Maher's fingers tapped on the edge of the window, and his unfocused gaze was cast out of the window, and Epenny, who was in charge of driving, obediently and quietly watched the traffic lights and traffic police movements in front of her, like a student listening carefully. Silence and a dignified depression dominate the interior of the car.

There is no way to do this, after all, the inspection of the warehouse of the Marseille family has found nothing.

Nothing. As the literal meaning suggests, there are no terrorists, no traces of human life, no healing, no traces of mana left after the use of magic, nothing of value except a pile of flour.

In fact, this is a very common thing in the process of handling cases, you can't expect every clue sent to you to be correct, these clues often contradict each other, or even completely contrary to each other, rich experience and keen intuition may allow you to learn to find a shortcut out of the fog of the case, but experience does not always work correctly, sometimes experience and intuition are likely to lead you into a ditch that is 108,000 miles away from the truth.

So, is a seasoned senior detective staging the classic example that "experience and intuition are not always reliable"?

Others may think that this is the case, but Mach himself has a different view of it.

It is true that the results of the search of the bakery, the house and the warehouse are all white, but the person of Pierre Marseille is gray.

Do you think it's very contradictory? Since there is no solid evidence to be found, how can they still put Marseille among the objects of suspicion? In fact, most of the people who will think this way are ordinary people, and the thinking of the secret police is completely different from that of the general public, and suspicion is their instinct, and in their eyes, there are no innocent people in the world, only the reserve of criminals, criminal suspects, and criminals.

Perhaps Pierre Marseille has a good social credit record and can be regarded as an exemplary citizen, but for such people with a strong desire to get ahead, the so-called status, the so-called record, is just a stepping stone to a higher position, a highway ticket. They don't really like to follow the order and follow it strictly, and in that sense, those records can't be counted at all, and they don't even have reference value.

Returning to Pierre Marseille personally, there is no doubt that this boy is extremely self-motivated, and he has worked hard to achieve success as soon as possible, and he cherishes the fruits of his efforts. There is no motive for a person like this to help a terrorist, because that would be destroying the fruits of his efforts and putting his whole life into it. The results of the search also seem to prove this.

However, human beings are not completely rational creatures, and many times they know what the right choice is, but they do stupid things for inexplicable reasons such as "impulsiveness" and "preference". Isn't there an example of Charlemagne's madness to death, and as a result, he succeeded in self-destruction and achieved an empire?

It is actually a very reasonable thing for a boy to do irreparably stupid things because of some impulse and a momentary inspiration.

Of course, this is only an opinion, not even an inference, and it does not support Mach's choice to "retain skepticism".

What really prompted Maher to make this choice was Marseille's low, short sigh when he and Epenny had searched the warehouse and found nothing.

If he hadn't turned around just right, if Mach's ears weren't long and sensitive, there was a good chance he would have missed the sigh. At first glance, that sigh would have thought that it was a relief that the search was finally over, and that it had survived the catastrophe. But in Mach's ears, there was a hint of loneliness and disappointment in that sigh.

Maybe it was Mach's mishearing, or maybe Mach's subjective judgment made him add non-existent information to the sigh, but in any case, Mach just felt that Pierre Marseille still had doubts about him.

"If you really think that person is suspicious, do you want to apply for 'preventive protection'? Get him straight into the headquarters building and have a torture expert take over?"

The yellow light stopped flashing, Epenny stepped on the accelerator, the green light came on just right, and the sports car quickly crossed the intersection.

"It's not impossible, but let's not forget that we don't have conclusive evidence. ”

Maher held his cheeks and made a whining sound in his mouth, like an old fox with a toothache.

The so-called "preventive protection" is actually the same thing as "preventive arrest", and the difference is only that the object is different.

"Preventive arrests" are aimed at nationals with criminal records, and article 42 of the Imperial Penal Code provides that "preventive arrests" may be carried out when they are not committing crimes and for "immoral" offenders, as long as there is suspicion. According to the official version of the Empire, some crimes are innate habits, like musical talent or hair color, that are passed down by blood. With this in mind, when convicting a criminal, judges and the law should take into account the innate characteristics of the offender in addition to the content of the specific crime, the severity of the circumstances, and the impact on society. For example, a delinquent teenager who takes a few marks from his victim in the first street fight or bullying his classmates at school is likely to be sentenced to death, and most likely publicly hanged - if he is a fourth-class citizen and has the eyes of a thief. The verdict would declare that "the man has shown a pathological penchant for crime, which is deeply rooted in his blood and nature, and precludes him from being a useful member of the people of the Empire". As a result, the uneradicable school bullying in the schools of the countries has been kept at a very low level in the empire - students who dare to do things are publicly hanged, and those sitting in class are good babies who cherish their lives. But on the other hand, if you are a student at a first-class civic elite school, and the target of bullying is a fourth-class civic student from a third-rate school, then even if you shoot the other party because of a sentence, the court will sentence you to bail you out on the spot, because your behavior is "not socially harmful".

