Ch.279The Eighth Entanglement – Law, Order, and Capriccio (8)

“That officer must have a splitting headache. With you watching here, he can’t even intimidate the suspect.”

The detective sneered. To the reporter, he seemed to feel little guilt about the person he had put away. In fact, he felt none at all.

This was because he hadn’t arrested him with any certainty that he was the perpetrator. The detective had simply chosen to make him the culprit as a means to neatly wrap up the case.

Just as being a lynch mob member doesn’t strip away one’s right to defense, whatever rights he had or injustices he suffered didn’t change the fact that he was part of a lynch mob. Karma would eventually return.

Rose answered with a somewhat smug voice. It was a tone that clearly knew her mere presence gave Paulina one more defense option.

“That’s why I followed you here! But listening to what Paulina is saying, I’m guessing that person… isn’t the real culprit?”

“Whether he’s guilty or not doesn’t really matter. That angel lord over there has already made the arrest. If that guy isn’t the culprit, only the angel will be in trouble. Rather than face that, he’ll probably try to make an innocent person into the culprit.”

At the crime scene, he had been the only evidence, but that was no longer the case. If they could forcibly gather evidence and submit an indictment recommendation, the prosecutors would take over from there. The ability to force that through was what mattered.

What they needed was simple. The blood on his sleeve just needed to be more than one type of human blood. If dwarf blood was mixed in, that would be good; if orc blood was also present, even better.

The detective briefly wondered how long Inspector Semangelof would think he was on his side. Probably until he came out of that interrogation room spewing curses.

After that, he would likely start seeing him as the one who dragged out what could have been a simple case. His plan to stay by the angel’s side until the real culprit emerged, keeping his promise to the reporter, was cracking.

Inspector Semangelof decided to take a cautious approach. He wanted to avoid unnecessarily complicating matters by forcing an arrest here. It would give the suspect time, but he probably wouldn’t flee.

If he fled, the prosecutors would gladly request an assassination warrant, and with two swords inscribed with the God-President’s words, they would embark on a journey to find a factory worker who would have escaped by train at best.

“Alright, let’s say you’re a witness. The blood on your hands and clothes has already been submitted as evidence, so we’ll have results in a few days. So, as a witness, what did you see? If you saw anything besides a human with a knife in his back, you might be able to prove your innocence, as your lawyer said.”

Paulina gently stopped the worker as he began to hesitantly describe the surroundings.

“You don’t need to answer. Why should we prove innocence? The police should prove guilt. That’s how it works. No one will say anything if you choose to remain silent.”

Now the assailant began to look at Paulina as if she were some kind of savior. He seemed to finally realize he didn’t need to cower and tremble.

This was the problem with lawyers. They made people who would willingly tell everything they knew stubbornly keep their mouths shut, and they made it impossible to force those mouths open.

Inspector Semangelof decided to try another approach. He had no intention of being manipulated indefinitely by a lawyer stating the obvious.

“Then, not to prove your innocence, but with the mindset of finding the real culprit, can’t you speak? Someone broke into the factory where you work, killed three people, and fled. You said you were at the factory at that time to get a banner. If you had arrived 30 minutes earlier, there might have been four victims. And who knows? Those killers might come back tomorrow or the day after.”

Police officers had authority. If they used that authority to coax someone into helping, most would comply… but this time, the assailant shook his head. He was a union member and a worker.

“I’ve seen with my own eyes how many comrades had their heads cracked open by angels’ clubs after giving information like that. How can I trust your offer to help?”

The detective watched the conversation leisurely. Just as it was difficult for the Jeonsan Alliance to call on a detective, it was difficult for workers to cooperate with the police. There probably wouldn’t be much information to gain by sticking with the police.

He hadn’t properly chosen sides yet. If he could find out who killed his client, he would side with either party. It wasn’t about principle. It was about the credibility of someone in the detective business.

The detective decided to reconsider the case from the beginning. The weapon was a thick pocket knife. The long blade was designed for stabbing. And at the end, there was a display of… display? A familiar word.

When it came to display, there was a race that came to mind. A race with very tight bonds that would do anything for their families. The gnolls. Come to think of it, they had a connection too.

The assailant had attacked the union leader because he mistakenly thought the leader was connected to the gnolls. Perhaps the gnolls hadn’t given up. The detective made a mental note.

Inspector Semangelof was now almost at the point of giving up. When an interrogation room wasn’t a dark and frightening place, it was nearly impossible to extract information from an uncooperative suspect.

