"Who are you? Don't you knock before entering?" Despite being older, the deputy chief still had a fiery temper.
The ones who barged into the office were a man and a woman who looked like a couple, likely in their sixties, about the same age as the deputy chief.
The elderly woman appeared anxious and restless, "Alyssa... Alyssa is my daughter, have you found her?"
Jenny stood up and approached them, "Are you Mr. and Mrs. White? I am Detective Jenny."
"Yes, Officer Jenny, we talked over the phone, have you found her?" the elderly woman hurried over and grabbed Jenny's arm.
The deputy chief said, "Mr. and Mrs. White, please take a seat and calm down. So far, we have not received any alerts about Alyssa's disappearance, and the police are merely speculating about her disappearance.
We asked you to come here to gather as much information as possible to ascertain Alyssa's current situation."
Alyssa's father, Mr. White, asked, "How did you conclude that something had happened to my daughter?"
The deputy chief said, "Mr. and Mrs. White, please follow me to the lounge. Luke, bring in two glasses of water."
Luke walked into the lounge carrying two glasses of water and placed them in front of Mr. and Mrs. White.
The deputy chief introduced, "This is Detective Luke; he noticed something unusual about your daughter during his investigation. Luke, please explain what happened."
Luke sat across from Mr. and Mrs. White, organized his thoughts, and asked, "Are you aware of the recent 'Taser gun robbery'?"
Mr. White said, "I think I saw it on CBS News."
"Exactly, that case. The Robbery and Murder Department is handling the investigation. There have been two similar incidents, and based on the suspect's modus operandi and the locations, we have been able to determine the general area of the crimes,
which happens to be where your daughter worked.
Moreover, your daughter's physical characteristics closely resemble those of the previous two victims.
Additionally, we learned that Alyssa had resigned, and her resignation was around the time of the suspect's most recent crime.
That's when we decided to check Alyssa's condition and ensure her safety."
Mr. White said, "Officer Luke, thank you. If not for your commitment to the case, we still wouldn't know that something had happened to Alyssa."
Luke comforted, "Mr. White, you needn't be too worried yet; there's still no concrete evidence that Alyssa was involved in a robbery.
We checked Alyssa's cell phone, and she sent two texts on Saturday morning, one being her resignation text.
The other message was to her husband, Steven, saying she was leaving and told Steven not to look for her.
Based on what you know about her, is it possible that she left home due to being upset?"
Mrs. White shook her head, "Impossible, I have always been very close with my daughter, even if she had issues with Steven, she would have told me, and not just leave without a word."
Luke continued to inquire, "How was her relationship with Steven?"
Mrs. White sighed, "My daughter loved Steven dearly, I don't see what's so great about him; we didn't approve when they got married, and they've had frequent arguments over the years.
I even advised my daughter to leave Steven, but she wouldn't listen.
If she truly wanted to leave Steven, she would have told me, not just run away from home."
Luke asked, "Do you have any other way to get in touch with Alyssa?"
"We've contacted all friends and relatives, but nobody has heard from Alyssa." Mrs. White said tearfully, "She's never done something before; something must have happened to her..."
During the conversation, Mrs. White couldn't help but start crying.
Mr. White embraced his wife's shoulders, silently comforting her.
Luke handed Mrs. White a pack of tissues.
"Thank you. Keep going, I'm okay," Mrs. White said as she wiped her tears, trying to endure the pain, eager to hear more about the case.
"Ma'am, would you like to take a break?"
"No need, I can manage; please continue asking questions."
"Has Alyssa exhibited any unusual behaviors recently?"
Mrs. White thought for a moment, "Just last Wednesday, I spoke with her over the phone, I had asked her to have dinner together on Sunday, but she said she didn't have time. I didn't notice anything unusual."
Luke nodded, "Assuming, Alyssa was kidnapped, do you have any suspects in mind?"
Mrs. White's eyes were red, her voice choked up, "Oh my God... I can't think of anyone who would do this."
Seeing that Mr. White had been silent, Luke pressed, "Mr. White, do you have any suspects in mind?"
White showed an angry expression, clenching his fists, "Where's Steven? If my daughter was kidnapped on Friday, why didn't Steven call the police? Where is that bastard?"
"We visited Alyssa's house and spoke to Steven. According to him, he saw a message from Alyssa and thought she really wanted to leave him."
White grew even more angry, his fist pounding the table, "So what? He just remains indifferent. Doesn't my daughter deserve to be looked for? He wouldn't even give us a call.
How could I have let my daughter marry such a bastard."
The deputy waved his hand, "Mr. White, please calm down. Anger won't solve anything."
"Sorry, I'm not targeting you guys, I just... can't quite accept it."
"I have children too, I can understand how you feel." The deputy waved his hand, signaling Luke to continue.
Luke took out a photo of Tony, "Mr. and Mrs. White, have you seen this person before?"
The couple looked at the photo closely, "Never seen him."
Luke then took out two victims' photos, "Do you recognize these two?"
Mrs. White took the photos with trembling hands, "Are these two victims of the Taser gun robbery?"
"Yes, they are around thirty years old, Caucasian females with long blond hair, about 170 cm tall."
"My daughter, why would this happen..." Mrs. White, supporting her forehead with her hand, appeared excessively sorrowful.
The deputy pursed his lips and kept making eye signals to Luke.
Luke nodded slightly, "Mr. and Mrs. White, how is Alyssa's financial situation?"
White sighed, "Not very good. My daughter is a hardworking person, but Steven is different—lazy, without a proper job, their life is a mess. Sometimes we also support her.
What does this have to do with the case?"
"Do you know what kind of job Alyssa does?"
Mrs. White said, "She is a teacher at a training institute."
Luke pressed, "Does she have any other part-time jobs?"
Mrs. White shook her head, "I'm not sure, probably not."
White's cheek twitched, his face looking somewhat ugly.
"Mr. White, do you know?"
"What does this have to do with Alyssa's disappearance?"
"We still don't know the reason behind Alyssa's disappearance. We need to understand her family, work, and financial situations. The more comprehensive the information the police have, the more it helps with the investigation."
"Alyssa..." White's face grew visibly distressed, he stammered, "She indeed had a part-time job... dancing at a club."
Mrs. White said in surprise, "Dancing at a club... I had no idea."
White lowered his head, "I didn't tell you."
"Why? I have a right to know about my daughter's job. Why keep it from me?"
Clearly, Mrs. White didn't understand what kind of club it was, and Luke was not intending to explain, he continued questioning White, "Did Alyssa tell you she danced at the club?"
"Alyssa never mentioned it."
"Then how did you know?"
"Some time ago, someone planted an envelope at my front door. Inside were pictures of Alyssa dancing at the club..." White clenched his fists again, his teeth gritted,
"I don't know which bastard put it there, nor did I dare tell my wife... I so hoped the photos were fake, I never wanted to think that my daughter..."