"Preventive protection" is aimed at ordinary civilians who have no criminal record but are suspected for various reasons. When the Imperial Social Order Guarantee or the police lack evidence to apply for a formal arrest warrant, they file a report of suspicion against a person and an application for "preventive protection" against the person, which is then approved by the court. The secret police will visit the suspect and prepare a set of statements similar to that of a fraudster: since you are suspected of being involved in a case, in order to cooperate with the investigation and prevent criminal and terrorist organizations from threatening your personal safety, please go to a safe area with us. What followed was the in-depth exchange between the torture experts and the "protected objects".

I believe that with the skill of the Imperial Social Order Guarantee Bureau's master torturer, once Marseille is sent to the interrogation room, he will be able to confess all the secrets in fifteen minutes at most. Under Miki, there is no confession that cannot be given,

But Mach didn't want to use this handy item lightly.

Is it worth activating "preventive protection" in Marseille, will it alarm terrorist groups that are preparing an operation, and will those terrorist groups act according to the script set by the Empire...... In the critical period of the upcoming fireworks show, it is difficult for Mach to make up his mind that any action would have an unpredictable spillover impact, which could affect the entire situation. Not to mention, he also has to worry about the disputes that have always existed between the powerful departments of the Empire, who dares to guarantee that after the "preventive protection" of Pierre Marseille, the final investigation will be that this person is indeed connected to a terrorist organization? What if the result is that Marseille is indeed innocent? Will the bad guys seize on this pigtail and make a fuss and demand that the power of the Imperial Social Order Guarantee Bureau be limited?

The so-called secret police, which seems to be majestic, are rarely able to do whatever they want, or they can't do it at all.

"So, do you want to do surveillance?"

"No, since the target is not there, there is no trace left at the scene. So whether the goal wasn't there in the first place, or for some reason he sensed the danger and left there early, it would be a waste of time to invest energy in that boy. What we need to do now is to focus on sports exchange activities. ”

Pressing the ashtray and pressing the chewing gum wrapped in wrapping paper into the ashtray stuffed with filters, Mach said with a depressed expression:

"Since they deliberately took the risk of sending the magician to Lüdes, there must be a special circumstance that can only be handled by magicians, and what else could it be other than destroying the fireworks show at the sports exchange event and destroying the script of the Empire? I would love to know how the Resistance guys are going to send the magician into the scene without alarming it...... What about you?"

Maher's blue eyes were fixed on Epenny, who was concentrating on driving, and for some reason, his eyebrows were twisted.

############

"Sometimes you have to admire those chain dogs, their sense of smell—"

The girl who led the way jumped and jumped, and the rubble, garbage, and feces everywhere could not make her close her chirping mouth, at most she could only make her pause.

"Their sense of smell is more sensitive than that of real dogs, and some people say that those guys don't need to investigate and collect evidence at all, just by looking at the file, they can detect who is the perpetrator and who is related to the crime. Isn't that the same thing as a dog being able to sniff out where bones are buried, you say? ”

"Those guys aren't dogs. ”

The girl in the cap responded coldly:

"They are beasts that eat people and don't spit out bones. ”

“...... Do you really lack a sense of humor, or do you mean that magicians are like this, and don't like to joke? It's rare that a boy is willing to work hard for you, although that uniform is very unpleasant, but there are not many good men like that now. ”

The girl who led the way, codenamed "Robin", turned her head to look at the expressionless "Nightingale", who was also looking at her, her eyes unblinking, and her eyes were cold.

“...... Can a sense of humor defeat an empire?"

After a full three seconds of silence, "Mockingbird" smiled wryly, shrugged, and turned to continue leading the way. It seems to be helpless and self-deprecating with a wry smile drifting to the "nightingale"

"Yes, defeating the Empire is the highest priority, and the revolution is too easy to get rid of the brutes just by laughing at them. Remember, though—"

Without warning, a cold word pierced between the two.

"If you don't have a sense of humor, you forget how to laugh, you forget what you should have as a human being. The only difference between us and the Empire is the title. ”

Listening to the cold words of the "robin", the "Nightingale" did not refute or get angry, but followed closely without saying a word.

.。 m.