“Sigh… Then, if you know the contact information of the Jeonsan Alliance activist who said they would support the strike, please provide it. If we can prove that there really was a strike you went to, that you really did make banners… such things could at least remove you from the list of suspects.”

Inspector Semangelof’s attempt to salvage minimal information visibly flustered the assailant. It was already 8 AM. He had already torn up and discarded the business card of the Jeonsan Alliance activist he had contacted.

If the activist had inspected the factory’s situation, he would have found out that they couldn’t start the strike because of this incident, but that was all. There was no way to know where he would be.

Inspector Semangelof caught that anxious look. There was no way there would be a Jeonsan Alliance activist secretly offering help, and if there really had been one, there would have been at least minimal evidence like a business card.

So things are getting tangled up again. The detective thought, without even sighing, about how his actions to handle the situation were dragging that man into a quagmire. He had no intention of revealing it.

The moment he revealed it, his lie about his job being factory observation would be exposed, and in the worst case, he might be arrested for inciting a strike.

That wasn’t all. He had just had a falling out with the angels after being caught by a Holy Guard agent and escorted from the scene as if nothing had happened after the massacre of dwarves.

Just as the assailant didn’t want to go to prison for a crime he didn’t commit, neither did the detective himself. It would be cleaner to either find the real culprit or ensure that man received a not guilty verdict.

At least there was a lead. As soon as he left the police station, he should call Giuseppina… no, it would be better to call the gnoll he had met when dealing with Isaac last time.

Whether that gnoll was behind this or not, she was the only gnoll smart enough to try to recruit the union. She would deny it, so he would have to interrogate her with the same frustration as that police officer.

Can it even be called interrogation? It would be quite amusing to see those gnolls struggling to work within the trust they so firmly believed in. Still, it was better to do it. The detective slowly organized his plan.

While the detective’s plan was taking shape, Paulina’s plan was falling apart. If there was a connection to the Jeonsan Alliance, something very obvious was missing.

Paulina saw the assailant anxiously rolling his eyes. She tried to calm him down. Not knowing the full details of the case, she made the most sensible judgment possible.

“Not having it with you now doesn’t mean you’ll be found guilty. First, calm down. You just need to go with the angels and tell them where it is. It’s just for verification.”

The assailant pondered for a moment. He wondered whether he should say that the support was supposed to be very secretive and he was told to tear up the business card, or if he should be honest.

He knew well enough that lying would be a bad move, but as a worker and union member, he also knew that the police would treat the truth as a lie anyway. He slowly opened his mouth.

“Well, I did receive a business card. I did receive one, but the activist told me to tear it up and throw it down the drain because evidence shouldn’t remain… Ah, there’s another factory worker who saw the business card in my cabinet! Can’t I bring that person?”

His attempt to use his own wits was welcome. Inspector Semangelof asked in an uncharacteristically kind voice.

“Then, did that activist tell other factory workers to prepare for a strike because they would secretly support them too? It’s a simple verification process, so a verbal confirmation is fine.”

At these words that seemed to offer an escape route, he spoke before Paulina could stop him. He made a slip of the tongue, too fixated on the evidence of the business card. It would have been better if she had told him to keep his mouth shut.

“I, I snuck out alone to make the call and came back, so I delivered the message to the other workers. But there’s someone who saw that there was evidence…”

“There’s evidence that you received a business card, but, well, there’s no evidence for anything else? You’ve admitted it yourself. And since all calls in New York use automatic exchanges, there would be no witnesses who heard the phone conversation…”

The assailant would be locked up in a holding cell without recourse. Even if the angel contacted the Jeonsan Alliance to confirm, they would reply that no activist had done such a thing.

Paulina reviewed the contents of the case file. The third victim was affiliated with the Jeonsan Alliance. And at that time, he was at the back door of the factory, seemingly trying to sneak in.

Her client, now cornered, naturally said something he couldn’t have thought of. She skillfully pieced together the fragmented information.

“So, the instruction to tear up the business card is very… difficult to understand, but did you only communicate by phone?”

“Ah, yes. Only by phone. The voice… you know the quality of public phone calls. It wasn’t clear enough to properly identify…”

“Then, couldn’t the third victim who was killed be the Jeonsan Alliance activist who told the suspect he would support the strike? I read what you provided, and it only briefly mentioned the victim’s identity and cause of death. Shouldn’t you at least finish analyzing the evidence before calling us, Inspector Semangelof?”

