Owl Detective
He was not a man who was into the occult.
William said this to himself.
At certain moments, he would recall those fantastic beliefs and legends to seek peace of mind, but in most of his clear-headed moments, he rationally believed that many things were just people's misunderstandings.
At this moment, looking at the owl on his clothes hanger staring at him with its big round eyes, William took a deep breath, put aside all the images that had just flooded into his mind about several newspaper staff members excitedly shouting "Bird of Wisdom", and regained his rationality.
What he meant was that although he had indeed been guided by Mr. Owl last night and was surprised and shocked by it, he would not blindly believe in the other party's supernatural powers like those newspaper staff.
What's more, he didn't know the purpose of this guest's visit.
With this in mind, William stood still, neither intending to disturb the bird nor to flatter it.
but……
William's eyes hesitantly glued to the coat under the owl's claws.
These are the clothes he picked out, and the pens and gloves were placed there in advance.
"Hi, nice to see you again, Mr. Owl."
It would be terrible if I had to give in like I did yesterday in my own home, William thought, and spoke carefully: "Although I am honored to see you again, I must remind you that this is my home and you are trespassing. According to the police regulations, I can arrest you on the spot."
Owl: "Coohoo!"
William was very polite: "So, if you still want to drive me away rudely like you did yesterday, it is obviously not justified and it is even more sinful."
Owl: "Coohoo!"
William added: "However, in view of my previous offense, I will not do anything to you. If you like to stay here, please feel free to do so. I just need to retrieve my coat."
Owl: "Coo! Coo!"
When it saw the young man approaching, the owl, which had been arrogant and aggressive, suddenly lowered its head, its pair of black-brown wings slightly expanded, and its sharp golden eyes stared at the human in a very intimidating manner, as if it would suddenly attack in the next second.
But William was not afraid.
Perhaps the seemingly peaceful communication in the morning consumed too much of his energy. At this moment, he felt that the owl's behavior was not scary. At least its emotions were sincere and undisguised.
What's more, the owl did lead the way for him yesterday, so it wouldn't matter if it bit him now, as long as he could go on patrol next time.
“…Guwu!”
Seeing the human hand touching the clothes hanger, and even calmly combing the inflated wings with his fingers after his hand was held behind his back, without any of the humble and weak attitude of last night, the owl was stunned, and silently loosened its beak. It turned its head left and right several degrees, and looked at the young man with its round eyes with a bit of confusion.
The young man remained motionless under the owl's gaze, pulled the clothes off the hanger, turned around and put on his coat swiftly. The slight breeze blew the owl's soft facial feathers, causing its raised ears to tremble.
The owl tilted its head with its mouth slightly open and looked at the human. When the human had packed up and turned around, and when its two free big hands were raised, it suddenly spread its wings and flew away quickly from the window.
"……Um?"
William paused as he adjusted his sleeves, a strange feeling coming over him.
For some reason, this series of actions made him feel as if Mr. Owl was waiting for him to get dressed and go out on night patrol together.
No, no, how is that possible?
In order to erase this ridiculous thought, he looked up and out the window, originally intending to let himself know that the mysterious bird had already flown away, but the owl was clearly in his field of vision.
The brown bird hung upside down on the windowsill, its pair of golden eyes staring at it unblinkingly until its eyes met the person's. It opened its mouth, uttered an incomprehensible cry, and then flew away.
"……Excuse me?"
William was a little suspicious now.
He hurried out of the house and looked at the exceptionally swift figure in the dark. Without hesitation, he ran again to catch up.
Familiar scene.
Is there another victim?
But the murderer had always committed crimes about three days apart in the previous times. Why did he break the pattern this time?
Full of doubts and nervousness, William tried hard to follow the owl and ran for a long time. Only after he could no longer see the bird did he think about where he was.
This is a commercial street.
On this night, all the shops on the street had their doors and windows closed, and there seemed to be nothing unusual.
“Hoo—Hoo—”
William, fearing that there would be more victims tonight, didn't care about his burning lungs. He supported himself with his thighs and gasped for breath, while looking up and trying to search for the owl.
But no, not at all.
It was extremely quiet, with only occasional rustling sounds coming from the cracks in the wall, as if there were mice moving around.
"Hahaha."
Sweat dripped down his forehead and fell to the ground with a plop. William's vision blurred for a moment. He stared blankly at the small wet spot on the ground and suddenly chuckled a few times.
All right.
Although he said he didn't believe it, he finally believed it.
