Chapter 14
"Like a slave."
"That means a criminal organization might be behind it."
One of the Central Investigation Bureau agents seemed to be leaning towards Raven's hypothesis already.
"Who could be behind it?"
"We'll only know that once we catch the Thieving Crow. Anyway..."
Raven turned his gaze to Chase. The insincere smile that had never left Chase's face was now nowhere to be seen. It seemed time to put an end to the argument.
"This opponent is difficult to decipher precisely because they seem to have a special background, unlike ordinary criminals. That's why even a capable agent like yourself can easily be mistaken."
He acted as if the victor were consoling the loser. Raven didn't miss the fleeting twitch at the corner of Chase's mouth.
"I've heard your opinion."
Chase still couldn't admit defeat and dismissed Raven's counter-argument as mere opinion. Yet, the atmosphere in the conference room had already solidified around Chase's defeat.
The police officers puffed out their chests, wearing smiles of victory.
The Central Investigation Bureau agents, who should have sided with Chase, were mostly lost in thought, already persuaded by Raven's hypothesis.
Clap.
Chase clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention.
"Then, let's conclude the analysis of the culprit and move on to the apprehension strategy."
So, he lost the profiling debate and now wants to win by nitpicking the apprehension method.
"The Thieving Crow has been running rampant for a full 10 years! The number of jewels stolen is a known 102 pieces!"
"......"
"As the stolen items increased, so did the dissatisfaction of victims and citizens. They are particularly unhappy with the passive apprehension strategy."
It was exactly as Raven had predicted.
"Therefore, it's time to employ more active measures."
"Are you suggesting we authorize the use of firearms?"
"As expected, you know me well."
It was pressure he had received countless times before. Raven refused with the same reasons he had heard countless times.
"That won't do. The Thieving Crow is a thief, not a robber."
"Ah, of course."
Chase grinned exaggeratedly, as if he had known this would happen.
"Because they didn't harm anyone, we let them be..."
Let them be. The police officers' eyes turned fierce at Chase's implication that the Eden City police had been negligent and passive in their pursuit.
"Now, it has damaged our nation's prestige and credibility on the international stage."
The theft of the Scarlet Queen's Heart, owned by a foreign royal family, had escalated the Thieving Crow case into a diplomatic dispute. Raven knew that apprehension was more urgent than ever, but...
"That's precisely why we shouldn't use firearms. What if the culprit dies by chance? Who will tell us where the Scarlet Queen's Heart is then?"
They had to capture the culprit alive due to the whereabouts of the stolen jewels. It was the logic that had worked best so far, but Chase was relentless.
"That's why we'll deploy a skilled sniper to aim for non-lethal areas..."
"The Lucky Jones incident."
"......"
Chase fell silent as Raven cited a case where the target died on the spot after the exact strategy Chase had proposed was used. But it didn't last long.
"There are also non-lethal rounds."
"The target flies through the sky with an umbrella. If they are hit by a bullet while airborne and drop their umbrella, can you guarantee it won't be lethal then?"
"......"
"......"
"In that case..."
Raven stared at Chase, who continued to drone on tirelessly, no matter how much Raven refuted him. He was always persistent, but today he was even more so.
Was he determined to win, or had he received strong pressure from above to change the apprehension strategy?
If it was pressure from higher-ups, Raven knew it would be more advantageous for his career to yield and abandon his stubbornness. But he hadn't become a police officer for career advancement.
Raven's absolute opposition to the use of firearms in cases that weren't violent crimes was, in fact, due to his beliefs.
There were villains in the world who could be redeemed.
Just as he had been.
And in Raven's eyes, the Thieving Crow was a villain who could be redeemed.
"I am truly sorry. Please..."
He became even more convinced thanks to the words spoken to Mrs. Doris Hunt as the culprit left without stealing the jewels.
"I wish your son and daughter-in-law peace in heaven. I hope your grandmother and grandson can overcome the scars of the past and find happiness. I sincerely hope you can then happily pass this necklace down to your granddaughter-in-law."
That person had the heart of a human, not a devil.
The more he mulled over those words, the stranger he felt. He had been swayed not by persuasion or pleading, but by a sad story.
He's softer than he looks.
Come to think of it, it was definitely to stop Raven from falling when he kicked the culprit's jaw at the museum.
Soft-hearted. Then, what if we exploit that?
A brilliant idea flashed through Raven's mind.
- Will the 'beautiful phantom thief' case enter a new phase with the appearance of a new hero?
Only the voice from the radio echoed in the empty Special Investigation Unit headquarters.
- This new hero is none other than Clive Chase. A young agent proudly presented by the Central Investigation Bureau.
Family background, education, cases solved so far...
The radio show host recited Chase's resume at length, hyping him up as if he were the savior who would rescue Eden City from the disaster of the Thieving Crow.
- The investigation seems to have entered a new phase as soon as the Central Investigation Bureau appeared.
"Huh?"
- Rumors are rapidly spreading through Eden City's social circles that the Thieving Crow's identity is someone from the upper class.
"What nonsense."
I scoffed, alone in the headquarters, sorting through security receipts.
Are they still pushing that?
It had been five days since I'd been thoroughly beaten by Hunt. In that time, Chase, unable to abandon his flawed hypothesis, seemed to have been targeting Eden City's elite.
I heard rumors that the upper-class people had started suspecting and guarding each other.
The biggest victim was Mrs. Doris Hunt. She was the only one who hadn't had her jewels stolen after being targeted by me, and the only one who had a chance to catch me but didn't.
The absurd rumor spreading was that Doris Hunt was actually the Thieving Crow.
I eyed the newspaper headlines, knowing how actively they spread baseless rumors.
A heartwarming story between an elderly lady and a beautiful phantom thief: was it all a staged act?
One moment they were praising Mrs. Hunt's courage, and the next, the media had turned and started portraying her as a criminal.
To evade suspicion as the police net closed in, she staged a publicity stunt.
Doris Hunt became a hero, the Thieving Crow a righteous thief with a warm heart, and she didn't lose her necklace – she killed three birds with one stone with this staged act.
Such utter garbage, explained in such detail...
Thwack!
I crumpled the newspaper and threw it into the trash can, my anger boiling over.
I could understand being subjected to strange rumors because of what I'd done, but why should Mrs. Hunt suffer without having committed any crime?
"Humanity's love has no bottom, just like stocks."
The radio host's voice mixed with my sigh. The radio was still blaring about Clive Chase's flawed hypothesis.
Actually, that works to my advantage.
Much more so than Raven Hunt's accurate hypothesis.
"The Thieving Crow is stealing jewels under duress."
Completely chilling!
"This person tried their best not to get caught even while writing their warning notices."
Did they plant a listening device in my head?
That day, my spine truly chilled and my heart sank. It was a moment even the formidable Gemma Steel's courage couldn't handle.
I'm writing my own confession! All I need to do is write my name here, that's it!
My hands trembled so much as I jotted down Hunt's precise analysis. The meeting minutes turned into a worm farm.
Raven Hunt, what exactly are you?
He appeared like a comet, solving cases that had plagued the Eden City Police Department for decades in one fell swoop, and at under thirty, became the youngest superintendent and head of the Special Investigation Unit three years ago.
In short, he's a capable person.
His prior history is completely unknown.
What on earth was he doing before?
