svetikya Chapter 69: 4 Hints and Azure's Deduction
Chapter 69: 4 Hints and Azure's Deduction
"I'll give you a few words as a hint, so you can use them to think about today's events. We'll talk about the rest when we get back to the office."
In the back seat of the taxi, the detective, wearing a tattered white coat, held up four fingers and spoke to Azure with a profound expression.
Hugo's voice was deep and clear, and with each word he uttered, a finger would bend back into his palm.
"Gifts, neighbors, rocks, benefits."
"Huh?" Under the bewildered gaze of Azure, the detective turned back, leaned against the seat cushion, and showed no intention of giving an explanation, closing his eyes to rest.
The drive back to the city center from the western district of Feiyun City was too long, and Azure also had a competitive side to her personality. After a brief moment of confusion, the assistant immediately activated her mental cells, combining the crime scene with subsequent intelligence information, and began logical deduction—
The "gift" the detective mentioned was likely the flowerpot on the bookshelf. Beneath that succulent that required little care lay the murderer—a ghost-type Galar Corsola.
Before the detective raised the trophy and smashed it against the flowerpot, Azure hadn't really paid much attention to the inconspicuous little potted plant. She was too stunned by the large patches of blood on the ground to observe it calmly.
Therefore, Bilan only had a vague understanding of what the potted plant originally looked like. Based on her brief, fleeting memory, Bilan vaguely remembered that the small flowerpot had no special features and simply sat alone next to the books. It was neither aesthetically pleasing nor did it make the already messy room any more chaotic. The placement of the flowerpot was also inappropriate; the potted plant looked very out of place on the bookshelf, probably just the result of the victim's careless placement before death.
Even if it wasn't Hugo, Azur Lane, who had searched the scene, could easily tell that the deceased Greta was a carefree trainer, and it was unlikely that such a person would actively buy potted plants that couldn't participate in Pokémon battles to raise.
So why did Hugo choose "gift" as the first element in deducing the truth of the matter? It was just a flowerpot that inexplicably appeared in the deceased's house; there are countless theories that could explain it. Why did it have to be a gift?
Of course, there are other possibilities, such as... for example...
At this point, the assistant was surprised to discover that the explanation of the flowerpot being delivered as a gift into the secret room was actually the only reasonable explanation for the presence of the flowerpot in the deceased's home.
But how could that potted plant be a gift? Azure couldn't easily accept the conclusion reached through the process of elimination, because the flowerpot looked so shabby that no one could associate it with the word "gift"—
What information on that ordinary, plain brick-colored flowerpot hints at its gift-giving nature? Is there a message or the giver's initials? Not at all—its simple, rough walls don't even have a single pattern!
Moreover, the succulents planted in flowerpots look like simple transplanted varieties, neither beautiful nor practical, and most likely won't live more than a year.
Giving a useless bonsai to a Sandstorm Team trainer feels more like mockery than a gesture of goodwill.
This doesn't seem like a gift that would be given to a close friend or family member.
The girl shook her head, pondering—if she had to call it a gift, this potted plant could only be given as a greeting gift to a stranger she was meeting for the first time. It was like the person giving the gift desperately trying to avoid making an overly strong impression by choosing a completely unoriginal gift, which ultimately backfired and made them seem very shabby…
A stranger? A gift to greet you?
"I see!" Upon realizing this, Azure finally understood the detective's intention. It turned out that after ruling out the possibility that Mr. Greta had purchased the flowerpot himself, Hugo immediately realized that its origin might be related to a visit from a stranger.
Prior to the murder, the victim and the killer had never formally met. After their first meeting, a potted plant containing Galar coral was delivered to the victim.
It was quite obvious that the stranger who came to visit had given Greta a "gift" that contained murderous intent as a formality.
Moreover, the only person who could do this so easily without arousing suspicion was the deceased's "neighbor"!
They were inside the second layer of security created by the apartment building, so they didn't have to worry about being remembered by the doorman or the cameras outside.
When she discovered the second word in the detective's clue, Azure couldn't help but pump her fist in delight—her train of thought was on point!
What happened next was perfectly logical. Mr. Greta passed by the bookshelf, intending to read a book or consult an illustrated guide, completely unaware of the danger hidden in the flowerpot.
Then, Corsola made its move, piercing the unsuspecting victim's abdomen with a cone-shaped rock. Since it wasn't a STAB move, the attack's power was relatively weak, and the rock left by Corsola's "Stone Slash" appeared to have shrunk considerably.
The victim did not die immediately, but struggled desperately in his home, with no one responding. His cell phone, capable of making emergency calls, sat on the table just a step away, and his six beloved pets slept soundly in a medical device. Yet, he could only die helplessly, not even knowing the killer's name or motive before he died.
Who exactly planned this crime, and for what reason? The first question has already been answered: it was the six young people who were carrying many low-level Pokémon. But what was their motive for murder?
As the reasoning progressed, Azure's confusion did not dissipate; instead, it deepened and became even more inexplicable.
The girl believed the detective's last two clues revealed the murderer's motive, and it was based on these clues that Hugo uncovered the criminals. But what did those two words mean?
"Rock"? Why a rock?
Mr. Greta is an expert in Team Sandstorm, and his Pokémon, including Druid of the Rock, Gigantamax, and Tyranitar, are all Rock-type, which greatly enhances their combat power in sandstorm weather. However, they didn't appear in this case at all, so how are they connected to the young people's criminal motives?
And there's one last clue: "interests." Does Hugo mean that there's some irreconcilable conflict of interest between the six young people and Mr. Greta, whom they've just met, which led to the murder?
According to the earliest reasoning, they had only met for the first time recently. What kind of interests led two groups of strangers to resort to such an extreme way to resolve their conflict?
Since the keywords provided by the detective were too difficult to understand, Azure decided to re-examine the criminal motive according to her own thinking.
When asked about her motives for the crime, the first thing that came to mind for the girl was Greta's dark history as a trainer.
As we all know, being a Pokémon trainer is a very tough profession. As a star trainer, Mr. Greta may have made enemies with someone during his journey to participate in the League competition, and this assassination attempt was his revenge.
However, this doesn't make sense. Those who would have a grudge against Greta would at least be trainers who were once at his level. Those young people are completely mediocre and could not possibly be the targets of any enmity.
Azure suddenly thought of another person—the apartment manager who used the long-haired dog. That man's command style was that of a seasoned veteran. If anyone in the apartment building had a grudge against Greta, this old man was highly suspicious, especially since he was the first to discover the body… He even had a spare key to that secret room!
Thinking of this, the girl was horrified—
Was Hugo misled by the apartment manager? As the manager, he also had the opportunity to give the potted plant to Mr. Greta. The final chaotic fight could very well have been staged by the old man, using his heroic act to completely clear his name of suspicion. The young people might soon be acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and the case would become a cold case…
"You've got it wrong." A lazy voice sounded in Bi Lan's ear.
"Look at you, all jumpy and overreacting. You're not the composed detective's assistant you should be. Have you forgotten the clues I gave you and started overthinking things?"
Azure turned her head and saw Detective Hugo's teasing smile.