"It was Varrick!" the mook cried out in front of Bolin and a large audience.
Zhu Li's eyes narrowed. Fate was against them, it seemed. She would have to make a note to voice her grievances with the triad about their underlings' unfortunate inability to keep their mouths shut under stress. She looked to Varrick.
"Looks like it's time to make our exit," Varrick said, frown still present on his face. They both turned and were greeted by the appearance of Chief Bei Fong and two metal-bending cops.
"Where do you think you're going?" Lin asked, her voice strong, clear, and intimidating.
Zhu Li remained stoic. Perhaps she was a little surprised at how quickly the chief of police had cornered them, but she had also suspected that the chief had been investigating them for some time now. She saw her employer glance at her, a look of desperation on his face. The stoic expression on her face shifted to something resembling concern.
Her concern was well-placed for at that moment Varrick gave a loud chuckle, turned on his heel, and proceeded to try and jump off the balcony. Zhu Li and Lin reacted at the same time. A metal cable shot out to grab Varrick.
Zhu Li jumped in front of the cable, and it twirled and caught on her arm while her other hand pulled her employer back to the safety of the balcony. "Sir, the fall would either kill you or cause serious, permanent injury from which you cannot recover."
"I have a parachute!" Varrick said, looking put out.
"It would not open in time. I calculate your success rate would jump from 5% to 7%."
Varrick blinked. "Oh." He shot both Zhu Li and Lin a nervous grin. "Hey, it was worth a shot, right?"
Zhu Li felt herself tugged by the cable, and she glanced back at Lin. "We are coming quietly."
"You are?" "We are?"
"Yes." She shot a stern look towards her employer. Varrick narrowed his eyes at her. Zhu Li's expression remained stern. Varrick avoided her stare, then grinned at Lin, holding his hands out. "Well, you got me, chief. Take me away!"
The metal cable around Zhu Li's arm untwisted. Chief Lin Beifong decided to arrest Varrick personally, forcing his arms back and cuffing him tight.
"Ack, easy, easy! You're being a little rough there, don't you think?" Varrick asked.
"You have the right to remain silent," Lin said, her tone of voice harsh.
Zhu Li stood also with her hands out and waited, patient. Lin glanced at her with an eyebrow raised. "You really meant we?"
"Of course," Zhu Li said. "I am my employer's assistant and complicit in any and all actions of his undertaking."
"Is that a confession of guilt?" Lin said, somewhat caught off-guard by the assistant's insistence on being arrested. That was... definitely a change of pace. In all her years on the force, she could only think of one, maybe two instances like it.
Zhu Li shook her head. "No. I am quite certain the evidence will find us not guilty, regardless of how this all appears. Nonetheless, I am as much a suspect as my employer."
Lin narrowed her eyes, then glanced at one of her metalbending officers with a nod of her head. "Fine. Arrest her, too. Let's get them out of here. You two have got a lot of questions to answer."
"I thought we had the right to remain silent," Varrick said, grinning as if it was all some kind of big joke.
Lin shot him a withering glare, which caused even Zhu Li to feel a slight tingle of fear down her spine. Varrick said nothing else.
Sometime later, they would be separated. Varrick was questioned, first, though even after he was questioned, Zhu Li was still not allowed to be at his side. She was taken to the interrogation room next.
Lin stood, supervising, and Captain Saikhan sat at the table, the soles of his feet bare. He had a clipboard in his hand. Zhu Li sat in front of him, expression blank, cuffed hands folded in her lap.
"Miss Zhu Li, I'm going to ask you a few questions, and I want you to answer as honestly as possible." The police captain looked like he might have had a headache, and his voice was gruff.
"I will cooperate to the best of my ability," Zhu Li said.
Saikhan clicked the pen in his hand. "Name?"
"Zhu Li."
"Occupation?"
"I am Varrick's assistant."
Saikhan wrote a few things on the clipboard, then looked back up to her and watched her closely. "Has your employer ever threatened to harm you?"
Zhu Li's stoicism became colder, her eyes narrowed, and her lips tightened in a line. "No."
"Has your employer ever threatened to harm someone you care about?" Saikhan asked.
"No." Zhu Li had no one to care about other than her employer.
Some of the tension in Saikhan's shoulders seemed to relax. "Is your employer blackmailing you?"
The coldness of her expression remained. "No."
Saikhan looked a little surprised at that. Zhu Li watched him exchange a quick glance with Lin.
"Has your employer blackmailed you in the past?"
"No," Zhu Li said, sounding patient despite the cold look in her eyes.
Saikhan wrote a few things on the clipboard again. He glanced back at Lin. The chief gave him a nod, perhaps permission to continue.
"Did you conspire with your employer to kidnap the president?" Saikhan asked.
The cold look in Zhu Li's eyes vanished. "No."
"Did you have any knowledge of your employer's plans to kidnap the president?"
"That would imply my employer had plans to kidnap the president. I assure you he did not; therefore I would not have knowledge of it."
Again, Saikhan looked surprised and confused. "How do you explain the triad shouting out Varrick when questioned about who sent him to kidnap the president?"
"I am uncertain. My employer is the richest man in the world. Of course, he will have enemies, people jealous of his fame and fortune," Zhu Li said.
Saikhan gave a grunt and wrote something down on the clipboard. He leaned forward and folded his hands on top of the clipboard. "Your employer said he hired the triads to kidnap the president."
"He did not," Zhu Li said, simply.
"He did."
"He did not."
Saikhan raised an eyebrow at her. "He was in here a few minutes ago, and he did."
Zhu Li was well aware of police interrogation tactics and would not be deceived. "I never leave my employer's side. I know him better than you do."
"He panicked."
"Possibly."
"And he confessed."
"He did not," Zhu Li said, her patience lowering slightly. "The most likely case scenario is he spent the entire interrogation complaining about his foot fungus, the chafing of the cuffs, or a hangnail. He would insist upon me being in the room since I can act as his attorney and advise him accordingly. Upon refusal to show me to the interrogation room with him due to my being a suspect, he would probably complain about the décor or compliment your uniform or ridicule your hairstyle choice. He would, then, go on a tangent about his latest fashion choices followed by a spiel about his latest product line, his favorite foods, or a story from his wild youth, which may or may not be true."
"How did you-" Saikhan stopped himself and gave another grunt.
"Enough! I've heard enough," Lin said, pinching the bridge of her nose. "We're getting nowhere. Get the prison transfer paperwork ready." She stormed out of the interrogation room and slammed the door so hard the room shook. Saikhan sighed.
Fortunately, there seemed to be a suspicious and mysterious mix-up in the paperwork, and Varrick and Zhu Li ended up in the same prison... and in the same luxurious prison cell, courtesy of the money Varrick used to fund the prison, and the money he lined the warden's pockets with.