Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 153 The Shadow in My Memory
"It looks like the evidence storage manager is going to have his salary docked."

Milo stood up, clutching the ring.

“At least they didn’t sell these bronze items for money.” Old Theon glanced at the bronze ring in Milo’s hand and shrugged. “I don’t see how this thing has much to do with the case.”

"Who knows."

Milo neither confirmed nor denied it.

He looked around the evidence storage room, but the eerie shadow did not reappear in his field of vision.

“Listen, you’re just repeating everything I’ve investigated. We can do this during the daytime, there’s no need to do it here…” Old Theon glanced at his watch: “It’s almost four in the morning, which is very unfriendly to an old man like me.”

"Why don't you go back and rest first?"

Milo walked out of the evidence vault with the ring in his hand.

Old Theon shook his head, left the evidence vault, and locked the door behind him.

The two of them strolled leisurely toward the floor where the office was located.

Throughout the journey, Milo examined the bronze ring in his hand by the dim light of a kerosene lamp.

“You said that Ethan Field bought the Finich manuscript from the black market, so why didn’t you start your investigation from the black market? For example, if you had found out who sold the manuscript fragments, you might have been able to find out what that so-called ritual was all about.”

The two returned to the office, where old Theon lit the few remaining candles, slumped into his seat, and sneered:

“Didn’t Nero tell you what the black market is? At the very least, our dear Chief Inspector should have talked to you about it, right? She was born in a colony, she knows that kind of place all too well.”

Milo shook his head blankly:

"You mean the black market isn't inland?"

“How could it be set up inland? Do you think law enforcement officers are just sitting around doing nothing?” Old Theon sighed, probably feeling helpless about Milo’s lack of extracurricular knowledge. He tried to save his breath and simply stated, “You know that the black market belongs to the Solomon gang. So what place can the Solomon control with their own hands? The colonies. Those remote overseas islands were conquered by these bandits themselves, and now they are their stronghold.”

“But no matter what, it’s still part of the country’s territory, right? Can’t we investigate?” Milo placed the ring on the table and spun it around.

"Do you know that Karl wasn't the first enforcer Nero sent to infiltrate the Solomon gang as an undercover agent?" Old Theon asked, puffing on his cigarette, glancing back at Milo with a nonchalant air.

Milo shrugged, signaling old Theon to continue.

"Then you probably don't know how the Solomons treated their undercover agents in those overseas colonies." Old Theon raised his hand and took the half-smoked cigarette from his mouth, looking at the faint red glow on the cigarette butt with a complicated expression:

“They would tie the traitor to a chair, lay the chair back, then make a cut around the man’s face, tearing off his entire face. They would then hang a mirror in front of him so he could admire his own appearance. Next, they would cut off his ears, fingers, and genitals, stuffing these things into his mouth until he bled to death or choked to death… So most of the time, being shot was the most merciful way to die.”

When old Theon finished speaking, he crushed the cigarette butt in his hand with his fingers, as if the rough skin on his fingertips felt no pain at all.

"This is the first time I've heard you tell your story," Milo muttered.

“No, that’s someone else’s story. I just happened to see it.” Old Theon flicked the ash off his cigarette, his tone relaxed, as if he were talking about something trivial.

“Okay.” Milo shrugged.

He had to admit that he had taken things too for granted.

Although Nanwei City is already considered a rather chaotic city, compared to the colony described by old Theon, it can be considered a peaceful area with harmonious neighbors.

"I need to go to the kitchen to see if there's anything to eat. People get hungry most easily in the middle of the night." Old Theon rubbed his belly, got up and walked out. "Do you need me to bring you anything?"

"No thanks."

Milo shook his head.

After hearing old Theon's vivid description, no normal person would have any appetite. He lay on the table, staring at the bronze ring in front of him.

"So why did you help me find this thing...?"

A shadowy figure.

Milo has seen him many times.

However, when they were in the evidence vault just now, old Theon clearly didn't notice anything unusual; he didn't react at all.

Logically speaking, this guy should be even more alert than Milo; there's no way he wouldn't have seen a shadow scurrying past in the corner.

So, can we interpret this as meaning that only Milo could see the shadow?

Milo rubbed his temples.

"Could what Joey said be true?"

He recalled the words of Joey Smith, the current president of the Gus Society, who said that he often saw Maggie's shadow, and that the shadow had even saved his life when he went on an adventure.

At first, Milo just took it as the ramblings of a delirious, madman.

But upon closer reflection...

The last time Milo couldn't find his drawer key, a dark shadow slid across the desk leg in the office, and the key fell to the floor.

This time, if it weren't for the shadowy figure, Milo wouldn't have been able to find the overlooked bronze ring in the corner of that huge box of evidence.

"Is my shadow helping me?"

Milo frowned, and even he himself found it absurd when he muttered those words to himself.

Milo even began to wonder if this was another kind of hallucination completely unrelated to reality, just like when he had lost himself in the memories of the dead before.

That would make more sense; otherwise, it's impossible to explain why old Theon couldn't see those shadows.

But the Red Witch made it clear that Milo's aftereffects had been cured and he should not experience new hallucinations.

"Think again, what other clues are there..."

Milo crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, lost in thought.

At that moment, the cold wind from outside the office window seeped through the cracks, tugging at the curtains like an invisible hand.

As Milo looked at the familiar scene before him, he suddenly recalled an experience from the Robben serial murders.

On that occasion, he was also in a room with a similar layout to this office.

At that time, Daisy had just had her eyes gouged out by Robben right under their noses. After taking Daisy to the hospital, the two returned to the law enforcement office to gather people to track down the real culprit.

At that time, Milo suspected that the killer was still hiding in the law enforcement office, so after Rebecca led her men out, he found an office to hide in.

Through the window, Milo quietly observed everything happening in the courtyard in front of the law enforcement building. He was quite certain that if the murderer was still inside the law enforcement office, he would definitely start looking for a way to escape after the main force left.

then.

Milo then saw a dark figure glide across the yard...

(End of this chapter)