“Taylor John, huh…”
‘I’ve heard the name before.’
He was so uniquely famous that it was impossible not to know him.
He was treated more like a legendary evil spirit than a mere murderer. I never expected to receive a request to catch that Taylor John so out of the blue…
“Of course, I know it won’t be easy,” the detective said with a look of desperation I hadn’t seen before.
“However, if you solve this case, you will gain immense fame. Also, if you have the investigative materials related to Taylor John that I’ve gathered so far—”
“I’ll do it.”
“…What?”
“I said I’ll give it a shot. I’ll catch Taylor John.”
At my straightforward response, Detective Beren’s mouth hung open as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Are you serious? Just like that? It’s not my place to say this since I’m the one asking, but he’s a criminal who hasn’t been caught for the last five years. Catching him will be anything but easy…”
I fully understood why the detective was surprised.
But no matter how much I thought about it…
‘I don’t think it’ll be that difficult for me.’
It wasn’t baseless confidence. In fact, there was something I had been thinking about the whole time I was listening to the detective.
‘After all, aren’t there at most 100 suspect candidates?’
Taylor John was presumed to be a very high-ranking figure, enough to put pressure on the police.
He mainly operated in the capital and likely didn’t leave the city during the periods when the murders occurred.
How many suspects could there possibly be who satisfied all these conditions?
‘I just need to meet all of them and check if they’re covered in shadows.’
It would be tedious and time-consuming, but it wasn’t impossible.
‘Besides, it’s quite uncomfortable to think a mad killer is wandering near my house.’
By the time I had heard half of what the detective had to say, I had already made up my mind to catch the killer.
“However, there is one favor I’d like to ask before we solve the case.”
“Tell me anything,” the detective replied immediately.
“I’ve staked my entire career in the police force on this case. I promise to grant any request within my power. What do you want? Money? Information?”
“Can you do a background check on me?”
“…Hm?”
Detective Beren blinked with a stunned expression.
“I’m sorry, you want a background check on who?”
‘Ah, as I thought, it’s too random of a request.’
Granted, anyone would be flustered if someone suddenly asked for a background check on themselves.
But it was too good an opportunity to miss.
Originally, my purpose for visiting the police station was to find out the past history of this body before I possessed it and to find the enemy hiding in the dark.
I desperately needed Detective Beren’s help, and since he had asked for help first, there was no better opportunity than this.
‘But how should I convince the detective?’
I was worried he might dismiss it as a joke and not take it seriously. How could I explain it so that he would be convinced of the need for a background check on me?
‘Should I just say I have amnesia?’
A generic, all-purpose excuse for possessors came to mind, but I quickly erased it from my head.
‘No. That would be too pitiful for Detective Beren.’
The detective was currently commissioning me to solve a case he had spent the last few years of his life on.
How flustered would he be if the detective who accepted his request turned out to be an amnesiac?
‘He might not even be able to sleep due to anxiety.’
I also wasn’t very keen on easily revealing my weaknesses to others.
‘Right. Since I’m going to be called a crazy bastard either way, I might as well…’
I made a certain resolution and spoke.
“I’ll say it again. I want you to do a background check on me. On me, Detective Heis.”
“I heard you correctly then. But why on earth?”
“…Because I want to test your abilities, Detective.”
“What?!”
“No, think about it realistically.”
I shoved both hands into my coat pockets and put on a thoroughly rebellious expression.
“According to you, it’ll be hard to get help from the police, and I’ll have to rely on your investigative materials to investigate the case… Why should I trust your case files?”
“What… These are materials I’ve gathered over the past five years!”
“That doesn’t guarantee the reliability of the data. If you’re wrong, then the materials are likely wrong too.”
Perhaps my rebellious attitude was quite harsh, as the detective stood there with his mouth agape, unable to snap out of it.
I’m truly sorry, Detective.
But wouldn’t it be better for you to think of the detective you’ve entrusted with the case as just an insolent young man rather than a crazy person claiming to be possessed by someone else’s soul?
“…So?”
Perhaps because he realized he was the one asking for a favor, Detective Beren forced a smile even as his mustache trembled.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Prove your skills through a background check on me.”
I smiled back at the detective.
To be honest, Detective Beren’s toothy smile was so terrifying it made my skin crawl, but what I needed now was guts.
“I want you to find out my real name, my past, my original identity, what kind of life I lived, who I had as friends, and who I had as enemies.”
“Ha! So you’re going to judge my abilities based on the accuracy of that data?”
I simply smiled without answering. It meant he could think whatever he wanted.
“…Ha, haha! I understand perfectly. You’re full of spirit, like a young man—no, like a brat!”
The detective laughed, forcing himself to sound boisterous while his face turned beet red.
“Fine, let’s do that! I’ll bring you enough information for you to judge my abilities until you’re satisfied. I’ll strip you down to your last pair of underwear and dig up all your secrets and weaknesses! Will that do?”
I unknowingly clapped my hands.
