Embers Ad Infinitum

Chapter 849: In the Clear

The sheriff fell silent for a moment before saying, “Based on evidence at the scene, it’s true that you didn’t kill Mor. Our White Knights have always been fair and won’t wrong an innocent person. But as witnesses, you have the duty to answer some of my questions.”

“No problem.” Jiang Baimian was indeed frank and open about this.

The sheriff looked around and deliberated over the order of questions.

At this moment, the polite Shang Jianyao asked, “How may I address you?”

“Yergai,” the sheriff replied simply before getting to the point. “What did you want to know from Mor?”

“The mysterious disappearance of Smith’s caravan’s goods,” Jiang Baimian said truthfully.

As an experienced sheriff in town, Yergai had heard of this rather bizarre matter. He asked in surprise, “Mor is related to this matter? Or did you want to buy the corresponding information from him?”

“We learned from someone that a portion of the goods that vanished into thin air was bought and gathered by Mor.” Jiang Baimian didn’t give Yergai a chance to ask who it was and took the initiative to emphasize, “We promised to keep it a secret for that person and can’t tell you his identity.”

Yergai stroked his golden beard. “I’ll continue investigating. If it’s necessary in the future, it’s not up to you to keep silent on this matter.”

He meant that according to the White Knights’ rules, the private deal was lower than public interests when it involved heinous crimes. When the time came, the Old Task Force would have to face coercion if they wanted to keep it a secret.

“Understood.” Jiang Baimian didn’t harp on the problem.

It wasn’t like she had to keep a secret for Aester. Nobody could find fault with her behavior according to the White Knights’ rules in its sphere of influence.

Yergai nodded in satisfaction and looked at the shattered glass window. “Recount the situation in detail.”

Jiang Baimian didn’t miss out on any details and only hid the fact that Shang Jianyao had used his abilities on Mor.

Toward the end, Yergai frowned. “Did Mor take the initiative to walk to the window and have his back face out? When he heard you ask who commissioned him to gather supplies and hand them to the Farstriders caravan, he fell into a struggle as if he wanted to commit suicide?”

“Yes.” Shang Jianyao gave sufficient affirmation, and Jiang Baimian nodded.

Yergai stroked his beard and muttered to himself, “There’s a nontrivial problem behind the missing goods. I have to report it to the vice commander as soon as possible…”

“Which vice commander?” Shang Jianyao asked with bright eyes.

If it were Eman, the Old Task Force might take the opportunity to build a relationship and complete a ‘visit.’

Eman was on the list of five people that Gitis had given them. The Old Task Force had already visited Aester and Mor.

Yergai was alarmed. “Vice-Commander Pollard, is there a problem?”

Grand Knight Havel had more than one assistant.

“No, I’m just a little curious,” Shang Jianyao replied rather sincerely.

Yergai didn’t continue the topic and asked, “Where did your pursuit bring you?”

“The United Mining Association,” Jiang Baimian replied. “As you know, we have a robot. It calculated the trajectory of the bullet on the spot and realized that the sniper was on the building’s rooftop.”

She then highlighted their tracking and exploration results and finally explained why Genava wasn’t here. “We didn’t have enough manpower, so we couldn’t investigate the building’s interior. We could only get our robot to guard the area and monitor the people entering and exiting the building.”

Yergai thought for a few seconds and said, “Thank you for your cooperation. You are temporarily free of suspicion, so you may leave. However, don’t leave Gesterbourg for the time being because I might need your help in the investigations at any moment. Where do you live now?”

“Fire & Iron Hotel.” Jiang Baimian probed, “Mr. Sheriff, have you thought of commissioning us to investigate this matter? Our fees are very reasonable, and we know the case well.”

She wanted to step in and track the sniper in the most reasonable manner. Once they captured that person in a short period of time, it meant that they had captured the Eighth Research Institute’s tail.

Yergai sized them up in surprise. “Do you want to figure out the missing goods matter through the gunman, or do you want to take the opportunity to earn some money?”

“Both, both.” Jiang Baimian laughed.

Yergai wiped his beard and said, “We will definitely do the preliminary investigations ourselves. If there are indeed difficulties and can’t resolve them for the time being, we will consider issuing missions at the Hunter’s Guild.”

