Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 11: Strange Case
“If you and that old lady don’t have any plans for tonight, come back to the law enforcement office with me now.”

Rebecca said calmly.

Milo glanced at Evelyn behind the bar and shrugged at Rebecca: "Then I'll leave it to you to arrange."

"So straightforward? Not even mentioning any conditions?" Rebecca raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised that Milo agreed to cooperate so readily.

"What I want, you might not be able to give me."

Milo shrugged: "So, are you leaving or not?"

"Mount."

Rebecca nodded.

"Wait, there's only one horse again?"

And so, this scene unfolded again in Nanwei City: a female law enforcement officer rode a fine horse, with a young man sitting behind her. His posture was very awkward, and he didn't know where to put his hands or where to grab them...

……

At the main entrance of the law enforcement office.

Milo saw the old, madwoman in the red robe once again.

He had seen the madwoman several times during the months he was on duty in the 23rd parish of Nanwei City.

There aren't many homeless people in the city, but they're not entirely nonexistent. As for people like the crazy woman, as long as they don't do anything to harm other residents, the city guards won't bother with them.

No one knows when or where this homeless woman with a madness appeared, and of course, no one will notice her when she freezes or dies of illness in a corner of the city.

The madwoman in the red robe would find a clean spot on the street, spread out a rag, kneel down and pray, chanting obscure and incomprehensible prayers.

Upon seeing Milo and Rebecca appear, she suddenly raised her voice, her hoarse voice sending chills down your spine as it sounded like a wire sawing through wood. She pointed at Milo and Rebecca with her withered, crooked fingers:

"Misfortune, misfortune that befalls you... you will all die, you will all die..."

……

"Has she always been this rude?"

Milo made a joke.

He had never been interested in such superstitious things, so whether the madwoman said he was about to die or that he was about to become rich, he wouldn't take it too seriously.

"I heard she can tell fortunes. If you're interested, you can go and chat with her privately after you're done with your work."

Rebecca had no intention of chatting. After handing the horse over to the guard at the law enforcement office, she went straight into the hall.

The Enforcement Office was far less bustling than Milo had seen before. On the day Daisy's carriage had its accident, all the officers in the office were mobilized because Inspector Nero was present in person. Even those who were on leave for various reasons were called back to work.

Now that the most crucial case has been closed, and given that it was already late at night, the law enforcement office was empty except for the lobby and the duty room where night shift personnel were keeping watch.

Even so, Milo was still required to register with his real name when he entered the law enforcement office.

……

"Business is so bad."

Looking at the empty office area, Milo muttered a sarcastic remark under his breath.

He had a second part he dared not say aloud: "The pleasure house must be doing very well tonight."

……

The layout of the office floors inside the law enforcement office is very simple.

The ground floor is a common office area.

Starting from the second floor, there is a row of independent departments, with a straight corridor in the middle and rooms with different numbered signs on both sides.

The small dark room where Milo had previously stayed was at the very end of this corridor.

The law enforcement office building is considered one of the older buildings in the city. Both its architectural style and structural design show signs of age. The most obvious problem is the poor natural ventilation. Since everyone in each department locks their doors after get off work, the only window left in the entire corridor is in the section with the staircase. In addition, the weather in Nanwei City is always gloomy and damp, making the air in the entire law enforcement office building stuffy and of poor quality.

At one end of the corridor opposite the small dark room is an open-plan meeting room.

At this moment, a large pile of documents and files were stacked on the round table in the conference room, some of which even smelled musty. Heaven knows where Rebecca found these things.

"List of Cases with No Results During the Plague Period", "Research Report on Blood Therapy", "Recovery Record Book", "List of People Cured by Blood Therapy at the Golden Tree Church"...

These documents, whose very names evoke images of germs, were piled high on a round table.

"Then what about this one you gave me...?"

Milo pulled out the document Rebecca had given him earlier from the inside pocket of his coat.

“The files on the previous murder cases,” Rebecca replied. “The coachman who died had been working at the law enforcement office for almost ten years. I’ve thoroughly investigated his background recently. Apart from his fondness for drinking, the old man had no other problems. He couldn’t possibly be the murderer.”

"So you're saying he's one of the victims, and you're still labeling him a criminal?" Milo sneered.

