes later by two patrol officers responding to multiple emergency calls.
The officers approached carefully after hearing conflicting stories from different witnesses.
"What happened here?"
Before anyone answered, nearly a dozen voices spoke at once.
"They attacked him."
"They stole from him."
"They pushed him down."
The officers looked toward Harold.
The elderly man remained calm despite the bruises forming on his hands and face.
"I'm all right," he said softly.
One officer frowned.
"Sir, you're injured."
"I've survived worse."
The sentence lingered in the air longer than expected.
The officer noticed something unusual—not just Harold's composure, but the respectful distance maintained by the suited men standing nearby.
They weren't acting like bodyguards protecting a wealthy businessman.
They were protecting Harold.
One detective, who had just arrived from another unit, quietly approached the man in the black coat.
"I recognize you."
The man nodded once.
"Then you understand why this situation should remain calm."
The detective looked toward Harold again.
"So... it's really him?"
The answer came with only a slight nod.
Nothing more.
The detective's expression immediately changed.
He instructed every responding officer to preserve the entire scene.
No evidence would be overlooked.
No witness would leave without giving a statement.
The four young men began realizing that what they believed would be another forgotten street assault had suddenly become an investigation involving far more people than they had expected.
Across the street, reporters started arriving after seeing dozens of emergency vehicles gathering in one place.
Camera lenses turned toward Harold.
He quietly lowered his head.
He had spent years avoiding attention.
May you like
Now attention had found him again.
...
