N-A-A Chapter 124 When the Moonlight is Distorted
Chapter 124 When the Moonlight is Distorted
After leaving the open-air bar and saying goodbye to Telt, Touko also parted ways with the detective; she was going to check on N's situation.
After learning about the explosion, the prince of Team Plasma became depressed and occasionally muttered dangerous words to himself. This worried the kind-hearted and energetic girl, who couldn't leave him alone for long.
Hugo and Azure went to the scene of the explosion in the afternoon.
By this time, the number of police officers stationed at the scene had decreased significantly. Azure sent out Ditto, and this very useful purple clay expertly began to play tricks, quickly distracting the remaining police officers. The two then strolled into the old power plant site as if taking a walk.
However, the power plant is now just a completely cleared ruin, and even the smell of gunpowder from the fire has been completely washed away by the rain.
At the epicenter of the explosion, rubble and broken walls covered everything, and the two searched for a long time but found little useful information.
Perhaps turning the ruins upside down would yield more evidence, but even though Hugo is an excellent detective with considerable investigative skills, he can't single-handedly operate a scientific investigation team. If the Garchomp borrowed from Cynthia were still around, perhaps they could try digging around.
However, even if the earth dragon has already been teleported back to the backyard of the town, and even if Hugo really goes to great lengths to plow through the ruins, will he necessarily find new evidence?
It's important to understand that corpses are always the most crucial evidence in a murder case, and that green-haired prince mentioned that the police had already removed and disposed of all the Pokémon corpses from the scene. Instead of wasting time on this, it would be better to investigate the Pokémon cemetery and crematorium in Liyong City.
The two ended up spending the afternoon doing some pointless things, which is pretty much the norm in the detective industry.
The approximate extent of the explosion was measured, confirming that the fire was indeed caused by an explosion inside the factory, and a new schematic diagram of the power plant's internal topography was drawn.
After finishing all this work, the exhausted Azure and the detective concluded their investigation for the day and officially wrapped up their work.
.
7 PM.
Buckle buckle.
In an ordinary hotel in Liyong City, Bilan knocked on the door of Hugo's single room and heard a lazy response.
"Is this Azure? You can come in directly, the door isn't locked."
The girl was momentarily dazed and unconsciously became reserved.
Before opening the door, Bilan even tidied her clothes. She was still wearing the same casual clothes she wore during the day, even though she hadn't showered yet, but she had left her sun hat in her room.
Just as she was about to use the reflection of the house number to fix her bangs, Bilan suddenly realized that her behavior was a bit ambiguous. But then she remembered that the two of them usually lived in the same house, and it would be too pretentious to start being coy now...
With her mind racing, Bilan reluctantly pushed open the door.
However, the moment he stepped inside, that slight feeling of ambiguity completely vanished—everything in front of him looked so familiar, just like being back in the living room of Yuqi Residence!
In the cramped single room, the first thing that catches the eye is the white coat hanging on the coat rack. The little Chimchar and Piplup, who were brought out this time, each held a berry as a snack and ate it with relish.
The detective, just as he had been pondering the case at the Yuxi Mansion, was dressed in casual loungewear and squatting undignifiedly on the table opposite the bed. He was using his elongated baton to gesticulate and tease a large pile of papers spread out on the bed.
"These are news clips taken from recent newspapers in Liyong City, which include interviews with passersby who discovered the discovery and interviews with factory workers."
Hugo stood up abruptly on the table, flicked his wrist, and smoothly put the baton back in his pocket. He then turned to Azure, who had just entered, and introduced her—
"The accounts of passersby were almost identical—first they saw factory workers gradually evacuating from the factory, then they heard a tremendous explosion, followed by thick smoke and flames billowing from the factory, which grew increasingly intense until firefighters and police arrived and began trying to extinguish the fire—all of which are basically consistent with the testimony given by Telt. The factory workers unanimously admitted that the factory manager urged them to leave the factory, and that the terrifying shockwave only occurred after everyone had left."
"This all seems to be information that has already been confirmed... You were just studying this?"
Azure was somewhat surprised. Wasn't this just going around in circles with the known facts? Did the detective really need to make such a big fuss on the bed?
"Of course not, there are actually many follow-up reports about the case on the sheets."
"Follow-up report... Are you investigating the movements of the Liyong City Police Department?"
The astute detective assistant instantly grasped Hugo's thoughts, his eyes warily fixed on the pile of papers spread on the bed.
The familiar snap of fingers rang out as scheduled—
"That's right! Azure, I've discovered a startling fact in these reports!"
Hugo raised his eyebrows in delight—
"Reporters captured images of the aftermath of the explosion. Look, here are images of a large number of police cars cordoning off the scene, teams of police officers maintaining order, firefighters rushing from fire trucks to the fire, and the explosion site billowing thick smoke—do you notice anything amiss?"
"Uh... no Pokémon escaped from the factory?"
While rapidly browsing the information in her hand, Azure answered subconsciously.
"No, this is not unusual. The factory manager prioritized the human employees, which led to the elves being trapped in the fire. This is one of the possible scenarios. You are just inferring the facts from known private information. If N and Telt hadn't told us about the elves' deaths, this lead wouldn't exist at all."
The detective waved his hand with great flair—
"Azure, for detectives who value rigorous logic, relying on individual witness testimonies is not a good habit. Silent evidence is the foundation of trust. In this case, there is a very awkward detail—I mean those more obvious, more ordinary, and more incomprehensible things! That is a distortion of reality, that is the real contradiction that cannot be ignored!"
By this time, the chestnut-haired girl had read through all the notes Hugo had laid out. Just as the detective had said, they were all photos and interviews related to the events before and after the incident.
Aside from the photos, the interview didn't contain any gory phrases like "Pokémon died in the factory," but rather sentences from passersby and reporters describing the situation at the scene.
"A close call, no casualties"—this was the most frequently repeated phrase during the interviews, as if the explosion was just a firework blooming in the city.
Bilan reviewed one of the employee interviews again and asked uncertainly, "The anomaly is that Factory Manager William discovered the signs of the explosion in advance? The biggest suspicious point is that he was able to save all the employees without a single one of them, given how sudden and rapid the explosion was."
"We've already discussed this on the ship. The factory manager is indeed suspicious. But we can't accuse him of murdering his entire team of elves based solely on the evidence that he saved all the factory's employees. The investigation must be grounded in reality: contradictions, evidence, reasoning, deduction, and the truth. Only by going through these essential steps can we confront the murderer with a clear conscience. Don't think you can challenge a world boss right after leaving the starting village—now, draw that best sword in the village and welcome the thunderous cheers of the audience."
"What kind of metaphor is this..." the girl muttered.
Victor Hugo always liked to speak passionately about very ordinary things. But if you skipped his speech before revealing the truth and explained the events in the simplest terms, it would only take a few lines.
The girl closed her eyes and reviewed the detective's words from that night.
Explosion... police... passersby... employees... a cacophony of voices... flames shooting into the sky... police cars... firefighters... reporters...
The cheers of the audience… the spectators around the explosion site… the police station's movements… the distortion of reality… the absence…
As if inspiration struck in an instant, the girl saw something strange and eerie in the clipping.
Just as she was about to blurt it out—
"Missing, the siren sound, right?"
The girl and the detective turned around abruptly at the same time, and saw a blue heart-shaped bat flapping its large wings outside the window of the narrow single room!
Beneath its black bat claws hung a figure dressed in white.
A young man wearing a black and white baseball cap and with green hair appeared under the bright moonlight.