Possessed in a Thousand Novels

4. Detective Intrusion (2)

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-Police Si-woo: When it comes to investigation, it’s definitely me. First of all, when checking the time of death, you have to use a Hen’s ticket. What is a Hen’s ticket? …

-Hwasul Si-woo: That’s only when I check it on my own. How do you explain each proofreading factor to someone else?

-Speech Siwoo: The level of knowledge of the listener and the situation of the time must be taken into consideration.

-Police Siwoo: Then, would you like to get some profiling techniques?

-Joo Hong Si-woo: That doesn’t have much meaning in this case… I’ll give you a few detective sayings, so use them.

-Ju Hong Si-woo: Maybe you only need to use two.

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*

[Law of day and night]

3. It is low ‘human time’. Demons cannot operate in ‘human time’.

4. During the day, demons can receive the ‘demon king’s grace’ and hide in the shadows until the moon rises. Living in the shadows is not considered an ‘activity’.

5. When the moon rises, all humans who step on the shadow where the demon hides will disappear.

6. Night is ‘the time of the demons.’ Humans cannot be active during ‘demon time’.

7. The house where humans stay at night receives the ‘blessing of the goddess’ and receives effects such as non-destruction and closure until the sun rises. Living inside the home is not considered an ‘activity’.

8. When the sun rises, all demons in the house that receive the ‘Goddess’ blessing’ disappear.

*

“Detective?”

The two sheriffs looked at each other and tilted their heads.

They couldn’t understand at all why the detective was barging in here.

The three bereaved family members also asked questions curiously.

“We’ve never called a detective… ?”

“Oh, of course I do!”

Siwoo humorously raised both hands.

“But it’s a stereotype that detectives only go out when requested! A true detective goes to the crime scene! I’ve decided to call this a ‘visiting detective service’! “You have won as the first customer of my service!”

The faces of the two sheriffs were dumbfounded by the rapid fire of words.

Among them, Simon, the sheriff who claimed suicide, asked with a voice full of suspicion.

“What the hell are you doing?”

Siwoo answered calmly, as if his enthusiastic comments earlier were a lie.

“He is a model citizen of Ruzrina.”

“No, what is that-“

“And I guarantee you, I will be much better at investigating than the two idiots next to me.”

The two sheriffs were simultaneously enraged by those words, but could not bear to refute them.

Siwoo added briefly.

“Oh, and since you’re our first customer, you won’t get paid.”

Those words were the final blow.

“… Yes. Then please investigate. “Detective.”

Among the surviving family members, the victim’s wife nodded her head. Perhaps the two sheriffs’ misgivings were at stake in that decision.

Siwoo calmly looked back at the scene of the incident. The bedroom of the victim, Mr. Bruno. Cut by a knifeThe corpse’s flesh was sticking out all over the wall, creating an extremely hideous sight.

The furniture, including the bed, was damaged in various places. There were a few marks that looked like the criminal had made them, but Siwoo just ignored them. Not only was there no way to collect fingerprints, but he was not a criminal who could be found through fingerprints.

At this point, I’ve seen everything there is to see.

Siwoo returned to the living room and sat down on the chair as if it was natural. The two sheriffs who had been standing the whole time made dumb expressions.

“Now, let’s hear the opinions of the sheriffs who came and were investigating in advance. First of all, the person who claimed suicide. Why did you claim it was suicide?”

“Why did I do that-“

“Because that’s the sheriff’s job.”

Simon groaned and groaned.

However, as if he had a sense of professionalism, Simon calmly opened his mouth.

“First of all, religiously, a house means a minimal, enclosed space, so Mr. Bruno’s bedroom is a ‘house.’ And the house becomes a place where access is completely closed during the ‘demon time’. In other words, Mr. Bruno’s bedroom was a completely secret room where no one could come in or out.”

