Schiller had learned roughly all he needed to know about the basic situation, so naturally, he began investigating according to the usual procedure.
First came the cause of death. Schiller did not need to examine it himself; the base's AI butler could scan it directly, displaying every physical sign from the corpse on a holographic screen.
The cause of death was a ruptured heart. Even for an Atlantean, a broken heart was fatal. The killer's move had been extremely decisive—perhaps brute force had simply prevailed. The victim had suffered little pain, put up no struggle, and died instantly.
The crime scene in the small classroom was the primary crime scene. On one hand, under adverse conditions, moving a body would have been nearly impossible. On the other, the blood analysis showed no traces of dragging or relocation.
The murder weapon had not been found. The AI was powerful enough to account for every object in the entire base. It confirmed that no item, nor any component of any item, could have caused such a wound. Even direct scans of the students revealed nothing on them capable of inflicting it.
Schiller found this case rather bizarre, because both the victim and the killer were very likely Superpower Users. Many restrictions that could contain ordinary people did not apply to them.
But the detective's side was no slouch either. The AI butler's control over the base was absurdly thorough. It could practically be called a super detective, and it was taking the case seriously.
A clash between such formidable opponents could be called quite spectacular. It would have been even better if he had been sitting in the audience.
Unfortunately, no matter how capable the AI was, it had not been designed specifically for detective work. To ensure Mercury Base would not