"Arthur! Superintendent! Quick!"
Brian pointed at the shadow atop the bookshelf and let out a heart-wrenching scream.
"Catch Ada!!"
This single shout left the other two people in the room dazed.
Before Arthur could even react, Brian seemed to realize something was wrong.
He hastily changed his cry: "No, wait! Catch the suspect!"
However, the figure huddled in the shadows atop the bookshelf had already moved.
The suspect leaped from the top of the nearly three-meter-high bookshelf the instant Brian shouted.
He rolled upon landing, then used the momentum in his legs to instantly slam open the ajar door and flee down the hall.
"Quick! Chase him!"
The superintendent pointed out the door and roared, his voice filled with shock and fury.
A suspect actually dared to run away right in front of him!
This was practically throwing the dignity of the Central District Police Station on the ground and stomping on it!
But the moment he shouted, Arthur was already in motion.
The instant that figure hit the ground, Arthur had already lunged forward with a sprint.
Brian followed closely behind; although his mind wasn't quite clear, his physical instincts were still intact.
The superintendent froze for a moment, then gritted his teeth, laboriously stretching his long legs—which were not suited for running—and followed behind, huffing and puffing.
In the hallway.
The suspect's figure reached the end of the corridor in the blink of an eye, vanished with a flash, and ducked into the stairwell.
Arthur chased to the stairwell entrance, and as he headed down, he looked back and pointed toward the nearby elevator.
"You guys take the elevator down! Block him on the first floor!"
"Right!"
Brian originally wanted to keep up with Arthur, but he turned his head to look.
Superintendent Ada was leaning against the wall behind him, clutching his chest and waving a hand for Brian to hurry up and press the elevator button.
He could only obediently go and press the button.
The elevator doors slowly closed, cutting off the sound of rapid footsteps coming from the stairwell.
Inside the car, only the needle representing the floors turned slowly.
"Too slow..."
Brian stared at that needle, his heart filled with extreme anxiety.
He didn't think this old steam-hydraulic elevator could catch up with that suspect.
That guy ran too fast.
Furthermore, with the other party wearing his ex-girlfriend's face, the sense of dissonance was even stronger.
Brian stole a glance at the superintendent beside him.
"What are you looking at? You'll be like this when you're old too!"
Superintendent Ada said crossly.
Ding.
The elevator reached the lobby on the first floor.
The moment the door opened a crack, Brian squeezed his way out.
He happened to see the suspect's figure in the distance, sweeping across the lobby like a gust of wind and knocking over a waiter carrying a tray.
Amidst a chorus of exclamations, the suspect rushed straight toward the restaurant at the back of the hotel.
Arthur was biting at the other's heels, about ten meters behind.
"Lockdown! Lock down everything!"
The superintendent, who had finally caught his breath after coming out, immediately shouted at the top of his lungs to the gatekeeping officers in the lobby who hadn't yet reacted.
"Aside from my people, don't let even a single fly out!"
Seeing this, the group of officers immediately moved into action.
Brian took the lead, bringing along a few guys who looked relatively sharp, drawing his baton and rushing toward the direction where Arthur had disappeared.
The chase had already lasted five minutes.
Arthur keenly noticed that the other party's speed was beginning to slow down.
'His stamina is hitting rock bottom.'
He made a calm judgment in his heart.
Moreover, the way ahead was a dead end.
As far as he knew, the direction the suspect was fleeing was toward the restaurant's back kitchen, and at the end of the kitchen, there was only a storage room.
Although there was an entrance to the underground wine cellar in the storage room, the cellar was completely enclosed with only one exit.
In other words, it was a dead end.
A rat in a trap.
Everything was as he expected.
In his frantic search for a path, the suspect indeed blundered straight into the back kitchen.
Then he twisted his body and ducked into the storage room.
Bang!
The wooden door of the storage room was slammed shut.
Arthur kicked the wooden door open with a violent strike, raising his gun as he rushed inside.
The storage room was piled with various ingredients and sundries, and the light was dim.
The trapdoor leading to the cellar was wide open, the pitch-black entrance looking like a giant mouth.
Arthur walked cautiously to the entrance and looked down by the faint light.
It was silent below.
He took a deep breath and slowly walked down the wooden stairs.
A rich aroma of oak and red wine permeated the cellar.
Rows of giant wine barrels were neatly arranged, forming natural covers.
"Come out, there is no exit here."
Arthur's voice echoed in the cellar.
No one responded.
Holding his gun, he began to check the blind spots behind the wine barrels one by one.
Not there.
Not there.
Still not there.
Just then, a series of noisy footsteps came from overhead.
Brian rushed down with seven or eight supporting officers.
The two met at the cellar stairs.
Brian froze, his hand holding the baton stiffening in mid-air.
He stared at the man before him holding a gun, his gaze confused.
Is this Arthur?
Or the suspect?
Regardless, they all looked the same in his eyes.
It wasn't until one of the officers beside him spoke up in time, calling out, "Officer Arthur!"
Only then did Brian snap out of it and quickly lower his baton.
"Did you catch him?"
He asked urgently.
"No."
Arthur's face was grim, his brow furrowed deeply.
"Where's the suspect? Did he fly away?"
"I've checked; there's no exit in the cellar."
Arthur looked around, a deep sense of doubt in his eyes.
The storage room wasn't large; where else could the suspect have hidden?
