Chapter 773: Necromancer Detective 1
Draco simply gazed at the duo silently and ignored the ensuing scene. With the corpse itself declaring his wife to be his murderer, how could Martha put up any defense? They weren"t in the digital era where videos of events could be forged to make someone innocent be out to look like a criminal.
Given the time period, as long as a large enough group of respectably sane people corroborated the same story, no matter how doubtful it might seem, it would be taken as the truth.
In this case, there were two detectives, the head of department, numerous constables, and even three suspects of different backgrounds who would be able to vouch for the accussation of someone who had died and come back to life.
Pressed by the circ.u.mstances, Martha eventually confessed on her own.
｢Congratulations on completing: Tower of Babylon Sixty-First Floor
Time elapsed: 0:30:11
Objectives complete: All
a.s.sessment: EX+
Reward:
65,000 Score Points
1 Treasure Selection Reward - Peak Platinum Grade｣
Draco naturally completed the floor. However, what he had learned from Martha"s memories changed his mind about fooling around for the subsequent floors. The moment he appeared, the scoundrel immediately began by reading the minds of those around him to set up a plot to resolve the cases in record time.
What followed, was this;
｢The Sixty-Second Floor – Divine Quest
Description: Welcome to the Kingdom of Clevante, styled after Victorian-era London! A place where children are forced to work in factories for a few pennies in exchange for losing a few "non-essential" limbs, a place where your parents" standing will decide whether you"ll live like a prince or like a pauper… unless you manage to randomly switch places with your lookalike.
You are the most Renowned Detective of this kingdom, and you"ve been called to solve the case of Lokram Bruno, a man who was murdered silently.
Limitation 1: This is a world of industry and science. All your stats, skills and various powers have been blocked.
Limitation 2: You may retreat from the floor at any time, but upon re-entry, you would have to resume from the exact situation you were in at the time.
Limitation 3: There is a time limit on each case. You have a maximum of 2 months to resolve the case before it is deemed as closed and you fail.
Limitation 4: If you choose the wrong target at the end of the deduction, you will fail the floor without any chances of re-doing it.
Provision 1: You have full access to all the resources of the police force as well as any forensic and cla.s.sified data to help you solve the case.
Provision 2: You are free to use any method to interrogate suspects, but some more - unfavorable - methods would have to be done discreetly.
Provision 3: You have the senses of a detective, so can better spot tells when interrogating suspects and witnesses.
Rewards: Score Points, 1 Platinum-Tier Reward Selection.｣
The second floor"s case was even stranger. Lokram Bruno had been found dead at his seat on the dining table, head placed on the table cloth with a peaceful smile. Unsurprisingly, poison was the first thing anyone would suspect, but according to the wife"s testimony her husband had died before he could even take so much as a whiff of the food.
Draco simply revived the corpse, who immediately called for his wife. She was shocked to see this, but unlike in the previous case, Lokram did not accuse her. Rather he begged her forgiveness for leaving her alone and bereft in this world knowing how hard life would be for a widowed woman and encouraged her to remarry someone good.
Draco sighed and let the corpse pa.s.s on in peace. Just when it seemed like the case had met a dead end, Draco accused the wife of murder, much to everyone"s shock. When prompted for evidence, he led the group to the wife"s room where he uncovered a small bag of pills hidden in a secret compartment behind a portrait of the couple.
He then tossed the pills to the chief to have them tested along with the blood in Lokram"s body. It turned out that Lokram had indeed been poisoned by his wife. Just like with Kevin from before, the motive remained unclear to the public.
｢Congratulations on completing: Tower of Babylon Sixty-Second Floor
Time elapsed: 0:45:11
Objectives complete: All
a.s.sessment: EX+
Reward:
66,000 Score Points
1 Treasure Selection Reward - Peak Platinum Grade｣
The two cases had a surprising correlation, one that Draco should not have found out until later, but despite his knowledge, he decided to just let the story play out, if only to accrue more rewards in the meantime.
｢The Sixty-Third Floor – Divine Quest
Description: Welcome to the Kingdom of Clevante, styled after Victorian-era London! A place where children are forced to work in factories for a few pennies in exchange for losing a few "non-essential" limbs, a place where your parents" standing will decide whether you"ll live like a prince or like a pauper… unless you manage to randomly switch places with your lookalike.
You are the most Renowned Detective of this kingdom, and you"ve been called to solve the case of Damon Livingstone, a famous paramour.
Limitation 1: This is a world of industry and science. All your stats, skills and various powers have been blocked.
Limitation 2: You may retreat from the floor at any time, but upon re-entry, you would have to resume from the exact situation you were in at the time.
Limitation 3: There is a time limit on each case. You have a maximum of 2 months to resolve the case before it is deemed as closed and you fail.
Limitation 4: If you choose the wrong target at the end of the deduction, you will fail the floor without any chances of re-doing it.
Provision 1: You have full access to all the resources of the police force as well as any forensic and cla.s.sified data to help you solve the case.
Provision 2: You are free to use any method to interrogate suspects, but some more - unfavorable - methods would have to be done discreetly.
Provision 3: You have the senses of a detective, so can better spot tells when interrogating suspects and witnesses.
