008 Not Innocent At All

Thursday.

As usual, Lynch studied occult knowledge with Old Neil in the morning. Around ten o'clock, Dunn walked in.

"Old Neil, there's a case. A special envoy from Backlund died in the Golden Lake neighborhood. Officer Tingen took over the case, and after their investigation, they suspect there are unusual factors involved, so they handed it over to us. You can investigate it."

After Dunn finished speaking, he was about to leave, but Lynch stopped him.

"Captain, I want to go too. You know I need credit, and Old Neil is getting old and his legs aren't as nimble as they used to be. Without my help, he might fall!"

He eagerly rushed out, causing Dunn to shake his head helplessly.

"Alright, if you're willing to go, you can learn from Old Neil. Although Old Neil is getting on in years, his experience is unmatched by yours."

Dunn agreed.

Lynch immediately started packing with Old Neil.

This case isn't in the original book, so it might not have been arranged by Ince Zangwill, but even if it was, it wouldn't be a big deal.

He planned to take this opportunity to accumulate merit. If he stayed in the team all the time, he might not even have enough merit to consume Sequence 7 Potion before he could finish the Sequence 8 Potion.

Lynch and Old Neil, dressed in their police uniforms, met Officer Mountbatten in the security company's reception hall.

"You got promoted again?"

Lynch looked at Mountbatten in surprise.

Mountbatten wasn't qualified to be here before, but now he can wait for him here.

"This is all thanks to you. You always give me the credit, and now I can work directly with you."

Mountbatten looked at Lynch gratefully.

Lynch felt a little guilty, because he hadn't had time to give Mountbatten credit lately; it was definitely Dunn and the others who took care of Mountbatten out of respect for him.

However, the difference isn't significant.

If it weren't for him, Mountbatten would still be that constable managing the thugs and hooligans in his neighborhood!

"Tell me about this case. My teacher and I went together this time."

Lynch introduced Old Neil, and Officer Mountbatten immediately offered Old Neil cigarettes, making sure they were good ones so he could offer them to Lynch's colleagues and friends.

Old Neil and Lynch both reached out and took the cigarettes, but neither of them smoked them. After all, neither of them smoked; they were just taking the cigarettes to get something for nothing.

Mountbatten, amused by their almost identical movements, turned his head away.

As expected of teachers and students, their actions of taking advantage of each other are exactly the same.

"Let me tell you about this case. A special envoy from Backlund came a couple of days ago to guide the work here and convey the requirements from above. They had dinner at eight o'clock last night and he was still in very good spirits."

This morning, the maid opened the door and found him lying dead on the floor. There were no external injuries on his body, and the initial diagnosis was heart disease. However, we contacted the special envoy's family and confirmed that he had no prior heart problems.

The family believes this matter is definitely not simple; perhaps it's a political enemy or an assassin, so we immediately thought of you, although I think it's a bit late."

Lynch and Old Neil nodded.

The Ritual reveals much within the first fifteen minutes of death, but this diminishes gradually over the next hour.

Now that a night has likely passed, they may not be able to glean much useful information. They can only examine whether there were any extraordinary factors influencing the outcome, and look at the apparent culprit. They cannot guarantee that the result has not been affected by external factors.

No wonder Dunn only sent Old Neil; there's not much to gain from this kind of case, and the credit isn't much either.

However, Lynch didn't back down. He had only come under the pretext of helping Old Neil. If he ran away now that he heard the credit wasn't much, how could he face the Nighthawks team afterward?

"Let's go, I've already called a carriage."

Mountbatten led them out and got them into the carriage.

After a half-hour journey, they finally arrived at the Golden Lake District.

Most of the hotels here are high-end, and this special envoy died in a room at the Guestmore Hotel.

Given that someone had died, no one was currently living here. The owner, looking distressed, was smoking at the entrance, waiting for police officers to come and go, searching for clues.

Lynch and his men, all dressed in inspector uniforms, entered the hotel under Mountbatten's guidance without any hindrance. Passing officers even cast envious and admiring glances their way.

"The body hasn't been moved yet; we think you might need to make sure that."

Mountbatten pointed to the body, which was already covered with a white sheet.

Lynch didn't move. He picked up a coin and tossed it lightly to make sure there was no danger after opening the white cloth, before using his Walking Stick to pull it off.

The envoy's body lay on the ground, his hair red and slightly long, but it was clear he was a rather refined gentleman.

There was a hint of pain on his face, and his hand was on his chest; no wonder the police initially diagnosed it as a heart attack.

"I'll perform the Ritual. Lynch, you watch. Don't use your half-baked divination; people will laugh at you!"

Old Neil muttered a complaint about Lynch's divination earlier, and began setting up the materials under his disapproving gaze.

"If Klein can do divination, why can't I? I'm Beyonder too!"

Lynch muttered to himself, prompting Old Neil to shake his head helplessly.

"Alright, officer, could you please make us a cup of coffee? Old people get very thirsty easily."

"OK!"

Mountbatten had seen this many times before and knew they were about to use their powers again, so he didn't investigate further and immediately ran out.

"Come on, watch from here. I knew you were quite interested in these things. Have you always envied Klein's choice to Seer Pathway?"

To Sleepless is pretty good. I've heard that Sequence Sleepless might even have Ritual Magic, not much different from Seer. You're different from me; you'll rise higher sooner or later. I think you might even become a demigod!

"That's too low. I feel like I could become Angel!"

Lynch announced loudly.

If he weren't worried that Old Neil would be scared, he would have told Old Neil that he was determined to become a god.

"Alright! After you become Angel, remember to ask the Goddess to improve your memory. It's a small thing!"

Old Neil said casually.

Lynch pretended not to hear. The Old Man was complaining about his memory, but the Old Man had no idea that his memory was sometimes frighteningly good!

"Don't get distracted, look here. After we've done all these preparations, we're going to pray to the Goddess. You should know the prayer, right?"

He taught Lynch many times.

Lynch could only recite it to Old Neil once before he saw a satisfied look on his face.

"That's right, after you finish the prayer, you need to state your request."

Old Neil chanted the incantation, and as Lynch felt the Goddess's power enveloping them, Old Neil whispered:

"I want to know the cause of this special envoy's death!"

He repeated the sentence three times, and then a sudden gust of wind arose in the space separated by the silver dagger. A moment later, Old Neil opened his eyes.

He quickly sketched the faces of the people involved in the event on a piece of parchment.

It was a woman's face, and Lynch recognized the woman.

Ansali.

The Divine Child mother he chose!

Damn, Ince Zangwill probably didn't orchestrate this, but 008 was definitely involved.

It must be that 008 wanted to write about Ince Zangwill and Troublemaker his plans, so he let Ansali escape his control and come to the special envoy.

There may be other reasons, but 008 is definitely not innocent!