Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 88 Flowers in Memory

"Moggot is a veteran of the Galid law enforcement system. He has spent his entire career on the front lines of criminal investigation and has made numerous contributions. However, due to his lack of education, as you know, many veterans in the law enforcement team have this problem. They joined the law enforcement system in its early days when the assessment system and thresholds were not very high. But as the requirements for the overall quality of the law enforcement system have increased, these veterans who lack higher education have to make up for it. For these people who have been handling weapons for half their lives, they have basically missed the best age for learning. As a result, many people who have made numerous contributions can only stay in their initial positions until retirement. Moggot is such a veteran law enforcement officer."

As Walker described the old enforcer, Milo, for some reason, couldn't help but picture old Theon in his mind.

……

Walker was clearly aware of the old law enforcement officer's existence:

“When I joined the force, he had already retired for several years, but the law enforcement agency regularly sends people to visit their retired officers. I met with Mogot a few times, but…”

"But what?" Milo put the pile of documents in front of him back into his file bag one by one.

“But the old man has a terrible temper, you could even say he’s awful. Although he’s over sixty, he’s a heavy drinker. The worst part is, he always wants to go hunting in the mountains, and he has a gun license from the Gaddafi law enforcement agency. Uh, that means…” Walker pointed to his head and said awkwardly, “Maybe it’s because of his age, he’s not as sharp as he used to be.”

"How can you hunt if you're not quick-witted?" Milo joked.

Walker calmly describes his perspective on Moggot:

"Because there are no medium or large wild animals in the barren mountains around Galid, there is no concept of hunters or hunters here... I don't know when it started, but everyone in the law enforcement station said that Old Mo has become senile. When he gets drunk, he always shouts nonsense like 'There are dirty things in the mountains' or 'I saw a lot of eyes.' If it were just shouting, that would be one thing, but a few times he actually carried a gun and went into the barren mountains and disappeared for several days in a row. Many people said that if Old Mo did not reappear one day, he must have died in the mountains."

"Old Mo is very skilled with firearms. He is a famous sharpshooter in Galid. There has never been a record of illegal use of firearms under his care. Therefore, the law enforcement agency trusts him very much. He kept his gun license until his retirement because it was the only gift the agency could leave to this retired law enforcement officer."

"But ever since Old Mo went mad, the residents of Galid have become increasingly wary of him. They often hear gunshots coming from the depths of the mountains in the middle of the night, and they are afraid that one day Old Mo will point his gun at innocent people. Fortunately, this has not happened yet. However, the law enforcement officers have had contact with Old Mo, but whenever someone mentions taking away his gun, he gets agitated and goes crazy, yelling and cursing at others, saying that taking away his gun is to kill him, and that he will continue to hunt down the ghosts in the mountains. Over time, everyone has come to regard Old Mo as a complete madman, and apart from the taverns that sell alcohol, no one is willing to talk to him."

……

In the dimly lit archive room, only a thin beam of sunlight shone in from the window, and around that beam of sunlight, dust particles floating in the air could be clearly seen.

Milo and Rebecca listened quietly to Walker's narration.

Although Walker's account was pieced together, it still roughly presented the image of Mogot, a retired law enforcement officer, to Milo and the other man.

Perhaps it was because the atmosphere was right, or perhaps because Milo and Rebecca already knew about the strange disappearances that had occurred in the town of Icam beforehand, but in any case, when Walker described old Moggot's crazy ramblings, they both felt a chill run down their spines.

What kind of filth could be in the barren mountains?
……

"Has he never caught any prey?" Milo and Rebecca exchanged a glance, then asked Walker.

“The largest wild animal in the Galid area is the wild rabbit, and with the continuous development of the mines in recent years, there are hardly any rabbits in the mountains anymore.” Walker shook his head: “The hunting that Old Mo is referring to is definitely not the hunting in the common sense. He is probably senile.”

“It’s alright. As long as he can still handle a gun, it means his mind is still sharp. We just want to ask him a few questions about the Delaman family; he should remember them.” Milo dusted off his hands and sleeves and said to Walker, “Lead the way, Mr. Brear.”

"Sure, I'll organize the documents here and send them over right away."

Walker glanced at his watch again before starting to move the documents, saying, "Oh right, it's still morning. If we go to find Old Mo at this hour, he should still be sleeping."

"No problem, we'll buy two bottles of wine on the way."

Milo said.

