Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 288 Something is fishy
This looks like an antique shop.

Li Wei walked up and carefully examined the shop. It had the words "Top-Quality Antiques" hanging above it, but the door was locked. Moreover, there was a police officer standing at the door.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

At this moment, the police officer also saw Li Wei and hurriedly walked over. However, when he saw Li Wei's appearance clearly, he was also startled and quickly stood at attention and saluted Li Wei.

"Hello, sir!"

While strictly speaking, Li Wei doesn't have jurisdiction over the police station, this area is nominally a territory granted to him by the royal family, so nominally, Li Wei's status here is that of a lord. Of course, in modern society, Li Wei would be equivalent to a district head. And Li Wei has the authority to be involved in the overall administrative affairs of the region.

"Um, hello, what happened here?"

Li Wei nodded at the antique shop and asked a question, to which the police officer quickly replied.

"Reporting to Sir Levi, a case has occurred here, and we are currently investigating it."

"What case?"

"this……………"

The officer glanced at Alice, who was holding a small dog behind Li Wei, and lowered his voice.

"It was a robbery and murder case."

"Oh? What are the specifics?"

"It appears that someone stole from the antique shop, was discovered by the owner, killed him, and then fled."

"Stealing from an antique shop? That's novel."

Hearing this, Li Wei frowned. Generally speaking, thieves mostly steal gold, silver, and jewelry; antiques are something most thieves wouldn't recognize. Of course, it's also possible that someone wants a particular antique and specifically requests a thief to steal it.

However, the fact that the shop owner discovered it shows that this thief wasn't very skilled.

Of course, it's not certain whether this shop owner is a legitimate business owner.

"I want to go in and have a look."

"Yes!"

The police officer was just a doorman; since Li Wei said he needed to look after the shop, he naturally had to obey. He immediately took out his key and opened the antique shop door. Li Wei then went inside, with Alice following curiously behind, carrying her puppy. Seeing Alice go in, the officer hesitated for a moment, but still whispered a reminder.

"Sir Levy, this young lady... perhaps she shouldn't go in?"

"It's alright, it's good for her to come in and get familiar with the environment."

As Li Wei spoke, he patted Alice on the head.

"Follow me, and don't touch anything you see, understand?"

"Okay, Dad!"

Hearing their conversation, the police officer next to him thought to himself, "My god, no wonder he's a famous detective. Even his daughter is extraordinary. She's only a few years old and she dares to bring her to a crime scene..."

In fact, this was intentional on Li Wei's part. After all, he knew that with his identity, it would be impossible for Alice to live a normal life in the future.

Many animations depict the protagonist as having amazing parents who only want to live a simple life, but what happens in the end?
Still can't make a living?

Ultimately, if you want a peaceful, ordinary life, you need to have the ability to achieve it!

Many anime feature protagonists who possess immense power but, wanting to live a mundane life, never train or use their abilities. Then, the villain arrives, kills the protagonist's friends and family, sleeps with the protagonist's childhood sweetheart, and the protagonist unleashes their fury in a fit of rage... Is it too late then?
Of course, it's too late.

Li Wei always complains when he sees this kind of scene.

Idiot, why didn't you do this sooner?
If you don't work hard in your daily life, aren't you just waiting to die? You're talking about a mundane daily life? Have you ever had that kind of life?

Therefore, Li Wei adopted a similar teaching model for Alice. Regardless of whether Alice wanted to live a mundane life like the protagonists in anime or a life full of excitement, she at least needed to have the ability and skills to support herself.

What gives Katie the right to run around the downtown area like that?
Of course, it's because she has a big fist. If an ordinary noble lady foolishly went to the lower city, she would have been knocked unconscious and sold to a brothel long ago.

It's a bit early to bring Alice face-to-face with the criminals, but taking her to visit crime scenes is fine, since the protection of crime scenes isn't that strict in this era...

The antique shop wasn't very large, and the shelves around it displayed things that looked more like artifacts from some unknown, bizarre place than antiques. There were strange masks, ritual items, and statues. Alice followed behind Levi, holding the puppy, her eyes wide with curiosity as she looked left and right, seemingly unafraid.

However, when Li Wei entered the shop, the first thing he saw was the All-Knowing Eye hanging on the wall behind the counter.

"Ok?"

Looking at the statue of the All-Knowing Eye, Li Wei frowned.

In the Empire, almost every household has an All-Seeing Eye, somewhat similar to how every family in Li Wei worships Guan Yu and burns incense every morning... Of course, there is no such thing as burning incense in this world, but praying to the All-Seeing Eye every day is considered part of the daily life of ordinary people in this world.

As for where this all-knowing eye came from... although theoretically, you could just draw one on the wall yourself, people still prefer to buy it from a church.

Just like the crosses sold in churches and those sold at street stalls, the former feels more "formal," doesn't it?
This can also be considered a source of "revenue" for the Holy Bishop.

Of course, since it's about making money, there are different levels. Ordinary people buy the most basic kind of Omniscient Eye statues and carvings, while rich people buy the kind that are inlaid with gold and silver.