“It’s a secret room…”

“Exactly. And in the ‘demon time’, humans cannot harm other humans within the house. This is because all human actions with the intention of causing harm are fundamentally blocked. Therefore, the only one left in the crosshairs is the victim himself, Mr. Bruno.”

“How are you going to explain the signs of being mutilated?”

“It’s a side effect of Mr. Bruno failing to use Auror secretly from others… “Anyway, there is a high possibility that there was some kind of accident.”

“Hmm… “What’s the sheriff’s name?”

“It’s Simon.”

“Yes, Mr. Simon’s opinion sounds more like faith than rhetoric.”

“I know that. But there is no other way to explain it.”

“Well… “Then, let’s listen to other people’s opinions.”

Siwoo’s gaze returned to the other sheriff.

“The person who claimed murder. What is your name?”

“This is Jerome.”

“Great. Jerome. Why did you claim murder?”

“There are a lot. First of all, Mr. Bruno was not an Auror user.”

Jerome glanced at Simon and said sarcastically.

Simon, enraged by that, intervened.

“Actually, I may have been honing my Auror skills without others knowing!”

“That’s too fictitious… “It is correct to say that Mr. Bruno was an ordinary civilian.”

“This… !”

Simon tried to say something, but Siwoo stopped him, so he couldn’t continue and closed his mouth.

After calming down Simon, Siwoo gestured to Jerome. It means tell me more.

Jerome expressed his opinion.

“First of all, it is difficult to explain the traces of murder unless it was a murder. And, of course, the protection given by the Goddess is a great blessing, but because the Goddess is an extremely rational being, there are some aspects that she cannot pay attention to.”

“What is that loophole?”

“If the behavior is not intended to cause harm, it is not restricted.”

Simon, who could not stand those words, intervened again.

“Ha, there was no intention to cause harm, but you made the body like that?”

“Rather, they want to cause harm.”The body might have been made like that because there was no intention! He was desperately swinging his knife for self-protection, but when he came to his senses, he had killed Mr. Bruno… “Isn’t it possible?”

“Ha, could anyone have such a bizarre mind? You don’t intend to cause harm when you swing the knife? “You must have the feeling of cutting fabric in your hands, right?”

“But otherwise, the state of the body cannot be explained. A human being can die if he is stabbed once with a knife, so why would the body be mutilated in such a gruesome manner? “If the crime was committed by someone who hated Mr. Bruno, the goddess would have protected him because he would have had the intention to harm Mr. Bruno, and if the body was mutilated after Mr. Bruno’s death, the criminal himself would have passed up the opportunity to disguise it as a suicide, so it makes no sense.”

“So, it’s an accidental suicide! Ha, now I see that your reasoning is more fictitious than mine!”

“Okay, stop. I listened carefully to the opinions of the two sheriffs. Now, I will investigate on my own, so you two can leave.”

Siwoo pressed his temples with a tired expression. I was tired of watching the two fight, and I just wanted to quickly interrogate them and find out the culprit.

But Simon held on, crossing his arms and not leaving.

“No. I will also help with the investigation. “Because that’s the sheriff’s job.”

Is it true that even though one has a dirty temper, one still has a sense of duty?

When Simon left like that, Jerome, who was about to leave, also stayed in his seat awkwardly.

“Hmm. I will help too. If you need anything, please let me know.”

Siwoo nodded his head.

“Great. Then, I will be in the parlor, and the two sheriffs, please let Mr. Bruno’s family in one by one. “We will conduct in-depth interviews.”

And finally, he added the detective’s maxim.

“Because criminals always leave evidence behind.”

*

The first interviewee was the victim’s wife. She quietly entered the living room, closing the door behind her.

She was intimidated, as if all of this was unfamiliar to her. Well, if it wasn’t unfamiliar, it would be suspicious.

Siwoo began asking questions in a calm tone, as if nothing had happened.

“Are you the victim’s wife? What is her name?”

“Veronica.”

“Veronica. “What was Mr. Bruno’s job?”

