The First Case

"Whatever you ask of me, as long as I can do it, I'll agree!"

The wealthy merchant Hunter made a promise.

"Sir, please calm down. I need to know the whole story before I can help you!"

Qin Ran said this as calmly as his identity required.

In reality, Qin Ran had never dealt with detectives.

Nor did the scant memories he possessed contain any image of him "solving cases."

So, at this moment, Qin Ran could only imitate—imitate the classic detective figures from books and films.

His tone and demeanor were no exception.

Clearly, Qin Ran's imitation had some effect. The wealthy merchant Hunter calmed down.

"I'm sorry. I was too anxious!"

"You should understand how frantic a father can become when his daughter goes missing!"

The man apologized repeatedly, then began his account.

"We discovered Artilly was missing yesterday morning, right here at my estate!"

"At the time, my wife and the maid went to call Artilly for breakfast, but her bedroom door was locked from the inside!"

"My wife knocked again and again, but no one answered. Then I had someone force the door open, only to find the bedroom completely empty!"

"I sent out everyone I could to search for Artilly, but we found nothing at all. There were no traces of Artilly anywhere inside or outside the estate!"

He gave an extremely orderly account of everything that had happened after the disappearance was discovered.

His wife did not say a word, but the sorrow on her face grew deeper and deeper.

"May I see Artilly's room?"

"Of course!"

Qin Ran asked, and Hunter immediately agreed. Then he and his wife personally led Qin Ran to the top floor of the building.

"Only Artilly, my wife, and I live on this floor. Her room is here!"

As he spoke, Hunter opened a room on the left.

It was a typical young girl's room.

The entire room was decorated in pink and filled with dolls and stuffed toys.

Qin Ran stepped inside and carefully examined the room.

Then he immediately activated the skill [Tracking].

If Qin Ran had any skill remotely connected to detective work, it was undoubtedly [Tracking].

This was also what gave Qin Ran the confidence to accept the identity of a "detective."

With [Tracking] activated, every tiny detail before his eyes became visible.

Messy white footprints covered the entire room.

After making a brief comparison, Qin Ran confirmed that they belonged to Hunter.

Clearly, Hunter had truly sent people to search thoroughly, while he had searched his daughter's room himself.

But they had been looking in the wrong direction.

Qin Ran's gaze shifted slightly.

Aside from Hunter's footprints, there were two other sets of smaller footprints in the room.

After another comparison, one set could be identified as Hunter's wife's.

The remaining set naturally belonged to the missing Artilly.

These footprints were extremely orderly. Unlike her parents' frantic tracks, they only went back and forth between the bed and the window, rarely appearing elsewhere.

Following those footprints, Qin Ran examined the two locations.

There was an inward indentation on the wooden window frame—a mark left by a three-fingered grappling claw.

There were also two conspicuous drag marks on the carpet beside the bed—made by a box, Qin Ran judged from the tracks.

After briefly examining both places, Qin Ran looked toward the side of the bed.

The window led outside. Even with his proficient-level [Tracking], he could not find anything special after yesterday's heavy rain.

All the traces had been completely washed away.

But the room was different!

Qin Ran looked beneath the bed.

"Artilly is a very well-behaved child. She attends a church school, and whether at school or at home, she is always such a lad—"

As Qin Ran searched, Hunter, as her father, subconsciously began praising his daughter before an outsider.

However, before he could finish, he was interrupted by the box Qin Ran pulled out from beneath Artilly's bed.

The box had been hidden extremely well, inside a gap beneath the floorboards.

If Qin Ran had not activated [Tracking] and identified the two clear drag marks on the carpet, it would have taken quite some effort to find it.

"What is that?!"

Hunter and his wife looked at each other. Seeing the box Qin Ran had pulled from beneath their daughter's bed, their eyes widened in shock.

"I don't know, but your daughter was far less well-behaved than you imagined!"

Qin Ran shook his head as he inspected the box before him. It had a lock on it.

"May I open it?"

Qin Ran pointed at the lock and asked.

"These are Tilly's personal belongings..."

"But Tilly is missing now. We have to find her!"

Hunter's wife, the sorrowful-looking lady, instinctively tried to stop Qin Ran, but her husband immediately cut her off.

The wealthy merchant Hunter walked over to his wife and spoke in a stern tone.

