Case No.280

Chapter 3: The Big Revealation

The next day, Max and Nat met at a library to discuss their findings. When they shared their findings, they realised that Zee had misled them. There were a lot of differences in the statements he gave Max and Nat. They could not find any similarities in their findings. Zee being at Poppy’s house when Tutor was kidnapped was the only lead they had. They decided to question Poppy about the visit and search the whole house again. “Did you check all the rooms in Khun Poppy’s house or just Tutor, Ton, and Khun Poppy’s rooms?” Nat asked Max. “Yes, I searched all the rooms. All I can say is that Tutor was dragged out of his room. He had changed his night clothes and was about to go for breakfast. Someone entered his room, probably through the window, doped him, and carried him away. If it was through the window, there might have been two or more people involved since it is not easy to carry someone out of the window". Max thought out loud. “Let’s watch the CCTV footage again. Maybe we missed something.” Nat said and pulled out the footage again. Upon closely examining it frame-by-frame, they realised that a part of the footage was missing. “You see that Ai’Max! The CCTV footage is edited. Out of the entire footage, the time when Tutor went missing is cut. It is as if someone doesn’t want us to know when Tutor got kidnapped and by whom. Are we even on the right track?” Nat was lost in thought. “Let’s go and investigate. Whatever happened to Tutor happened in that room. We have been deceived. Not to mention we got different statements from P’Zee.” Max grabbed his things and asked Nat to follow him. Nat’s phone suddenly rang, and the name of the caller made him collapse in his seat, with a worried look on his face. “Who is it?'' Max asked, concerned. Nat showed him the caller's name and answered. “Sawasdee krub Than. I am about to leave for Khun Poppy’s house for some investigation.” Nat said. “Nat, you can’t go there today. You should go tomorrow.” Park ordered. “Than, is there something else you want me to do today?” Nat was confused. He heard Max’s phone buzz with messages and was worried that both of them would be yelled at or may be removed from the case. “I knew you would forget. Today is the 50 years celebration of the academy. I want you to be at the venue in 2 hours. I’m sending you the location. Don't be late.” Park said and hung up. “Ai’Max, did you also get asked to be at the party?” Nat asked. "Yes, let’s join the party. We’ll investigate later on. Ai’Nat, we’ll have to pretend to be enemies. We can’t let anyone know that we have become friends again.” Max wasn’t too happy to attend the party but he knew he had to attend and treat the guy he liked as an enemy again. They collected their things and went their separate ways.

At the party, Max and Nat pretended to be enemies and steered clear of each other. They both wished to sneak out of the party and search for information on Tutor. They tried sneaking out but it was like the party was for them. Park and Mark didn’t let them leave the hall. Nat was standing in one corner of the hall when he saw Park coming towards him. “Nong Nat, this is for you by that junior who admires you.” Park said, handing him a glass of alcohol. He gestured to the junior who was standing a few feet away. “Thank you for this Phi.” Nat said, accepting the glass and smiling at the junior. “Nong Nat, I’ve been observing you since you came. There is something that is bothering you. What is it?” Park asked. “You don’t want to work with Max anymore?” Park further asked. “It’s not that Than.” Nat started but paused considering how to word his concern. He decided to be honest with his boss and tell him the truth. “Than, Ai’Max and I went over our findings today before you called me to tell me about this party. We realised that there was a part of the CCTV footage that had been edited out before Khun Poppy’s bodyguard gave it to us. We feel like P’Zee is involved in this but aren’t sure. We want to go to Khun Poppy’s house and investigate again.” Park was surprised by what Nat told him. Nat picked another glass off the tray a waiter was carrying as he walked past them and downed it in one go. “Careful Nat. You might get too drunk. '' Park was concerned over Nat’s safety. “I don’t know if Ai’Zee is involved in this case. You can investigate Ai’Poppy's house some other day.” Nat drank more and started to get a little tipsy. Park guided him to a nearby chair so he wouldn't fall and hurt himself. “Than, I have a question. Why do you call Khun Poppy, Khun Mark, and P’Zee by their names? Are you all close?” Nat asked, swaying a bit in his chair. Max kept an eye on Nat from a distance and started to get worried. He wanted to go towards Nat but Mark and Poppy kept him occupied. “I think I never told you this. Ai’Mark, Ai’Poppy, Ai’Zee and I were classmates. We have been friends since our college days. Ai’Poppy joined his father’s business while the rest of us joined the police training academy. Ai’Mark and I joined the police teams while Ai’Zee decided to teach the other students.” Park explained. Nat tried to keep up with all the information Park gave him. He was pretty intoxicated to pay full attention to what Park said. “Than, I need to use the washroom. Please excuse me.” Nat got up and staggered towards the washroom. Max got up to follow Nat but was stopped by Mark and Poppy. He couldn’t understand why his boss was being so chatty all of a sudden. Mark never talked much yet here he was talking a lot, discussing random things and talking about things with him and Poppy. He saw Zee follow Nat to the washroom and grew worried. He feared that Zee might assault Nat again.
Nat was able to make his way to the washroom and threw up.  He couldn’t understand why Than Park got him drunk. He washed his face with cold water, hoping it would help him sober up. “Hello Nong Nat, we will meet again.” Nat looked up and saw the reflection of Zee smirking at him. “P’Zee, what are you doing here?” Nat was shocked and started feeling scared. “I’m here to finish what we started the other day.” Zee moved closer to Nat and caressed his cheek. “P’Zee, please stop. I don’t like you. Don’t do this to me.” Nat tried to protest and push Zee away but failed. The taller man was much stronger than he was. Zee forcefully kissed Nat, parting his lips with his and being rough with his tongue. He started unbuttoning Nat’s shirt and started sucking his throat. He started undoing the buttons of his shirt and kept kissing Nat. Zee sat Nat on the counter and started leaving marks on Nat’s body. Zee pulled Nat down the counter, unbuttoned Nat’s pants, and started rubbing him. Nat tried to push Zee away but was helpless. Zee pinned Nat’s hands above his head and started going rough on him. Zee unbuttoned his pants and went inside Nat. He started thrusting really hard, making Nat moan. He started kissing Nat to keep Nat’s voice down.