He spoke rather cautiously and didn’t make any guarantees. After all, this wasn’t something he could decide.

In most places in the Ashlands, the role of public security officers and the police was mainly to maintain order, not to crack cases. When they encountered relatively simple cases, they could resolve them in passing. Once the matter was relatively complicated, they would be in a predicament of not having enough manpower and finding it difficult to assign a team to deal with a difficult case for extended periods. They could only rely on the help from Ruin Hunters.

“You can consider us directly.” Jiang Baimian didn’t show any urgency to pursue the matter. She only reiterated their attitude.

She then reminded Yergai, “The sniper might still be hiding in the building. You have to make a timely investigation; he might escape if you delay any further. Watch the surveillance footage as well. Although only cameras are installed in the elevators, and the sniper had taken the stairs when he evacuated, things hadn’t developed to the point of him necessarily gunning down Mor when he first entered the building. He might not have been that careful and had taken the elevator.”

“My colleagues already rushed over when your companion previously told me about the gunman’s suspected location.” Yergai didn’t reprimand Jiang Baimian for being a busybody, but he also appeared a little impatient.?Do you Ruin Hunters need to teach Gesterbourg’s sheriff how to investigate?

Jiang Baimian didn’t say anything else and led the Old Task Force members out of Mor’s house and into the jeep.

As they drove toward the United Mining Association, Long Yuehong—who was in the passenger seat—took the initiative to say, “I believe the sniper has already left, and he is also an Awakened. The guards were affected by his abilities and either ignored or forgot the corresponding scene.”

Smack!?

Shang Jianyao clenched his right fist and punched his left palm. “The target is indeed still in the building!”

While Long Yuehong was rendered speechless, Jiang Baimian rubbed her temples. “Be serious.”

Shang Jianyao’s expression changed as he said seriously, “I think there’s a high chance that Yergai and the others won’t be able to figure out anything. When we take over, where should we start?”

The fact that the investigations carried out by the officials in Gesterbourg didn’t bear fruit meant that the sniper wasn’t in the surveillance footage, that there were no traces of gunpowder on everyone in the building, the anti-materiel sniper rifle couldn’t be found, and the guards really didn’t remember such a person leaving.

As for getting eyewitnesses from the pedestrians, it was something that took a long time. The sheriffs would definitely leave it to the Ruin Hunters.

Bai Chen—who was driving—immediately said, “Get Old Ge to check if there are any traces of deletion or interference from the surveillance footage.”

“That’s one aspect,” Jiang Baimian added. “The other is to ask along the street by the back door. The main targets are the bosses or employees of the shops by the street.”

This would be a very tedious job because there was more than one route of escape.

Jiang Baimian tersely grunted and said, “Also, ask Mor’s neighbors and informants. It’s impossible for the Eighth Research Institute to have sent people to secretly monitor him only recently and silence him the moment they discover something amiss. There should be similar personnel around him since he started serving the Eighth Research Institute.

“Over such a long period of time, the monitors will more or less make mistakes. Nobody can avoid making mistakes. Neither can you or me.”

Clap! Clap! Clap!?Shang Jianyao clapped—

As the four of them conversed, the jeep arrived outside the United Mining Association again and picked up Genava.

“Did anyone leave the building?” Shang Jianyao asked impatiently.

“There were three public security officers in Gesterbourg before the sheriff came; they took the main entrance. I’ve already recorded their looks and will carry out further investigations.” Genava never disappointed.

“Alright.” Jiang Baimian looked at the sky outside the window. “Let’s get some food and return to the hotel to wait for news.”

Having received funds, they had a simple lunch and entered the Fire & Iron Hotel.

The receptionist for the day shift today was still Gitis.

With listless eyes and unknown thoughts, she immediately perked up when she saw the Old Task Force return. “Mor is dead?”

“You’re really well-informed,” Shang Jianyao praised sincerely.

Gitis didn’t become arrogant because of this. She fell into a daze for a moment and said, “Many people know that the United Mining Association was locked down.”

Jiang Baimian smiled. “Then, do you know that Mor died under a sniper gun?”

The corners of her mouth curled up bit by bit as she revealed a mysterious smile. “Yes.”