Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 4:  Information Hidden in the Details

When Levi walked out of the Police Station, twenty minutes had already passed.

He carefully read through the case files on the “Courtesan Killer,” which contained all the information from the first case up until now — a total of four cases.

The characteristics of the four victims were very similar.

They were all young women in their prime, aged roughly between 20 and 25.

They were all courtesans, and their bodies were found in deserted alleys rarely visited by anyone.

The cause of death was also the same — their throats were slit, and their bodies were cut open.

The only difference was that each victim was missing a different internal organ.

Up until now, the four victims had been missing a heart, a liver, a spleen, and a kidney, respectively.

And according to the forensic report, they had been surgically removed, not torn out by any kind of beast.

This reminded Levi of a detective novel he once read, in which the murderer killed using this exact method, then removed different internal organs for some kind of astrological black magic…

Hmm, that was going off track.

According to the case records, apart from this, there was another common trait among the victims — they had all experienced miscarriages in the past, or at least showed signs of having had one.

Although Levi had read some detective novels before, they weren’t of much help in completing the task at hand.

For now, all he could do was take things one step at a time.

Indeed, that mysterious system might have granted him certain abilities, but Levi had also noticed that it did not activate on its own.

For example, when Levi wanted to observe someone, if he didn’t already have the idea to do so, there was no difference between looking at that person and looking at anyone else.

Only when he consciously decided to observe someone in detail would he unconsciously notice things he normally wouldn’t, or details that were usually overlooked — just like the shadow last night.

If he hadn’t been fully focused on examining the corpse at that moment, he would never have caught that distorted reflection in the other person’s pupils.

In the past, Levi wouldn’t have been able to do it either, as he had no interest in such meticulous observation of others.

But yesterday was different…

Hmm, considering his current situation, perhaps it wasn’t that surprising.

Levi stood on the street, stretched out his hand to clench a fist, and knocked lightly on his chest.

To anyone else, this was an easy, casual action.

But for Levi, it wasn’t.

Not to mention doing the action itself — just clenching his fist had once been enough to send an indescribable pain coursing through his entire body.

But now, he could do all of it again, without any pain, just like an ordinary person.

Whether this was a dream or reality, at least for now, Levi did not wish to wake up.

What should he do?

Levi summoned the system once more and examined his attributes and skills.

【Shooting: 90 (For you, “hitting the target every time” is no exaggeration)】

【Disguise: 55 (You must rely on disguise to erase your presence)】

【Investigation: 70 (Your eyes see in all directions, your ears hear everything)】

【Psychology: 70 (For someone skilled at reading expressions, the world holds almost no secrets)】

【Enchantment: 85 (Before that gentle whisper and striking appearance, few can resist your charm)】

Among these skills, the highest value was 【Shooting】.

However, Levi felt that it wouldn’t help much in solving the case — unless he could somehow make the bullet find the killer on its own.

But just thinking about it was enough to know it was impossible.

Next came 【Enchantment】 and 【Psychology】.

These were not unfamiliar to Levi.

Since he was young, he had often been surrounded by people.

Others would naturally gather around him, whether they were boys or girls.

Many times, Levi didn’t have to do anything — he would simply become the leader among them.

He also understood most of the thoughts of those who approached him, though usually they were simple and without deeper motives.

In fact, Levi rarely tried to guess what others were thinking, because he found it unnecessary.

After all, people were different from one another.

Spending so much effort to speculate on the inner thoughts of someone entirely different from oneself was, to him, utterly meaningless.

Now, however, Levi felt a slight twinge of regret.

Perhaps back then, he should have paid more attention to this sort of thing.

But… forget it, it was too late to say that now.

In any case, at present he could only rely on these skills to track down the killer.

So next…

Levi decided on his next target.

According to the rules of detective novels, the killer often returned to the scene of the crime.

When Levi returned to that alley, it had not changed much compared to last night.

The only difference was that the victim’s body had already been taken away.

A 【No Entry】 seal was posted at the alley entrance.

This, of course, could not stop Levi.

He stepped over the seal and returned to the crime scene.

In daylight, everything here was even more shocking than at night.

The darkness had hidden the surroundings, but now Levi could clearly see the radial spray patterns of blood.

The blood that had flowed across the ground had long since dried, and a rough outline drawn in white chalk marked the victim’s last position.

Levi stood there, recalling what had happened last night.

It had all happened too suddenly, leaving almost no time to react.

I was standing here, then I saw that shadow.

I turned my head, and it realized I had spotted it.

So it attacked…

Levi retraced the events in his mind, his eyes falling on the spot ahead.

He remembered firing his gun, and even hitting the shadow.