Rewards: Score Points, 1 Platinum-Tier Reward Selection.｣
Damon"s case appeared even more mysterious than the former two. The ladies" man had taken his last breath underneath the body of a courtesan one night, and the woman in question had been sent to insanity ward as she had been completely traumatized by the fact, losing her mind in the process.
Damon"s body looked drained, like he had been sucked out of nutrients by a predator. However, many attested that Damon often looked such a way as he had juggled being a gigolo for over 20 women, and that was just the known number. Having to shuttle back and forth to satisfy all of them always left him with a bit of a… deficiency.
Draco, an incubus, obviously sensed the work of succubus magic. It was weak and barely pa.s.sable, but it was there. He sneered and raised Damon"s corpse, which did not surprise those in the investigation as Draco had already made a name for himself as the "Necromancer Detective".
Damon was promptly interrogated by Draco, but the corpse"s answers did not paint anyone as a true culprit. However, he did admit that he had noticed himself becoming weaker with every session with the courtesan who he had died under.
This made Draco"s eyes flash as he requested to visit the "mad" courtesan. Upon arriving at the asylum, he noticed that the guards were looking sallow, but had wide grins on their faces.
Draco snorted and met the courtesan. It had to be said that even for this era"s standard, she was a top tier beauty and her s.e.xiness was almost on par with someone like Bella. It was no wonder all these fellows could not help but succ.u.mb to her charm.
The courtesan also tried to subtly seduce Draco while he was asking questions, alongside feigning recovery from her spout of madness. When she saw it was not working, she played the sympathy card, highlighting her traumatic experience and the fact that the guards took advantage of her madness to have fun with her.
Draco eventually turned into an incubus and forced the courtesan to transform into a succubus. However, unlike the s.e.xy Zaine, her form was grotesque and monstrous. Draco laughed, as those grinning guards would probably cut off their d.i.c.ks if they saw what they had truly f.u.c.ked.
Draco made the courtesan confess a partial truth, that she had used poison to kill her client. Once again, a motive was seemingly lacking.
｢Congratulations on completing: Tower of Babylon Sixty-Third Floor
Time elapsed: 0:38:55
Objectives complete: All
a.s.sessment: EX+
Reward:
67,000 Score Points
1 Treasure Selection Reward - Peak Platinum Grade｣
The truth was not obvious here and a motive was finally present. By now, even the likes of Qiong Qi and Clarent managed to pierce through the fog a little.
｢The Sixty-Fourth Floor – Divine Quest
Description: Welcome to the Kingdom of Clevante, styled after Victorian-era England! A place where…etc
You are the most Renowned Detective of this kingdom, and you"ve been called to solve the case of David Ironfeild, a young author who died in his study.
Limitation 1: This is a world of industry and science. All your stats…etc
Limitation 2: You may retreat from the floor at any time, but upon re-entry…etc
Limitation 3: There is a time limit on each case. You have…etc
Limitation 4: If you choose the wrong target at the end of…etc
Provision 1: You have full access to all the resources of the…etc
Provision 2: You are free to use any method to interrogate suspects, but some…etc
Provision 3: You have the senses of a detective, so can…etc
Rewards: Score Points, 1 Platinum-Tier Reward Selection.｣
This one was even worse. David did not have any wives or known lovers. He was a truly self sufficient NEET who knew how to beat that meat in order to sustain himself to focus on his other pa.s.sion. As such, Draco was forced to begin by raising the corpse once more.
Alas, this time the corpse completely clueless. He had been working on an unpublished book, as he had done on many other chilly nights. Due to the cold breeze he eventually felt himself getting sleepy, so he put his head down. The next moment, he woke up, and was being questioned by Draco.
Learning that he was dead, David became incomparably somber and sad. Draco smiled though, and asked him about any woman in his life at all, not just his lovers, but family too. David did attest that he had one eccentric aunt who had taken care of him for a time.
Hearing this, Draco paid her a visit. While interrogating, he made her confess to the same crime as the courtesan, using poison that was untraceable. However, this was harder for the police to accept because she had been a whole province away from David when he had died.
Draco, however, easily got her to confess using the same story as before, with a simple mind control ability. The police were dumbfounded and felt that there was some foulplay, but were they truly going to offend the Renowned Detective who could raise the dead for a mere woman?
Hey, who knows, while she"s in jail, they might be able to even taste her freely, heh heh heh.
｢Congratulations on completing: Tower of Babylon Sixty-Fourth Floor
Time elapsed: 0:23:48
Objectives complete: All
a.s.sessment: EX+
Reward:
68,000 Score Points
1 Treasure Selection Reward - Peak Platinum Grade｣
No obvious motive here, and the two parties were not even close. However, one thing that seemingly n.o.body accounted for was that the last time David Ironfeild had visited his aunt, she had looked like a woman in her 50"s, sweet and decrepit.
However when she was arrested, she looked like a mature woman in her 30"s, ripe and ready to marry a rich man with high tastes. Qiong Qi and Clarent watched her speechlessly as she went by, and even they, who did not dabble in evil, could sense a certain aura from the woman who had been sobbing and pleading.
It was an aura very similar to what this buddy of theirs, Draco, often had when he was beating people up in his Horned Demon True Body.
Very interesting.