Ch.278The Eighth Entanglement – Law, Order, and Capriccio (7)

Now it was Inspector Semangelof’s turn to work. The detective had brought the New York City Journal reporter simply to create a crowd, not because he believed the reporter would discover anything.

Inspector Semangelof selected a few pages from the case file he had brought down and handed them over. The reporter seemed satisfied with just those few pages. He was the typical New Yorker the detective had often seen.

Most people were generally satisfied with a few pieces of paper. The only difference was whether those papers were case records or cash. Sarah was the only one who wasn’t bound by such things.

That’s probably why he liked Sarah, the detective thought briefly as he watched. Sarah was still that kind of person, but the detective himself had changed.

Somehow, he too had come to want a piece or two of paper from Sarah. He wanted photographs taken before 1917, when he decided to go fight in the Great War. It’s my fault. The detective swallowed those words.

He could make excuses. He could justify it by mentioning the magnitude of pain he received in that war. But he didn’t. In the end, it’s my fault. The detective reflected once again.

Do you believe that if you keep reflecting, you’ll eventually return to the old days? He mocked himself. The detective watched as Inspector Semangelof, forcing himself to be polite, called in the two people.

Together they went up to the second floor of the police station. It was a place the detective had visited many times before, and Rose had been there exactly once. They were heading to the place where she had shot her father. The two had somehow grown quite similar.

Upon reaching an interrogation room, Inspector Semangelof cleared his throat once as if asking for their attention. He had to let them in this far, but Inspector Semangelof truly had no intention of showing everything to the reporter.

“The suspect is in here. I don’t know why you came all this way to provide a lawyer for such a person, but… the lawyer may have a meeting. Reporter, please come this way with our witness. You cannot meet and talk directly. You know that I’ve let you in this far only because of the lawyer.”

Rose, feeling somewhat amused, said what she would have said more confidently in the past. Even this statement had become half-sarcastic, showing she had definitely changed.

“Oh, that’s fine! Actually, I was worried that even if I brought a lawyer, you might insist the suspect needed a living lawyer! I knew there couldn’t be bad people in this day and age!”

After that insufferably cheerful remark, Inspector Semangelof took another deep breath. It was obvious what kind of article would appear if he snapped at the suspect in front of this woman.

If he had known this would happen, he should never have given the detective permission to bring a reporter. He failed to notice the two people around him holding back their smirks and laughter.

The door to the interrogation room, guarded by an angel policeman who wasn’t a fallen angel, opened, and Paulina entered with practiced ease. The assailant, who had momentarily cowered at her size, recovered quickly.

He could immediately tell that this tall woman with covered eyes… who looked like she might be part ogre… was not an angel. Paulina took out a business card from her pocket and handed it to him.

“I’m Paulina Volkova from Petrov & Volkov law firm. My client contacted me asking to defend you, so I came here early in the morning… Do you already have another lawyer?”

The factory worker Paulina saw was someone who couldn’t afford a lawyer. He was the type of person who lived without ever suspecting he might become a criminal suspect.

While this sometimes happened with impulsive murderers, it was rare for someone who had killed two people to display such an attitude. Moreover, one of the victims was a security guard.

Few people could maintain such an expression while planning to eliminate a witness. If he were that type of person, he wouldn’t have been caught with such a stupid expression in the first place.

The assailant, listening to Paulina’s words, looked somewhat relieved yet puzzled. He couldn’t understand who would pay for a lawyer on his behalf, especially one from a respectable law firm.

Paulina continued speaking while maintaining her kindness. Having coordinated with Rose, she spoke as naturally as the detective would.

“My client is a reporter who was originally covering this factory. Due to the fierce antagonism between the factory owner and the union leader, she hired a lawyer in case something happened. Coincidentally, a murder occurred at the factory, and the suspect turned out to be an ordinary factory worker with no connection to the factory’s internal conflicts, which seemed suspicious, so she requested defense.”

The assailant had seen Rose before. During his last work shift, he had seen an elf visit the boss and walk out in less than five minutes. That must have been the reporter.

