Mystery: The Witch of Desire

"Alright, Miss Monroe Bello, you may leave now."

Livre quickly stood up, feigning relief:

“Okay, okay, thank you, Mr. Clever.”

The moment she stepped out of the interrogation room, her face instantly turned cold.

If checking identification is routine, it should be done before the questioning begins. Is it because I answered too well under the pressure of his extraordinary abilities, revealing no flaws, that I aroused his suspicion?

Liviel thought cautiously, gripping the mirror tightly in her hand. She had already prepared herself for the escape and the police pursuit over the next few days. At the same time, she decided not to use her extraordinary abilities again unless there were special circumstances.

After a few more people went in, it was Fors's turn; she was the last one.

To Livre's surprise, Fors stayed inside for an unusually long time.

Chapter 113 Stealing Files from the Police Station

After a long while, she came out looking somewhat dazed, as if she had experienced something unbelievable.

Clive rubbed his slightly tired eyes, said a few words to Mr. Bright, and then gave some instructions to his officers.

One officer each approached Coleman and Fors:

“Sir/Madam, we need you to come with us to the police station.”

Coleman froze for a moment, then shouted angrily:

"This is not fair! Her death has nothing to do with me, I refuse to go back with you! I want to see my lawyer!"

“You can see anyone, but you must go to the Joewood Precinct police station.”

Clivell said coldly, "Two officers have already blocked Coleman from both sides."

Fors didn't react too strongly, but his expression was gloomy, as if he had been stimulated by something, and he sat there in a daze.

What exactly happened? Coleman is one thing, but why was Ms. Fors also taken to the police station? Isabella died yesterday, but Fors only arrived in Paria today!

The three officers took the shouting Coleman and the silent Fors into a carriage and headed toward the Joewood Precinct.

The sky was already dark, but no one had left Pariya. They were all whispering nervously, discussing the situation of the inquiry.

Lucy asked Livre with some concern:

"Miss Monroe, do you think Mr. Coleman will come back?"

Livre said slowly:

"I'm willing to believe Mr. Coleman, but there are always many unknowns in this world."

At this moment, Bright cleared his throat:

"Everyone, it's very late. You should all go home and rest. Come back to work tomorrow so as not to affect the rehearsal schedule of our new play."

Livre felt something was off. Such a murder had occurred, a veteran actress had been killed, a leading actor had been taken away by the police, yet Brett was still thinking about his new play.

Brett left Livre alone and comforted her with a smile:

“Miss Monroe, don’t worry. You are the core of this play, the irreplaceable one. I will find an actress to replace Coleman as your partner as soon as possible. You just need to focus on rehearsals.”

Suppressing her doubts, Livre expressed her gratitude, while asking with a hint of worry in her eyes:

“Mr. Bright, do you really think Mr. Coleman did this?”

Bright shook his head:

"I don't know, but it's not important. Everyone has a hidden side. We just need to do our own thing."

After saying that, he went up to the fourth floor and returned to his office.

Livr watched his retreating figure as she left Paria.

She had no appetite, so she went to a grocery store, bought some bread, and took it home. As she sliced ​​the bread, she pondered her next move.

Fors's arrest by the police brought Livia a strong sense of crisis. It wasn't so much because Livia was worried about her, but because Fors already knew her identity as an Extraordinary. If Fors revealed it under police interrogation, Livia would be forced to live a life on the run.

"It seems necessary to find out Ms. Fors' current situation and why she was taken to the police station."

"And to understand these things, we must first understand what exactly happened in the death of Isabella."

Livre thought for a moment, tidied herself up a bit, and left home.

Just then, she saw Mr. Waffle's house next door with the lights on. Mr. and Mrs. Waffle were sitting at the coffee table by the French windows, drinking coffee and chatting happily.

Thinking of the woman Mr. Waffle had called for a home service yesterday, Livr couldn't help but shake her head:

"The affairs between men and women are truly unspeakable, unspeakable."

She stopped looking at Mr. Waffle and his family and went straight to the Brave Ones Bar.

Upon reaching the counter, she simply tossed a penny to the bartender:

"I want to see Redbeard."

"Second floor, third room on the left."

