LRAB Chapter 198 The Ghost Behind the Telephone
Chapter 198 The Ghost Behind the Telephone
Chapter 208 The Ghost Behind the Telephone
This is a tricky case.
In the detective agency late at night, Bilan pressed her forehead with her interlaced fingers, her heart heavier than ever before.
The reason this case is considered difficult is neither because the information in the case is confusing and hard to understand, nor because the mystery is deep and dark and untouchable.
In fact, after leaving the client's house, the female detective launched an investigation with lightning speed, achieving a breakthrough within an hour.
No matter what kind of world we live in, the relationships between people are always closer than most people imagine—Victor Hugo once said when showing off his useless miscellaneous knowledge that a sociologist had proposed a theory called "six degrees of separation".
The theory states that even the most reclusive person can still find at least twenty-five acquaintances they can reach. If these acquaintances introduce even more people, twenty-five to the power of seven equals a staggering sixty-one billion, which could barely cover most of the Earth's population.
This means that any two strangers on Earth, regardless of their physical distance or social status, can be connected through a maximum of six introductions. Moreover, for most people in the world, the number of relevant contacts they can reach is far more than twenty-five.
This is completely useless knowledge, and there is no loss in not knowing it in your entire life.
However, as Azure was conducting her investigation, the boring knowledge imparted by the detective in the white coat would inexplicably pop into her mind, giving her a sense of "oh, that makes sense".
The investigation of a detective is basically this: through acquaintances, find key witnesses, ask them reasonable questions, and then judge whether their statements are false based on the known information.
If a detective goes through the entire process of this operation, he can basically see the true nature of most cases.
Azur Lane used the same approach in this commissioned investigation.
Before leaving the apartment on the thirtieth floor, she obtained the preschool teacher's phone number from the boy's parents. After getting the number, she pretended to be a relative of the boy and made up a reason to get Sachiko's mother's contact information from the teacher—in this way, through only two layers of introductions, Azure got the opportunity to speak directly with a key witness.
Despite the approaching night, the detective, who had accepted the case without authorization, made the call without the slightest hesitation.
Women receiving unknown phone calls late at night would instinctively feel wary and feel compelled to identify themselves immediately. The close relationship between the little boy and Sachiko in preschool could be used as a starting point for further questioning.
Just as Azure was weaving lies in her mind, a voice came from the other end of the receiver...
A man's voice.
"Hello, may I ask who you are?"
Sometimes things like that happen. Azure wasn't surprised at all.
.
As Detective Hugo once said in the power plant incident, it would be unwise to confront the parties involved before gathering most of the information.
The saying goes, "Those involved are often confused." If you only approach a case from a single perspective, even the most skilled investigator can easily be led astray by the information that first surfaces.
Although Azure accepted the request from the boy without hesitation, it didn't mean she fully accepted Sachiko's speculation about her current situation.
Sachiko disappears from school from time to time. She used to be able to see both of her parents at the same time at home, but now she can only contact one of them. Can this strange reality really be explained by time travel?
Does parallel universe really exist? Leaving aside such profound questions, the little girl's ability to repeatedly jump between two universes is truly perplexing.
Based on what the girl observed at home, it can be seen that, due to that magical constitution, Sachiko can freely switch between two time-spaces depending on her interactions with her parents.
However, if we accept this setting entirely, an obvious contradiction arises—when Sachiko was in preschool, she didn't have her parents by her side, so what caused her to disappear from time to time and travel to another dimension?
Even if we use the excuse that Sachiko's body cannot be completely controlled to explain this contradiction, the same contradiction will emerge as the reasoning progresses—if she can uncontrollably disappear at school, then why can she freely jump between two time periods at home without missing a single word of her parents' conversation?
Even assuming Sachiko's physical condition is sometimes stable and sometimes uncontrollable, why did she only experience the unusual feeling of not being able to see both her parents at the same time at home when the two worlds began to gradually separate, instead of showing signs of prolonged disappearances at school? If such a serious disappearance had occurred, no matter how bad Sachiko's reputation was at school, the school and teachers would not have ignored it.
The intricate world the little girl constructed for herself was delicate and crystalline, like mist rising from ice, but it didn't make sense logically.
.
The phone was answered by someone who wasn't the owner, but this level of change wasn't enough to shake the agent detective's composure.
