Walking under the police tape, Luna and Chevreuse entered the crime scene.
"Please, my Captain," Luna said, offering a pair of gloves.
Chevreuse shot her a look. "How long are you planning to keep calling me that?"
Is it really that amusing to play the role of my subordinate?
"Until I get bored with it," Luna replied.
"Then I hope you get bored soon," Chevreuse said as she took the gloves and put them on.
"It's precisely because you always say things like that, Captain, that I find it so amusing. If you truly want to reject someone, you need to be crueler."
Chevreuse cut her off. "Enough with your nonsense for now."
Chevreuse removed her outer coat, revealing the inner shirt of her Special Task Force uniform. Though she hadn't brought her hat, this alone was enough.
The red-and-black uniform was exclusive to the Special Task Force.
Luna accepted Chevreuse's coat.
"...Don't even think about keeping it," Chevreuse warned.
"What about the scent?" Luna asked.
"I'll throw it away," Chevreuse replied.
"Such a waste," Luna scoffed.
Chevreuse shrugged nonchalantly. "Fine. If you want to play dress-up, do it properly. If you insist on calling me 'Captain,' you'll have to assist me with the case."
The Phantom Thief White Cat possessed extraordinarily keen observational skills and an acute sense of smell—precisely what they needed.
"And let me assure you," Chevreuse continued, "I won't forget what you did for the Court of Justice. I won't let your sacrifice be in vain."
"I'm not dead yet," Luna retorted with a soft scoff.
"I still want the Phantom Thief White Cat to disappear," Chevreuse insisted.
"And I'll remind you that true justice doesn't require a mask," Luna countered.
Luna casually slipped on Chevreuse's coat and tugged at the gloves. "I'll be watching with interest, but don't expect me to be moved. I don't care about anyone's expectations."
"...I know that," Chevreuse replied.
But if the Phantom Thief White Cat could channel her abilities toward righteous causes...
Chevreuse felt a familiar impulse she hadn't experienced in a long time.
"Captain Chevreuse of the Special Task Force!" she announced, saluting the Maison Gardiennage officers at the scene.
"Turenna, member of the Special Task Force!" Luna added, returning the salute.
Why does seeing a Phantom Thief salute feel so subtly strange? Chevreuse wondered, shaking her head inwardly.
"Ah, the Special Task Force. Perfect timing. Please, take a look..." a Melusine of the Marechaussee Phantoms gestured toward the corpse on the ground.
"This is Josen, the victim of the case. Male, 24 years old, no fixed occupation, works odd jobs for a living."
"Estimated time of death is approximately three hours ago."
Melusine handed over the investigation report.
"Our preliminary assessment indicates six fatal stab wounds: two in the left chest, two in the right chest, one in the stomach, and one in the abdomen."
Chevreuse frowned. "Six wounds?"
The distribution of the fatal injuries seemed odd.
Too symmetrical.
"Yes, but we haven't found the murder weapon at the scene... Hey, wait a minute, what are you doing?"
Chevreuse looked up to see Luna crouching beside the corpse, poking and prodding at the wounds, even sticking her fingers inside them. Several Maison Gardiennage officers raised their eyebrows.
"Ignore her," Chevreuse said dismissively.
"But—"
"When it comes to bladed weapons, no one's more skilled than she is."
Since the Captain of the Special Task Force had spoken, the others fell silent.
Everyone in the Court of Justice knew that Chevreuse had unconventional methods.
After all, they wouldn't be the ones taking the blame.
The melusine scratched her head, bewildered but deeply impressed.
"Uh... let's continue. There are three suspects over there," she said, gesturing toward the three men and women standing to one side of the scene.
Chevreuse turned to look at them.
"One is..."
Luna stood up. "A chef, a mason, and a disabled man."
The melusine blinked. How did she figure that out? I hadn't even said anything yet!
"One has grinding dust on his cuff, another just butchered a fish—the stench is overpowering, even from here. Not that I'm judging; I've butchered fish myself. Miss Chevreuse even found it delicious."
As for the last one, did she really need to deduce anything about a man in a wheelchair? Unless he simply enjoyed using one for no other reason.
