Mischievous Lolita in the Doll

“Then let’s split up. Carlo and I will go back to the body and see if we can find anything. You guys go investigate the deceased’s relationships,” Sack suggested.

“Then let’s do it this way. Miss Cat, come with us. Maybe you can figure something out.” Elsa looked at Bertie.

“I just want to find the little girl I saw last night…” Bertie seemed reluctant, but she still walked over to Elsa.

The group left the police station.

"Please wait a moment, I'll call a taxi."

"Get lost!" ×4

Mir reluctantly followed them to Locke Street.

Elsa waved to several police officers: "Call over anyone who has had close contact with Ana recently."

The officer nodded, and soon after, they brought in three people.

The three people consisted of two women and one man. The man was a middle-aged gentleman with a goatee, dressed in a black suit and a black top hat, holding a gold-plated scepter. He stood straight, head held high, looking arrogantly at the group.

Of the other two women, one was wearing a revealing white dress, seemingly having just attended a banquet hosted by a high-society figure. She had large areas of skin exposed and heavy makeup on her face, looking every bit the socialite.

The woman was reluctantly led to Elsa by the police officers, and she would glare at the officers next to her every now and then.

The last person was a girl who looked to be under twenty years old. Her clothes were far less luxurious than the other two, and there were tear stains on her face, as if she had just been crying.

The girl looked at Elsa timidly, her pitiful appearance making one want to hold her in their arms and comfort her.

“There are many people who had close contact with the deceased. We selected three people who had the closest contact with the deceased, and all three of them had magical reactions.”

Elsa nodded and said seriously to the three of them, "I will ask questions, and you will answer. We have professional hypnotists here, so don't think you can fool us with lies."

"What a joke! Does being a police officer give you the right to disrespect other people's privacy?!" The social butterfly glared at Elsa in dissatisfaction.

The middle-aged gentleman standing nearby didn't react overtly, but his attitude suggested he was equally dissatisfied with the police interrogation. The last young girl, however, remained timidly watching Elsa.

Elsa waved her hand firmly and said, "Please understand, we are only trying to apprehend criminals. If you don't cooperate, then there's nothing we can do..."

Mil, who was standing nearby, readily took down the iron gate from the fish shop next door and crumpled it into a pretzel in front of the three of them.

Fish shop owner: ...

The timid girl shrank back in fear, while the other two fell silent, their faces ashen.

“You have the right to remain silent, but I’ll beat you half to death,” Mill threatened, twisting his wrists.

The three of them were successfully frightened by Mil.

This girl looks so beautiful, yet her behavior is so cruel!

"Then at least we should find a room for a private interrogation..." the socialite muttered to herself.

“Relax, ma’am, I think this officer must have her own reasons,” the middle-aged gentleman reassured the socialite.

“Very well, let’s start with this gentleman.” Elsa took out paper and pen: “Your identity, and your relationship with the deceased?”

Elsa appeared calm on the surface, but she was actually incredibly embarrassed inside. It wasn't a good time to say something like, "I forgot, so let's find a room for a private interrogation."

"My name is Luther, and I am a minor nobleman. Good afternoon, madam." The middle-aged gentleman removed his hat and bowed to Elsa.

“Ana borrowed a large sum of money from me to open a clothing store. We had an argument about it recently, but that is not enough to justify my killing.”

Elsa nodded expressionlessly, wrote something on the paper, and then continued to ask, "Where does the magical reaction in your body come from?"

“That’s its purpose, madam.” Luther pulled a blue crystal pendant from around his neck.

“This was passed down from my grandfather. It is inscribed with a magical formula for blessing. As for its function, I cannot answer that.”

Xia Ye silently took out her communication crystal: "This thing is also a magical artifact, right? Can it also detect magical reactions?"

“The magical reaction on these civilian furniture-type magical items is too slight to be calculated,” Mil kindly replied.

The cat-eared girl next to him gave Xia Ye a strange look, but said nothing at this moment.

Elsa carefully examined the crystal pendant but didn't press for more information. Sometimes, excessive questioning could annoy these people, but necessary tests still needed to be conducted.

"Could we use a tool to test the type of spell on your pendant? We won't be able to determine its function."

Based on the current clues, the murderer used a method to conceal their true appearance, which should be unrelated to blessings.

Luther hesitated for a moment, but then agreed: "Of course, it's your right."

Elsa took the pendant from the gentleman and placed it on a compass that a policeman had brought over.

A complex circular incantation was engraved on the compass, and it emitted a white light the instant the pendant was placed on it. Seeing the light, Elsa nodded slightly, took the pendant back from the compass, and handed it to Luther.

"It is indeed a blessing spell."

Luther took the pendant and carefully put it back around his neck.

“Now it’s your turn, madam.” Elsa turned to the socialite: “Your identity, your relationship with the murderer, and the magical reactions you’re experiencing?”

"Your people summoned me here first thing this morning, and I've been stuck in this place ever since. Who do you think you are?!"

Her attitude was extremely hostile: "Do you know who my godfather is? My godfather is the mayor! If you dare to treat me like this, you'll lose your jobs!"

"Wow! This woman is so sharp-tongued!" Bertie said bluntly, which infuriated the social butterfly.

"Miss, our salaries are managed by the headquarters in the capital. The mayor has no authority to directly take away our jobs. Please cooperate with our investigation, or we will not be polite."

Upon hearing Elsa's words, Mir glared menacingly at the socialite.

Is it okay to beat someone up now?

The socialite was intimidated by Mil's fierce gaze.

"I understand. I will tell my godfather everything you did today!"

