There was a strange silence on the street.
Clearly, Russell's words were too abrupt or to be precise it was something none of the other three saw coming.
Robert's face became serious as he cautioned, "You brat! Is the Mayor someone you can openly comment about? Don't you understand that disaster can come from your mouth?"
"I am not mentioning him out of spite or anything! There really is a chance that the culprit might have some relation with him. Wait, wait! Hear me out first. Lucia, do you remember that landlord mentioning how Luka had food delivered to him often?"
"Yeah, he did say that."
Lucia nodded in confirmation. It wasn't long they had conversed so she surely wouldn't forget about such details. Given her Extraordinary-grade Intellect it was instead quite difficult to deliberately forget something.
"He was an arcane mage so he would naturally not eat mundane food. So, the only place that had food delivery services for magical cuisine in our small town is Bright Light Inn! As you all know, dishes in that place were fairly expensive and not to mention the added charge for the delivery."
"Luka was a migrant who came to this town around four months ago. His external condition clearly suggests that his financial capability couldn't withstand such consumption. So the question comes where did he get so much money from?"
"Wait a second! First of all, we shouldn't completely dictate that his financial capability was poor just because his outward condition gives off that impression. Maybe he had some savings or made some small sum unbeknownst to others and after coming to this town he consumed recklessly."
"Secondly, what does that have to do with your assumption that the culprit is related to the Mayor? Just for eating expensive food? It has no connection whatsoever."
Allison interrupted him and asked some sharp questions that pointed at the flaws of his deduction.
Russell gave a slight smile as he answered, "Oh? Then let me ask you, the place where he got a job in this town, Pegasus Wings Escort Agency. Do you know the terms to become a full-time employee over there?"
"Ah, no… But what does that have to—"
"Heh! You need to work for half a year as an intern doing all sorts of grunt work. The wages given are only about fifty or sixty units while the working hours are as long as twelve to fourteen hours a day."
"If we analyze the landlord's words, Luka's frequent daytime presence at the residence clearly doesn't match with someone who should be doing grunt work at that time. And, before you say anything about where's the relation with him, I will say it upfront."
"The boss of that escort agency is the only half-brother of our very respected Mayor!"
Both of the sisters widened their eyes slightly but before they could say anything Robert pessimistically said out of nowhere,
"So what? Just this amount of suspicion won't allow us to investigate someone of their caliber."
"Though our police department has many rights and special permissions to act when it comes to maintaining the internal security of the kingdom, it also depends on what status the person in opposition holds."
"Someone with familial relation to the head of the civil administration in this town can't be rashly implicated in our criminal investigation procedures without any irrefutable suspicions or sufficient evidence on our hands. Otherwise…"
He only shook his head, not continuing the rest of his words but it didn't take a genius to guess that he was talking about the bitter consequences one had to suffer afterwards.
A stain in someone's political career, no matter how small or how indirect it may appear at present could very well let others give a handle to obstruct themselves in the future.
This situation was extremely rampant in the civil administration sector of the kingdom. When superiors in the prefecture were considering the matters of your promotion or raise they would look at your performance evaluation report and also the public approval ratings based on multiple factors with reputation included.
At that time, any insignificant stains might really become the deciding factor that blocks one's upward momentum permanently. That's why, it was an important rule within the law enforcement protocol to not involve people of high status rashly without irrefutable suspicion or sufficient evidence on hand.
On another note, the police department could not investigate matters related to the aristocracy and military. Their reach is only upto the civil administration and local population of commoner status. Anything outside of this boundary could only be reported to the King's Judge.
If the head of local judiciary grants permission then the other remaining pavilion of the Department of Royal Observatory would take charge of the matter to enact law and order by mobilizing the entirety of the police department and Flowing Tide Pavilion within that province.
Though the military has their own internal reward and punishment system, during special circumstances this pavilion revokes all existing authority they might have had. This also applied to the aristocratic houses within the kingdom.
Of course, the current situation was nowhere near that serious.
Russell naturally was aware of this so he provided the nailing evidence, "We do have an irrefutable suspicion on our hands! It comes from the information we just confirmed with the military garrison about Luka's neighbor. When he exited the town last month he hired that escort agency with a group of people to split the fee."
"But when he came back he also came with another batch of returning escort team from the same agency! He could have very well hired a local business in that town but no! Here's my guess as to what might have happened."
"The day he was about to leave he 'coincidentally' saw that escort team so out of trust from a familiar agency he had already hired once his mind naturally leaned towards going back with them instead of trying his luck with an unfamiliar local agency."
"We must not forget the imposter. Maybe the Pegasus Wings Escort Agency was keeping an eye on him and to avoid any variables for whatever schemes they had in their belly his departure and return was kept to be under their control."