Chevreuse cut to the chase. "Any findings?"
"The murder weapon was a small knife without a handguard."
"No handguard?" The Melusine asked.
"Correct. And the victim suffered blunt force trauma. Look here—bruises." Luna opened the victim's shirt and pointed to faint bruising.
Chevreuse approached the body and crouched down beside Luna. "The distribution of the bruises is remarkably uniform..." she murmured.
"Exactly. It's as if the wounds were stamped on. If a person had inflicted them, the results would be different. More importantly..."
Luna plunged her hand back into the corpse's wound.
"The angles of the wounds are identical. I can confirm this based on my experience."
Experience? Chevreuse glanced at her sideways.
"My experience butchering animals."
Was that the truth? Chevreuse stared at Luna for a moment, then looked away.
"Angles that consistent are impossible," Chevreuse declared definitively.
Luna removed her bloodstained gloves and put on a fresh pair.
"Yes, impossible. Even the most skilled assassin couldn't maintain such precision in every strike."
Breathing control, force of the blow, timing, overall body movement—everything would influence the angle at which a weapon pierced flesh.
The melusine pondered, "But... but the fatal wound was definitely inflicted by a sharp blade."
Chevreuse immediately concluded, "The culprit used some kind of device."
"A device?"
Luna snapped her fingers. "Not surprising you figured it out so quickly, Captain. And..."
"The victim was incapacitated at the time—or more precisely, unconscious," Chevreuse added.
"If the victim had been conscious, they would have struggled before and during the attack, leaving inconsistencies in their injuries."
Luna smiled brightly. "Exactly. Look here."
She pried open the victim's mouth and pointed to a faint blue stain between his teeth. "This is likely the drug that rendered him unconscious."
What a quick investigation!
They didn't recognize the name Turenna, which meant she must be a new recruit to the Special Task Force. Are this year's rookies really this capable? And she already has such good rapport with the Captain.
"Another thing," Luna continued, "the victim wasn't restrained to a chair, but to something heavier. Perhaps a wall..."
Chevreuse murmured, "Nails driven into the wall, limbs bound with rope... then a device armed with the weapon could be fired straight ahead, driving the blade cleanly through his body."
"A completely unconscious victim, impaled through and through."
The melusine paled. "W-wow!? That's... that's terrifying..."
"Or perhaps the weapon wasn't propelled straight forward," Luna interjected.
"Not a ramming device?" Chevreuse asked.
"Too complicated," Luna replied. The cost of such a contraption would be too high.
Luna smiled faintly. "If it were me, I'd use a simpler, cheaper, and easier-to-conceal method."
"Like what?" Chevreuse asked.
"Bricks."
"...I see."
Chevreuse understood.
But the Melusine and the other Maison Gardiennage members were still somewhat bewildered. The exchange between Chevreuse and Luna had been too swift and packed with information.
Chevreuse explained, "They inserted the blade's tang into a honeycomb-patterned brick and sealed it in place, bonding them together. Four bricks would be enough."
Luna murmured, "Then, using gravity, they hung the bricks from something, pulled them upward, and released them at the perfect moment."
Squelch!—The blade would pierce the victim's body cleanly, leaving behind a blunt-force bruise.
"Or perhaps they restrained the victim on the ground and simply dropped the brick from above," Chevreuse suggested another possibility.
Regardless, the general method of attack was now roughly understood.
Even if they were wrong, eliminating one possibility brought them closer to the truth. Chevreuse knew well that truth and justice were never easily won.
She turned to Luna.
"What's wrong, Captain?" Luna asked with a gentle smile.
Chevreuse was momentarily taken aback.
She had never imagined finding someone whose mind worked so seamlessly with hers during an investigation. A single word was enough for the other to understand and respond, creating an efficient and harmonious exchange.
If the thief were truly part of the Special Task Force, one of my subordinates...
"Nothing," Chevreuse said.
Unfortunately, she's the Phantom Thief.
Ultimately, she would have to capture her and bring her to justice. As long as "Phantom Thief White Cat" remained at large, they would forever be adversaries, enemies locked in opposition.