The assailant nodded vigorously. He started to speak as if to pour out his grievances, but Paulina knew there were people gathered behind the large rectangular mirror in the room.

“No, uh, do you know how unfair this is! That, that…”

“No, don’t say anything. The police and everyone else are listening from beyond that mirror. You shouldn’t discuss the case here. Let’s talk separately after you complete a simple investigation and get out.”

This factory worker probably didn’t know how long the police could detain someone without evidence, but fortunately, Paulina did. This was precisely why a lawyer was needed.

Inspector Semangelof wiped his forehead once more. Petrov & Volkov wasn’t a small law firm. It was obvious this would become troublesome.

The assailant nervously shifted his gaze, unsure how to make eye contact with the blindfolded woman looking at him, but he began to calm down knowing someone understood the situation better than he did.

Paulina knew that the angel with a small halo on the back of his head, whom she had seen in the lobby, would soon enter. She smiled with just the corners of her lips at her new client, who was still cowering.

“Anyway, we can push back here saying they don’t have proper evidence, so don’t worry too much. From what I hear, you were apparently at the crime scene… Just a moment, may I see your hands?”

First, she needed to determine if the situation was true or not. The assailant extended his two hands, still slightly stained with blood, to Paulina. There were no wounds on his hands. Despite having killed two people.

If the two hadn’t been waiting to be killed, they would have resisted at least a little, and there would likely have been a physical struggle to separate this human who wasn’t that strong.

It would have been more natural to have at least some wounds. Paulina grabbed his chin and leisurely turned his face, looking for scars. For a factory worker, he had relatively few wounds or scars on his face, making identification quick.

She’s looking for wounds. Inspector Semangelof clicked his tongue once. The victims were one orc larger than the suspect, one dwarf, and finally a human of similar build.

If that were the case, one would question how this factory worker, trembling with rabbit-like eyes just from being brought to the police station, could kill three people without any resistance.

I’ll have to try something. If the detained suspect wasn’t the real criminal, it would damage the police’s reputation. This dirty laborer couldn’t be allowed to become another Sacco and Vanzetti.

Inspector Semangelof emerged from behind the one-way mirror and headed into the interrogation room. He had to somehow implicate him properly. At the very least, he needed to keep him in detention.

He had one witness. The detective had said he saw him standing in the darkness with a knife. That was reason enough to keep him in detention for a day.

Inspector Semangelof opened the interrogation room door and pushed the case file toward the factory worker’s lawyer. At minimum, the lawyer needed to confirm what evidence existed and who had died.

The number of victims was one more than Paulina had thought. Paulina slowly read through the case record. Her suspicion was now becoming certainty. This factory worker couldn’t have killed these three.

The orc could have stopped him if he had seen him secretly picking up a knife and reaching out, and the suspect seemed too weak to stab a knife into a dwarf’s solid body. Even with skill, it would be too much.

After reading through all the contents, Paulina closed the case file and asked Inspector Semangelof. Her tone suggested she was requesting something very reasonable.

“May I ask why my client was arrested as if caught in the act, Inspector Semangelof? It seems my client was just near the crime scene.”

Inspector Semangelof chuckled as if he found it absurd. Making bold claims was a skill all lawyers possessed. Inspector Semangelof had no intention of being shaken by that.

“Isn’t that exactly what being caught in the act means, counselor? When a criminal is loitering near a murder scene, that’s being caught in the act…”

“There are quite a few inconsistencies with that claim. Looking at what you’ve recorded about the third victim, you noted that it appears the suspect, fleeing with a weapon, stabbed the victim to eliminate a witness… but the detective who witnessed this incident saw our client after that, correct?”

Inspector Semangelof nodded briefly. Arresting him was a very natural action, but this woman named Paulina was trying to overturn that.

The detective also paid some attention to her voice. The lawyer might pick up on something he hadn’t discovered, and that could potentially provide a clue.