The bartender glanced at Livr and put away the money. Not many people had come looking for Redbeard in the past few days, and there was only one beautiful woman among them. He had already memorized Livr's appearance.

Livre strode upstairs and pushed open the door to the third room on the left. Redbeard was sitting in the main seat, playing cards with several men. Some of these men were people Livre had seen before, while others were new faces.

Redbeard glanced at Livia as she entered, his brow furrowing slightly, his tone tinged with impatience and confusion:

"You're here again? Let me make this clear first, this time I'm not lending you any money."

Livre didn't waste any time with pleasantries and went straight to the point:

"I'm not here to borrow money. I have a request for you and would like to ask if you'd be willing to take it on."

Redbeard leaned back in his chair, crossed his arms, and stared intently at Livre:

"Miss, regardless of whether I can accept your commission, do you have the money to pay me my fee right now?"

Liviel didn't waste any words, but simply gestured to the others at the card table with her eyes, her meaning was clear: some things were better left unsaid.

Redbeard hesitated for a moment, then waved his hand, dismissing the reluctant men from the room.

Once only the two of them were left inside, Livre said bluntly:

“I am an extraordinary being, and this identity should be worth a lot of money.”

Redbeard raised an eyebrow upon hearing this. Although he had already guessed this, he was still slightly surprised to hear Livia admit it herself.

"Alright, tell me, what's your request?"

Livre stated directly:

"You must have some connections at the police station, right? I'd like to see a case file. Could you help me find it? A copy or the original is fine."

Upon hearing this, Redbeard's face instantly darkened.

"Miss, do you know what you're saying? This is not an easy thing to do."

Livre spoke with certainty and composure:

“I know you can do it. You must have connections at the police station, otherwise you wouldn’t have been able to get fake identification. I will give you a satisfactory reward. Within my power, I can help you with something.”

Redbeard's expression showed no improvement; he lowered his head and muttered to himself:

"This is completely different from forging identity documents; if it gets out, you'll go to jail..."

But then, as if remembering something, he hesitated for a moment before slowly saying:

"Okay, I can help you with that. In return, I also have a rather tricky matter that I need your help with. I hope it won't be too difficult for you."

Livre asked cautiously:

"What kind of help?"

Redbeard slowly said:

"I need a Sequence 8 extraordinary trait, preferably from the Apprentice, Diviner, or Thief pathway. You only need to provide the extraordinary trait to complete the request, and I will pay you additional compensation based on the trait's price."

After a moment's thought, Liviel felt that the difficulty of this request was within an acceptable range. If she could complete the request, she would also receive a large sum of money for selling her extraordinary traits.

She nodded in agreement:

“Okay, I will do my best to find it. The case file I need is for Isabella’s murder, which happened yesterday. Please get it to me as soon as possible, preferably tonight!”

“You’re too impatient.” Redbeard shook his head. “I’ll get the files for you as soon as possible, but not necessarily tonight. You can come back tomorrow morning.”

"No need, I'll wait here."

Liviel pulled out a chair and sat down, propping her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hand, looking like she was planning to stay there and not leave.

Redbeard paused for a moment, then showed a helpless expression.

He didn't say anything more, picked up the pen and paper on the table, quickly wrote a note, then called over a subordinate and whispered a few words in his ear. The subordinate took the note with a serious expression, quickly turned around and walked out.

Then, the room fell silent again. Livril and Redbeard sat facing each other, neither of them speaking, only the lingering smell of smoke slowly spreading in the air.

After a moment, Livre broke the silence first:

"Tell me about your son."

Upon hearing this, Redbeard let out a long sigh, the sharpness in his eyes fading away, replaced by an undisguised sense of melancholy.

“Becker, my son, that bastard, he yearns for the extraordinary world like an addict yearns for drugs. I’ve been a broker for decades and seen too many extraordinary people die tragically. I don’t want him to go down that path.”

“We had a big argument, and in a fit of anger, I slapped him. He ran away from home. It was that simple, so simple it was almost absurd. But in that absurdity, I lost my only son. Five years, a full five years…”

Livre listened silently without interrupting, and only spoke after Redbeard had finished:

"Do you know where he might have gone?"

