Secrets: Priestess

Chapter 139 Team Money Bag

"Hello, Mr. Al Hassan."

It's cloudy and drizzling.

Police officers set up a cordon around a dilapidated rental apartment building.

Walking into the dim apartment, Claire, dressed in a police uniform, folded up her black umbrella covered with raindrops. Her gaze shifted from Al Hassan, who was wearing a gray double-breasted windbreaker, to the victim's body in the cubicle.

It was a woman whose internal organs had been disemboweled.

Daly, who was also wearing a police uniform, and a black-haired lady in a long shirt and trousers were using some extraordinary means to investigate the scene.

The black-haired lady was Ms. Lorota, whom Claire had met in Tingen before, the Ms. Lorota who liked busty maids.

Next to the victim's body, there was a thin, middle-aged man with gray hair squatting, also investigating the victim's body and the scene.

Al Hassan's face was filled with worry, and the wrinkles around his eyes became more pronounced. "Hello, Captain Galadilla. It's the same as before... We haven't found any clues to the murderer this time."

Looking around, Claire had no better way to search. Divination, spiritualism, and ritual magic had not revealed any clues. Just like the first victim who was found, it was as if the murderer had eaten the soul and internal organs.

"Who is this?" Claire looked at the thin middle-aged man and asked Al Hassan in confusion.

With her photographic memory, Claire recognized the faces of every Nighthawk and Red Glove. She had never seen this person before among the Beyonders of the church.

Al Hassan introduced him: "Isengard Stanton is Backlund's most formidable private detective. He has collaborated extensively with us Nighthawks on many cases."

Claire asked again, "A peripheral member of the Nighthawks?"

Al Hassan shook his head. "No, but a trustworthy partner."

Claire didn't blindly step forward to interrupt the current investigation, but just stood there and observed.

Seeing this, Al Hassan's gaze relaxed a little and he continued talking to Claire:
"Mr. Stanton actually proposed a new direction of investigation, saying that it is impossible for a criminal to be born with perfect methods."

"Especially the serial killer in this case was able to clean up his tracks time and time again. This must be the result of study and practice."

"So Mr. Stanton also suggested that we investigate similar cases from years ago. He believed that the criminal was definitely not a first-time offender, but rather a perpetrator who had escaped punishment before."

Claire nodded. "That's a good direction for investigation. Any new discoveries?"

Al Hassan sighed:
"Not yet... This is a massive undertaking, and we also have to consider that the murderer is a roving criminal. The search will have to be expanded to surrounding cities and even the rest of the kingdom..."

"And if the killer has a history of targeting remote areas or targeting less visible groups like the homeless, then this approach becomes even less promising."

The lack of progress in the work and the continuous appearance of victims during this period have caused Al Hassan, the captain of the Nighthawks team, to accumulate a lot of pressure and negative emotions, making him always think that the situation is developing in a bad direction.

After listening to everything the other party said, Claire paused for a moment before speaking:

"Mr. Hassan, this is how investigations work; it always requires a bit of luck. But having a direction is always better than just watching in vain. What if this murderer has a criminal record in Backlund, and we fail to do our best because we doubt whether this investigation will yield any results? In the end, we will still be the ones to regret it."

Al Hassan, his tired expression radiating a bit of energy, sighed deeply, "Yes, I hope this new round of investigation will reveal some clues... Thankfully, Lady Alicia has returned from the Holy Temple. I can finally focus on the case without having to deal with those aristocrats with their own agendas."

"Nobles?" Claire was a little confused. How could this serial murder case be related to those nobles?

Al Hassan's face showed a hint of disdain and helplessness. He said, "Some traditional aristocrats believe that factories are the source of all evil. They say these female victims were once poor people who were squeezed out of their jobs by the factories, and that the murderer must be a homeless person."

Claire suddenly understood. "'Some nobles', you mean those conservatives whose families have fallen on hard times?"

Among the conservative faction of the Loen nobility, there were many long-established families whose ideas failed to keep up with the times and who were squandering their fortunes on the glories of the past.

Some of these families even owed a lot of debts to the emerging wealthy.

