Shadow's Hand-Chapter 12: Traces

The appearance of the Diamond 3 card was indeed mysterious. But with mystery, there had to be a way to solve the mystery.

Just like how a coin has two sides, the same goes for mystery.

'So the appearance of this Diamond 3 card is related to my conjecture into pinpointing the solution.' Damien glanced at the The Conquered Beast painting.

The card faded slightly when he thought the mansion owner bought a fake painting. This meant that the mansion owner didn't buy a fake.

'The mansion owner bought a real painting, but this current one is fake. By logical sense, this means the real one had been swapped with a fake.' He thought.

Immediately afterward, Damien scrutinized the changes in the Diamond 3 card. Sure enough, its visibility became even more clear.

"Investigator Damien, did you figure out something?" Jasmine asked softly. She had just explained the value of the painting to him, but he seemed to be distracted once again.

Truth to be told, she was honestly losing her sanity when dealing with Damien.

Not only was he constantly distracted, but he was also unpredictable with his commands and questions.

It was to the point that she wondered if the person in front of her was an importer. However, that would have been impossible, given that he was able to access her tablet and received zero backlashes.

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A few seconds later, Damien stood up and turned to Jasmine. His eyes were cold and there was a lace of anger within it.

Frightened, Jasmine subconsciously retreated her steps. "I'm sorry for asking too many questions."

"What are you sorry for?" Damien's expression returned to normal, completely unaware of his cold aura. "Get the detectives and tell them to start tracking down the black market and any channel where they are selling paintings."

"Paintings?" Startled, Jasmine raised an eyebrow and turned her attention to the painting. "Is 'The Conquered Beast' a fake?"

Nodding, Damien confirmed her speculation. "The actual painting had been swapped, and the killer's motive of the murder should be related to selling high-value paintings."

Previously, he had made many speculations to confirm the Diamond 3 card validity. In the end, he came to a conclusion.

The real painting was indeed purchased by the mansion owner, but it had now been swapped and replaced with a fake.

His suspicion was confirmed the moment he concluded the painting swap was committed by the culprit, and the Diamond 3 illuminated brightly before flying elsewhere.

At the moment, Damien was positive that his ability seemed to be equivalent to tracing and the Diamond 3 was the guide.

'But the lighting decoration remained a mystery.' Damien recalled that the Diamond 3 card appeared first in the lighting, but it seemed to be no longer highlighting it.

If his chain of logic had been correct so far, then it meant that the lighting was no longer viable in the investigation.

While Damien was back to his deep thinking, Jasmine wasted no time to inform Sergeant Eugene.

"Sergeant Eugene, the Seventh has figured out a clue," Jasmine reported.

"A clue?" Alarmed, Eugene was stupefied by Damien's efficiency. "What kind of clue is it?"

"The clue is that the painting, The Conquered Beast, had been swapped with a fake. The Seventh has ordered a complete lockdown on the black market activity and any channel relevant to selling the paintings. It's related highly to the culprit, so do get a move on."

In the next instance, Eugene pulled out a radio and issued the command without hesitation. There was no need for verification of whether Damien's statement was correct or wrong. It would have been a joke and a blatant disrespect to Damien's skill if he delayed or questioned the matter.

How could a Seventh Order be wrong?

"Detective Gerald and Detective Sheila, immediately make a thorough search for the authentic painting," Eugene commanded his detectives.

Detective Gerald nodded and quickly suggested. "I'll personally head over to lead the team."

"Very well, then Detective Sheila shall remain here to assist the Investigators." Eugene agreed.

Shortly after, Eugene, Gerald, and the few detectives left the scene. Despite their intent being well, Jasmine could tell that they left in a hurry to avoid dealing with Damien.

As for Sheila, she frowned in place. As a woman in the police station, discrimination was extremely common. Thus, to be isolated from them and unanimously assigned to stay at the crime scene was within her expectations.

After all, if Damien wished to end another detective's life, it was better for her to be the one than the other detectives.

"My sympathy to you." Jasmine suddenly said. She could relate to Sheila's plight, given that she had faced hardship during the academy. In fact, even now, she is facing challenges from fellow Ninth Order TIs.

"Thanks." Sheila smiled bitterly. Honestly, she was used to being the oddball out anyway. Just that she didn't expect they were this ruthless enough to leave her to handle a Seventh Order TI.

Amidst their conversation, they were quickly interrupted by Damien.

"Jasmine, where's the corpses?" Damien asked. Previously, his emotion was affected because he received some sort of connection to one of the victims. It was really supernatural and almost frightening, to say the least.

The experience was equivalent to being in the victim's perspective. And the victim appeared to be the mansion owner's wife. Although he had gotten most of the data from Jasmine's tablet, the situation still horrified him.

Was he going to lose himself while investigating?

That was the struggle and debate he had internally. But in the end, Damien decided to find these traces.

The more unsure and mysterious an incident was—the better his chance were to figure out his predicament. He had no wish of dying and losing his life in this unfamiliar place.

"The corpses?" Dumbfounded, Jasmine realized she had yet to inspect the corpses as well, much less where they were.

"I'll guide you to it, Investigator." Sheila subsequently stepped in and suggested.

"You are?" Damien turned his attention to her and browsed through his memory. "Ah, you're called Sheila. How come you're the only detective remaining? Where did the rest go?"