“That’s it! That’s exactly what I wanted!”
“…”
The atmosphere grew cold.
Oops. I didn’t mean to be sarcastic.
“I didn’t mean it like that. I meant I was really curious about what kind of information you could bring—no, not that either. What I mean is, I’m curious about what my weaknesses are. So, do your best…?”
Strange. Somehow, the more I spoke, the weirder it became.
“…Fine.”
The detective replied through gritted teeth.
“I accept the challenge. I’ll prove my abilities to you properly, just as you wish.”
The detective’s eyes were burning with fire.
‘…I don’t know! A win is a win.’
After a brief moment of worry, I chose to escape from reality.
Anyway, it seemed like he would put his heart into my request, so isn’t that a good thing?
Even if that old-fashioned detective was furious with me, everything would be fine as long as I captured Taylor John and delivered him to the police station!
Probably.
—
“By the way, there was one error in what you said earlier.”
The detective, who had been twitching the corners of his mouth with a grumpy expression for a while now, spoke up.
“An error? What is it?”
“That hasty judgment that you would have to rely only on the materials I gathered alone without the help of the police. Actually, I have all the latest police records on the case.”
The detective unlocked a dusty desk drawer two seats away and rummaged through it for a while before pulling out a bundle of documents hidden there and handing them to me.
“Take a look. Of course, if you don’t even want to look at the materials of an incompetent detective who hasn’t proven his skills yet, there’s nothing I can do—”
“I’ll read them.”
Man, he really holds a grudge. I hurried to take the documents and looked over the contents.
Just as Detective Beren said, it was filled with details related to the Taylor John cases that had occurred within the past year. They looked like official police investigation documents.
“How on earth did you get these? I thought you were excluded from the official investigation team.”
Whether he liked my surprised reaction or not, the detective finally relaxed his expression and smirked.
“Just because I’m not on the team doesn’t mean I can’t talk to the people assigned to it.”
“Then you’re saying someone from the investigation team handed over internal documents to you?”
Aren’t you not supposed to do that?
“Well, he said he respects me so much he doesn’t know what to do with himself. What else could I do? I had to accept.”
Looking at the detective shrugging his shoulders with an air of self-importance, the face of the constable I had talked to earlier suddenly flickered in my mind.
‘I don’t think there are two people who respect that grumpy detective…’
“What is the name of the person who gave you those materials?”
“Um, was it… Charles?”
It was then.
“Detective!”
Someone threw open the office door and walked in. It was the very officer I had spoken with a moment ago.
“Detective, what happened? Did Detective Heis agree to cooperate?”
It seemed my hunch was correct.
“Is this the insider you were talking about?” I asked pointedly.
“That’s right! This Charlie is that very insider!” the officer shouted proudly.
“Since I have respected Detective Beren for a long time, I accepted this task with a feeling of honor. I believe Detective Beren is a talent more suited for the police than anyone else!”
I could feel the sincerity in his sparkling eyes.
Unfortunately, Detective Beren didn’t even seem to remember his name correctly.
When I glanced at the detective, he also seemed to feel a pang of conscience and cleared his throat.
“Ahem, Charlie. Why did you come to this office? I clearly told you that you could get into trouble, so only come when it’s absolutely necessary—”
“Oh, right!” Charlie shouted, cutting off the detective. “It’s an emergency, Detective! Now is exactly one of those necessary times. I have urgent news!”
At Charlie’s following words, both the detective’s and my eyes widened in unison.
“The investigation team for the Taylor John copycat case has found a very strong suspect!”
“W-What?!!” the detective shouted. “A suspect? And a very strong one at that?!”
At the situation where the case seemed to be automatically resolving itself as soon as I received the request, I also shouted hurriedly, “Please tell us more in detail!”
“Judging by the circumstances, he is a strong suspect, or rather, almost certainly the culprit. The other seniors on the investigation team have similar opinions. However, because his status is not one that can be arrested on mere circumstantial evidence, it’s difficult to even begin an investigation.”
“Enough with the preamble. Who on earth is it?” the detective asked, sounding like he was about to lose his breath from frustration.
“His name is…”
The constable gulped once and whispered in a tone as solemn as a provocative TV show host saying he would reveal it in sixty seconds.
“It’s Grand Duke Callan.”
“…”
Unlike me, who was puzzled, the detective’s reaction was dramatic.
“What? Callan? You mean the Callan?!”
‘…Do I need to be surprised?’
I made a show of being surprised by bending my arms up and down out of politeness, but I still didn’t get it.
‘What? Grand Duke Callan? Who on earth is that?’
Please have some consideration for a possessor who is still unfamiliar with this world.
As if he had read my unspoken complaint, the detective shouted once more.
“Why would the master of that vast Northern Grand Duchy do such a thing!”
Wait a minute. The master of the Northern Grand Duchy?
Then… the Northern Grand Duke?
Only then did my mouth hang open as well.
“So, the Northern Grand Duke was a serial killer?!”
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