r18novel Chapter 203 The Haunted Clock Tower
Chapter 203 The Haunted Clock Tower
Chapter 213 The Haunted Clock Tower
Since becoming a detective's assistant, Azure has undertaken countless secret activities in order to gather intelligence, requiring her to lower herself, convince herself with sophistry, and ignore the pain of her conscience before she could make up her mind to carry them out.
Just as Pokémon battles inevitably result in injuries to one's partner, and one is not worthy of being a trainer if one does not acknowledge this, one is not worthy of being a detective if one is unwilling to step into the gray area because of protecting one's reputation.
Eavesdropping, peeping, taking photos without permission, stalking, illegal intrusion, illegal evidence collection... Before stopping a crime, you must first break the rules yourself; before solving a mystery, you must first break the precepts; before upholding the law, you must first ignore the law. These seemingly contradictory self-deceptions are the real required courses for detectives.
Even so, the act of spying on preschool children with binoculars still makes this girl, whom Professor Oak has identified as "bold and meticulous," feel sad.
Perched on the windowsill of the clock tower, the surrogate detective was currently engaging in a 100% pure act of voyeurism—
Not only did he suspiciously use binoculars to aim at preschool children who were playing freely, but he also covered most of his face with a hood and stuffed large amounts of medical cotton into earplugs, one in each ear. He was no different from a paranoid stalker and was a very suspicious person.
If Azur Lane from a year ago saw herself like this now, she would probably immediately pull out her phone and call the police without batting an eye. She wouldn't even have the interest to fight him herself; her feeling would probably be something like, "Getting involved with this hopeless guy is already a loss..."
I'm sorry to say, but being a detective is actually an incurable profession. Compared to reasoning and seeing through things, spying and eavesdropping are the most basic things.
"Phew! We found the client, little boy. Is that little girl sitting next to him Sachiko?"
After searching for a while, the sharp-eyed Azure spotted her target.
She was a young girl whose appearance was ordinary among her peers. Her overly long bangs obscured her face, and she wore a pendant that looked like a talisman around her neck. She seemed somewhat dull-witted. Among a large group of children running around and playing wildly, she found a small stool somewhere and sat blankly in the corner of the playground, lost in thought.
The client looked at the playing children with a hint of longing, but after some hesitation, finally decided to go and keep the little girl company. Occasionally, the boy would strike up a conversation with the girl, who resembled Sachiko, and the girl would respond normally. Although Azure couldn't see their expressions, judging from the girl's improved posture, she seemed quite happy.
According to the young client, Sachiko's situation in class was not good, and she was ostracized by her classmates. However, based on Azure's short-term observation, the so-called ostracism was not serious, at least there was no intentional bullying or provocation. If ignoring each other among classmates is considered as passive-aggressive behavior, then it is a bit of an overreaction.
Of course, what adults consider indifference may be a severe form of abuse to children, no less than a catastrophe. Whether or not bullying exists ultimately depends on the direct feelings of the person involved, and it is not for outsiders to judge.
In this sense, it is true that Sachiko was ostracized by her classmates because they considered her a liar.
During the half hour that Azure observed through the binoculars, no one other than the boy spoke to Sachiko.
Perhaps it was just bad luck, but during this time, the boy's supposed mysterious disappearance did not occur either. The little girl sat quietly in place, showing no signs of disappearing.
"In the end, the client didn't tell me how frequently or for how long Sachiko disappears at school. It seems we'll need some good luck to witness her disappearance during this hour of free time."
Bilan rubbed her slightly sore eyes and looked back at the playground with a gloomy mood.
Yes, the little girl is still in the same spot.
They neither moved nor went missing.
She was still sitting there in a daze, still chatting idly with the boy.
If Touko were to adapt this incident into a movie script, she would probably have the little girl disappear instantly at that moment, accompanied by chilling background music that sends shivers down your spine.
But movies are movies, and reality is reality.
There is no causal relationship between the blue voyeurism and the little girl's movements, so it is unlikely that the extremely rare phenomenon of "the blink of an eye coinciding with the moment the girl disappears" would occur.
It's almost impossible; if it were to happen, it could only be described as a miraculous coincidence.
The reality is that—until the children were about to finish their activities on the playground and the teachers began urging them to return to the school building—no miracle or coincidence occurred.
Well, it's about time.
Seeing the teacher begin directing the children back to their classrooms, the acting detective immediately placed the binoculars on the windowsill and consciously walked to the far corner of the clock tower.
As Bilan expected, the moment she stood still, the huge bell behind her, which looked like a bronze bell, began to ring loudly once again—it was the school bell.
This time, however, the girl was much more composed. Long before the bell rang, she covered her head with her hands, plugged her ears which were stuffed with cotton through her hood, and held the backpack containing three Poké Balls tightly to her chest.
The sound of the bells was still terrifying, but at least this time it was somewhat tolerable.
While covering her ears, Bilan looked again at the telescope mounted on the window.
The girl followed the crowd obediently and at a leisurely pace, showing no signs of disappearing. The young client, however, seemed to sense something was amiss, frequently glancing towards the tolling clock tower.
No, it wasn't just a premonition; it had reached the point where he was staring intently... Ah, he started trying to wave.
Perhaps the boy had already guessed that the detective he had asked the night before would come to school today, so he made a point of checking the corners of the school where it would be easy to hide.
When using a telescope, the concave lens in front of the telescope will inevitably reflect light. If this is witnessed by someone with ulterior motives, it is indeed possible to deduce the presence of a spy.
It's really embarrassing to be seen through by a child. But after all, that was the original client, who knew they would take investigative action, so it can't really be considered a mistake.
The real question now is: should we give up our advantageous position atop the clock tower and continue observing Sachiko, who is inside the school building?
Azure decisively abandoned this idea.
Ultimately, the half-hour spying from the clock tower was nothing more than a gamble. It was simply a shallow attempt to take a shortcut before the real investigation began, fueled by the hope that "it would be great if I could witness the moment the criminal launched the attack."
Having spoken with Professor Oak, she had already determined the purpose of her trip.
What really needs to be investigated is not Sachiko herself, nor her family full of misunderstandings and tragedies, but the structure of this preschool.