Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 373 Serial Disappearances
Facts have proven that the information society is the future.

When Li Wei received the stacks of reports, still smelling of ink, printed from the differential press, this was his first thought.

Li Wei should be grateful that before he came to this world, Fog City had already opened the door to the information society with the help of the difference machine, so much so that he could easily find the information he needed from the Fog City police station's criminal files with just a few keywords.

It just takes a long time to print it out.

The keywords "teaching assistant at the Royal Academy" and "missing case" were searched, and there was only one case in the crime archive. It was unexpected that it was so easy. So Li Wei simply printed out all the records of unsolved missing persons cases that had occurred at the Royal Academy in recent years.

Since investigating one person or a bunch of people is the same thing, let's see how things go first.

In fact, there were very few surprises.

"Only three cases..."

Even disregarding the specific identity of the teaching assistant, the Royal Academy only had three unsolved missing persons cases, which surprised Li Wei somewhat. He had originally thought that, according to the rumor, there should be quite a few missing people here… But was it also possible that some people disappeared without ever being reported?
In short, let's look at them one by one.

Following the timeline, Li Wei picked up the first file. This file was dated twenty-five years ago, when Stephen Peter, a teaching assistant at the Royal Academy, reported that his colleague, Andre Brown, had been missing for several days without a trace. He went to Peter's house but found no trace of him.

Following this, police searched Brown's home but found nothing unusual. His checkbook and suitcase were in their original places, showing no signs of him leaving. An investigation at the school confirmed that everyone had seen Mr. Brown come to school, but not leave…

"Ok?"

Upon seeing this, Li Wei raised an eyebrow. Although this was just a police record of testimony, it also stated that the students were likely still in class when Mr. Brown left and did not notice, and because so much time had passed, the security guard's memory could not provide reliable evidence.

But for Li Wei, none of that mattered. What mattered was the account in the file, which almost perfectly matched Professor Andrew's description: everyone saw them enter the school and then disappear. No one saw them leave the school, and everything at home seemed normal; they didn't appear to have gone far…

The second missing person was a guard at the Royal College of Astronautics fifteen years ago. His colleague reported the disappearance, stating that the guard was on patrol that evening and hadn't returned. Initially, the colleague thought something had happened to him, but couldn't find him. After the entire night passed and he still hadn't returned, his colleague went to the police station to report him missing after his shift ended.

This case also remained unsolved, and in fact, it was even stranger than the previous one. The previous disappearance could be attributed to someone suddenly deciding to take a spontaneous trip. But the disappearance of a security guard while on duty was much more plausible. The police at the time were more inclined to believe he had likely encountered a thief and been beaten to death, or perhaps died in an accident somewhere.

In this case, the police chose to conduct a thorough search of the Royal Academy, but ultimately found nothing. They focused their search on the West Building where the guards disappeared—but still found no clues.

West Building……………

Li Wei thought for a moment, took out the Royal Academy's brochure, and found the location of the West Building. It was a three-story old building in a corner of the campus. According to the brochure, the West Building was currently a data storage warehouse.

But that's now. What was that place used for before?
Li Wei wrote the question down in his notebook, then went to look up the third missing person case.

The third missing person case occurred ten years ago, but this time it wasn't filed as a case, or strictly speaking, it wasn't even a case. According to records, it happened during a holiday. A group of students, drunk and bored, went to explore the school grounds. They discovered someone had broken into a locked building and reported it to the security guards. However, the guards, seeing their intoxicated state, didn't take it seriously. So, the students went to the police, making up elaborate stories, claiming someone was missing. The police rushed to search, but of course, found nothing, and the students were reprimanded.

A strange case.

After reading the three case reports, Li Wei frowned. At first glance, the three cases seemed to have no connection. Putting aside the possibility that the third case was just a prank, the common point of the first two cases was that the people disappeared without a trace, and both disappeared in places they were familiar with.

Professor Andrew is the same. Speaking of which, that bet was very strange. Did Professor Andrew discover something that others didn't? Could this be related to the previous disappearances?

In short... let's take it one step at a time.

Li Wei copied down the names of the people who reported the incidents from three files, then returned to the front desk. The middle-aged woman, who had been listlessly yawning, brightened up upon seeing Li Wei and flashed a warm smile.

"Ah, Sir Levy, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Please, could you please retrieve the identity information of these individuals?"

Li Wei handed over a piece of paper with her name and punch card number written on it. The latter took the paper, smiled slightly at Li Wei, and then turned and walked into the inner room. A while later, she returned with several files.

"Sir Levy, here are the documents you requested."

Thank you, ma'am.

Li Wei took the file, smiled and nodded at the woman, who also gave him a friendly smile.

