As an experienced veteran police officer, his experience in handling cases that is enough to compile a book on criminology tells him that no matter how uneventful the ending of each case, the beginning stage must be the most interesting and challenging.

This time seems to be no exception.

Senior Detective Zavel Mach leaned back against the priceless sports car, unaware that the metal parts of the suit might scrape off the paint, sniffed the air with the smell of car wax, and ignored the silent crowd hurrying by with his head down, and he gave the boy in front of him a friendly smile.

"Pierre Marseille Youth League?"

"Yes, sir. ”

"Outstanding Youth League Member Badge Winner, First Place in the Admission Examination for the Whole Grade?"

"Yes, sir. ”

"That's remarkable, where's your sword?"

The boy proudly drew his dagger from his waist and held in both hands the symbol of honor that only a very small number of fourth-class underage citizens could obtain. Mach took the dagger and looked at the Imperial Eagle emblem at the end of the hilt, and out of the corner of his eye, he carefully looked at the boy in front of him with his head held high but humble.

- Interesting.

The face painted by the afterglow is blurry, but Mach has already sketched a portrait of Marseille's life in his head.

Spirited, ambitious and enterprising, he is not very satisfied with the status quo, but he does not dare to challenge authority. The so-called outstanding students and the so-called exemplary citizens are just a ladder to the next level, and there is no meaning other than that. Invest in an almost fanatical enthusiasm for anything that helps you get ahead, as if you have an energy that never runs out.

Mach has seen many of these fourth-class citizens, from adults to minors, basically a small bureaucrat who comes out of a mold. Know how to succeed, how to please the strong, cunning, smart, snobbish.

Marseille's characteristics are no different from those of those people, and it stands to reason that when such people see a member of an anti-government organization or find any clues related to the anti-government organization, they will definitely report it as soon as possible, so as to get a reward and accelerate their advancement. It is obviously a waste of time and energy to discuss the case with such an exemplary fourth-class citizen, and it may also lead to the leakage of intelligence, and it is better to go around the places frequented by anti-government organizations, and perhaps some breakthrough will be made long ago.

However, the reason why Mach chose Marseille as the first target was not because of a whim, nor was it too troublesome to select one by one, so he clicked on the boy casually with his eyes closed.

In his mind, the boy was at the top of the list of suspects.

Years of experience have given Maher a canine-like sense of smell, and just by looking at his face, he can smell the scent of a criminal, like a fox or a hungry wolf sniffing out where its prey is hiding.

Marseille behaved normally, calm, poised, courteous and courteous, deftly keeping distance and conversation in the middle between not offending the other party and being too flattering. Exactly in line with the etiquette and attitude that a fourth-class citizen should have when in contact with a first-class citizen, an excellent boy who is almost exemplary.

Too normal, too calm - it only reveals that he does have a problem.

Is it possible for any fourth-class citizen who has been summoned for questioning by the secret police of the Imperial Social Order Bureau to be so relaxed and natural?

Interesting, really interesting.

Mach returned the dagger to the boy and took another closer look at the exemplary honorsman. School life has not yet been branded as an adult on this child's face, a pink, even delicate face with a hint of girlishness. It seems simple and harmless, and does not intersect with negative words such as "criminal" and "traitor".

"Your family must be proud of you. ”

Maher hid a beastly sneer and asked in a kind tone, sounding like the child's uncle rather than a secret policeman.

"Yes, sir. ”

It was still a formulaic answer, and the expression on his face showed a hint of pride and pride, which was simply impeccable.

But the more times like this, when encountering a sudden attack, the more caught off guard and embarrassed, and then the perfect lie will have loopholes, shattered and collapsed in one go.

"By the way, you went to the city library the day before yesterday and heard that there was a shootout?"

Maher said nonchalantly, noticing an unnatural twitch of the boy's cheeks.

"It was a pretty bad experience. ”

"Yes...... Yes...... That was the first time I saw ......"

If you were a member of the army, after listening to Marseille's answers, you would probably be full of thoughts such as "after all, you are only a fourth-class citizen" and "people who target the army are afraid of corpses!" Mach doesn't see anything wrong with that.

Even after the training of military life, new recruits who are entering the battlefield for the first time will still be hesitant to kill corpses and killing, let alone a boy who has not yet entered the barracks to receive rigorous training. To demand him by the standards of a professional soldier is obviously too much.

Mach softened his tone a little, and then continued:

"You don't have to think too much, we just came to check with all the witnesses who took notes that day because there was a new development in that case. ”

"Yes, sir, may I ask. ”

"There were three people with you at the time, one was a school classmate, and the other two were strangers you didn't know?"

"Yes, sir. ”

"After you finished taking notes, you went home with your classmates?"

"Yes, sir. ”

"Straight home?"

"Yes, sir. ”

Every one of the answers was up to par, every one was flawless, and even if he pointed out that it took him half an hour longer to get from the municipal library to his home than his normal trip, he would say, "I'm sorry, sir, because of the shooting, my mind was messed up, I took the wrong way on the road, and I wasted my time," or "Sir, because of the shooting, I went to the Seine in a daze." His statements are reasonable and irrefutable until conclusive evidence is obtained.

