Hearing the elders misunderstand him sopletely, Lionel let out a long, helpless sigh.


    He knew the elders had always favored Quennel, but he never imagined they would be so biased at such a critical moment.


    "The person you had watching me already reported the contents of my call with Hannah to you, and Samuel has already posted it online."


    Lionel picked up his phone, found Samuel''s social media page, located the recording, and then held the phone out to the elders.


    "This is the entire conversation. You can listen for yourselves. When did I ever mention asking Hannah tomit perjury? I only asked her toe and testify for me."


    However, the elderspletely ignored the phone Lionel offered them.


    Seeing this, Lionel pressed on, "You can go find Cherry. Ask her who her friends are, and then from there..."


    “Lionel, are you telling me how to do my job?" Mr. Edward Rosenberg cut him off.


    He stared sternly at Lionel, a hint of disgust in his eyes as he watched him speak with such earnestness.


    "How to investigate, where to start, who to approach-we are well aware of all that. It''s not your ce to boss us around. There''s nothing for you here. Now get back upstairs!"


    Mr. Michael Rosenberg, gripping his cane, rapped it sharply on the floor a few times. "Since you''re not handlingpany affairs anyway, hand over your phone,puter, and any simr devices to us."


    "During this time, you will stay put in this house. You are forbidden from contacting anyone and from going out. After this investigation is over, we will discuss whether you stay or go!"


    Mr. Hector sat beside them, saying nothing, but the look he gave Lionel was exceptionally cold.


    Lionel knew that saying anything more at this point would be meaningless, so he simply fell silent.


    He nodded, rose from his seat, and walked back upstairs.


    Only after Lionel had left did the three elders settle back into their seats.


    "Do you think Lionel''s real purpose in calling Hannah was to get her tomit perjury?" Mr. Hector was the first to ask.


    He had already listened to the recording Samuel posted. Just as Lionel said, there was no mention of perjury.


    Perhaps that proved Lionel simply wanted Hannah toe and help clear his name.


    "If he didn''t do it, then he would have nothing to worry about and no


    reason to contact Hannah," Mr. Michael Rosenberg said with a snort, aightening his grip on his cane "I say Lionel clearly has a guilty conscience. He got scared, and that''s why he called her."


    Mr. Edward Rosenberg was silent for a moment before nodding in agreement with Mr. Michael Rosenberg''s assessment.


    "Yes, I think so too. Lionel must have something to hide, which is why he called Hannah."


    "He probably knew we had someone watching him, so he deliberately spoke that way to avoid our suspicion. After all, he and Hannah were together for years; they know each other inside and out for all we know, those words were some kind of coded message between them."


    ??????


    Initially, Mr. Hector had been skeptical that Lionel''s call was a signal for Hannah to lie. But after hearing their analysis, he began to think it was a real possibility.


    After all, knowing how critical this time was and still insisting on calling Hannah was,


    no matter how you looked at it, a very strange move.