Chapter 40 CASEFILE·4: Night Bandits (7)
Andrei slowly woke up from his sleep.
He felt like he was soaking in a warm hot spring, feeling lazy and not wanting to move for a moment. The sound of people talking came from downstairs, but he didn't feel it was noisy. Instead, he felt a strange sense of fulfillment.
It's like being in a busy market, holding a cup of hot tea, watching the people coming and going, listening to their conversations, and quietly guessing their identities, relationships, and even what they will do next...
"Observe, Andrei, learn to observe." Count Saka's voice rang in his ears, and he seemed to be back in the afternoon of the past: Count Saka was sitting on the second-floor terrace of a restaurant, holding a cup of black tea in his hand. While basking in the warm and soft sunshine, he guided him to look at the passers-by on the street below: "For example, what do you see in the lady in front of the newsstand?"
"She's in her thirties, an ordinary human. Her clothing appears to be very modest and simple, but the fabric is not cheap—a new product developed by the Rusman Federation, costing three gold coins per meter." Andre said, "She just wants to hide her wealthy background, so she chose a plain-looking dress. But she doesn't know how the poor really dress."
"Indeed, people cannot understand what they have not experienced," Count Saka laughed. "Even if a book describes a scene in detail, people will interpret the words based on their own memories and construct an imaginary scene. If I simply say 'residence', a wealthy person will think of a manor, while a poor person will only think of an ordinary wooden hut.
"Similarly, when witnesses witness an event, they often don't view it objectively. They will add a lot of their own speculation, which is often based on their own life experience and cognitive background, and sometimes differs greatly from reality... This phenomenon is particularly common. Several witnesses who witnessed the same event may give drastically different testimonies. Criminals often deliberately exploit people's inertial thinking to make them think in a direction that will not interfere with their own thinking...
"For example... did you see that man and woman arguing at the end of the street? What do you think their relationship is?"
Andre frowned and looked over. "The woman looked panicked and clearly aggrieved. She was trying to break free from the man pulling her... These two didn't seem to know each other."
"But the passersby nearby all looked like they were arguing with a couple, ignoring each other. This is the difference in perception. Ah, but before we continue the lesson, you'd better go up and help that girl."
Before Andrei could finish, he had already jumped down from the second-floor railing: "Knight of the Kingdom, let go of that girl!"
Count Saka's figure gradually faded from memory, but his words remained remarkably clear: "Observe, Andrei, observe. You must objectively record the clues. When obtaining witness testimony, you must also understand their cognition, work backwards from their testimony, discard any subjective assumptions, and filter out the objective facts. Only facts cannot be changed."
Andrei opened his eyes. The aroma of food wafted through his nose, and his consciousness gradually returned. He felt like he had never slept so soundly.
After a moment of confusion, a lot of information flooded into his mind. He remembered the case last night: the people from Evil Eye Moon were the robbers; Baron Neumann was closely involved with Evil Eye Moon, but now he was repeatedly targeted by the robbers; the jeweler Chena and Baron Neumann were secretly cooperating, and the Chena family must have used their own name and carriages to transport a lot of "goods" for the baron.
...But Baron Neumann had his own fleet. As the lord of this land, Baron Neumann commanded both the kingdom's knights and his own private soldiers, whom even His Majesty the King could not interfere with. Why would he entrust a jeweler with the transportation of his "goods"?
Unless, those 'goods' are something extremely dangerous that absolutely cannot be associated with Baron Neumann himself! This thing can make Baron Neumann terrified, and can also attract Evil Eye Moon...
"It's evidence!" Andrei suddenly sat up from the bed. "What Baron Neumann secretly had Barrow Ho Chena transport is probably the dirty accounts from his past collaboration with Evil Eye Moon! He must have had a disagreement with Evil Eye Moon now. He's afraid these documents will be discovered by me or His Majesty the King's men, and he doesn't want Evil Eye Moon's people to get their hands on these accounts! But he can't completely destroy these dirty accounts... If Evil Eye Moon turns against him, these will be his family's bargaining chips to save their lives!"
Andrei, his expression agitated, grabbed the clean clothes Jericho had left at the foot of the bed and hurriedly changed into them. "I have to go to the City Lord's Mansion... Speaking of which, despite such a major case, Baron Neumann never summoned me to answer questions, nor did he use the opportunity to accuse me of incompetence... This in itself is very suspicious! He's also afraid that I'll notice the connection between this case and him!"
Baron Neumann must be on edge, desperate for the case to be solved, yet also terrified that Andrei might actually solve it and recover the stolen goods. After all, according to Huntington Duchy's established rules, any stolen goods must be inspected by the kingdom's knights to ensure they match the owner's description before they can be returned.
He quickly dressed, but noticed a stack of notes beneath his clothes. Andre recognized them immediately; they were the clue notes he had half-read the previous night. Jericho must have collected them all and put them back in their room when he left the workshop to work on the case.
Andre calmed himself down, sat back on the bed, and flipped through the clues one by one.
"I heard suspicious noises while walking at night, the robbers were eight hundred burly men, the robbers were a group of ghosts that came and went without a trace... What a mess!" Andre was flipping through the books and was about to get discouraged by these randomly written clues when he suddenly turned over a thick envelope.
"Hmm? This is..." He opened the envelope and found that it contained not only a thick stack of letters, but also a finely drawn map.
Andrei opened the map first. It was a hand-drawn map of Eston West City. It was a bit rough, but it gave a rough idea of the specific neighborhoods. Several stores were circled in red ink and labeled "Drodana Chamber of Commerce."
"Drodana Chamber of Commerce... this name sounds familiar." Andre muttered to himself as he opened the letter.
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