This case was being handled quite haphazardly. It seemed like they were trying to get a confession first and then fit all the evidence to the suspect, trying to find out by just intimidation without anything concrete.

If all law enforcement had proceeded sensibly, Paulina would have been a vagrant. She knew this, so she kept exposing the nonsensical parts.

Inspector Semangelof showed some satisfaction with her words. If he could keep the suspect until the evidence analysis was complete, he could make up for being backed into a corner by handling the case so haphazardly.

“Well, since you were caught in the act… you’ll have to stay in the holding cell until the evidence verification is complete. After that, once we properly complete the statement, you might be able to go home.”

It was a moment when law enforcement, after several risks of derailment, finally got back on the right track. Inspector Semangelof called the angel officers to send the assailant to the holding cell.

Instead of venting his frustration, Inspector Semangelof decided to cool his head and wait for the evidence analysis. He didn’t come to hate the detective who had helped him reach even a clumsy conclusion. It was a gain in its own way.

The lawyer returned to Rose, and the detective approached Inspector Semangelof. He spoke sharply, as if warning, but at least he was willing to talk to the detective.

“Next time, manage your journalist connections better. Damn, getting stuck with such a difficult woman. By the way, did your client ever mention anything about supporting a strike? You’re in a position to serve as a solid witness.”

“I’ve never heard about a strike. And even if he had, he probably wouldn’t have told me. This was a man who was ashamed to the point of wanting to die for hiring a detective known for union busting. Why would he tell such a detective that he was plotting a strike?”

Inspector Semangelof nodded briefly. It was a reasonable explanation. If they just cut off the latter part, they could make the assailant guilty when there was no evidence. That’s what they had to do.

“If you don’t know anything, that’s fine. I have your contact information, so you can go. Ah, check your mailbox regularly as we might need to call you as a witness again. That should be enough.”

The detective left without saying goodbye to the reporter. There was no need to show they were unnecessarily close. It was better if she remained nothing more or less than a journalist connection for now.

Back at his office, the detective immediately picked up the phone. He leisurely dialed the number on the business card he had received last time to call the gnoll branch manager. However, he heard an unexpectedly ordinary voice.

“Yes, good morning. Lucania Clothing Raw Materials Trading Company. How may I help you?”

Is it not a front but an actual company they’re running? The detective let out a short laugh and immediately readjusted his attitude.

“I’d like to speak with the president… She’ll know right away if you tell her Leone called. Thanks.”

“Please hold for a moment. Just a moment…”

After hearing the distinctive sound of footsteps on high-quality wooden flooring, the gnoll’s voice came through the phone line. It was the voice of the very same gnoll he had met before.

“Leone! It’s been too long, my friend. What brings you to call? It’s too early in the morning for business! Ah, if you want to exchange favors with me, I welcome it. There’s hardly a better investment than creating a debt with a talent like you.”

She spoke as if addressing an old friend. The secretary probably didn’t know that woman was a mafia member. Her ability to hide herself was impressive enough to create a sense of kinship.

It wasn’t something to be overly concerned about. The detective went straight to the point without even a word of pleasantry. Business needed to be handled promptly. It had to be done during the time the lawyer had barely managed to secure.

“I heard gnolls tried to work at the Smith Chemical Factory that makes rat poison but failed.”

She acknowledged that fact without any hesitation. The detective let out a laugh of disbelief at her overly candid admission, but her voice also seemed to be testing him.

Her manner of speech was uncharacteristically refined, suggesting she was still taking the call in front of her secretary, but he decided not to point it out.

“That’s right. The union leader was so perfectly upright and strong. Hey, I thought that was the model of a dwarf. Has something… happened?”

“Did you fail, or did you put it on hold? It’s not just something; a terribly big mess has come up that I need to deal with personally.”

After a brief sound of admiration, characteristic of gnolls’ animal-like noises, she answered. She whispered as if this wasn’t a conversation to have in front of a secretary.

“That’s the kind of talk we should have in person, my friend. We can’t handle everything over the phone. Let’s meet for lunch at a nice restaurant. I don’t like meat that reeks, so not an Italian restaurant… Ah, coffee would be better. That cafe you frequent… Cafe Caligula, was it? Let’s meet there at 12.”

He wasn’t particularly pleased with how she displayed her thorough background check on him like a dog expecting praise, but… among the informants the detective could use right now, there was no one better than her.