"Of course, this is purely guesswork from my side but hey, we need to question everything when solving cases, no?"
He winked at the three of them, his expression very cocky. The three of them however didn't have the mind to notice this as they all were recovering from the shock they just experienced.
Indeed!
They had just read the information regarding that neighbor's itinerary but they actually overlooked this one consistent name that kept appearing in front of their eyes.
Pegasus Wings Escort Agency!
Lucia and Allison in particular had their faces go pale and eyes slightly vacant. It was a huge blow to them.
They were geniuses meticulously nurtured by the pavilion. With clairvoyance magic as their forte shouldn't they be smart enough to notice this point far earlier than a Patrolman who didn't have their conditions?
Seeing their ashen faces, Russell panicked for a second as he said not good.
He belatedly realized that he had shown off a bit too much and might get resented by these two so he hurriedly salvaged the situation, "It's completely reasonable for you two not to notice this. Wait a second! Don't glare at me like that!"
"I am not saying that you're not smart enough or anything! This is only your first case and on the other hand I had helped my late mentor quite a few times on the field so my practical experience though short is actually more than you sisters who had been busy increasing your arcana attainment till yesterday."
"That's why I am saying! It's perfectly fine not to have noticed this point given your experience. I did far worse than you two."
"The fact that you knew all the questions that must be asked and where to go and who to find if you needed something was already very impressive as I was at that time running around like a headless chicken! Hehehe!"
Perhaps his intention to encourage the twins were sincere enough, they no longer glared at him with red eyes verging on the brink of tears. Robert, on the other hand, gave him a complicated look mixed with three parts of shock and seven parts of admiration.
He was now thoroughly convinced by this young man!
"Then, I will contact the Chief Constable first?"
He looked at the two sisters who nodded in agreement. Since they had an irrefutable suspicion they naturally had to inform the higher-up. Excluding the reason that this was part of the protocol, the arcana realm of that half-brother of Mayor was as high as Four Symbols Adept Mage.
If things went poorly and conflict arose then he probably wouldn't be able to ensure the safety of the two geniuses… and also of this brat!
So, the greater reason for contacting the Chief Constable was to have an officer with adequate realm replace him and go with them to continue the subsequent investigation.
It seems only someone of the Valiant Mage realm could ensure stability and safety regardless of what variable was to appear from this matter.
Patrol Officer Robert took out a parchment scroll made of glittering stardust from his sleeve pocket and unfurled it. He took out an equally matching quill pen to initiate contact with the chief.
This was a magical item for local communication inside the field array. It can not only send text messages but also has a voice calling function.
It was a pity that outside the field array this magical item becomes ineffective due to the special geomagnetic influence that's ubiquitous in Wismar. Only through the isolation granted by the field array could local communication be achieved.
This was also why even having developed for over eighteen thousand years communication between different settlements was predominantly based on exchanging letters.
While prefectural cities and above had teleportation arrays to facilitate faster speed in communication and transportation, lesser settlements however remained quite backward in this matter due to ether quality and quantity prerequisite that the special ley lines underground couldn't fulfill.
Back at the police headquarters.
Walter was communicating with Major Ryan Wilson with his Starlight Scroll. Unfortunately, Ryan had failed to keep the assassin and now all of their tracks had been lost. Of course, he had severely injured that crook during the chase.
Ironically, Walter also felt the same unease and discomfort as Russell did after hearing about the loose end at that time. Fate is truly mischievous.
Just as he was lamenting, he received a notification about a new text message. He used the Stellar Quill to open Robert's lengthy text containing details regarding the trio's finding, especially Russell's brilliant performance which undoubtedly surprised him somewhat.
He only learned from his late friend about his remarkable talent. But when he heard details from his subordinate now actually made him feel a bit unexpected. Though he knew beforehand but as they all say seeing is believing!
He wasn't present in person to witness it but through Robert's report he could naturally imagine the scene of his exceptional talent shocking the three of them.
"Could this brat actually be suitable for the Flowing Tide Pavilion?"
Walter's expression couldn't help but change his expression, his eyes deep in thought.
After contemplating for a few seconds he put it at the back of his head. It's a matter for the future that needs deep consideration, as for now it was better to handle the urgent affairs first.
He was indeed unsettled to find the suspicion that led to such a troublesome fellow. At present he had no thought of going over there. Unlike the previous two times when he personally made a move, the recent incident however had undoubtedly traumatized him.
He also noticed his abnormal state of mind which couldn't be neglected for long lest it becomes a stumbling block for his breakthrough to the next major realm.
Letting one's breakthrough rate deteriorate so easily would be utter folly.