“That’s right. But he was still holding a knife at that time. And his hands are covered in blood because of that, aren’t they? Instead of just making sophistic arguments, it would be better if you cooperated with the investigation…”

“Isn’t it strange that someone who methodically killed two people, and then decided to stab a witness to death immediately upon making eye contact, didn’t swing his knife at the detective? If he were such a person, even with one more witness, he would have swung his knife at the new witness rather than trying to flee.”

This approach normally wouldn’t work, but the lawyer was well aware that a reporter was behind the one-way mirror. Inspector Semangelof had to be mindful of the reporter too.

All this lawyer was doing right now was denouncing the reason for her client’s arrest as completely absurd. Inspector Semangelof gritted his teeth.

“Or, did our client try to attack the witness? Or are there footprints or fingerprints of our client at the scene? If not, he was literally just standing there with a weapon by coincidence, and there’s no reason for him to be arrested. By that logic, the witness could just as well be a suspect.”

The incident occurred at 6 o’clock, and it was barely past 8 o’clock now. It was enough time for Rose to find someone to help, but not enough time for the police to find evidence.

So there was no evidence yet. Evidence would soon emerge, and perhaps this fallen angel could fabricate some, but not now. He didn’t have enough time to plant evidence.

Inspector Semangelof didn’t answer. There was no need to give the lawyer momentum. Paulina continued speaking.

“I’ll take your silence as agreement. Then, let’s ask what our client witnessed. Instead of treating him like a criminal while keeping him locked in a soundproof room.”

Inspector Semangelof’s plan to conveniently make this factory worker the culprit and wrap up the case fell apart at that moment. Now he had to properly do police work like a real policeman.

“Yeah, let’s do that. Damn it. Fine. Then why were you there at that time with your hands soaked in the victim’s blood? Why were you holding a weapon, and why did the witness flee? That’s the story, isn’t it?”

Inspector Semangelof was quite intimidating. An angel with a halo on the back of his head, standing over 7.5 feet tall, was threatening no matter what he said. The union leader’s assailant trembled once.

Perhaps he was being punished here for lynching the union leader who was innocent, or at least appeared so. With that thought, he opened his trembling lips. It wasn’t something to say in front of the police.

“Well, um… I got a secret contact from the Industrial Union saying they would help, so I went to prepare for the strike. I arrived early in the morning to check if we could place banners, and when I entered through the factory’s back door, someone was lying there with a knife in their back. So, not knowing what happened, I tried to pull out the knife.”

Pulling a knife from a stab wound was a stupid thing to do. Unless one was confirming a kill, it would only increase bleeding and cause a faster death. Paulina skillfully interjected.

“And, according to the case file, the victim had a wound that was stabbed upward from below the waist… Isn’t it strange that our client, who didn’t even know that removing a knife from a stab wound causes more bleeding, could so skillfully hold a knife from below and kill someone with a single upward thrust?”

She’s arguing as if this were a courtroom. Those words weren’t meant for Inspector Semangelof. They were for the reporter behind that one-way mirror. She was telling the reporter to take notes.

I shouldn’t have let both of them in. Inspector Semangelof barely contained his urge to explode in anger. He reopened the case file, turned to the witness statement section, and lightly pointed at it. He was doing his job.

“According to the witness testimony, the detective said he didn’t even see that he was holding a gun and just turned around and ran away. How did you know it was a corpse with a knife in it in that situation?”

“Well, um, the moonlight shone briefly. At first, I thought it was a drunk person sleeping against the factory’s back door, but I saw something shining, and when I looked closely, there was a knife in their back. I, I didn’t even see if there was a wound on the side or anything! I only found out after you told me, Inspector!”

Paulina was handling all the logic and rationality, so the assailant just needed to express his grievances. He was doing that quite well.

Even for an angel, there was no way to interrogate the past moonlight. Inspector Semangelof briefly thought he was walking into a trap, but there was no other way.

Now he too was beginning to feel a bit anxious. What if the blood from that man’s sleeve was only human blood? Then there would be an article saying they had arrested the wrong person to solve a case that seemed to be heading into a labyrinth.