Unless that guy knew how to turn invisible.
As the two were speaking, suddenly, one of the officers standing at the very back of the group let out a terrified shout:
"The suspect escaped!!"
"What?!"
Arthur was stunned.
Only then did he realize that the guy hadn't gone down into the cellar at all!
Taking advantage of Arthur's inertia of thought, the suspect had climbed onto the ceiling beams the moment the door closed, evading the search.
And once all the officers had swarmed into the cellar entrance, he had lightly jumped down, landing right at the very back of the group.
Which was to say, at the only exit.
"Damn! That devious rat!"
Arthur cursed, feeling a surge of blood rush to his head.
He had been played!
Completely and utterly played!
"After him!!"
The group turned around in a panic, trying to rush up the narrow stairs.
But in the crowded storage room, how could the chaotic scrambling of a group outrun the agile movements of a single person?
By the time the group of officers chased to the hotel's back door.
The two officers guarding the back door were just picking themselves up from the ground in disgrace.
And the alley outside was empty.
Only a few stray cats were startled into fleeing in all directions.
The suspect had long since made his getaway, merging into the intricate darkness of the side alleys.
At the hotel entrance.
The superintendent was currently receiving letters from a mailman, but he watched as the group of police officers walked out with ashen faces.
"What happened?"
The superintendent looked bewildered.
"Where's the suspect?"
"Escaped."
Arthur gritted his teeth, squeezing those words out from between them.
The superintendent froze for two seconds, the letter in his hand almost falling to the ground.
"Es... escaped?"
Escaped under a heavy siege, right under their noses?
A group of fully armed police officers had let an empty-handed suspect play them like fools in the hotel?
The police station's face was completely lost today!
They wouldn't even have to wait until tomorrow; by tonight, this matter would become the laughingstock of the entire high society of Hope County.
"Heh!"
The owner of the Golden Rose hotel, who had been watching the entire time, let out a light chuckle and slowly walked over to the superintendent.
A biting expression was hung on his face.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk."
The owner shook his head, his tone contemptuous.
"The police of the Old Palace Yard are truly as famous as they say."
Old Palace Yard was the general name for the police institutions of the Kingdom of Velen.
The owner paused, fiddling with the expensive cane in his hand that was inlaid with gemstones, and added a sentence:
"Just as famous for being... useless!"
After saying that, he didn't even bother to look at the superintendent again; he straightened his collar and turned to walk into the hotel lobby, leaving everyone with a haughty view of his back.
"You—!"
The superintendent trembled with rage, the mustache on his lip almost flying off.
But he could only endure it.
Arrest this owner?
The county governor would have him dismissed and investigated by tomorrow.
A moment later.
In the hotel lobby.
The guests who were originally locked down had been evacuated.
A group of dejected officers stood there, waiting for the superintendent's fury.
This was practically the Waterloo of their professional careers.
The superintendent sat on the sofa, clutching the letter the mailman had just delivered, his face so grim it looked like it could drip ink.
But he did not erupt into a thunderous rage.
In fact, he had moved past anger and had now calmed down instead.
"You have brought shame upon the Central District Police Station!"
The superintendent said in a low voice; his volume wasn't high, but every word felt like it was smashing into everyone's hearts.
"A bunch of useless trash! You can't even catch a single rat!"
The officers lowered their heads, not daring to make a sound.
"However..."
The superintendent changed the subject.
"We haven't come away with nothing today."
He raised the envelope in his hand.
"This is a map the victim purchased from a bookstore in Galloway City before his death; the mailman just delivered it."
"This might be an important clue."
"We can probably confirm his identity based on this."
"As for the rest of you, I don't care what methods you use—find informants, go on patrol—find a way to catch that fleeing suspect immediately!"
"If you don't find him, don't bother coming back!"
With that, he waved his hand and dismissed all the officers.
He left only Arthur and Brian behind.
The lobby instantly became empty.
The superintendent stood up, walked to Arthur, and stuffed the envelope into his hand.
"See if it's of any use."
He lowered his voice.
"Arthur, you're the smartest one here."
"Even if it's useless... you have to say it's useful!"
"Otherwise, our faces will be completely lost today! I won't be able to report to the chief either!"
Arthur could only nod helplessly.
The superintendent breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to look at the dazed Brian beside him.
"Did you see what the suspect looked like?"
Brian was startled.
The figure jumping down from the bookshelf surfaced in his mind.
That face...
Red hair, large eyes.
"Uh..."
Brian hesitated for a moment, but eventually nodded.
"I saw it... probably."
"Good! That's good!"
The superintendent looked as if he had caught a life-saving straw and patted the shoulders of the two.
"I'm going to report the new situation to the chief; this counts as... a major breakthrough!"
"You two hurry up and study the contents of the envelope!"
With that, he hurried away.
Arthur let out a sigh.
He opened the envelope in his hand.
Inside were several neatly folded maps, seemingly specially ordered by the victim before arriving in Hope County.
The other party's plan to come to Hope County must have been formulated long ago; otherwise, why would a map from a neighboring city be delivered precisely at this time?
Arthur unfolded the first one.
It was a complete map of Hope County, which didn't look like anything special.
The second one.
Hastings Port.
This was the port closest to Hope County.
He slowly unfolded the third map.
Moon Bay.
Rate on N.U.