But even so, these people still blame their miserable lives and everything in the world on the fact that "the world has gone bad."

Al Hassan continued:

"Although the lives of these traditional aristocrats are much more destitute than before, the energy they gather is still very strong. Many newspapers have reported on this, which is giving the new parties a headache."

"The families that have close ties to the church are mostly members of the New Party, so they are paying more attention to this case and hope that we can catch the murderer as soon as possible and calm public opinion."

Claire wasn't too interested in this kind of topic. Whether it was the Conservative Party or the New Party, it made no difference to her as she pursued personal greatness.

But men, especially old men, are very keen on these topics, even though Al Hassan is a Night Watchman.

After all, many night watchmen cannot escape from secular life. They also have families, parents, relatives and friends. They want to make life better for themselves and those around them, so they also have a stance.

Seeing that Al Hassan was about to continue discussing this topic, which was certainly a way for him to relieve his stress, Claire didn't intend to join in the conversation. She approached the private detective who was getting up and asked, "Mr. Stanton, what's going on?"

"Officer, the traces look exactly like the modus operandi of the previous crimes. Although there are no new discoveries, but..." Isengard Stanton looked at Claire, whom he had never seen before, hesitantly and fell silent, holding his pipe.

Al Hassan said, "But what?"

Isengard Stanton stroked the surface of his pipe with his fingers, a puzzled look in his light blue eyes. "More than one victim had abdominal wounds that looked like they were bitten by wild animals. At least they weren't marks left by humans..."

"Supernatural creature?" Claire thought of the golden retriever raised by Miss Audrey.

Isengard Stanton shook his head. "I don't understand any of this."

Watching the thin private detective depart, Claire asked Al Hassan, "Looking at his calm and composed demeanor, he doesn't seem like a wild Beyonder who ascended on his own."

Al Hassan whispered, "Mr. Stanton studied abroad in Loenburg. Although there's no definitive proof, we and the Mechanical Hearts of the Church of Steam all agree that it was then that he became a believer in the God of Knowledge and Wisdom and a Beyonder." Claire understood. The headquarters of the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom was in Loenburg. Although they were all members of the Seven Gods, the Kingdom of Loen did not allow organizations other than the three major churches to spread their faith.

What's more, for the Punishers of the Church of the Storm, the believers of wisdom are the pagans they focus on attacking.

Claire exclaimed, "How could someone like this actually gain a foothold in Backlund and become a renowned detective? That's quite remarkable."

Al Hassan chuckled softly, "Actually, it's because Backlund is so large, and Mr. Stanton deliberately avoids the Mandated Punishers' jurisdiction. And the Mechanical Heart shares our sentiments and doesn't want to get involved in such trouble."

Claire and Al Hassan chatted briefly afterwards. After the "psychic mentor" Daly confirmed that no further clues could be found, they all withdrew and handed the scene over to the police officers.

As they sat in the carriage back to the church, Daly told Claire about the Beth case she was also investigating. "According to my informant at the manor in the western suburbs, Beth Lyonness was seen at the manor last night. Although she was there briefly, they all agreed that it was their master, Beth Lyonness."

Claire's eyes lit up. "That must be Tai Perslan in disguise! Do you have any trace of her?"

Daly lamented, "She only showed up once and then disappeared quickly. We don't have any extra personnel to deploy to the Western Suburbs Manor specifically for surveillance, and ordinary informants take too long to pass back and forth, so we don't have enough time to organize a capture... How about we just issue a wanted order for 'Beth Lyonness'?"

Claire had no intention of involving the rest of the team in the hunt for Tessa, so she used procedure as an excuse, saying, "We can't get a warrant until we find solid evidence."

"What's the reason for Beth's appearance this time?" Claire asked.

Daly replied: "I didn't do anything, as if I just wanted to prove that I'm not missing."

Claire knew Tessa and knew that she would not do such a meaningless thing.

Since that woman took the risk to show up and prove that "Beth Lyonnes" was not missing, it means that the identity of "Beth Lyonnes" still has some value to her!
But what is the value of being the daughter of a wealthy businessman?

Claire asked again, "Are there any new leads in the case of Beth imprisoning others?"