“Aren’t you Mrs. Kuribayashi? Ah, I see. You must be her husband, Mr. Kuribayashi, the lead performer of supernatural acts at the White Tree Hole Circus.”
After a moment's hesitation, Azure asked the man directly.
Before making the call, she had already contacted Ms. Officer Jenny in Feiyun City and learned the most important information about the whole incident.
Sachiko discovered her condition a year ago, when Officer Jenny was a key member of the Flying Cloud City Police Department's Security Division—she couldn't possibly be unaware of the massive Pokémon rampage that resulted in the death of one of Sachiko's parents.
"Oh, it's that incident at the circus, isn't it?"
Officer Jenny, who was working late at the police station, had a chance to take a break and chat on the phone. She was very happy and started talking to Azure. Azure heard her apologizing to her colleagues and then walking briskly away from the office.
"I have a very strong impression of that super circus called 'White Tree Hole,' right? They brought in a giant Alolan Exeggutor for their show, but something went wrong midway through. The flames spewed by the Fire-type Pokémon startled Exeggutor, which was backstage preparing to go on stage. It panicked and ran around wildly, its long neck waving and injuring nearby performers. The audience panicked too. Oh dear, if we hadn't arrived in time to evacuate the crowd, there would have been a stampede... Sigh, I really miss my job in the security department."
Were there any casualties at the time? Were a couple surnamed Kuribayashi among the victims?
Azure interrupted the sigh of the policewoman, now known as the detective of the Criminal Investigation Department, and continued to press her for answers without any politeness.
"No one was killed!"
Officer Jenny's voice came through the other end of the phone, firmly denying it.
"That was a false report by the local news media, a false report. In the entire circus, only one acrobat, who performs high jumps, injured his leg in an accident. No one died at all. It was a fabrication by unscrupulous news media, and we've been troubled by it for a long time!"
It's only natural—although this happened a year ago, the Unova media, after Team Plasma's meticulous cultivation, had long become a stronghold of extreme Pokémon protectionism. When an accident occurred in a circus that controlled Pokémon performances for profit, it goes without saying how the writers in various media outlets would kick them while they were down.
"So, Miss Officer Jenny, do you remember the name I just mentioned?"
The news the little girl saw on TV turned out to be a misreport by United Media; no one had actually died at the circus. Hearing this news, which was enough to overturn everything, Azure suddenly realized… so that's how it was.
"Hmm, the couple named Kuribayashi..."
Officer Jenny only hesitated for a few seconds before replying immediately, "I remember, I remember. It's a family consisting of a psychic and a superhuman. They're quite popular in the White Tree Hollow Circus. I even saw them perform recently. Both of their superpowers are exceptional. In the past, there were even rumors that they were about to leave the group and go solo. However, after the riot, it seems they no longer have such plans."
It turned out to be the case.
With that, Azure finished piecing together the last piece of the puzzle and made up her mind to call Sachiko's house.
.
"I am a private investigator hired by the Feiyun City Police Department. I am conducting follow-up investigations on past security cases. To be honest, it's just a routine questionnaire survey. If it doesn't take up your time, could you answer a few questions for us?"
Azure asked in a deliberately casual tone, "If the maximum score is ten, how would you rate the police's performance in the circus incident a year ago?"
The United States police would naturally not commission detectives to conduct opinion polls in the middle of the night, but as long as they concocted a complete and convincing process, they could lower the guard of people who were not familiar with government affairs—many criminals who run telephone scams do the same thing, but Azure is doing a good deed now.
The man fell silent, and after a long while, he spoke in a low, dry voice—
"Miss, are you a professional detective hired by the Feiyun City Police Department?"
"Yes," Azure lied without batting an eye.
“Detective, I have a matter that is unrelated to the incident a year ago that I would like to consult about… No, saying it is unrelated is not quite right. In short, we have encountered a problem here that we cannot solve on our own, and I hope that I can entrust you with the task of solving the case.”
"Oh, what kind of incident was it?"
The man fell into an even longer silence—
"My daughter, she seems to be acting strange lately..." He stopped mid-sentence, hesitating.
"Understood. I will discuss the matter with you in detail later. But for now, please complete this questionnaire first—how has the police performed in serving the public? Have they adhered to the principles of timeliness, efficiency, and approachability in maintaining public order?"
Over the phone, Bilan spoke kindly with a blank expression.
As Victor Hugo said, if you're going to act, you have to go all the way.