“He was a scribe. “She was the one who wrote on the parchment.”

“A scribe…”

Siwoo listened to the conversation and wrote down key points in the chat room.

The uses of the chat room became infinite as more ideas were added.

“How was your relationship with Mr. Bruno?”

“It wasn’t very good. These days, he’s often anxious and his health isn’t very good, so we fight often. But I swear to the Goddess, he never once thought of killing him.”

Veronica’s face was filled with grief as she said that.

How much of it includes the feelings of a mother who has to make a living for herself in the future, and how much of a widow is truly saddened by the death of her husband?

Siwoo quit trying to measure it.

“Has there been anything strange about Mr. Bruno recently?”

“If there’s anything strange… ?”

“What about the health problems you mentioned, or how you behave or say something different from usual?”“It’s okay too.”

Veronica thought deeply and then added her words one by one as they came to mind.

“He’s been having a lot of headaches lately and doesn’t seem to be able to taste things well. I get nervous more often… Oh, she has been leaving the house a lot, saying she is going to meet a close friend. On the day I met my friend, my health improved a bit. Although I spent a lot of money every time I met her friend. “Even two days before he died, she had been visiting a friend during the day.”

“Have you heard anything else about that friend?”

“There is nothing in particular. All I can say is ‘the existence that still keeps me alive’…”

“Okay. “Then what did you do for two days, wife?”

“It’s always the same for me. “I did housework and took care of the kids.”

“Did anything special happen? Losing something…”

“Well… Oh, I lost an orange and a sponge the day before yesterday.”

“Hmm… “What did Bruno look like when you last saw him?”

“It looked like he was falling asleep with the bedroom door closed. But when he opened his eyes… Like this… “

Siwoo could not say more and sent Veronica away to comfort her as she wiped away her tears.

The next hitter was the victim’s son. He had a fairly sturdy physique, but his expression was calmer than expected.

His name is Marco. He spoke before Siwoo could ask anything.

“My father and mother have been fighting a lot lately. My father’s temper became more and more dirty, and my mother was very tired of him like that. But she doesn’t think her mother killed her father.”

“I was the first to see my father’s body. It was definitely time for breakfast, but I thought it was strange that they didn’t come out, so I went there… “He passed away.”

“Your father’s job? I know. “My younger brother and I often help, so I’m somewhat prepared to take over the family business.”

“Is this strange? It’s nothing special, but my father was muttering something in his studio the day before yesterday. “He seems to have lost one of the parchments he was working on.”

“Other than that, nothing in particular… “I can’t think of anything.”

Siwoo thanked Marco for his cooperation and sent him back.

The last was the victim’s daughter, Charlotte.

She looked to be about ten years old now, and her complexion had been very poor even before she came into her drawing room. She tried to keep quiet, so it was only after Siwoo coaxed her that she finally opened her mouth.

“… “My dad was a bad person.”

“He beat up her mother and cursed at her for not listening to her…”

“How much do you know about Dad’s job? Just… “I know how to do it.”

“… “Is dad really dead?”

After hearing everything, Siwoo left the living room.

In the living room, two sheriffs and three family members were standing with tense expressions.

As Siwoo walked between them, she calmly began her speech.

“This case was full of impossibilities from the beginning. A victim who died inside the house during the ‘demon hour’. A mangled body… “There were only things that couldn’t have happened.”

“But what if we think about it a little differently? The world is rational, but sometimes it is irrational. “If you twist the stereotype just a little bit, you won’t be able to find the right answer.”

“Once you erase everything that is impossible, what remains, no matter how incredible it may be, is the truth.”

“The person who murdered Mr. Bruno is not among them. But the person who caused that incident is inside here.”

One person flinched at Siwoo’s last words.

Siwoo pointed at that person with his finger. With a line that goes well with a top hat.

“If there is a culprit in this case, it is you!”

The person pointed out by Siwoo lost strength in his legs and collapsed.