“You’re welcome, Sir Levi. It’s my pleasure. If you need anything else, please feel free to come here to find me.”

"Alright, then I'll take my leave."

Li Wei finished packing up the files and turned to leave the archives. Just as he pushed open the door, he heard a voice from inside that sounded like a shrew's roar.

"What? You're only now looking for information this late? Where were you all this time! Don't you see how late it is? Can't you see? You damn idiot..."

The heavy doors slammed shut, completely isolating the roaring sounds.

Just as a person's ID card in modern society contains their ID number and address, the information of these complainants in Li Wei's possession naturally contains the same information.

With this file, Li Wei quickly found Stephen Pitt, a friend of the missing person in the first case, the one mentioned in the strange tale.

Stephen Pitt, now nearing fifty, had long since left the Royal College of Art and opened a bookstore on Duncan Avenue. When Levi approached him and explained his purpose, Stephen paused for a moment before remembering the case.

"I never expected you to be interested in this missing person case."

Sitting behind the counter, Stephen hunched over, holding a cup of coffee, and looked at Levi with a complicated expression.

"Could you please tell me what exactly happened back then? Or, regarding Mr. Andre Brown, could you tell me about his situation?"

"of course."

Stephen nodded, then took a sip of coffee, a look of reminiscence appearing in his slightly cloudy eyes. "I still remember Andri. He was a good lad, funny, kind, and smart. Unlike me, he was very capable and extremely good at learning. He always completed the assignments the professor gave him quickly and accurately… Heh, sorry, I seem to have gone off-topic."

"Did Mr. Brown exhibit any unusual behavior before his disappearance?"

"of course."

Apparently, the police had asked Stephen similar questions, and he quickly nodded.

"In the period leading up to Andre's disappearance, he suddenly changed. What was once a witty and humorous young man suddenly became neurotic and frequently spaced out. The professor and I were very worried about Andre, suspecting he might be in trouble. But when we asked him, he wouldn't say anything..."

"Do you know anything about it? Or, in what time period did Mr. Brown's change occur?"

"Yes, I remember it clearly. It was when the class Andre taught graduated. It was the first class he helped teach, and he got along well with the students. They even took a graduation photo together. Come to think of it, it was after that that Andre became absent-minded, looking at the graduation photo all the time..."

"Has he exhibited any other unusual behavior?"

Faced with Li Wei's question, Stephen frowned, thought for a moment, and patted his head.

"So, he did ask me a strange question: if my loved one died but then came back to life, how would I feel?"

"What did you say?"

"I don't remember exactly what I said, but I thought maybe Andri had read some novel and was influenced by the plot, which is why he asked that question."

"Um……………"

Li Wei paused for a moment, then raised his next question.

"Did Mr. Brown frequent any places before he disappeared?"

"So, even though he had already graduated, he still went to the classroom quite often."

Stephen, prompted by Levi, slowly began to recall the events.

"But I didn't think too much about it at the time. I just thought it might be his first time, and he was probably a little nostalgic. Of course, we only substituted for the class when the teachers were busy, but he got along quite well with the students in the class... and I remember he was quite close to one of the girls, what was her name again..."

Stephen tapped his head.

"I can't remember, I forgot, sigh... getting old is really bad."

"Do you have graduation photos? I'd like to see them."

"I lost it when I moved, but I think the school should have kept it. It's just been so long, I don't know if they still have it now."

After asking a few more questions and confirming that Stephen couldn't remember anything, Li Wei decided to take his leave.

"Ah, right."

As he reached the door, Levi seemed to remember something and turned to look at Stephen.

"Do you know the strange stories circulating in the Master's program?"

"Strange stories?"

"Legend has it that in the Master's Academy, there is a dead man who believes himself to be alive. Anyone who discovers the true identity of this dead man will disappear..."

As he spoke, Levi carefully examined Stephen.

"What a strange rumor."

Stephen just chuckled and finished his coffee.

"Could it be a story those students made up because of Andre's disappearance? Honestly... those brats..."

Upon hearing Stephen's reply, Levi averted his gaze.

"Then, I shall take my leave."

Then, he pushed open the door and left the bookstore.

Stephen was unaware of this.

During their conversation, Levi discovered that Stephen didn't actually know what Brown had encountered before his disappearance, nor had Brown told him. Moreover, judging from Stephen's reaction when he heard Levi speak, he had no reaction to the story at all. Clearly, either he had forgotten, or the story wasn't told to him.

So, who exactly spread this story?
Now, in Li Wei's view, this case is becoming more and more interesting.

Next...

Li Wei looked at the address in his hand.

Go and inquire about the second missing person case.

(End of this chapter)