I believe that this owl is really the bird of wisdom that those journalists talk about, and it can point us out of confusion and see through the darkness.
Perhaps he was really outnumbered, so he wanted a partner so desperately that he even set his sights on a bird.
But Mr. Owl might just be leaving normally to look for food.
His rapid breathing gradually calmed down in the cold wind. William stood up, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and habitually glanced around the block to take in the general scene, then turned and left.
Forget it.
Rather than being a supernatural detective, perhaps it would be more useful for him to patrol a few more streets tonight.
"Officer William!"
Lucy met William again who came to investigate.
Compared to her cold and alert attitude last time, Lucy seemed particularly enthusiastic and excited this time because she heard the contents of the morning paper that people on the streets were talking about.
"I heard that you ran into the murderer yesterday!" The girl's eyes were bright with expectation. "So, are you going to catch the murderer soon?"
William avoided the girl's gaze: "Sorry, the progress is still slow at the moment."
As for the police, because they want to hype up the topic of the confrontation between mythology and the Bible, they are still very passive in the investigation, and William is still working alone.
But the good news is that since he was the first to discover the scene this time, he was able to carry out simple evidence collection before others arrived.
Based on the shape and depth of the wound, he could roughly tell that the murderer used a relatively small sharp object as the murder weapon; based on the size and thickness of the bloody footprints, he roughly knew the murderer's height and body shape.
The murderer's profile is that of a male between 20 and 45 years old, about 170 cm tall and weighing about 110 kg, who had access to relatively delicate and sharp weapons.
It seems like we have gained something, but the clues are still too broad.
As a fast-developing city, countless people flock to Fog City every day. Moreover, the East District itself is a mixed bag and lacks management. It is impossible to screen out those who meet the requirements. He needs key evidence to narrow the scope.
"...Oh." Lucy's eyes seemed to dim for a moment, but she quickly cheered up and said happily, "But you are really responsible and capable. I believe you can do it!"
William smiled: "Thank you, I will try my best."
The next inquiry went much more smoothly than the last time.
But after the meeting, Lucy's mother suddenly appeared, still wearing those women's trousers that were ahead of their time. She hastily answered William's questions, and then asked impatiently: "Mr. Officer, how do you feel about working with the detective?"
William: ...
He had not intended to bring up the subject because it might embarrass the girl because of her mother's lie.
But since Lucy's mother took the initiative to propose it, he should just cooperate a little.
“In fact, it didn’t go well.”
William tried to hint in a tactful way: "I am a little surprised by the true identity of that detective. I even think that he is not a detective in the universal sense."
He thought that Lucy's family should have known about what happened in the newspaper, and they would naturally understand the absurdity of the so-called detective being an owl.
"...Hmm." The smile on the woman's face seemed to fade a little. She looked William up and down, and said in a subtle tone, "I originally thought that you, the officer, didn't care about this."
Since she hadn't said anything radical when she saw the way she was dressed, she thought the young police officer was a sufficiently honest and rational person.
Is gender that important?
Can it even overshadow the dazzling brilliance of ability?
However, William and she were not on the same train of thought. He was even stunned when he heard this reply. After thinking it over again and again, he replied carefully: "I am very sorry if I offended you. But in fact, I think it is difficult for everyone to not care about this, right? After all, as a partner in the investigation, the basic identity requirements should be met..."
The woman seemed to make a "tsk" sound.
Then, she strode forward, met the young man's gaze, and spoke righteously: "What are the basic identity requirements? In this case, as long as it can help you, the officer, to clear the fog, is the difference in identity really important? More important than truth and justice?!"
William tried to explain: "Well, it would be fine if the detective was capable enough, but the progress this time might not be due to the detective's ability. I think it was just a coincidence..."
"happen?!"
The woman was surprisingly angry.
Surprisingly, this is the kind of rhetoric!
He attributes it to the environment and coincidence and is unwilling to face up to the individual's abilities. The idea of discrimination may have penetrated into the bones of this young man!
She was wrong.
"Well, if you think it's a coincidence, then it is a coincidence." The woman lowered her eyes in boredom, her emotions suddenly calmed down, she took a few steps back, and said sarcastically, "You are indeed always prejudiced against things you don't understand, and even speak out of turn, but you don't realize that it is your own shallow knowledge."
The woman's firm tone made William a little confused.
Wait, did he miss something?
He spoke carefully and added: "I didn't mean to attack you. Maybe I did misunderstand something. But, the detective didn't seem to want to communicate with me. He didn't even leave me any clues or information... Under such circumstances, it's really hard for me to trust him."
