Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 169 Funeral
"Can I take this with me?"

Milo shook the few pages of draft paper in his hand.

“No problem, young man,” Defoe agreed.

After he returned to his desk, he seemed to remember something and said to Milo:
There's something you might not have heard from yet.

"Please say."

"After the assassination this morning, we discussed the matter with the higher-ups in your enforcement team and reached a consensus to put a definitive end to this unsolved case at the Great Library." Defoe paused, then looked at Dirac and continued, "Make preparations to arrange the funerals for the seven missing enforcement officers within three days. However, I don't think there's much to prepare, so it should be done by tomorrow, right?"

"funeral?"

Not only Milo and Theon, but even Dirac was quite surprised by this arrangement.

As is widely known, the seven officers of the Chengnan Law Enforcement Station's Criminal Investigation Team have never been declared dead because no valuable clues could be found, and their names have remained on the missing persons list.

Now a funeral is suddenly to be held, and it's even a consensus reached between law enforcement officials and the church.

This at least indicates that the higher-ups no longer intend to continue searching for the whereabouts of these seven people.

but……

why?

"What kind of joke is this?" Old Theon's eyes, which had been dazed the whole time, immediately flashed with anger.

"Who are you referring to as the higher-ups?" Milo looked up at Defoe.

Defoe was not surprised by their reaction, and calmly explained, "This decision was not made unilaterally by either party. Even the inspectors in Nanwei City were just following orders. I was simply taking this opportunity to inform you both in advance."

“Isn’t it said that burying someone in an empty grave is an insult to the gods?” Milo squinted.

"You don't need to worry about that. We can visit the families of those law enforcement officers one by one and ask them for some of the deceased's personal belongings," Dillah Shaw replied calmly.

“If you dare to bother their family, I’ll kill you.” Old Theon stared coldly at Dillah Shaw.

“Hey, it wasn’t me who lost those kids’ fathers.” Dillash raised his hands in an innocent gesture.

……

Ultimately, this conversation, which should have been amicable, ended abruptly in a very unpleasant atmosphere.

Milo still had many questions he hadn't answered, but he could sense that if they stayed in the Star Clock Tower any longer, old Theon might not be able to withstand the stimulation and would attack the two charlatans, the old man and the young man.

This guy hadn't slept for dozens of days, smoking those strange leaves the whole way. In order to avoid unnecessary trouble, Milo decided to head back.

Although many things are still unclear and there are no clear explanations or answers, the consensus reached between the church and law enforcement officials shows that both sides have been keeping an eye on this disappearance.

The sudden appearance of Solomon's assassins already says it all.

Whether it's the church or the law enforcement team, some of those in high positions are trying to hide something.

……

On the way back, Milo kept recalling Defoe's words to him—that which is eternal does not die, but in strange eternity, even death dies.

This incredibly difficult phrase seemed to possess some kind of magic, lingering in Milo's mind for a long time.

"Could it be Nero?" Milo asked old Theon, leading his horse across the church's prayer square. "They're requesting funerals for the seven of them." It was already late at night, but many believers were still walking from the high bridge to the prayer square to worship.

“It’s hard to say.” Old Theon shook his head: “The same thing was done to Maggie Green more than a year ago, and now it’s just repeating the same trick.”

“I think they are sending a signal to tell us that this matter is over,” Milo analyzed.

“A signal? More like a warning.” Old Theon chuckled.

"In other words, someone doesn't want us to keep investigating like this in isolation," Milo continued his analysis.

“Maybe.” Old Theon shook his head and climbed onto his horse, saying, “Who knows, one day there will be two empty graves in the cemetery on the outskirts of the city, with your and my names on them.”

"What you're saying is rather frightening."

Milo also mounted his horse.

The two walked through Prayer Square and across the high bridge, but when old Theon returned to the city, he did not choose the straight road leading to the law enforcement office.

“What are you planning to do…” Milo didn’t understand what the other person meant.

Old Theon, however, indicated to Milo that there was no need for him to follow:

"After thinking about it carefully, I realized that holding a funeral for them might not be a bad idea, at least for their family."

“You mean, telling their kids—your dad’s dead—is a good idea?” Milo squinted to confirm again.

“When someone has been missing for 500 days without a trace, for their family, often just one definite piece of news is enough, whether it’s good news or bad news,” old Theon said calmly.

“So…” Milo nodded thoughtfully.

“So I think I’m the best person to deliver this message, rather than some church charlatan knocking on the door.” Old Theon’s face was somewhat somber, but it was hidden by the darkness that enveloped the entire wilderness.

"You can go back to the law enforcement office first, or you can go home directly. Anyway, you don't really care about the rules for turning in firearms. Besides, I suggest you keep your gun with you for the time being, it's safer that way."

Old Theon lit another cigarette, then yanked the reins hard, urging his horse to gallop wildly across the desolate road.

……

He watched as the figure of the man and the horse completely disappeared from his sight.

Milo turned his gaze to the surrounding road and found Maggie's shadow.

"Alright, I think you need to explain your behavior just now. Don't think that just because you've become a shadow I can't deal with you. You committed a crime in front of law enforcement officers, do you understand?"

On the ground, Maggie's shadow stood there blankly, showing no sign of emotional reaction, but it wasn't that she didn't want to explain. She raised her hand and began to make a series of gestures towards Milo.

Unfortunately, apart from the head-shaking gesture, Milo couldn't glean any other information from her movements.

Moreover, Maggie became more and more excited as she gestured, but Milo became more and more confused.

This situation lasted for three minutes.

Finally, Milo made up his mind: he would immediately return to the law enforcement office to search through the files, find a deceased person who could use sign language, find his grave, and brush up on his skills...

(End of this chapter)