“Nero has his pressures. I told him everything about the valley shelter, but there's nothing I can do. If this case isn't resolved soon, we might have to get a new inspector.” Rebecca shook her head.
"The church has its own people at every level here. They have devout followers in the House of Commons and even among the hereditary nobles in the House of Lords. If they are determined to settle the case, no one can stop them."

“So Nero sent you to find me to investigate secretly.” Milo accurately captured the key information hidden in Rebecca’s words.

Thinking to myself: Since Nero is going to promote me to the law enforcement agency, he definitely can't fall from power, at least not before I pass the test. He wants me to investigate with Rebecca... Hmm, let's investigate then.

“I can’t approach any of my colleagues in the Enforcement Bureau,” Rebecca added calmly. “The Golden Tree’s followers are all over the country, and the Enforcement Bureau is no exception. You are someone Nero approves of, and you have already proven your abilities. Most importantly… you have absolutely no reverence for the so-called gods.”

"I just thought you were complimenting me."

Milo pursed his lips.

He muttered to himself: "Of course! I'm a pure materialist youth, instilled with nine years of compulsory education."

"But if they just blatantly bring me back to the law enforcement office like this, won't the people on duty know about it?"

“I bring countless men into the law enforcement office every day,” Rebecca said, glancing at Milo.

Milo recalled the first time he was "arrested" by the other party: "I can tell."

"So where do we begin?"

He changed the subject, put his hands on his hips, and looked at the documents on the table with a headache.

Rebecca pointed to the second room from the right in the corridor behind Milo: "Start from there."

"What do you mean?" Milo asked, somewhat bewildered.

……

Led by Rebecca, he met Daisy, who was temporarily housed in an archive room.

The unfortunate child lost both her parents and almost burned to death in her own house. Having just survived, she was then kidnapped by a monster. If it weren't for Milo, she would have died twice in one day.

Such a severe ordeal left the child dazed. He sat at his desk in the archives room, his eyes glazed over, and his hands and feet trembled slightly from time to time.

"Hmm... Is it cold?"

Rebecca also noticed Daisy's unusual behavior:

"Everything was fine just now, what happened?"

She took off her trench coat and draped it over Daisy, gently touching her forehead: "Are you sick?"

You should know that the place where Daisy was kidnapped was a sick refugee camp during the Great Plague...

Milo suddenly noticed that Rebecca, the law enforcement officer who always had a cold face and spoke without any emotion, suddenly became very gentle and considerate when facing children, and even her tone of voice became soft.

Is this the radiance of motherhood?

“She’s been staying at the church these past few days. The church says it’s to give her a baptism. I only brought her back today. Since she got here, she hasn’t said a word and hasn’t been eating much. She said she wants to see the apostle that God sent to save her. It took me a while to realize that she was talking about you.” Rebecca half-squatted down, cupped Daisy’s hands in her own, and used the gesture to soothe Daisy’s emotions.

“An apostle of the gods…” Milo muttered. Then he remembered that Daisy had said something similar when he found her in the storage room.

According to Milo's judgment, Daisy's family should also be devout followers of the Golden Law Church. If he remembered correctly, he saw the painting of the golden tree hanging above the closet in the house where the crime scene was located.

Moreover, before he found Daisy in the storage room, the prayer he had heard in his dream kept echoing in his mind.

After experiencing extreme fear, people develop a strong psychological dependence on their rescuers.

In Daisy's religious education, Milo's identity was completely aligned with that of a so-called apostle of God.

At this moment, Daisy's gaze as she looked at Milo was filled with an indescribable emotion.

Just like the look in Milo's eyes when he pushed open the secret door to the storage room, filled with helplessness, fear, sorrow, piety, and even longing.

It was as if she were trapped in a swamp, slowly being swallowed by the mud, yearning for Milo to reach out and pull her out.

Daisy remained silent, biting her lip, staring intently at Milo, making him feel a chill run down his spine.

She seems to genuinely regard Milo as some kind of divine apostle.

Is this the power of religious thought?

Milo had never seen such a gaze before, especially from the eyes of a child…

In an instant, he seemed to understand why those whom the church had saved from the Great Plague had become believers in the Golden Tree.

……

...

Daisy remained silent throughout.

Rebecca had no choice but to let her rest in the archives for the time being.