Translator: Now it was Inspector Semangelof’s turn to work. The detective had brought the New York City Journal reporter simply to create a crowd, not because he believed the reporter would discover anything.

Inspector Semangelof selected a few pages from the case file he had brought down and handed them over. The reporter seemed satisfied with just those few pages. He was the typical New Yorker the detective had often seen.

Most people were generally satisfied with a few pieces of paper. The only difference was whether those papers were case records or cash. Sarah was the only one who wasn’t bound by such things.

That’s probably why he liked Sarah, the detective thought briefly as he watched. Sarah was still that kind of person, but the detective himself had changed.

Somehow, he too had come to want a piece or two of paper from Sarah. He wanted photographs taken before 1917, when he decided to go fight in the Great War. It’s my fault. The detective swallowed those words.

He could make excuses. He could justify it by mentioning the magnitude of pain he received in that war. But he didn’t. In the end, it’s my fault. The detective reflected once again.

Do you believe that if you keep reflecting, you’ll eventually return to the old days? He mocked himself. The detective watched as Inspector Semangelof, forcing himself to be polite, called in the two people.

Together they went up to the second floor of the police station. It was a place the detective had visited many times before, and Rose had been there exactly once. They were heading to the place where she had shot her father. The two had somehow grown quite similar.

Upon reaching an interrogation room, Inspector Semangelof cleared his throat once as if asking for their attention. He had to let them in this far, but Inspector Semangelof truly had no intention of showing everything to the reporter.

“The suspect is in here. I don’t know why you came all this way to provide a lawyer for such a person, but… the lawyer may have a meeting. Reporter, please come this way with our witness. You cannot meet and talk directly. You know that I’ve let you in this far only because of the lawyer.”

Rose, feeling somewhat amused, said what she would have said more confidently in the past. Even this statement had become half-sarcastic, showing she had definitely changed.

“Oh, that’s fine! Actually, I was worried that even if I brought a lawyer, you might insist the suspect needed a living lawyer! I knew there couldn’t be bad people in this day and age!”

After that insufferably cheerful remark, Inspector Semangelof took another deep breath. It was obvious what kind of article would appear if he snapped at the suspect in front of this woman.

If he had known this would happen, he should never have given the detective permission to bring a reporter. He failed to notice the two people around him holding back their smirks and laughter.

The door to the interrogation room, guarded by an angel policeman who wasn’t a fallen angel, opened, and Paulina entered with practiced ease. The assailant, who had momentarily cowered at her size, recovered quickly.

He could immediately tell that this tall woman with covered eyes… who looked like she might be part ogre… was not an angel. Paulina took out a business card from her pocket and handed it to him.

“I’m Paulina Volkova from Petrov & Volkov law firm. My client contacted me asking to defend you, so I came here early in the morning… Do you already have another lawyer?”

The factory worker Paulina saw was someone who couldn’t afford a lawyer. He was the type of person who lived without ever suspecting he might become a criminal suspect.

While this sometimes happened with impulsive murderers, it was rare for someone who had killed two people to display such an attitude. Moreover, one of the victims was a security guard.

Few people could maintain such an expression while planning to eliminate a witness. If he were that type of person, he wouldn’t have been caught with such a stupid expression in the first place.

The assailant, listening to Paulina’s words, looked somewhat relieved yet puzzled. He couldn’t understand who would pay for a lawyer on his behalf, especially one from a respectable law firm.

Paulina continued speaking while maintaining her kindness. Having coordinated with Rose, she spoke as naturally as the detective would.

“My client is a reporter who was originally covering this factory. Due to the fierce antagonism between the factory owner and the union leader, she hired a lawyer in case something happened. Coincidentally, a murder occurred at the factory, and the suspect turned out to be an ordinary factory worker with no connection to the factory’s internal conflicts, which seemed suspicious, so she requested defense.”

The assailant had seen Rose before. During his last work shift, he had seen an elf visit the boss and walk out in less than five minutes. That must have been the reporter.

