Chapter 335

Chapter 294: Inference

“It’s always reassuring to see your confidence, Detective. It’s the most attractive thing about you. I’m truly glad to have hired you.”

“Thank you for the compliment. Let’s save this kind of talk until after we’ve resolved the current situation. The most pressing matter now is to find that person hiding in the shadows and causing trouble for us.”

Ed said this, and after hearing Ed’s words, Adelle’s expression turned serious again. She brushed off the dust from her clothes and spoke to Ed.

“From your appearance, Detective, you must have some leads now.”

“More or less. But to make any real progress, we need more information. Miss Adelle, I remember you once mentioned that the activation of the Desire Dancer ability requires perceiving the target. Otherwise, it can only be released indiscriminately. So, could you please explain what this perception is like? Does it require seeing the target directly?”

Ed asked Adelle, who quickly responded.

“For the Desire Dancer, sight is the best way to perceive. Other senses such as smell or hearing can only roughly confirm a direction—the direction where the scent or sound comes from—but cannot pinpoint the exact location immediately. Sight is the best method to determine a precise position.”

Adelle replied, and Ed frowned slightly as he spoke.

“So… at the Charred Wood Intersection, we, the An Yin Bureau, and even those ordinary passersby might have been within the line of sight of the mastermind. Even… he might have been present on the scene himself?”

“We were definitely within his field of vision at that time, but he may not have been there personally. First, it’s unsafe, and second, if he was controlling my teacher to use abilities, he would certainly have been near my imprisoned teacher. Therefore, it’s more likely that the meat puppet providing the view was there, wearing an extraordinary item from ‘Shadow’ to block my spiritual perception.”

Adelle explained, knowing many of the Wolf bl**d Association’s methods.

Listening to Adelle, Ed nodded.

“Hmm… indeed, this possibility is greater. When the Hunter Captain raised the wind and sand, the affected civilians were instantly relieved, which suggests that the meat puppet’s view at the Charred Wood Intersection was obstructed, leading to the loss of the target.”

Dorothy thought, recalling that she hadn’t seen anyone acting like a zombie puppet at the intersection. Thus, the culprit might have been hiding upstairs in one of the buildings, observing from outside.

“But there’s another issue. Even if he was monitoring the Charred Wood Intersection, how did he know we had a problem? Those Black Dogs were in plainclothes; how did he recognize them?”

At this point, Adelle stroked her chin, puzzled.

The “Shadow” in Dorothy’s Veil Ring was intact, indicating no one was using “Lamp” to forcibly search for Extraordinary Beings. It was highly likely that all the Hunters were “Shadows.” With plenty of “Shadow” Extraordinary Beings, identifying them through abilities would be much harder.

So, how did the mastermind confirm Adelle and Edmund’s identities? Could it be that both the Scarlet Heart and the An Yin Bureau had their spies? This operation by Adelle was highly confidential, known only to Ed or Dorothy.

Hearing Adelle’s question, Dorothy fell into deep thought. The Ed controlled by her also entered a thinking state. After a moment, Dorothy allowed Ed to slowly speak, uttering a single word.

“Policeman…”

“What?”

“The police station in Coal Ash District. When we came here to investigate, our first step was to go to the police station to gather crime records from the past few days. If we thought of this, the Hunters would have too, and so would the mastermind.”

With his hands behind his back, Ed muttered, and Adelle immediately understood his meaning.

“So, Detective, you mean… the mastermind anticipated that we and the An Yin Bureau would go to the police station to check the crime records. He planted a spy there who reports to him whenever someone checks recent records. Through this spy, he confirmed our and the Black Dogs’ identities?”

“Exactly… Moreover, once all the crime records are marked on the map, they all lead to one place—the Charred Wood Intersection. Therefore, the mastermind knew we and the Hunters would meet at the Charred Wood Intersection. I think he originally planned for us to ‘accidentally’ meet in that burned-down building… But when I noticed the Hunters’ arrival and delayed, he saw that we wouldn’t meet and resorted to his previous scheme… Such a meticulously planned scheme…”

Ed remarked, and Adelle smiled slightly beside him.

“But now they’ve shown their hand. Since there’s a spy in the Coal Ash District police station, we can start from there.”

Adelle said, and Dorothy and Ed nodded together.

…

The storm had just subsided, and the dust was slowly settling over Coal Ash District. Passersby were discussing the strange winds.

Near the Coal Ash District police station, in a teahouse, Adelle and Ed sat facing each other, looking out the window at the police station building.

“I once sent a small meat puppet to scout inside… I didn’t find anyone resembling a meat puppet. Small meat puppets can’t wear ‘Shadow’ items to block your spiritual perception, so the spy in the police station must be a living person, probably one of the officers.”

Sipping tea, Ed looked out at the police station and continued.

“I can send a small meat puppet to monitor, but I can’t watch everyone simultaneously. And I can’t predict when the spy will contact their superior, so this surveillance work might take a long time. We’ll need patience…”

Ed murmured, gazing into the distance. Adelle then spoke with a hint of regret.

“Pity, I can’t investigate in person right now. If I could, my abilities might be more useful against living people. But without seeing them… I can’t do much.”

Hearing Adelle, Dorothy was momentarily stunned, then a thought suddenly occurred to her.

‘Perhaps… I can take advantage of this opportunity…’

Thinking this, Dorothy had Ed in the distant teahouse say to Adelle,

“You want to get a view inside the police station? That can be arranged… Now, I’ll give you a Honorable Name. All you need to do is pray to that name.”