After the two left the room and quietly closed the door, Rebecca wanted nothing more than to hang Milo up and beat him up:
"What's wrong with you? I asked you to come see her because I was hoping you could comfort this child. She's the only survivor of the nine murders. If there are any important clues we haven't found, they must be with this girl..."

"So you just stood there like an idiot? If you don't have any sympathy, you could at least have hugged her! She said she only wants to see you. Weren't you quite good at comforting her when you found her in the storage room that day? Why are you speechless now?"

Yes, throughout the entire time, Milo just stood there dumbfounded, not getting any closer to Daisy.

After being thoroughly scolded by Rebecca, Milo himself felt helpless:

"Uh... the main thing is... it's too weird, you know?"

In fact, he didn't know how to explain the strange feeling in his heart.

Milo slunk back to the round table, the image of Daisy's devout yet humble gaze still lingering in his mind, making him inexplicably agitated.

Suddenly remembering that Evelyn had given him the cigarette in his pocket, he immediately took it out, lit it, and took a deep drag.

"It's strange, I don't know how to say it, it's too real, and a little too twisted, don't you think?"

Milo wasn't sure if Rebecca could understand what he was trying to say.

He found it hard to accept that a being who should be his equal was begging him for something in such a humble manner, which contradicted the ideas and concepts he had been taught throughout his life.

"I think you've probably drunk too much and messed up your brain."

Rebecca shook her head coldly. She didn't understand what Milo was trying to say at all, and just thought of him as a cold-blooded and heartless bastard.

If it weren't for her own injuries, she wouldn't mind giving Milo a few punches to wake him up.

"Do you happen to have some whiskey here?"

Milo's mind was filled with some unpleasant memories, and in an instant, his thoughts returned to the state he was in when he first arrived in Nanwei City. He inexplicably wanted to drink something spicy to his throat.

"What do you say?"

Rebecca gave him a cold look.

Milo shut his mouth as well.

After that, the two fell into a long silence.

Each of them organized the files on their desks. Milo was responsible for listing all the patient shelters in Nanwei City that were on record, while Rebecca began to study the information on the blood therapy technique.

According to her initial deductions, the church's methods for ending the Great Plague might not be as glamorous as they appeared on the surface, as evidenced by the corpses locked in the valley. But what she needed to figure out now was the church's purpose in repeatedly destroying the crime scenes of the serial murders, and what the church was hiding.

For nearly ten minutes, Milo and Rebecca did not exchange a single word.

It wasn't until Milo's stomach let out a "gurgle~~".

He looked up at Rebecca:
"Surely there's something to eat?"

Rebecca's gaze remained fixed on the documents in her hands, and she responded calmly:

"The cafeteria is on the first floor of the annex building. Go there and ask."

Milo put down the documents and walked downstairs...

……

A few minutes later, he returned carrying a pot of hot milk.

“Damn it, the stoves in your kitchen are still burning, but there’s no one here. I heated up some milk myself.”

He found a cup, poured some water in it, and then started gulping it down.

Rebecca glanced at Milo, snatched the small pot, found a clean empty cup, and turned to walk into the archives where Daisy was.

"You haven't eaten in a long time, at least have some milk~"

Rebecca's gentle voice came from the room.

But the next second, Milo heard the sound of the iron pot and glass hitting the ground!
He quickly put down his cup and rushed to the archives.

"What's wrong?!"

The scene inside the room completely dispelled the last trace of drunkenness that Milo had left in his mind.

Daisy, who was perfectly fine sitting in the archives just a dozen minutes ago, is now lying in a pool of blood.

Her hands and feet were bound, and her mouth was stuffed with a file.

The most chilling thing is...

Her eye sockets were now empty; the eyes that had stared at Milo so intently not long ago had vanished.

Blood kept gushing from Daisy's eyes, soaking her entire top.

……

"Step aside!"

Rebecca scooped up Daisy, shoved Milo aside, and rushed towards the stairwell, shouting:

"Get the car ready! We'll take her to the hospital!!"

……

Milo looked at the room piled with files, the bloodstains on the floor, and the empty corridor outside, his brow furrowed.

Eyeballs, gouging out eyeballs again.

There were no windows, and no one else appeared, but... Rebecca and I were outside the door the whole time.

……

All of this eeriness sent a chill down Milo's spine.

(End of this chapter)