Pokémon Detective Case Files.

“The occupancy rate of the residential buildings there is very low, and the empty rooms are mainly managed by the building manager, so the keys were not collected in time. In addition, the building manager has a good reputation, and the residents trust him, so no one has pursued the matter.”

The detective, with an "I see" expression, continued to press Officer Jenny for details about the time of death and the condition of the body.

The policewoman answered, tapping on her notebook.

"The victim's time of death was determined to be 12 hours ago. The murder weapon that caused the tragedy, as mentioned above, was a large, cone-shaped rock. The victim's abdomen was pierced, but he did not die immediately. Instead, he struggled for a long time before dying from hemorrhagic shock. The forensic doctor speculated that this process lasted about ten minutes, hence the bloodstains at the scene."

The police deputy, Sera, standing nearby, seemed to recall what she had seen that morning, and her face turned pale.

"So, the incident happened around 10 p.m. last night?" Hugo asked for specific details while scribbling rapidly in his notebook.

Officer Jenny nodded: "That's right. There were traces of undigested dinner in the deceased's stomach, so this estimated time of death should be reliable."

“Now, please describe that ‘closed room’ in detail. I’ll just ask directly…” Hugo stared into the policewoman’s eyes and uttered four words—

Is it a locked room?

“Yes, that’s right.” Officer Jenny sighed. “It’s the kind of locked room you’ve been longing for, where only the deceased is inside, the apartment has no other entrances or exits, and all the doors and windows are locked from the inside. The apartment is completely sealed off until the building manager opens it. If Mr. Greta didn’t commit suicide, then it must have been some strange person who can walk through walls who killed him with a stone.”

Noticing the confused looks from Azure and Sera, the detective coughed and began to explain to his two assistants and deputy—

"The so-called locked room mystery, also known as the locked room impossible crime mystery, is a classic puzzle in detective novels. This type of mystery usually involves setting up an area that no one can enter or leave, and then murdering the victim inside. This creates an obvious contradiction—since there is no one else at the scene besides the deceased, and no one else could have entered the locked room at the time of the crime, how was the victim killed? The fun of solving locked room mysteries lies in the various solutions that arise from this contradiction."

After hearing the detective's explanation, Bilan scratched her face: "You mean, a plot that used to only exist in novels is now happening in reality?"

Hugo sighed and nodded to his assistant: "In a sense, that's true. This is a classic locked-room mystery."

He seemed somewhat disappointed by the audience's lukewarm response.

At this moment, Deputy Officer Sera unusually spoke up: "So, Detective, since you are so familiar with the lock room issue, what are your thoughts on this case?"

“Before heading to the crime scene, all reasoning is speculation,” Hugo stated first. “However, I hope to rule out some of the clichéd tricks used in novels. Miss Officer Jenny, I would like to raise a few more questions.”

"Of course, we still have time. Please feel free to ask any questions about this case."

Hugo interlaced his fingers and posed his question: "First, the most clichéd method—were the doors and windows of the locked room truly locked? Many old-fashioned locks can be shaken open simply by banging on them from the outside; many styles of doors and windows also have openings or gaps along the edges, which can be opened from the outside using ropes or similar means. In this case, the crime scene is not a perfectly locked room, and someone outside could naturally enter and commit the crime. Is this possibility?"

Officer Jenny, as if she had been waiting for this question, immediately replied, "We've tried it. All the locks inside are very reliable padlocks, and the windows and doors are all tightly sealed. The manager and the trainer's friend can also testify that the doors and windows were locked when they came. Moreover, the two people are complete strangers, so there is no possibility of collusion."

Undeterred, the detective continued, "Is it possible that the deceased was actually stabbed by a stone outside the apartment, then returned home and locked the doors and windows. At that moment, he pulled out the stone, which was supposed to stop the bleeding, causing the blood flow to increase rapidly, and he died in the locked room as a result."