- It's nice to be young, ignorant and fearless, as if the whole world is in your own hands, as if you can do anything.

Leaving a feeling in his heart that seemed like mockery and envy, Mach smiled and suddenly said:

"Do you know that the two strangers who were with you in that reading room that afternoon, one was killed and the other is missing?"

The boy looked shocked, then shook his head firmly.

"No, I don't know, sir. ”

"Oh, you don't know? Ah, it makes sense, you don't know them and you don't remember their faces. So yesterday's official announcement did not catch your attention either. ”

Maher spoke slowly, noticing that the boy's body was taut more than before.

- If the perfect score is 100 points, then the child can already score 90 points.

Calm and calm, good psychological quality, and unfazed by changes - this can be achieved either by a strong person who has been in power for a long time, or by a highly trained intelligence officer. Of course, it is more likely that today's scene was already in his imagination, and he was mentally prepared.

Youth League member Pierre Marseille. ”

Mach took a piece of chewing gum from his jacket pocket, handed it to the boy, and asked casually:

"Can you take me to your house for a tour?"

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

In the end, Maher didn't drive into the neighborhood, nor did he get out of the car and walk into the modest bakery, and through the audio-visual transmission equipment carried by his "partner" Epenny, he could fully control every move in the store. Naturally, there is no need to take the risk of startling the snake, and by the way, it will make this big family unable to be a person in the future.

A shop that is patronized and concerned by the secret police! Who will dare to come to the door in the future?

Taking a step back, even if it doesn't involve the human touch, Mach doesn't intend to waste extra time in this bakery.

From the outset, he was sure of two things – that Pierre Marseille was suspected of harboring members of the anti-government group for some reason, and that the magician might be hiding.

The reason why Maher would target this boy is simple, he has the conditions to commit the crime.

A whole day passed, and a total of 19 bodies were found in the Reich-controlled Lüdes Special Administrative Region, some drowned in the Seine, some hanged, and stoned to death with blunt objects, nine of which had gunshot wounds, and three of them were beaten into a colander on the spot because of their arrest. Eventually, all nine bodies were sent to the Imperial Institute of Biological Sciences, where they were subjected to a "scientific and rigorous" screening process, and the authority on the research of magicians at the Imperial Institute of Biological Sciences, Professor Joseph Menger, and the Technical Lieutenant General of the Defence Forces, a figure who looked like a jailer or butcher rather than a scholar, made an authoritative conclusion that none of the corpses were magicians.

As if seeing through Mach's suspicions about this conclusion, the bureau chief threw a thick stack of so-called "evidence" stamped with the "highest top secret of the state" in front of Mach. Inside is a stack of materials from the Mauthausen-Goussen concentration camp in Lencia, which dates from before the war. The information contains the results of various comparative tests, including autopsies, on prisoners and Charlemagne Wizard prisoners of war, and indicates that these human test data are restricted to circulation within the system of the Dili Institute of Biological Research. The main method of the experiment is to distinguish the differences in brain structure between ordinary people and magicians, and the main method is vivisection, some are injected drugs, some are removed from specific parts, and some are implanted with fibers and then removed, with a bunch of pictures of the brain - exposed after cutting out the skull, placed on the operating plate, soaked in a jar. On some of the data registers, the surgeon's signature is Joseph Menger, who at the time held the title of Doctor of Medicine, Technical Brigadier General.

These butchers are indeed the authority on distinguishing the brains of ordinary people from magicians, and they are the most effective at bringing the device they invented specifically to hunt magicians......

Spit out a smoke ring, and Mach pressed the cigarette butt into the ashtray.

Since there was no target he was looking for in those corpses, which meant that the target was still "missing", the probability of being alive was quite high. Then the question arises, after being shot, how to avoid the eyes of the Empire and get in touch with the local underground organization? And how does he ensure food, water, and medicine? These things are essential if you want to survive, and the moment the injured magician shows up, he will immediately touch the Empire's surveillance network. Being able to survive without alarming the empire shows that this person is likely to hide in a place where he can get supplies nearby, go unnoticed, and even get some kind of help—the warehouse of the Maasai family, which meets these conditions. And the surveillance equipment on the street that day did capture the footage of Marseille haunting the area around the crime scene, combined with the inexplicable extension of the time it took to leave the library and return home...... A detailed picture of the case is almost on the verge of being released.

Epenny's tour of the bakery seemed to be coming to an end, and the boy was relieved that he hadn't shown his feet. When he returns, I'll take him to the warehouse, and I'll let Epenny take care of the rest......

Maher put his hands in his pockets, felt for the cold police pistol, made sure it was loaded, and put it back in his pocket. He adjusted his rearview mirror, trying to smile as kindly as possible, and in the mirror a secret policeman bared his teeth at him.

.。 m.