New beginning: Billionaire love story novel Chapter 278

Claire stepped out of the helicopter with the wind whipping her hair around and made her way inside Cryptonic. She had barely settled from the rush of the flight when she found herself standing outside Matthew’s office. Without hesitation, she pushed the door open, catching him completely off guard.

“Claire?” Matthew blinked in surprise, nearly spilling his coffee. “How are you here so fast?”

Claire rolled her eyes, walking over to his desk as she dug into her bag. “I don’t have time for pleasantries, Matthew,” she said, pulling out a small Ziplock bag. Inside was a phone. “This is Abigail’s phone.”

Matthew stared at the phone, raising his brows. “And what exactly do you want me to do with it? Make a call or something?”

Claire shot him a look that practically screamed, Are you serious right now?

“No, Matthew,” she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “I’m hoping you can just magically solve everything by staring at it.”

Matthew chuckled, taking the Ziplock from her hand. “Alright, alright. So, what’s the deal with this phone?”

“Do you remember those three men in the footage?” Claire crossed her arms over her chest, narrowing her eyes. “One of them was holding Abigail’s phone.”

Matthew’s eyes widened slightly, the realization finally dawning on him. “Ohhh, I see where you’re going with this.”

Claire sighed dramatically. “You see, this is what amazes me about you. How you can be both incredibly smart and incredibly slow at the same time is beyond me.”

Matthew rolled his eyes, though a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth. “Well, some people like a challenge.” He took the Ziplock bag and gave her a mock salute. “I’ll hand it over to the forensic team.”

Claire nodded and plopped down on the couch in his office, leaning back as if the weight of the world had just been momentarily lifted. Matthew disappeared for a few minutes, and when he returned, he tossed her a water bottle from his mini fridge.

“Here, hydrate yourself, genius.”

Claire took the bottle and unscrewed the cap, taking a refreshing sip. “Thanks,” she said, before asking the inevitable question. “So, when will the fingerprint scanning be done?”

Matthew leaned against the desk, crossing his arms. “They said around ten hours.”

“Ten hours?!” Claire huffed, frowning. “Can’t they do it faster?”

Matthew shook his head with a shrug. “That’s what they said. Even ten hours is them working nonstop.”

Claire leaned back against the couch again, her frown deepening. “Great. Just great.”

Trying to shift gears, she glanced over at Matthew. “Where’s the location of that apartment Abigail exited?”

“Not far from the accident scene,” Matthew replied casually.

Claire thought for a moment, then looked at him curiously. “And what about the driver? The one at the police station? Should we interrogate him?”

Matthew raised an eyebrow. “You want to do that now?”

Claire hesitated for a second, then nodded decisively. “Yeah, why not? We’ve got time before the fingerprint results come in. Let’s see if we can shake something out of him.”

With that, the two of them left Matthew’s office and boarded the helicopter again, this time heading for Metacortex as their first stop before switching to a car to make the rest of the journey. The ride was relatively quick, and soon enough, they arrived at the police station.

As they stepped out of the car, Claire marched straight to the front desk with Matthew trailing behind. She gave the officer at the desk a polite but firm nod. “I’d like to see the suspect from the car accident involving Abigail Hastings.”

The officer raised his brows, glancing between Claire and Matthew. “What’s your relation to either of them?”