“A colleague suggested this idea,” Officer Jenny said. “However, the forensic doctor scolded the man, saying that neither medicine nor biology allows such a thing to happen. Besides, there was no blood outside. Furthermore, the trainer seemed to be a person with common sense and did not try to pull out the stone spike stuck in his body, but that did not save his life.”

"So, was there some kind of mechanism to launch stones inside? If so, the real culprit wouldn't need to enter the locked room at the time of the crime. When the victim triggers the mechanism, the stones will be launched automatically, executing the prey that has taken the bait."

“We’ve searched the apartment thoroughly, but we haven’t found such a device,” Officer Jenny said, shaking her head.

"Is it possible that the crime was committed from a distance?" Hugo asked again. "The murderer threw the stone in from outside the apartment, and it just happened to hit the victim in the stomach."

"Impossible. There's nowhere outside the doors and windows in the apartment that would allow outside stones to get in."

"Speaking of throwing stones, were fingerprints or other traces found on the murder weapon?"

Officer Jenny rolled her eyes at the detective without any regard for her image: "It seems like wearing gloves to commit crimes has become common sense lately. There's no trace on that broken rock. If you really want to find any information on it, the rock is shaped like a cone, wider at the bottom than the top, and there are no signs of it being artificially polished."

“Since it’s a Stone Spur, then…” the detective stroked his chin, “let’s discuss the most obvious possibility now—could the Stone Spur be a move unleashed by a Pokémon?”

Chapter 058 Sandstorm Team Murder Case

"When it comes to cone-shaped rocks, the first thing that comes to mind should be the moves used by Rock-type Pokémon, right?"

Hugo counted on his fingers, recalling the thick Pokédex in his mind, reciting: "Rockfall, Rock Slide, Rock Blast, Ancient Power, Rock Tomb, Rock Cannon, Stone Edge—these moves can all summon rocks out of thin air to attack. Ancient Power is slightly different; it only summons a phantom of an ancient rock, which disappears after the attack."

"The murder weapon didn't disappear; it was taken from the body and taken back by the forensic department. It's currently in the police station's evidence storage room."

At the same time, Sera, the deputy, handed Blue and Hugo a thumbnail of the crime scene and a close-up photo of the murder weapon.

Officer Jenny pursed her lips and continued, "Speaking of which, we also have a colleague in our department who is good at using Rock-type Pokémon. He also examined that rock cone, and he said... what did he say again?"

"That senior colleague said the size and shape of this stone were somewhat unusual." It was Miss Sera who spoke; she had taken notes of those words in her notebook.

"The stone cone used as the weapon has a smooth cross-section, characteristic of 'Rock Tomb' and 'Stone Edge,' but its size is too small, more similar in size to the less powerful 'Rockfall' and 'Rock Slide.' However, ultimately, Pokémon can significantly alter the final effect of moves through deliberate manipulation. Therefore, this stone could be either a sharpened 'Rock Slide' or a deliberately weakened 'Stone Edge.'"

"Yes, yes, that's the kind of reasoning that has no basis in reality. I probably thought it was too boring at the time, so I didn't remember it."

Officer Jenny glanced gratefully at her junior, pleased with her quick thinking: "In short, the police are currently clueless about what move caused the stone spikes, but we all tend to believe that a Pokémon caused the incident."

"Because it's unlikely that humans would kill someone with a cone-shaped stone?" Azure asked, raising her hand like a student speaking in class.

Officer Jenny nodded and then shook her head: "Not only that, but also because we caught six suspects in that secret room."

"Six suspects?" The assistant looked puzzled.

The detective immediately provided the answer: "Officer Jenny refers to the six Pokémon that Greta always carried with him. Remember his initial introduction? Male, 27 years old before his death, single and living alone, skilled in using Rock-type Pokémon."

“Krocopter, Crabcrab, Mudfish, Giant Rock, Tyranitar, Excadrill—each of them uses this ability to create rocks,” Officer Jenny added.