The woman was still angry and didn't bother to think about why the man she remembered would do this, so she said coldly, "Don't want to communicate? Maybe you can't enter our world!"
This stunned William.
He looked at the woman's clothes and temperament that were out of tune with the women of today. A term from the old times came into his mind. Although he kept repeating in his heart that it was unbelievable, he couldn't help but lower his posture and ask, "If it's possible, of course I'm willing. But the detective disappeared after a brief meeting with me last night, and I don't know how to continue the cooperation."
"If it turns out that my previous belief was wrong, I will apologize to you."
The young man's blue eyes were clear and sincere, without a trace of impurities, making it impossible to doubt the truthfulness of his words.
The woman's temper also subsided.
It was at this moment that she began to think about what William had just said.
Disappeared... Maybe something happened suddenly? After all, keeping your identity secret is the most important thing.
However, that person is not an irresponsible person. Since she helped once and almost caught the murderer, she will definitely leave only after uncovering the truth.
Hmm, so she should already know the murderer.
I probably hinted to this wooden police officer that he couldn't wait any longer and left in a hurry. In this case...
"I believe the detective must have hinted the truth to you." The woman's face was also a little proud when she mentioned the familiar person. "Maybe you haven't discovered it, but you must have discovered it."
Thinking of the street that the owl led him to last night, William smiled bitterly: "Maybe, maybe I'm not smart enough. I really can't understand it."
Without any more anger, the woman patiently helped William sort out his thoughts——
Woman: "From what I know, since he has taken over this matter, he will definitely do his best to solve it. Even if he really leaves for some reason, he will definitely leave decisive evidence to help you solve the case."
William: "Decisive evidence...?"
Woman: "Yes, combined with the previous hints, it must be obvious enough evidence, you just need to look carefully."
William: “Is that so?”
There was a flash of confusion and hesitation on the young man's face, but in the end he became determined because he wanted to solve the case.
In that case, he decided to go to the empty house again to see if there was any evidence left by Mr. Owl.
"Thank you ma'am, I'll be there."
The young detective took off his hat, saluted the mother and daughter, and then hurried away.
Until the young man was out of sight, Lucy looked up and said in a muffled voice: "You lied again."
The woman pinched her face and said seriously, "Mom didn't lie."
"Little Lucy, isn't she very happy that the police have finally made some progress and caught the murderer? It's the great detective that mom recommended who is helping."
Lucy rolled her eyes at her mother and muttered, "Nonsense, how could you possibly recommend an owl?"
The smile on the woman's face froze a little, and she could hardly believe her ears.
Wait, where did the owl come from?
In the evening, the mysterious empty house.
So finally, he came.
William looked at the empty house and sighed, then resigned himself to his fate and began to search carefully.
According to his investigation yesterday, the place was very empty and there was basically nothing valuable here, so he didn't have any expectations.
However, he actually found something under the stairs.
——A black and gray cocoon-shaped ball of hair.
It looks particularly conspicuous against the dark red ground.
William has a strong environmental memory ability. As long as he wants, he can restore the scenes he has observed in his mind, so he clearly remembers that the last time he came here, this ball of hair did not exist.
Could this be something the owl left behind?
That... decisive evidence?
Thinking of this possibility, William didn't dare to make any big movements. He just squatted on the spot and carefully fiddled with the ball of hair with a pen.
He brushed away the unknown black and gray hairs bit by bit. At some point he stopped and his heart suddenly started beating very fast.
Just inside the ball of hair, there is a small piece of fabric with a special pattern printed on it.
Why is there cloth?
Unlike peripheral hair, this human artifact can pinpoint the person of interest.
William frowned and closed his eyes, lost in the scene in his mind.
What was very coincidental was that he seemed to have seen this pattern not long ago...
Recall, think, simulate, crack——
Just down the street last night was a carpet from one of the stores!
His thoughts flashed through his mind in a flash. When he came to his senses, William opened his eyes and was shocked.
Such a coincidence can't be called a coincidence!
So -
Is that owl really the detective that Lucy's mother described?
William: Well, I met a witch, so it seems that there is nothing wrong with an owl being a detective (gradually understands everything)
Lucy's mother: You are being sexist, right? I'm going to make you question your life... Wait, what owl? I'm recommending a human to you!! (panic)
Owl: (Just vomiting a ball of hair)
The next chapter will be a furry perspective, the owl is really just flying around ()
Detectives are mysterious, but the detectives here are particularly free-spirited ()
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