Chapter 1115 Professor Randall’s Death
“I see.” Sonia nodded. Soon after that, her beautiful brows tightly furrowed. “Did you just say that Professor Randall slipped on a piece of banana peel outside his office and passed away immediately? Don’t you find this too much of a coincidence?”
As soon as she mentioned that, Toby became stunned. Instantly, he came back to his senses and narrowed his eyes. “Keep going.”
She affirmed and continued, “Look, Professor Randall and Mr. Lore knew that you would most likely pick a mentor out of the two of them, but in fact, you only had Professor Randall in mind. Plus, you guys had already decided on a date to make it official. So, what are the odds that he’d slip on a random banana peel at the front of his office the day before the officialization?
Most importantly, how did something like a banana peel appear in front of his office? Sure, bananas are everywhere, but how often do you see a banana peel lying around on the floor? A normal person wouldn’t randomly throw one on the ground. Furthermore, it was thrown at a university professor’s office door. Whatever it is, the situation seems fishy. Besides…”
She took a look at his increasingly stern face and she paused for a few seconds before continuing her words, “There are even regular cleaners on the streets now, let alone a university professor’s office.”
“Are you trying to say that Professor Randall’s death was not an accident but an orchestrated one?” Toby gradually tightened his hands that were placed on the dining table.
Sonia looked at his increasingly cold expression and she affirmed slowly, “That’s right. I do have such a suspicion. After all, the timing is too coincidental. He could have encountered trouble anytime at all, but then ultimately, he encountered the accident exactly the day before you officialize everything. Besides, there is the issue with the banana peel too.
Anyway, I don’t think that the appearance of the banana peel is accidental. Frankly, do you realize how ridiculous that sounds? This is very likely to be a plotted thing. Of course, though, these are just my deductions. Perhaps all this is just an accident.”
“No.” As soon as Sonia finished her words, Toby suddenly shook his head. “Perhaps your deductions aren’t too far off from the truth. This could have been plotted.”
Sonia’s eyes widened at that point.
Toby narrowed his eyes and explained, “Back then when Professor Randall encountered that accident, I wasn’t at school but Fuller Group. Furthermore, I didn’t get to know about the accident until the very next day. That was the day we were supposed to officialize everything, but I only found out that Professor Randall had passed away when I was on my way to his house.
By then, Professor Randall’s body had already been cremated and the police had closed the case by deeming it an accident. Since it became a closed file officially, I never suspected that there could be another reason behind Professor Randall’s demise.
I always thought of that as an accident and I never considered that there would be more behind all this, until you mentioned earlier that something was fishy with it. That was when I realized there might be more to this.”
As per Sonia’s deductions, it was strange that Professor Randall encountered the accident coincidentally on the day before the officialization. It could have happened any other day after all. Besides, it definitely was not common to see a banana peel flung casually on the ground, especially at a university.
His university was one of the top universities in the country and the students there were highly cultured, so they would not have littered all over the place.
On the other hand, the professors occupying the office building would not have done so either. Besides, there would always be cleaners available, so Sonia was right. Even the streets were kept clean at all times, so why would a prestigious university office not be? In fact, there would be cleaners inspecting each floor with their equipment in tow every half an hour on average.
Since there would be renowned people from abroad and all over the country visiting his university regularly, the cleanliness of the place was something that the university paid close attention to. Therefore, in general, it would be pretty much impossible for a banana peel to remain on the ground, especially right in front of an office entrance. Clearly, this situation was strange no matter how much one considered it.
As soon as Sonia saw his slightly fluttering eyes, she considered the situation and asked, “Have you thought of something?”
Toby lifted his head and was non-committal. “I have indeed recalled another fishy part. Although I didn’t see for myself how Professor Randall fell, I did ask around about how the accident happened and how he fell.
According to the vice-chancellor of the university, there was a group of economics exchange students from an international university, and the exchange students were led by Professor Randall around the school. He and the leader of the exchange students got along very well.
They were both renowned in the economics world, so they naturally had a lot of common topics to talk about. Furthermore, Professor Randall had been focused on a research topic regarding the future development of economics.
Back then, the leader wasn’t involved in research work, but he had a unique insight on this topic, so the vice-chancellor mentioned that Professor Randall and the leader of the group were very enthusiastic as they discussed the topic. They were as thick as thieves.”
Sonia pursed her lips and smiled. “This is true. One would definitely develop a close relationship with someone whom they could relate to. My dad loves to play chess, but he’s very bad at it, so his fellow chess buddies aren’t too enthusiastic to see him and they aren’t keen to play with him either.
There was once, though, my dad encountered a person who’s equally as bad at chess as him, yet he enjoyed the game as much as he did. My dad also kept pestering the guy and tried to force the person into agreeing to swear a brotherly oath. As such, he would definitely have a partner to play chess with.”
Toby lifted his chin. “That’s right. That’s the exact mentality. Professor Randall and the leader of the group discussed the topic so naturally, Professor Randall wouldn’t be able to stop himself from showing his successful research work to the person.”
“Is that why you mentioned that Professor Randall went back to his office to get some documents?” Sonia stroked her chin and made a guess.
Toby nodded. “Yes. That was what he went back to get, but there’s something that I hadn’t explained properly to you and I just recalled that right now.”
“What is it?” Sonia glanced at him.
He clenched his fist tighter. “Professor Randall retrieved the documents and slipped on the banana peel only after he walked out of the door.”
As soon as Toby said that, Sonia slammed a hand on the table. “I get what you mean. You’re trying to say that Professor Randall was fine when he walked through the doors to retrieve the documents.
So clearly, there was no banana peel in front of the entrance before he entered his office. After all, why wouldn’t he notice a filthy banana peel right in front of his office in the first place? That means, the banana peel appeared at the entrance right after he entered his office.”
“Exactly.” Toby nodded. “He wouldn’t have taken too long to retrieve the documents because he’d definitely know where he stored his belongings.”
“That’s for sure.” Sonia shrugged. “One would definitely know where their belongings were stored—especially something that he had been focused on researching—so that item must have been placed somewhere easily accessible and well-frequented by him. This place would surely be his office desk. Based on my deductions, Professor Randall wouldn’t have taken too long to enter then leave: it would be at most two to three minutes at most.
So, the banana peel would have appeared in that short span of time. This is an indication that someone was keeping a close eye and trailing after him. Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the person to randomly fling the banana peel in front of his office in such a short span of time without getting caught.”
