Absence of Malice
Marcellus remains in deep and heavy silence for some time - with Claude keeping him company all the while.
They are inside his office at the moment, having only returned from another appointment. For this particular portion of time, they usually discuss about their undercover work and surreptitious ventures. However, for this day, they have made an exception to concern themselves with a certain someone.
They need to pay attention to this matter and come up with a resolution as soon as possible.
"I've finished conducting an in-depth investigation. We already dealt with that fraudulent organization that has been hosting lotteries in a number of commercial establishments, and we are still in the middle of keeping an eye on their present activities. Furthermore, we found that they don't have any prior involvement with Ms. Agreste. Her records are clean, President..." Claude reported, giving out his findings.
"She is not connected to anything that can be considered as 'shady business' - or so how you called it."
"I see. Good work, Claude..." Marcellus commended before letting out a sigh.
"So then, this can only mean that Ms. Agreste has been saying the truth."
"She is someone from the future, huh...? I understand where your skepticism is coming from, and I think that it is only right to look further into her background like this. However, at this point, her evidences are starting to outweigh your reasons for not trusting her."
"Yeah. Tell me about it."
He had told his secretary about the issue and entrusted the investigation to him.
As it turned out, their once monotonous world of arranging paperwork, attending appointments and managing several enterprise entities was beginning to behold a whole new color - one that they never saw before. With the appearance of a time traveler, the stillness and poise in their usual stance in difficult situations have been a little perturbed.
Winter is an outlandish case to them - her existence is the first ever to unsettle them this much.
"I mean, she just showed up out of nowhere. I never saw her before, much less know her. But even then, she knew a lot about me. She even managed to sneak up on me several times," Marcellus began to rant, already reaching his wit's end.
"Sneak up on you? That young girl? Don't you usually know if someone is giving you a kind of attention that you can't tolerate? You can sense that sort of presence, right?" Claude pointed out.
"I do. As a Lexington, I had to. There's not a day that I'm not in peril, after all."
"Well, how were you not able to notice Ms. Agreste? And not even once?"
"Unless I see her, I will not know that she is there."
"I see. Then, doesn't this only mean that she's not a malicious person, President?"
Marcellus is taken aback by that supposition.
Claude had a point there - he never felt such a thing from Winter before. To him, she seems to be an earnest and zealous person despite her tendencies to taunt and mock him. He may have some trust issues and whatnot, but he can still tell that she really doesn't mean harm.
"So what if time travel is preposterously unrealistic? What truly matters here is her intention..." Claude continued to advise Marcellus, smiling a little at his look of surprise and enlightenment.
"No more complicated investigations, President. It's time to know more about her in a personal level."