"So it's not just a Rock type after all." With this new information, Hugo continued to take notes in his notebook. "This Greta is more like a battle expert specializing in sandstorm weather than a Rock type master."

A terrifying thought crossed Azure's mind: "Does the police believe that one of these elves killed its master?"

“That possibility cannot be ruled out.” Officer Jenny shrugged. “When the bodies were found, these Pokémon were in the Pokémon Recovery Device in the apartment, and they were all asleep. But that Recovery Device allows Pokémon to come and go freely, so if one of the Pokémon committed the crime and then ran back into the device pretending to be asleep, we wouldn’t be able to tell.”

Hugo took a sip of his now-cold tea and asked the policewoman, "It seems that Officer Jenny's main purpose in coming here is to have me identify the culprit among these Pokémon, right?"

Officer Jenny smiled wryly: "I can't hide it from you. But if I put it that way, it wouldn't be the locked-room mystery you prefer."

Even though the case was already clear, the detective still struggled: "Didn't the police consider the possibility that the perpetrator was involved in a crime while holding a Pokémon?"

“As we discussed before, we’ve covered almost every possibility of entering the enclosed room,” Officer Jenny said apologetically to the detective. “We even brought in psychics and psychics to check if any Pokémon used skills like 'passing through walls' or 'teleportation'.”

"What was the result?" This was the first time Bilan had heard of such a novel investigative method.

"Nothing found." The policewoman shook her head. "The psychics checked every wall in the house, swearing that no Ghost-type Pokémon had passed through the walls of the apartment in the past month, while the psychics signed a statement testifying that no Pokémon had used Teleport to enter the room recently, or used Psychic or similar psychic abilities outside to kill the victim."

"These con artists can only sense traces of superpowers used in confined spaces. They can't communicate with the dead, nor can they predict the future or see the past—otherwise, the two policemen in front of you would be out of a job," Hugo warned sarcastically.

Officer Jenny wasn't angry. Instead, she slumped into the sofa and replied in a nonchalant manner, "Only the criminal investigation department, which is responsible for solving cases, will lose their jobs. I've wanted to go back to the public security department for a long time. I'm already tired of seeing dead people in the past month."

"Senior, this is the only murder case you've personally handled this month, right? Aren't you usually just drinking tea in your office the rest of the time?" Sera whispered a reminder.

Officer Jenny waved her hand weakly: "This one incident is enough to make me suffer. When I saw that bloody corpse lying face up with a stone stuck in its chest, I felt like I had already vomited up every drop of tea I had drunk this month, with interest..."

.

While the police officers were busy bickering, Detective Hugo got up on his own, put on his signature white coat, and instructed his employee, "Azure, please watch the house. I need to go to a crime scene."

The assistant, who was packing her things, was taken aback: "Huh? Can't I come along?"

“Police work is subject to confidentiality restrictions. I, as a private investigator, was only allowed into the crime scene because of Officer Jenny’s personal invitation. It would be too inconsiderate of me to bring someone unrelated to the case into the scene.”

The detective said to Azure with a guilty look, "I will tell you everything I saw at the scene when I get back. I won't exclude my capable detective assistant from the case."

Seeing Azure's regretful expression, Hugo added, "While you're guarding the house, you can practice lock picking and prying open doors. This knowledge is very useful when solving locked-room mysteries. I'll leave the little fire monkey at home; you can ask it if you don't understand anything."

"What skills did you teach those kids?!" Azure stared in disbelief.

Having witnessed everything, Officer Jenny sighed heavily and decided to ignore it and erase the detective's dangerous conversation from her memory.

At that moment, Ms. Sera, who was hiding behind Officer Jenny, suddenly spoke up. She pointed to the little Eevee playing with Piplup: "Ms. Azure, are you that Eevee's trainer?"

The assistant, somewhat puzzled, nodded: "Yes, that child is my partner."