The assailant nodded vigorously. He started to speak as if to pour out his grievances, but Paulina knew there were people gathered behind the large rectangular mirror in the room.

“No, uh, do you know how unfair this is! That, that…”

“No, don’t say anything. The police and everyone else are listening from beyond that mirror. You shouldn’t discuss the case here. Let’s talk separately after you complete a simple investigation and get out.”

This factory worker probably didn’t know how long the police could detain someone without evidence, but fortunately, Paulina did. This was precisely why a lawyer was needed.

Inspector Semangelof wiped his forehead once more. Petrov & Volkov wasn’t a small law firm. It was obvious this would become troublesome.

The assailant nervously shifted his gaze, unsure how to make eye contact with the blindfolded woman looking at him, but he began to calm down knowing someone understood the situation better than he did.

Paulina knew that the angel with a small halo on the back of his head, whom she had seen in the lobby, would soon enter. She smiled with just the corners of her lips at her new client, who was still cowering.

“Anyway, we can push back here saying they don’t have proper evidence, so don’t worry too much. From what I hear, you were apparently at the crime scene… Just a moment, may I see your hands?”

First, she needed to determine if the situation was true or not. The assailant extended his two hands, still slightly stained with blood, to Paulina. There were no wounds on his hands. Despite having killed two people.

If the two hadn’t been waiting to be killed, they would have resisted at least a little, and there would likely have been a physical struggle to separate this human who wasn’t that strong.

It would have been more natural to have at least some wounds. Paulina grabbed his chin and leisurely turned his face, looking for scars. For a factory worker, he had relatively few wounds or scars on his face, making identification quick.

She’s looking for wounds. Inspector Semangelof clicked his tongue once. The victims were one orc larger than the suspect, one dwarf, and finally a human of similar build.

If that were the case, one would question how this factory worker, trembling with rabbit-like eyes just from being brought to the police station, could kill three people without any resistance.

I’ll have to try something. If the detained suspect wasn’t the real criminal, it would damage the police’s reputation. This dirty laborer couldn’t be allowed to become another Sacco and Vanzetti.

Inspector Semangelof emerged from behind the one-way mirror and headed into the interrogation room. He had to somehow implicate him properly. At the very least, he needed to keep him in detention.

He had one witness. The detective had said he saw him standing in the darkness with a knife. That was reason enough to keep him in detention for a day.

Inspector Semangelof opened the interrogation room door and pushed the case file toward the factory worker’s lawyer. At minimum, the lawyer needed to confirm what evidence existed and who had died.

The number of victims was one more than Paulina had thought. Paulina slowly read through the case record. Her suspicion was now becoming certainty. This factory worker couldn’t have killed these three.

The orc could have stopped him if he had seen him secretly picking up a knife and reaching out, and the suspect seemed too weak to stab a knife into a dwarf’s solid body. Even with skill, it would be too much.

After reading through all the contents, Paulina closed the case file and asked Inspector Semangelof. Her tone suggested she was requesting something very reasonable.

“May I ask why my client was arrested as if caught in the act, Inspector Semangelof? It seems my client was just near the crime scene.”

Inspector Semangelof chuckled as if he found it absurd. Making bold claims was a skill all lawyers possessed. Inspector Semangelof had no intention of being shaken by that.

“Isn’t that exactly what being caught in the act means, counselor? When a criminal is loitering near a murder scene, that’s being caught in the act…”

“There are quite a few inconsistencies with that claim. Looking at what you’ve recorded about the third victim, you noted that it appears the suspect, fleeing with a weapon, stabbed the victim to eliminate a witness… but the detective who witnessed this incident saw our client after that, correct?”

Inspector Semangelof nodded briefly. Arresting him was a very natural action, but this woman named Paulina was trying to overturn that.

The detective also paid some attention to her voice. The lawyer might pick up on something he hadn’t discovered, and that could potentially provide a clue.