Daly replied, "I found out that Beth is familiar with a wealthy businessman named Capin in the East District."

"Capin, East District, and a man?" Beth, a pervert who specialized in seducing women, especially aristocratic women, actually met a wealthy male businessman from such a distant place. Claire felt that there was something strange about this.

Daly said, "Due to time constraints, I haven't gone over to investigate yet, but I've heard from some insiders here that Capin should be connected to some underground forces in Backlund."

"The underground forces in the East District..." Claire thought of Hugh Dilcha, the well-known underground "arbitrator" in the East District. It just so happened that she had a "date" with Hugh that evening.

into the night.

Claire saw Xio wearing a gray cloak in the dark alley.

In the shadows where the gas lamps could not illuminate, Xio was staring at the identity badge in his hand with a gloomy expression.

"What are you looking at?" Claire asked in confusion.

Xio looked up. She was looking at Claire with a strange look in her eyes. After meeting her, she hesitantly asked, "Captain, how did you manage to send a message to me? Could it be that this ID badge has... a special function to monitor my life?"

Claire's face was filled with gloom. What did Xio think of? To calm the team member, she explained, "This is Nightmare's dream-entering ability. I can enter your dreams and leave you with relatively simple messages."

After hearing this, Xio's expression eased considerably, but when she thought about how Claire could enter her dreams at will, her face flushed again. She said, "'Nightmare' is really scary..."

Claire sighed and said, "I won't enter a team member's dream without urgent contact. Entering a Beyonder's dream from a distance would be very draining on my spiritual energy. Okay, let's get down to business. I asked you to come here because I want to ask you two things."

"Two? Didn't the message in the dream say only one?" Xio asked hesitantly, recalling Lea's message in the dream.

"It's normal for you to misremember things in your dream, so you can only leave simple messages in your dreams." Claire calmly emphasized the shortcomings of dream messages and said, "The first thing is simple. I want to ask you about someone."

"Do you know Capin?"

"Kapin? That human trafficker Kapin? Captain, are you planning to wipe out this pest?" Xio asked Claire excitedly.

Hearing this, Claire was certain that Kapin was in serious trouble and asked, "Human trafficker? Tell me more about it. Our team is investigating a case that involves Kapin."

Although it was not the annihilation operation she had imagined, which made Xio somewhat disappointed, she still introduced it seriously:
"Kapin is involved in human trafficking. Even most of the missing girls in Backlund are related to him!"

"I thought about teaching this scum a lesson, but the people around Kapin made me feel dangerous. I also tried to submit a report to the police, but not only did the report go unanswered, but my safe house under my disguise was raided."

"Captain, not only is Kapin guilty of heinous crimes, but there must be someone powerful behind him protecting him!"

Capin, Beth, the Beyonder, the powerful in Backlund...

Human trafficking, human captivity...

Claire vaguely connected some ideas from these clues, so she warned Xio, "Xio, don't act rashly. Leave Capian's affairs to me."

Xio nodded obediently. Although she had a sense of justice in her heart, she was not a stubborn person who would die. Otherwise, she would have died in a corner of Backlund long ago and would never have achieved the fame of the "Arbitrator" of the East District.

"The second thing is a profitable business." Speaking of this, Claire's tone became more relaxed, and she chuckled, "Xiu, since you often hang out in the underground world, you must have heard that some underground exchanges or some Beyonder circles are actually the money bags of official Beyonders, right?"

Xio nodded. Not only had she heard of it, but some of the black markets and extraordinary gatherings she had participated in were also rumored to be affiliated with the three major churches.

Xio couldn't help but ask, "Captain, could it be that the Nighthawks have some kind of situation that requires our team to protect?"

"What do you mean by 'covering the place'..." Claire cursed with a smile, then continued, "I recently recruited a Beyonder with the ability of 'Identification' to join my team. You should understand what the ability of 'Identification' means to the wild Beyonder community."

Xio was indeed very smart and understood immediately. The petite girl's eyes suddenly brightened: "A platform! It's the foundation for hosting Beyonder gatherings or a black market for Beyonder items!"

(End of this chapter)