Then, when he noticed the sorrow on her face and her slightly reddened eyes, he immediately realized his behavior had been inappropriate.

"Darling, I'm sorry... I was too anxious. Forgive me!"

Hunter wrapped an arm around his wife, his face full of apology.

"I understand!"

Hunter's wife's eyes reddened again. After giving Qin Ran an apologetic bow, she quickly left the room.

"I'm sorry. My wife... Tilly is her most precious daughter, just as she is mine!"

"I have never been as anxious as I am now. My wife feels the same way!"

"Earlier, when I asked the police to spare no effort in finding Tilly, they brushed me off by claiming they lacked manpower and merely opened an ordinary case file—this is the main reason I came to you!"

"I wasn't trying to hide anything from you. I hope you won't mind!"

Hunter spoke in a low voice.

"Of course not!"

Thinking of the old butler's earlier dissatisfaction with the police, Qin Ran nodded in understanding.

"I'll get some tools to open it!"

Hunter said as he headed outside.

Qin Ran waited quietly.

From their brief contact, he could tell that Hunter and his wife were well-bred and properly raised. More importantly, they loved their daughter dearly.

Even after discovering that their daughter had secrets, they had chosen to keep those secrets private.

Otherwise, Hunter would not have needed to fetch the tools himself.

There were so many servants in the estate. He only needed to give an order.

Qin Ran did not have to wait long.

About five minutes later, Hunter returned with a hammer.

Without another word, Hunter raised the hammer and smashed the lock off the box.

The box was opened.

However, there were not many items inside.

A dagger, a flintlock revolver, and a bag of gunpowder.

That was everything.

Yet they occupied less than one-fifth of the box.

From the items that remained, Qin Ran could completely infer what had originally been inside the box.

Weapons!

And weapons that were more convenient to use than the ones left inside.

"Tilly!"

Hunter covered his forehead with one hand and murmured.

A man capable of becoming a merchant wealthy enough to own such a large estate was obviously no fool. Like Qin Ran, Hunter had guessed what items had been taken.

"Although I don't know what happened, I can be certain that Miss Artilly was not kidnapped. She disappeared voluntarily—there are traces here, but because of yesterday's heavy rain, I cannot determine anything more!"

Qin Ran walked to the window and gestured for Hunter to inspect the marks left by the grappling claw.

"Damn it, why didn't I notice this? If I had found it sooner, perhaps I could have brought Tilly back!"

After examining the claw marks, Hunter was filled with remorse.

"Mr. Qin Ran, I hope you can help me find Tilly!"

Qin Ran's outstanding performance had earned the wealthy merchant's trust, and Hunter expressed it in the most direct way possible.

He placed a thick stack of banknotes into Qin Ran's hand.

The largest denomination was 10.

There were roughly 500 in total.

Based on his earlier scant memories, Qin Ran knew that this was definitely a considerable sum.

In this instance, a respectable man's monthly income was only around 30 to 40.

"This is the deposit. If you can find Tilly, I'll reward you handsomely!"

Hunter gave his assurance.

"I'll do everything I can!"

Qin Ran accepted the money without refusing.

Though the money held no real meaning for Qin Ran, it would be of enormous help to him, penniless as he was in this instance.

[Name: Some Currency]

[Type: Miscellaneous]

[Can Be Taken Out of This Instance: No]

[Remark: Currency circulated within a certain instance world.]

...

"Master!"

While Hunter stood before an oil portrait of the grown-up Artilly and told Qin Ran more about his daughter, the kind-faced old butler approached.

"Captain John of the police station sent someone here. They said... someone found a corpse matching the young lady's description!"

After Hunter indicated that he could speak freely, the butler reported this with some hesitation.

Qin Ran could clearly see Hunter's face turn pale the instant he heard those words. Then Hunter clenched his fists, and his entire expression twisted into something savage.

A faint chill emanated from him, making one's hair stand on end.

Killing intent!

Qin Ran gave him a surprised glance.

Without a doubt, Hunter was hiding far more than he showed.

However, Qin Ran did not press the matter.

Everyone had secrets, didn't they?

"Mr. Hunter, it only resembles her. It is not certain—I think we need to see the body!"

Qin Ran said.

"Mm. Mike, prepare the carriage! Remember, don't tell my wife!"

Hunter immediately nodded and gave the order.

"Yes, Master!"

The butler immediately went into action.