Unfortunately, it was useless.

This era had no DNA testing, and even with blood traces, nothing useful could be obtained.

Then, the shadow had fled.

Levi turned his head toward the wall on the other side.

It had been too dark last night, and he wasn’t sure how the shadow had escaped.

Looking now, it seemed it had likely climbed over the wall — after all, the bricks of these old houses were uneven, with windows and ledges to use as footholds…

Well then, let’s give it a try.

Climbing up the wall to the rooftop was more difficult than Levi had imagined.

The houses here were roughly three stories high — not too tall, but not exactly short either.

Still, getting up there was no easy task, as the walls were slick with moss.

Using both hands and feet, Levi struggled and strained before finally scrambling onto the roof in a rather sorry state.

“No matter who that killer is, they’re definitely an expert at climbing walls.”

Levi patted the dirt and dust off himself, muttering as he looked around.

The rooftop was covered in dust, which, fortunately, made the footprints there clearly visible.

But…

“What the hell is this supposed to be?”

Frowning, Levi stared at the footprints in front of him.

He had originally thought that, by following the prints, he could glean some information.

You know, just like in the novels, where detectives could easily deduce the culprit’s height, weight, gender, or even occupation from footprints alone.

But…

“Even if Sherlock Holmes came here, he’d be stumped.”

Levi muttered under his breath as he studied the prints.

The problem was that these prints didn’t look like something from a detective novel at all — they were more like something from science fiction.

The footprints weren’t particularly big or small, just average in size.

But the strange part was that, ahead of the toes, there were several sharp claw marks.

They looked a bit like cat claws — which was why Levi had said even Holmes would be lost.

Because these were definitely not human footprints.

Even if someone were extremely unkempt and never trimmed their toenails, human nails would never grow into animal-like hooks.

Now Levi understood why that shadow had been so good at climbing walls.

And he also knew that this was not going to be some ordinary detective game.

Alright then, time to move on.

Levi sighed, then reached for the grip of the gun at his waist.

He had no idea what he was about to face, but one thing was certain — it was definitely not human… or at least not an ordinary human.

Following the prints, Levi dashed across the rooftops, almost like parkour.

Luckily, during his time as a streamer, Levi had done similar things.

Or rather, his streaming career had been a mixed bag — he had done fake product exposés, shop reviews, cooking shows, gaming, science explainers, parkour, extreme sports, and travel vlogs.

He hadn’t expected those skills to come in handy now.

If possible, Levi would have liked to follow the prints all the way to the killer’s lair.

Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on his side.

After crossing the third street, the footprints dropped back down to the ground and then vanished completely.

“Haa…”

Climbing back down from the rooftop, Levi looked at the prints disappearing into the messy, muddy ground with an exasperated expression.

Glancing around, he realized he was near the edge of Mist City’s urban area — a place of dilapidated buildings, muddy roads, filthy, stinking waterways clogged with all kinds of household waste.

From what Levi knew, this should be the Lower City — the most run-down and squalid part of Mist City.

Still, since he was here anyway…

Levi recalled the details in the case files.

It just so happened that he had already planned to come here to question a certain witness.

Might as well do it now.

When Inspector Lestrade returned to his office, it was already empty.

“I still don’t approve of what you did.”

Officer Fletcher stood beside Inspector Lestrade, complaining in a low voice.

“Leaking internal police documents without permission is a violation, you know.”

“I didn’t leak anything. I simply forgot to file it away.”

Inspector Lestrade picked up the case file from his desk, put it back into the filing cabinet, and locked it.

“See? Now there’s no problem.”

“…I still don’t get it.”

Fletcher looked at Lestrade’s almost cheeky attitude with exasperation.

“Why do you trust that young man?”

“A hunch.”

Inspector Lestrade leaned back in his chair, narrowing his eyes.

From the start, he had felt a certain fondness for Levi.

He was polite, and his looks were pleasant.

Of course, Fletcher might find him a little hard to stomach, but Lestrade was long past caring about that sort of thing.

He still remembered everything from last night — the young man had been remarkably calm and composed.

And besides…

“I think making friends with a noble’s descendant isn’t such a bad thing, don’t you?”

“He’s a noble?”

“Not yet.”

As he spoke, Lestrade recalled the information he had dug up on Levi from the difference engine.

According to that data, Levi was born into a very old family — which made sense, especially with his rare black hair and black eyes.

If Lestrade’s memory was correct, a lineage with such features could be traced back as far as the First Dynasty.

Although Lestrade didn’t know Levi’s exact background, his speech and manners clearly showed he was no ordinary person.

And this case… was no ordinary case.

Perhaps… he might just bring a few surprises.