area51novel Chapter 91 The Corpse Under the Beach
Chapter 91 The Corpse Under the Beach
Upon hearing the description of Litwick in the Pokédex, Hugo frowned deeply, as if he had foreseen that the events would irrevocably spiral into the abyss, and the relaxed atmosphere of the previous outing vanished completely.
“This doesn’t make sense,” the detective said irritably. “It’s noon, and the area around there is all wet mud. There’s no reason for a fire-type and ghost-type Candle Spirit to be there.”
“Something must have happened.” Azure’s expression was equally serious. “According to the legend of the Candle Spirits guiding human souls, the appearance of this spirit should be a sign of some phenomenon. There might be something nearby…”
"Woof! Awoof! Woof woof woof!"
Before the detective's assistant could finish explaining his reasoning, he was interrupted by a low bark from a dog.
Suddenly, Naoki's long-haired dog became agitated, as if it had been hit by a "Taunt" skill. This fierce dog, covered in thick fur, ignored the mud on the shore and charged madly toward a certain spot ahead.
Naoki hurriedly followed, but as a trainer, he did not stop his partner's behavior, instead letting the long-haired dog do as it pleased.
After sniffing a few times, the long-haired dog began digging furiously at a patch of sand. A blue light lit up on its paws, indicating that it had used the "Digging" skill.
Seeing the scene before her, Azure didn't hesitate to command Eevee, "Eevee, quickly use 'Dig' to help the Snorunt."
Then, coming to her senses, she added, "Don't dig too hard, be careful... about what's buried below."
If you don't consider stamina, a Pokémon using its "Dig" skill at full power can rival a professional sand excavator in efficiency. In the blink of an eye, the once flat sand was dug into a pit more than a meter deep, and the object buried underneath gradually came into view of the three people present.
That's a corpse, a human corpse.
The first thing to be unearthed was the body's hand, which was dug out by a long-haired dog.
It was a pale, bloodless left hand. Shaking off the sand clinging to it, Azure noticed that the fingernails were neatly trimmed, but the palm was rough and covered with calluses from handling some kind of tool.
Then, the arm, still covered by clothing, was unearthed. To the detective's assistant's surprise, the fabric of the clothing appeared to be very expensive. As Eevee and the long-haired dog continued digging, Azure discovered that the deceased was actually wearing a well-tailored black suit.
As the body was completely exhumed, the gender and cause of death were confirmed—he was a well-dressed man around fifty years old with brown hair and black eyes—this was clear because his eyes were wide open when he was dug out.
Is this what they mean by dying with eyes wide open?
The man's death was clearly sudden; the confused and surprised expression on his face before he died remained frozen, as if he could not believe that his life had ended.
.
Fortunately, despite the horrific scene, all three people present remained calm, and no one screamed.
"The cause of death was a slash wound to the back of the neck. Judging from the force and shape, it was most likely caused by a Pokémon move."
Azure picked up Eevee, who had become nervous after digging up the corpse, and said to the old man Naoki beside her.
The old man nodded. Even though he was a man of great experience, he was clearly quite frightened by the “great discovery” before him. The lines on his old face seemed to deepen, and he looked even more gloomy.
The detective's assistant continued her analysis: "Judging from the angle of such a tricky attack, if the wound was inflicted by a Pokémon, I think the culprit most likely used the move 'Ambush to Critical Hit.' Only a critical hit from this move could possibly end the victim's life before they even had a chance to react."
"This wound is also a bit strange. It doesn't look like a simple claw mark. It must have been caused by something larger but harder." Azure examined the location of the tear in the wound. She really wanted to know what kind of Pokémon would dare to do such a cruel thing to a human.
“His Poké Balls have been stolen,” Naoki, who was hunched over, suddenly said. “The belt loop on this man’s pants has been cut open; that’s where he used to keep his Poké Balls.”
The girl nodded in agreement. Then, to the astonishment of the old man Naoki, Azure completely disregarded the principle of protecting the crime scene and reached out to rub the deceased's shoulder, then his neck, elbow, knee, and ankle.
What are you doing?
The old man couldn't understand the detective's assistant's actions, but Azure's eyes were burning with anticipation, as if she had made some significant discovery—
"The body died within 24 hours, or even less! This is because rigor mortis is still at its peak, with all joints completely stiff and no signs of relief. Moreover, pressing firmly on the body with your fingertips causes slight fading of color, which indicates that the livor mortis is in its spreading stage!"
The forensic knowledge she had painstakingly learned in the hospital morgue finally came in handy, and Bilan couldn't help but feel extremely grateful. Even the fear she usually felt when facing corpses had dissipated somewhat.
Wait, something's not right.
Something seems to be missing? Where is the detective who would usually throw cold water on himself at times like this?
Thinking of that embodiment of rationalism, Azure suddenly regained some of her composure.
She was touching the cold, stiff corpse—the thought of her transgression sent a chill down her spine. She quickly moved away from the body and looked around for Hugo.
Then, Azure saw that not far from where the body was found, Hugo was talking on his phone. He then hung up and returned to the body.
Seeing the blue-eyed boy's hands covered in sand and his somewhat uneasy expression, Hugo sighed and said earnestly to his assistant—
“I just explained to the police that since you were the first to discover the crime, and I and Mr. Naoki can be witnesses, you don’t need to worry about being detained for leaving fingerprints at the scene or disturbing the crime scene.”
"Thank you very much."
"Also, although I've told you before that forensic knowledge of identifying corpses is common sense for detectives, you shouldn't forget common sense as a human being, should you?"
"What is common sense as a human being?" Azure tilted her head slightly, somewhat puzzled.
Hugo said more sternly than ever before: "When a heinous crime is discovered, especially a corpse, it should be reported to the police immediately—this is common sense that every human being should abide by!"
"I understand." Azure bowed her head honestly, admitting her mistake. She realized her actions had been too rash, but the girl then looked at the detective—
"So, Hugo, do you have any clue as to why this person was murdered?"
"Not yet. Who knows why this geological prospector, who was so enthusiastic about wearing a suit to meet some important figure, would be suddenly killed?" Hugo said impatiently, pressing his palm to his forehead.
"What do you mean? Meeting someone important? A geological prospector?" Azure's eyes widened, then she suddenly understood—
"I see! Only professions like geological exploration could explain why that man, despite his calloused skin, was so impeccably dressed! And the only reason someone like that would wear such an expensive, inconvenient suit is because he's going to a meeting that's extremely important to him. I see!"
"Then why was he suddenly killed? Why would this dead man have arranged to meet someone important on this remote beach?" A dry voice interrupted Azure's sighs. Old Man Naoki looked directly into Hugo's eyes and asked a sharp question.
"I don't know yet, but it should be related to this." The detective waved the evidence bag containing the Mega Evolution Stone of the Doll in front of the old man. Sometime later, the detective had put on transparent gloves used for evidence collection. Then he squatted down and touched the pocket of the deceased's suit.
"Ha, it's here after all." Hugo let out a sigh of relief. "I think this is at least good news, Mr. Administrator. Our mission is complete, and this deceased gentleman is the owner of this Mega Evolution Stone."
The detective opened his gloved hand, revealing a black box the size of a baby's fist.
Gently pull the lever to open the lid, and you'll see a pink velvet lining inside.
It matches perfectly with the pink doll.