Sera turned to her superior: "Senior, I think it's okay to bring Miss Azure into the scene."

"What's going on?" Officer Jenny, as the superior officer, seemed even more confused than Azure. "Isn't she an unrelated person?"

“No.” The deputy, with long black hair, pushed up her glasses and said, word by word, “Miss Azure is involved in this case.”

Hugo, who was behind him, pondered for a moment, then showed an expression of sudden realization, looking back and forth between Azure and Eevee with a playful expression.

"What exactly happened?" the person involved, Azure, asked Sera urgently.

"After the incident, the police investigated a lot of the deceased's personal information. One month ago, Mr. Greta posted an update on his social media account, describing his experience in a doubles match. 'My partner and I were defeated by an Eevee solo, and the Eevee's trainer was a beautiful girl. It was so embarrassing,' Mr. Greta described in his post."

The deputy lady said to Azure in a very serious tone.

“If I’m not mistaken, you must be the trainer of that Eevee. In that case, you’re someone who saw the victim before the incident, and Officer Jenny could easily bring you to the scene…”

Azure didn't notice what Sera said next. She first realized what was going on, and then felt a strong sense of nausea.

He's dead. The doubles player I met briefly a month ago is now gone. The man I barely remember can no longer compete, speak, act, or think. Everything suddenly feels so heavy, so utterly unreal. Death is like a dark, monstrous beast, ready to devour its prey; even its mere presence sends shivers down my spine. If death is so terrifying, what of the endless nothingness that follows?

"Hey, assistant! What are you spacing out for!"

Azure felt a sudden pat on the back. Turning around, she saw the detective, who was already wearing a white coat.

The detective yelled in Azure's ear—

"How can we just let something like someone we know die go unpunished? Police all over the world are equally incompetent, always letting the real culprits get away with it! Right now, there's a genuine locked-room murder case, and the entire Feiyun City Police Department is completely baffled. The cunning killer is smugly lurking in the crowd. Azure, are you going to keep staring blankly?"

The familiar sound vibrated in the girl's eardrums, and the gloom in her heart seemed to vanish with it.

Azure jumped up from her chair, patted her cheeks, put on her most carefree smile, and replied to Hugo, "Yes, sir!"

Chapter 059 The Overcrowded Double Locked Room

A police patrol car stopped in front of a high-end apartment building in the western district of Feiyun City. The detective jumped out of the car as eagerly as a Pokémon that had used the escape button to return to its Poké Ball.

“Miss Officer Jenny, your driving skills are really not commendable. We are not chasing criminals. There is no need to use such a large drift when turning.”

As he felt the calm earth beneath his feet, Hugo bluntly remarked, "After witnessing your driving skills, I even miss the Thunder Zebra a little."

“I’ll prepare a special car seat for you that can electrify your butt, hopefully that will ease your lovesickness.” Officer Jenny retorted without backing down. “My driving skills are flawless, every turn and lane change is perfect, following the principle of maximizing efficiency, and I’m very confident in that.”

As she spoke, the policewoman cast a look for opinions at Bilan and Sera, who were getting out of the car.

Sera closed her eyes and remained silent. Azure, who was beside her, wanted to say something, but before she could speak, she was interrupted by a dry heave from deep in her throat.

“…At least we arrived at our destination on time.” Officer Jenny was a little embarrassed, but Hugo did not press his advantage; his attention was now completely focused on the apartment building in front of him.

It was a typical high-end residential building with a modern exterior and a harmonious neutral color scheme. Contrasting details were used to accentuate the overall design, making the building feel like a contemporary work of art.

Compared to the narrow alleys that Azure had visited before, the buildings in this area are less utilitarian with their straight lines, white walls, and red tiles, and instead feature a minimalist yet luxurious stylized design.

"Wow, this building looks really expensive." After recovering from the dizziness, Bilan succinctly summarized, vividly describing the main features of the building in front of her.

