Mystery Paradise: Wishing Power Demon

Chapter 45: Chapter 44 Clues

Chapter 45 -44 Clues

“Do you remember, there was such a woman at the time?” Shandela mused, “She hoped we could help find a reporter from the Jeddy Brothers newspaper, and her name seemed to be Judy.”

“You have a good memory,” Woody exclaimed, “I only noticed this person when I was accessing Kort Dane’s files. In fact, she filed reports at four police stations, claiming that the newspaper reporter disappeared while investigating a series of serial killings, and to this day, those reports have not been canceled.”

“So she really had no other choice but to come to us then…” Shandela couldn’t help but rub her forehead. She didn’t even stop to listen to the woman’s plea for help; in fact, before the woman could get close, she was pushed away by other subordinates.

“You can’t blame yourself.” Woody naturally understood his superior’s thoughts, “Our duty is to protect the safety of Magnificent Castle and Count His Excellency. It is not appropriate for the city guards to intervene in matters of public order. I just didn’t expect that the police station in the north part of the city would be so corrupt.”

Was it really unexpected… or did you simply not think about it?

A serial killer case is not a small matter; every time it occurs, it makes the front page of newspapers everywhere, and people everywhere are discussing the horror of the case.

Naturally, the city guards were no exception.

When it was long overdue and yet unsolved, it was essentially an announcement of the failure of the police system. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Yet she ignored these warnings because of the “public order contract”.

“You should go see her.”

“Who?” Woody asked, somewhat surprised, “Judy?”

“Yes, take a bouquet of flowers, as… a gesture of condolence.” After a long hesitation, Shandela still couldn’t bring herself to say ‘apologies’.

By now, Judy had finally learned of Kort Dane’s whereabouts.

But only on the list of victims in the newspaper.

That girl must be devastated.

“Alright, I’ll go do it.”

After Woody left, Shandela opened the drawer next to her desk.

Inside, lay a solitary, broken mask of red and black colors.

She held the mask in her hand, staring at its pattern as if in a trance—no matter how one looked at it, the grotesque and exaggerated human-like lines seemed synonymous with the mad style of the Heretical Cult. Yet, if it wasn’t for his sudden involvement, the north police station would probably still be continuing its bloody games.

“To combat the Heretical Cultists… we must become crazier than they are…”

Shandela repeated Ge Wei’s words subconsciously, then shook her head with a self-mocking smile.

The reason why humans can create all kinds of great achievements is precisely because of the well-organized institutions and rules—it is this power that unites billions of individuals. Without sanity, what difference would they have from monkeys scampering up trees?

The man behind the mask was no different.

Although he put an end to Kuiqi’s evil, it also led to the burning down of the great theater and numerous casualties. Even if those people were accomplices of the north police station, they did not deserve to be sentenced to death without lawful trial. No matter what purpose he had in coming to Magnificent Castle, he had caused severe harm to the order here.

She must catch him as soon as possible.

Half an hour later, Woody returned to the high tower office.

“Miss Judy was not at the newspaper, and according to the manager, she hasn’t reported in for quite some time,” he reported.

“Is that so?” This outcome was perhaps expected, “It seems the incident was too much for her to bear…”

“Maybe, but she hasn’t resigned from her job. In fact, on the third day after the theater burned down, she still wrote an article and sent it to the newspaper, though she didn’t show up in person.”

It wasn’t rare for a reporter to wander outside for a long time; as long as they could provide valuable reports regularly, the newspaper was willing to maintain employment. Shandela was slightly surprised by Judy’s resilience; she had thought the woman would be down for a long time. “Well, as long as the flowers were delivered, that’s enough.”

However, Woody spoke with a very solemn tone, “Lady Shandela, when Manager Jeddy spoke of Miss Judy, he mentioned that prior to her disappearance, she had met with a private detective.”

“A private detective?” Shandela couldn’t help but think of the list of victims in the files.

“This person was dressed in a leather trench coat, wearing a wool felt hat, around one meter eighty in height, middle-aged in appearance, with a fairly balanced physique…”

As the adjutant continued his narration, her expression gradually became more serious.

In the mansion at Wangshui Manor, in that chaotic room, the person standing opposite had worn the same attire!

And the height and size were very close as well!

The adjutant certainly realized this point, which is why he pursued the questions in such detail.

“Do you know his name?”

“The manager didn’t ask, but he must not be someone famous, because Judy couldn’t afford that price. All the bodies in the theater weren’t in that age range, so he shouldn’t be on the list; he most likely is still alive… Based on the aforementioned, I believe this discovery might provide a clue for our investigation,” Woody concluded.

Shandela, rarely seen smiling, lifted the corners of her mouth and gave her adjutant a hearty slap on the shoulder, “Well done!”

This was definitely an unexpected piece of good fortune!

What does a seeker do when all avenues of help have been exhausted to no avail? Perhaps it was for this very reason that she ultimately drew the attention of the Heretical Cult members.

“What do we do next? Issue a warrant for Miss Judy?” Woody asked. “If she really is hiding from us, we probably won’t find anything at her residence.”

“No, issuing a warrant would only alert our quarry,” Shandela immediately rejected the idea. Sidong Bradley’s contacts were a lesson from the past—everything indicated that this group was very adept at hiding themselves. “If Judy doesn’t appear for a long time, then it’s likely she’s still in contact with the Heretical Cult members. Once we issue a warrant for her, those people will surely catch wind of it. Therefore, we must search for Judy covertly and use her to pinpoint the Heretical Cult members’ location!”

“But Magnificent Castle is so vast, how can we find her without a warrant?”

“Have some patience.” Shandela walked to the window and opened the shutters, allowing the howling sea breeze to fill the room—the damp and icy air helped her to think more clearly. Suddenly, an idea struck her.

“Doesn’t she occasionally send reports to the newspaper? That’s our opportunity.” Shandela turned around and instructed her adjutant, “First, arrange for a team to watch the newspaper office and nearby mailboxes day and night, and make sure the local residents don’t notice anything unusual.”

“Then, notify the managers of The Daily Mail and The Herald, invite them to Distant View Tower. I have something to discuss with them.”

…

“Welcome to Glaik Academy, sir. Would you like to borrow books, or are you here to enter documents?” An elderly man wearing a monocle smiled warmly from behind the counter.

The man he asked was a bewildered Chaoyang. Wait, shouldn’t this be something akin to a library?

He looked around again, doubting himself. Why was the lobby decorated like a luxurious hotel? The gleaming marble floor and the ubiquitous gilded decorations were testament to the fact that the developers of the building spared no expense, even the receptionist at the front desk appeared incredibly distinguished. If the old man’s collar was swapped out and he was put in a suit jacket, he could easily pass for a professor at a prestigious university.

But what he utterly failed to find were books themselves.

Shit, I’ve overestimated myself, Chaoyang thought, unable to help but curse inwardly. If only he had known it would be like this, he should’ve brought Judy with him.

After some toilsome entrepreneurship, he had finally managed to get a foothold in this world, and then a new problem presented itself to him: he knew far too little about this world, especially basic terms and knowledge. If he was ignorant, it could easily lead to misunderstandings and doubts in his interactions.

Of course, he couldn’t possibly speak of this to Dane and Judy.

So, after some indirect inquiries, he received this answer—

“If you have any questions, you can find the answer at Glaik Academy.”

“That is the center of the world.”