Just like Buddha statues, those made of wood, stone, bronze, gilded, or pure gold naturally have different prices.

The all-knowing eye currently in the antique shop is clearly a relatively high-end item.

Normally, Li Wei would just think that the antique shop owner was rather devout, but after the Great Salt Lake case, Li Wei made a new discovery.

Does he still remember that the seal that sealed that extraterrestrial demon was the All-Seeing Eye?

In other words, as a "local faction," the local deities represented by the All-Seeing Eye and those extraterrestrial visitors are purely hostile forces. The puppy's current reaction suggests there might be something from outer space here, and such a massive All-Seeing Eye is located here?
Could it be that it also serves a similar sealing function as the Great Salt Lake?
Li Wei is a case of "once bitten, twice shy".

Of course, the main reason was that he was terrified by that damned process of finding things, to the point that he had a psychological aversion to even seeing the carving of the All-Seeing Eye, fearing another round of searching for the eye or the eyeball...

After entering the antique shop, the puppy obediently nestled in Alice's arms and didn't move, but its two eyes were wide open, staring intently at its surroundings, as if it were wary of some danger jumping out from there.

"According to the on-site investigation, the murderer broke the glass of the back window and climbed in. He then searched the warehouse in the back. Just then, the shop owner returned, discovered the murderer, and the two got into an argument. Then the shop owner was stabbed and fell to the ground... This is the place."

As the officer spoke, he pointed to the floor, where a human figure lying face down was drawn in chalk, next to a pool of dark, filthy blood.

"Dad, is this also drawing?"

Looking at the human remains, Alice asked curiously, and Levi nodded.

"You could call it that, huh? Well, how about I teach you some interesting facts instead?"

"Interesting?"

Upon hearing this, Alice's eyes lit up, while Levi nodded, squatted down, and pointed to the bloodstains on the ground.

"See these red marks? These are formed by drops of blood on the ground. The different shapes of the bloodstains can help us understand what happened. For example, judging from the bloodstains right now..."

Li Wei analyzed and taught at the same time, while Alice next to him stared wide-eyed at the ground.

The police officer standing to the side was speechless at the sight, secretly thinking to himself, "No wonder he's a famous detective, he even brought such a young child to the scene... truly a family tradition... and this child isn't afraid of so much blood, that's impressive."

If it were me, I wouldn't dare let a child in.

However, to be fair, this famous detective is indeed different. I never knew before that so much could be gleaned from bloodstains. Now, after hearing what he said, it suddenly seems to make sense…

Li Wei briefly explained some basic knowledge about bloodstain identification to Alice, and also took the opportunity to review the entire crime scene. Basically, it was no different from what the police officer had said, except…

"Where's the boss?"

"He has passed away."

"Where's the murderer?"

"He has been apprehended."

"So fast?"

“Someone was entering the antique shop at the time and happened to stumble upon the scene of the owner’s murder. He was so frightened that he went outside and screamed. There was a patrol team nearby, so they reacted quickly and caught the man in no time.”

"Um……………"

"Woof! Woof! Woof!"

Just then, the puppy in Alice's arms suddenly barked again. Levi turned to look at the puppy and saw it sticking its head out, staring intently at a jar on the shelf.

Levi stepped forward and examined the jar closely. It appeared to be about thirty centimeters tall, entirely encased in brass, with only the central section resembling glass. The jar was placed behind a pile of masks and sculptural artworks; had the dog not discovered it, Levi alone would have had a hard time figuring out what it was.

Looking through the glass, the liquid inside the jar was dark green, with a strange black shadow inside. It must be something placed in the liquid. On the front of the jar, there were three slots set in an isosceles triangle.

"This thing is really strange."

Looking at the jar in front of him, Li Wei frowned. He carefully examined the jar with [Soul Vision], but didn't seem to find anything unusual. However, the puppy was clearly staring at the jar, and it was obvious that it didn't like it.

Hmm... Speaking of the corpses, it's the same. Li Wei didn't think there was anything wrong with the corpses, but the police dogs were unwilling to search for them.

Is there something that animals can perceive but humans cannot?
In short, let's take this thing back first.

Thinking of this, Li Wei picked up the jar and spoke to the police officer.

"I'm taking this."

"Huh? But..."

"Don't worry, I'll talk to Inspector Lestrade about it later."

In short, let's take this thing back and investigate what it is.

"Daddy, Daddy..."

Just as Li Wei finished talking with the police officer and was about to leave, Alice, who had been standing next to him, curiously reached out and tugged at Li Wei's clothes.

"Hmm? What's wrong, Alice?"

"Dad, look, is that also a bloodstain? But the color is different..."

As Alice spoke, she pointed her little finger towards the bottom of the door panel. Li Wei looked down and sure enough, he saw a few drops of blood splashed on the door panel near the threshold. Judging from the marks, these bloodstains must have been hit by something and flown off and stuck to the door panel.

But there's a problem...

This thing is green.

If Alice hadn't been so short, Levi probably wouldn't have noticed this thing at all.

Green bloodstains?
Li Wei squinted his eyes.

It seems that an investigation is indeed necessary.

(End of this chapter)