Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 39 Cleanup
"It's also unusual that Jieshi, who possesses the ability to 'open doors,' chose Tingen for such a long time to commit crimes."

"An inventory of the stolen goods left by Jie Shi shows that he was not short of money and was even quite wealthy. However, he neither chose to use the money to launder his wealth nor took it elsewhere. This is even more unreasonable."

"Also, regarding those thefts marked by the Mechanical Heart as having no leads or being concealed by the owners..." he flipped through the files of unsolved thefts. "If these were also committed by Jesse, then the wealth left behind wouldn't match the amount of money stolen. Nearly ten thousand pounds worth of wealth disappeared—that's a significant sum."

Looking at it, Old Neil also took a breath of cold air. How much money does this cost...

Moreover, these nobles and wealthy businessmen in Tingen are really rich!

Claire wrote two words behind Jie Shi: "freedom restricted" and "huge amount of stolen money involved in the case is missing".

Looking at these statements, Old Neil said, "Not only do you suspect that there's someone behind Jie Shi, but you also suspect that Jie Shi is being manipulated by someone?"

Claire's thoughts were pragmatic. "It's just a guess. Let's investigate first. I've read the notes of the Nighthawks' predecessors. When the clues are unclear, they always use the most foolish yet most practical investigation."

Old Neil nodded. Although Dunn had asked him to lead new personnel in this investigation, there was nothing wrong with Claire's ideas and choices.

"Let's start by screening out the women that Jie Shi has come into contact with. Since the 'Witch' potion significantly increases the user's attractiveness, we can start by screening out those with outstanding appearance."

Claire, imitating the experience of her predecessors in the Nighthawks, proposed a direction for investigation and looked at Old Neil:
"What do you think, Mr. Neil? Is there anything that needs improvement?"

Old Neil smiled and shook his head:

"Solving most cases relies on the boring process of elimination. Okay, get up! Hopefully, we can figure something out before Leonard and Klein return, or else we'll be using them as labor!"

Claire changed into the trainee inspector's uniform and tied her long hair into a ponytail, making the black uniform with white plaid look very capable.

Old Neil's uniform shoulder strap had one more silver six-pointed star than Claire's, indicating the rank of inspector.

In addition to visiting areas where Jie Shi often moves around, the two will also go to the corresponding police stations to retrieve information, and they wear uniforms to facilitate their work.

At the same time, Claire also wanted to alert the enemy to see if she could reveal the true identity of the witch behind the scenes.

The visits were time-consuming and exhausting, and they lasted all night. Old Neil was exhausted and could no longer hold on. "I need to go back and rest first. I have to find someone to relieve me. I can't keep up with the energy of you young 'sleepless' people."

Just as the two were about to find a car to return to Zouteland Street, intensive gunfire was heard from the street in the distance.

Claire and Old Neil exchanged a look of astonishment, casually set the documents they were holding aside, and ran towards the direction of the gunshot while checking their equipment.

Old Neil, who was complaining about being tired, was running quite fast at this moment, trying his best to stay behind Claire.

Claire used the street corner as a cover, activated her peeping eyes, and observed from afar.

Ignoring the darkness of the night, Claire clearly saw Ebanks of the Mechanical Heart holding his modified high-pressure steam rifle.

Under the high pressure created by the energy released by the hyperphlogiston, demon-hunting bullets were ejected and hit the "person" wearing the same uniform as him.

The "man" was exactly the same size as the tall and strong man who followed Ebanks at the Dragon Bar.

"Out of control." Old Neil, who caught up with them, saw this scene and said lightly.

With each shot, Ebanks took a step closer to the out-of-control man.

When the thick gun barrel was pressed against the head of the out-of-control person lying on the ground, which had swelled like a tumor.

The out-of-control person is still struggling with his tenacious vitality.

But the next second, Ebanks took out a special bullet from his waist, loaded it into the gun, and pushed and pulled it with one hand.

Then, there was a loud bang.

The Loser's deformed head exploded, splattering Ebanks with various liquids and flesh. The headless body lay completely motionless on the ground.

Claire stared blankly at everything that was happening over there. The person who was so vivid in her memory just recently was now barely alive, with not even a complete corpse left.

And it was solved by our own people.

Old Neil pulled Claire aside and said, "Let's go. Ebanks won't want to meet us right now."

"Okay." Claire came back to her senses and responded.

But before turning back, Claire glanced back.

In the dark night, the rolled cigarette suddenly became shorter as I took a deep breath, but the faint light was so dazzling that it made my eyes sore.

When Claire and Old Neil returned to Blackthorn Security Company, Leonard was reporting the kidnapping case to Dunn.

Such matters without the involvement of Extraordinary People did not require reporting, but this was a private commission completed in the name of the "Mercenary Team" and had relatively high returns.

Although you don't need to write a detailed mission report, you do need to keep a record.

Leonard was in a good mood. This mission would yield 200 pounds. According to the rules set by Dunn, 100 pounds would be used as additional funds for the team, and the remaining 100 pounds would go to the people who completed the mission, namely Leonard and Klein.

But because Klein had not yet been officially hired, he could only get 10% of it, and the rest belonged to Leonard.

That means Leonard made a net profit of 90 pounds today.

Normally, if Old Neil heard this kind of news, he would have been jealous and wanted to say something to Leonard.

But at this moment, Old Neil only whispered to Dunn, "Tevaro of the Mechanical Heart has lost control, and it was Ebanks who cleaned it up."

Dunn was visibly stunned, then nodded and said "hmm".

Generally, it is the captains like them who clean out the out-of-control people in the team. This is because the captains are strong enough to suppress the out-of-control people who become very dangerous, and also because the captains are unwilling to let other ordinary team members do this kind of thing.

Leonard, with a smile on his face, silently pulled down his police hat.

Seeing that the atmosphere was somewhat silent, Old Neil shouted at the top of his voice:

"Today has worn my old bones to death. It just so happens that nighttime is when you 'sleepless' are most active. Leonard, you and Claire should organize and analyze the information you've collected during the day."

"What information? Another case? I need a break, too. I didn't even have a lunch break today because I worked overtime." Leonard said this, but still moved closer to Old Neil and looked at the information in Old Neil's hand.

"They are all messages from beautiful women." Old Neil teased Leonard with a smile.

Old Neil's words only made Leonard flip his hair and roll his eyes at him narcissistically.

Old Neil piled all the documents in his hand into Leonard's arms. He also helped Claire take the stack she was holding and piled it into Leonard's arms. He said, "Ask Claire for details. She's in charge of this investigation."

The documents she was holding were taken away, bringing Claire back to her senses.

Claire sighed, suppressed the touching scenes in her heart, and regained her spirits. She said to Leonard:
"It's Jie Shi's case. We've collected information on many women who have had contact with Jie Shi. We suspect there are members of the Witch Cult among them."

Leonard placed all the documents on Dunn's desk, smoothing his poetic hair as he read through them one by one, his green eyes reflecting the words on the documents:
"We're still unsure about the Antigonus family's notes here in Klein, and the legendary witch sect has reappeared? Tingen has become so lively without us realizing it..."

Dunn knocked on the table, regained his composure, and looked at his team members. His gray eyes regained their usual calmness, and he said calmly, "Alright, let's get back to work."

(End of this chapter)