……

Milo and Rebecca stood in the passageway outside the archives to get some fresh air, leaving Walker alone to move documents inside the dusty archives.

Rebecca leaned against the corridor wall, gently rubbing a slightly swollen spot on her finger, and uttered a soft sentence:
"What do you think?"

Milo said seriously, "I think you probably hurt your knuckles when you were hitting someone yesterday. By the way, did you bring any medical supplies? I always said that weird weapon was just a side effect..."

“I’m asking about Mogot!” Rebecca’s voice suddenly rose two decibels.

"Oh, you should have said so earlier." Milo was startled by the loud voice, and his mind instantly flashed back to his experience on the train last night. He shrank back and said, "I don't know. We can't just jump to conclusions based on what Walker said. He repeatedly emphasized that Mogot was a crazy old man. Is it possible that he was preparing us psychologically, not wanting us to take what Mogot said too seriously?"

“Okay, once you see that old man, you’re in charge of getting all the information out of him.” Rebecca nodded.

"Why me? Isn't interrogation your forte?" Milo muttered.

“I don’t plan to drink.” Rebecca gave Milo an irrefutable reason.

"Ok."

...The two of them stood there in the passageway, staring idly at the emblem of Galid City on the wall.

Milo stared at the bronze floral relief on both sides of the badge, which was made up of countless small flowers, for a long, long time, feeling that it looked somewhat familiar.

First of all, Milo was certain that he had never been to Galid.

This indicates that Karl definitely saw the copper grass flower during his lifetime.

Karl's death was inextricably linked to the town of Ickham, so the copper grass flower, a plant that could be found everywhere in Galid, must exist in his fragmented memories.

The problem is that what left the deepest impression on Carl's memory was not the copper grass flower, but another plant.

A plant that is entirely white, from its roots and stems to its leaves and flowers. It has no other colors or patterns on it, and the main body of its flower looks like a small trumpet... well, to put it more vividly, it is a pure white pea shooter.

Milo had never seen such a strange flower before.

Upon arriving in Galid, he had been searching for the shadow of this pure white plant, because it was something very clear in Karl's memories of the dead. He was sure it had left a deep impression on Karl, and Milo even guessed that this snow-white plant had some special significance.

Of course, this is just speculation.

Milo knew that Carl's memories from the last period of his life were contradictory and chaotic, and he couldn't be sure whether they were real objects Carl had actually seen or things he had imagined before he died.

At least after entering Galid City, Milo had never seen this strange plant.

Moreover, in his understanding, most plants need to rely on photosynthesis to breathe, and the need for photosynthesis must mean the presence of chlorophyll, so it should be impossible for a plant to exist that is pure white from flower to leaf... right?

Milo couldn't be sure about this because he didn't study flowers much, or rather, he hadn't taken biology classes properly back then and only had a very superficial understanding of them.

If Emma were here.

No, that's not right either, she majored in chemistry...

……

Just as Milo's thoughts were still immersed in the memory of the white flowers, an unfamiliar law enforcement officer walked past him and Rebecca, deliberately slowing his pace and speaking to them in a very deep voice:

"Hey, you out-of-towners, here's a piece of advice: stay away from that perverted kid."

After saying that, the law enforcement officer turned and continued walking without looking back.

They didn't even give Milo and the others a chance to ask them clearly.

Milo and Rebecca exchanged a puzzled look.

They both knew, of course, that the "freak" the man was referring to was Walker in the archives behind them, but they had no idea why.

"Does he also like to press his tricorn hat down... cough cough?"

Milo muttered to himself thoughtfully, but halfway through his sentence, he noticed the murderous intent beginning to rise in Rebecca's eyes, so he immediately coughed twice and shut his mouth.

He shared the same question as Rebecca: why did even his colleagues at the law enforcement agency have such a deep sense of aversion towards Walker?

But before Milo and Rebecca could begin their discussion, Walker emerged from the archives.

He was slightly out of breath, patted the dust off his clothes, and said:

"Put them all back. Let's go find Old Mo now."

……

According to Walker, Mogot lived in the city, but he was rarely seen there, especially during the day. This was because Mogot's schedule was different from that of ordinary people. He was nocturnal, and whenever night fell, he would either go to the city's taverns to get drunk or carry his gun into the wilderness for several days at a time.

Therefore, Walker warned that they might not be able to find Moggot on this trip.

However, in order to successfully pry open the old drunkard's mouth, Milo still bought two bottles of spirits from the shops along the way.

……

(End of this chapter)