The socialite took a deep breath: "My name is Jera, and I'm the director of the power bureau. I'm a regular customer at this clothing store. Not long ago, I had a dispute with the owner of this store over the quality of the clothes. This unscrupulous merchant actually said that a dress only needs to be worn once!" As she said this, Jera's heavily made-up face contorted.

"So, what's with the magical reaction on your body?" Mil disliked people who didn't get straight to the point, even though he often did it himself.

Jera glanced at Mill with some fear, but a strange courage spurred her to speak: "This is my privacy! Don't you understand privacy?!"

Mill narrowed his eyes: "Madam, this is putting us in a difficult position."

Jera took two steps back in fear, but still remained silent.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Sister Mir

Mir immediately wanted to squeeze the mustard he was carrying into the woman's nose.

Xia Ye stopped him before he could turn his thoughts into action, and dark magic gradually gathered in her hands.

“Ms. Jera, you have a magical reaction on you, but you won’t say anything. It’s hard for us not to suspect you. If you don’t tell us where the magical reaction on you comes from, we will have no choice but to treat you as a criminal.” Xia Ye’s voice was unusually calm, not at all like that of a naive young man who had just entered this world.

The socialite was terrified by the dark magic emanating from her and immediately cried out, "I'll talk! I'll talk!"

The magic emanating from Xia Ye gradually faded, and he stared intently at the scantily clad woman in front of him, waiting for her to continue.

Zyra took a deep breath, her face flushed as if she had made up her mind, and said, "The magical reaction on my body isn't my own, nor is it any item I possess. It should be... that... traces of magic left behind afterward..."

She didn't explain very clearly. Xia Ye, the outwardly cold beauty and inland girl, didn't quite understand, nor did Mir, the seemingly simple-minded but actually naive girl, understand very well. Elsa, the adult present, did understand the gist of it. The other two suspects beside her also had somewhat strange expressions.

"Oh, I see..." Elsa blushed a little as she placed the compass on the ground in front of Zyra. "Could you stand on it and take the measurement?"

Elsa finally understood why this woman had refused to reveal why she had magical reactions. It turned out that during a game that was only for adults, some props had left magical reactions on her. She wondered who had played so hard that the magical reactions were so strong that they could be detected.

After Zyra stood still, the magic circle on the compass emitted a faint blue light, so faint that it was almost invisible unless you looked closely.

Elsa sighed. The blue light was indeed a reaction from a civilian magical artifact. Magical artifacts usually reflect very weak magical energy, the kind that would be ignored if detected. Yet this woman had been detected by the police officers. It must be something that happens every day...

Thinking of this, Elsa shuddered.

I can't think about it anymore, this woman is terrifying!

Elsa looked at the last suspect who showed signs of magical activity.

"I...I'm Angela, and I own the flower shop next to Ana's." The girl still looked timid.

"Relax, answer the questions I asked the other two earlier first," Elsa reassured the somewhat nervous girl in front of her.

“I just moved to this city last month. When I first arrived, Ana took great care of me, and we quickly became good friends. We never had any conflicts... Why did this happen, Ana…” Angela grabbed her hair and squatted down in pain.

“It will be alright, miss.” Mil’s attitude toward this pretty young lady was completely different from how he treated socialites: “You also want the murderer who killed that… Miss to be brought to justice, don’t you?” He had completely forgotten the name of the deceased lady that he had just mentioned.

After being comforted by Mil, Angela seemed to cheer up a bit: "Since I came to this city, I often receive love letters with gifts, and sometimes threatening letters with terrifying things attached... I think it must be these things that leave traces of magic on me."

Upon hearing Angela's explanation, Elsa rubbed her temples in exasperation.

This is troublesome. If things are really as this girl says, then she should be covered in magic from various types of spells. It's not easy to determine what kind of magical items she has come into contact with using a compass.

"We need to go and check out those magical items."

"Of course, my flower shop isn't far from here."

Elsa nodded and said to the other two suspects, "Sir, Madam, please wait here for a moment. We'll go check and be right back." She then winked at the two police officers beside her.

The two police officers nodded to Elsa and walked over to the two suspects: "Please come with us to rest for a bit."

After seeing the two being led away by her men, Elsa said to Angela, "Please lead the way."

Angela nodded and led the way for the group.

Taking this opportunity, Xia Ye slowed down and walked alongside the catgirl at the back: "Miss Bertie..."

"Just call me Bertie," the catgirl said with a familiar smile to Xia Ye.

"...Berti, did you notice anything unusual about that shadowy figure you saw before?"

"Huh? No, he was dressed entirely in black." The catgirl was puzzled by Xia Ye's question.

"I'm not referring to his appearance, I mean whether he has any habitual movements or anything like that." Xia Ye's pretty face looked very serious. In suspense novels, these habitual movements are often the key to breaking the deadlock.

"Habitual actions? I don't know, I was only focused on escaping... He chased me for two kilometers! Even if he had any habits, I wouldn't have bothered to remember them!"

Too--

Xia Ye felt that the question she had asked was a bit stupid.

“This question is absolutely stupid—” These words, of course, came from Mil again. After he said this, he received a slap on the back of the head from the embarrassed and angry girl.

Xia Ye rubbed her slightly sore palms and continued to ask, "So how did that little girl save you? What were her features?"

Upon hearing this question, Mil seriously considered the feasibility of the physical amnesia method.

Bertie recalled for a moment: "Back then? Back then, the little girl suddenly appeared behind that shadowy man and slapped him, and then the shadowy man disappeared. Was he scared away?"