“That’s right. But he was still holding a knife at that time. And his hands are covered in blood because of that, aren’t they? Instead of just making sophistic arguments, it would be better if you cooperated with the investigation…”

“Isn’t it strange that someone who methodically killed two people, and then decided to stab a witness to death immediately upon making eye contact, didn’t swing his knife at the detective? If he were such a person, even with one more witness, he would have swung his knife at the new witness rather than trying to flee.”

This approach normally wouldn’t work, but the lawyer was well aware that a reporter was behind the one-way mirror. Inspector Semangelof had to be mindful of the reporter too.

All this lawyer was doing right now was denouncing the reason for her client’s arrest as completely absurd. Inspector Semangelof gritted his teeth.

“Or, did our client try to attack the witness? Or are there footprints or fingerprints of our client at the scene? If not, he was literally just standing there with a weapon by coincidence, and there’s no reason for him to be arrested. By that logic, the witness could just as well be a suspect.”

The incident occurred at 6 o’clock, and it was barely past 8 o’clock now. It was enough time for Rose to find someone to help, but not enough time for the police to find evidence.

So there was no evidence yet. Evidence would soon emerge, and perhaps this fallen angel could fabricate some, but not now. He didn’t have enough time to plant evidence.

Inspector Semangelof didn’t answer. There was no need to give the lawyer momentum. Paulina continued speaking.

“I’ll take your silence as agreement. Then, let’s ask what our client witnessed. Instead of treating him like a criminal while keeping him locked in a soundproof room.”

Inspector Semangelof’s plan to conveniently make this factory worker the culprit and wrap up the case fell apart at that moment. Now he had to properly do police work like a real policeman.

“Yeah, let’s do that. Damn it. Fine. Then why were you there at that time with your hands soaked in the victim’s blood? Why were you holding a weapon, and why did the witness flee? That’s the story, isn’t it?”

Inspector Semangelof was quite intimidating. An angel with a halo on the back of his head, standing over 7.5 feet tall, was threatening no matter what he said. The union leader’s assailant trembled once.

Perhaps he was being punished here for lynching the union leader who was innocent, or at least appeared so. With that thought, he opened his trembling lips. It wasn’t something to say in front of the police.

“Well, um… I got a secret contact from the Industrial Union saying they would help, so I went to prepare for the strike. I arrived early in the morning to check if we could place banners, and when I entered through the factory’s back door, someone was lying there with a knife in their back. So, not knowing what happened, I tried to pull out the knife.”

Pulling a knife from a stab wound was a stupid thing to do. Unless one was confirming a kill, it would only increase bleeding and cause a faster death. Paulina skillfully interjected.

“And, according to the case file, the victim had a wound that was stabbed upward from below the waist… Isn’t it strange that our client, who didn’t even know that removing a knife from a stab wound causes more bleeding, could so skillfully hold a knife from below and kill someone with a single upward thrust?”

She’s arguing as if this were a courtroom. Those words weren’t meant for Inspector Semangelof. They were for the reporter behind that one-way mirror. She was telling the reporter to take notes.

I shouldn’t have let both of them in. Inspector Semangelof barely contained his urge to explode in anger. He reopened the case file, turned to the witness statement section, and lightly pointed at it. He was doing his job.

“According to the witness testimony, the detective said he didn’t even see that he was holding a gun and just turned around and ran away. How did you know it was a corpse with a knife in it in that situation?”

“Well, um, the moonlight shone briefly. At first, I thought it was a drunk person sleeping against the factory’s back door, but I saw something shining, and when I looked closely, there was a knife in their back. I, I didn’t even see if there was a wound on the side or anything! I only found out after you told me, Inspector!”

Paulina was handling all the logic and rationality, so the assailant just needed to express his grievances. He was doing that quite well.

Even for an angel, there was no way to interrogate the past moonlight. Inspector Semangelof briefly thought he was walking into a trap, but there was no other way.

Now he too was beginning to feel a bit anxious. What if the blood from that man’s sleeve was only human blood? Then there would be an article saying they had arrested the wrong person to solve a case that seemed to be heading into a labyrinth.