Redbeard shook his head:

“I don’t know. He’s an adventurer. It could be the Sea County, Trier, the Sonia Islands, or even the Southern Continent… I wouldn’t be surprised if he appeared anywhere in the world. But even if he’s at the ends of the earth, he should leave some trace. Yet he seems to have vanished into thin air. Even when I hired extraordinary people to perform divination, I couldn’t find a single clue.”

Livre couldn't help but smile bitterly to herself: What kind of unlucky job did I take for that damn 10 gold pounds?

The two did not exchange any further words and remained quietly inside the room.

The red-bearded men guarding the door watched as no one came out of the house for a long time and couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that their boss has regained his virility and is having an intimate moment with that woman inside?

Another hour later, Redbeard's henchman returned, carrying a file folder under his heavy coat.

He handed the file bag to Redbeard, whispering in his ear:

"That guy said he wants three times the pay this time, and also, don't ever ask him to do these kinds of high-risk jobs again!"

Redbeard didn't say much, gestured for his men to leave, and then pushed the file bag to Livre:

"I hope to see the extraordinary features I want as soon as possible."

Livre nodded slightly, took the file bag, and left the Brave Ones Bar.

Back at her home on Minsk Street, Livre eagerly tore open the file folder and poured out a pile of black-and-white photocopied documents:

[Case Number: 1349-Joewood District-Death Criminal Cases-Volume 127]

Deceased information: Isabella Tver, female, 31 years old, full-time actress with the Ballia Theatre Company, residing at 131 Hope Street, Joewood District.

Location of death: Bank of a drainage ditch next to 92 Jowood Street, Backlund (the ditch is about 1.2 meters deep and there is no obvious rapid current).

死亡时间：1349年3月16日傍晚6点40分至7点整（结合尸体僵硬程度、环境温度及目击者证词综合判定）。

Autopsy results: Multiple irregular burn marks were visible on the body, distributed on the torso and limbs, with charred surfaces; there were also multiple blunt force trauma marks, no obvious bone fractures, but severe soft tissue contusions. The autopsy examination determined the true cause of death to be extensive internal organ failure and organic damage. It is speculated that the black marks on the body surface (not caused by burns) are directly related to internal organ damage, and are suspected to be traces of extraordinary force.

The body was discovered by the owner of a grocery store at 92 Commercial Street in the Joewood district. According to his statement, at around 7:15 p.m. that day, he went to dump garbage by the drain and found the deceased lying on the bank. He immediately went to the police station to report the incident.

The modus operandi in this case is bizarre and unusual: the victim's belongings were intact, showing no signs of robbery, ruling out robbery-murder; although the victim had multiple burns and blunt force trauma marks, these injuries are not directly related to the true cause of death—organ failure. Considering the distribution and morphology of the injuries, the possibility of torture-murder cannot be ruled out. The victim's skirt was intact, and further autopsy confirmed that the victim had not been sexually assaulted before death. Furthermore, the black marks on the victim's body are peculiar in appearance and of unknown origin, inexplicable by conventional forensic techniques and medical methods, suggesting the possibility of intervention by extraordinary forces. It is recommended that this case be transferred to the Mechanical Heart special task force for further investigation and verification.

……

The file also included a copy of a black-and-white photograph of the scene. The photograph clearly showed Isabella lying face down on the muddy bank of the canal, her body slightly curled up, her face contorted and deformed, her eyes and brows frozen in extreme pain and struggle, her body covered with obvious charred marks and mud from the canal.

In addition to panoramic photos of the scene, close-up photos of various details are also included, such as charred marks on the deceased's body, blunt force trauma marks, torn clothing, handbag, and the surrounding environment of the scene.

"The police files are really detailed..."

Livre sighed, but at the same time felt a little scared. The police's investigative capabilities were far stronger than she had imagined. If she had done something wrong, she might also have to undergo such a thorough investigation.

At the end of the file, there is also a copy of the transcript of Inspector Clover's questioning today.

Chapter 114 Fors's 1.5-meter-tall friend

At the end of the file, there is also a copy of the transcript of Inspector Clover's questioning today.

"They're really efficient. The questioning was done in the afternoon, and the copies were made and added to the case file by evening. It's like they're in a hurry to put a final judgment on the case."