"For a senior trainer's income, such living conditions are not outrageous," Hugo commented.

"This area is the affluent district of Feiyun City, a product of spontaneous counter-urbanization that occurred after Feiyun City developed to a certain stage. The wealthy class grew tired of the traffic congestion, rising crime, and severe pollution in the city center and actively moved to this suburb that is some distance from the city yet adjacent to it. In the near future, more middle-class and ordinary people will leave the city and move here. The suburbs will become increasingly independent, and this area will transform from a single residential function into an employment center with various urban functions."

The policewoman didn't linger downstairs. After greeting the police officers on duty at the entrance, she went straight into the building, giving the detective and his assistant, who were discussing apartment prices and urban development, a disdainful look: "The villas you two live in downtown are much more expensive than this."

“Rental fee and selling price are two different things,” the detective argued defiantly, but he then followed the officer into the building.

.

The four of them passed through the lobby, elevator lobby, elevator, and corridor on the first floor, and arrived at the door of the crime scene.

To accommodate the residents living on the same floor, the police did not leave the door to the bloody crime scene open. At this moment, two forensic officers, wearing protective hats and gloves, were still busy inside.

"It's said that the last person to see the deceased was the apartment manager on the first floor?" Before facing the scene, Hugo confirmed the information with Officer Jenny in the hallway.

"Yes, it was 6 p.m. The security guard saw Mr. Greta enter the elevator through the duty room, following a route roughly the same as we just walked. He has now finished his police interrogation and, as we can see, has returned to his post."

"Did the building manager see any other strange people entering the building after that?" the detective continued.

Seemingly already familiar with the case, Officer Jenny immediately replied, "No, everyone who comes is a resident of this upscale apartment building. The building manager will definitely make any unfamiliar strangers register before they leave."

"So, this entire building can also be considered a secret room?" Bilan said matter-of-factly, gesturing the shape of the building with her hand. "It's also a second secret room, crowded with residents."

“Although I don’t read detective novels much, Azure, your understanding of locked rooms seems to be a bit off,” Officer Jenny kindly reminded her. “Countless residents have come and gone from the apartment building since last night; it’s just an ordinary luxury apartment building.”

"Furthermore, we can't completely trust the apartment manager. That old man might have lied about whether or not to let outsiders in in order to keep his job," Hugo added cautiously.

The detective continued pacing at the entrance to the crime scene. He wasn't in a hurry to enter the locked room in front of him, but hoped to sort out the existing information before investigating the scene.

Officer Jenny thought for a moment and had to nod in agreement with Hugo's doubts: "That apartment manager is quite old; we can't rule out the possibility that he's suffering from memory loss or neglecting his duties..."

"Sir, you may have forgotten the new intelligence the search team discovered this morning."

Miss Sera interrupted the speaker, hurriedly opening her phone and switching to a work discussion group: "The search team made a new discovery three hours ago. They found a newly installed surveillance camera in the convenience store across the street, which seems to be able to capture footage of the area below this building."

"They didn't even tell me about this?!" Officer Jenny rarely showed the irritability typical of police officers.

“Sir, before you left for the detective agency, you told everyone that you were going to do something important and not to make any phone calls unless there were special circumstances,” the deputy said hesitantly. “After you said that at the police station, some colleagues even guessed that you were going to confront the real culprit directly.”

Officer Jenny supported her forehead with her hand, glared at the detective, and spoke to Hugo word by word in silent lip-reading.

Hugo understood the lip reading, and the general meaning was "Look what you've done!" Miss Officer Jenny probably thought that her current predicament was entirely due to Hugo's willful act of taking all the credit for himself.

However, he pretended not to see it and instead asked Sera, "Any new findings in the surveillance footage downstairs? Has the police matched the residents entering the building with those leaving?"

“They’re doing it, but comparing the surveillance footage takes time, they haven’t…” Before Sera could finish speaking, a new message popped up in the discussion group.