The Devil’s Cage

Hearing Hoskin’s scream, Kieran didn’t even have the chance to question him and he jumped right into the hole beside him.

According to the footprints, Kieran was sure the attacker he had just killed was the one who interrogated Barney the ”Jackal” and the reason why he returned after he left was because he had run into a surprise attack.

The one who attacked the interrogator could probably be the killer behind Winchester House’s murders.

Kieran wouldn’t let this killer roam free since he had caused so much trouble.

After he landed on his feet, Kieran activated [Tracking] and quickly followed the footprints inside but at the end of the footprints, he found nothing again.

All there was were drops of blood along the trail.

He frowned when he saw the blood trail.

”The attacker’s footprints stopped before he was ambushed but other than his footprints, there weren’t any others. Did they cover their tracks with special techniques?”

Grandmaster [Tracking] allowed Kieran to see most of the traces but not all.

[Undercover] of Transcendence and above was hard for Grandmaster [Tracking] to trace as well as spirit beings.

Grandmaster [Tracking] only allowed Kieran to see spirit beings but it was nearly impossible to see the traces left behind by one.

”If only the skills didn’t decrease one level…”

Kieran shook his head in regret when he thought about it.

Though, when he checked the Magic rank item in his hand, his regrets were washed away quite a bit.

It was a small dagger, its length was only as long as a grown man’s palm to the tip of the middle finger even with the hilt included. It was black and not a bit eye-catching but its shape would leave an impression in one’s mind.

One side of the body was a sharp blade and the other was a line of jagged teeth similar to a saw.

[Name: Interrogator Knife]

[Type: Dagger]

[Rarity: Magic]

[Attack: Average]

[Attribute: Ruthless Interrogator (Not only it can deal damage to common beings but it can hurt spirits as well!)]

[Effect: None]

[Prerequisite: Sharp Weapon, Dagger (Master)]

[Remark: This dagger was originally an antique]

...

”Able to hurt spirits?”

Kieran couldn’t hold back his smile when he saw the attribute.

Although it wasn’t able to cause real damage to spirits, given that it was just a high-tier Magic rank item and it possessed such an attribute, it was already satisfying enough for Kieran.

Kieran tossed the dagger up a bit and hid it behind his waist. He used the bulletproof vest as cover.

After checking the place under the hole again, he climbed back up to the entrance.

Hoskin’s relief was all over his face when he saw Kieran come back up.

”How is it?” Hoskin asked.

”Its a sub-tunnel down there connecting to the main sewer down there. There are quite a few daily supplies down there too, must be this guy’s.”

”You know him, Hoskin?” Kieran pointed at the body aside.

”Yeah, he is a wanted criminal! Two months ago, this guy wanted to steal from Edland Museum but security guards on patrol discovered him, so he fired and killed three security guards before emptying a lot of valued treasures. It’s not the kind of treasure that is on display outside but those kept inside the museum’s vault.”

”More importantly, this guy entered the vault using the password! Because of that, the museum director and the deputy director who had the vault’s password were questioned but nothing came from them,” Hoskin explained briefly.

”Emptying a vault filled with valuable treasures and now appearing in Barney’s lair. It seems like he has been staying here for quite a while and now all the treasures were missing and Barney was cruelly murdered by this guy. I think Barney’s network of disposing of the stolen goods must be huge, it’s just that the distribution of loot wasn’t all fair,” Kieran said slowly.

”Damn, this guy can really hide.”

The young officer was unsettled by the fact that he didn’t discover Barney’s true nature.

”Still, we’ve gotten a lead. Disposing of the stolen goods required a lot of effort, it wouldn’t be one person’s work Hoskin, who else do you think is involved among Barney’s men? Of course, don’t include those bodies across Dancing Diva.” Kieran asked.

”Rudal! He is Barney’s right-hand man! Anytime Barney had needs, that guy would be the first to come to mind!” The young officer said.

”Well then, let’s find Mr. Rudal, see whether can we get information about what role Barney played in the Winchester explosion from him, ” Kieran said.

Truth be told, Kieran’s heart already had a speculation because Winchester House’s explosion might very well have gone off because of a single item!

Coincidentally, Barney was giving cover to Brigel here who had emptied out the museum’s vault.

So would that particular item be one of the stolen treasures from the museum?

The speculation had a high chance of being established, so when both of them left the dark passageway, Kieran added, ”Hoskin, do you remember those stolen goods from the museum? If it’s possible, I would know more about them in details.”

”I’m sorry, 2567, the stolen goods are just too much! There were almost hundreds of them stolen, I would need to go through the station’s records.”

The young officer said while going through the sub-tunnel which led to the underground sewer.

Kieran has no plans of returning where they came from.

After the bomb explosion, the police would have stormed Dancing Diva. Before Teresa found out who was the mole in the station, Kieran didn’t want to approach any more police officers.

Kieran went up and pushed open the cover, and climbed out from the sewer before pulling Hoskin up as well.

”I swear I won’t go down to the sewer again for the rest of my life!”

After being assaulted by the vile stench, the young officer swore on his life.

”Well, I think you would need to buy a gas mask beforehand,” Kieran suggested.

As long as Hoskin held his job dear and never wanted to quit, he would eventually go down to the sewers again.

The sewers were where the city’s filth gathered and also the best place to dispose of a body.

Unfortunately, the path that Kieran took was taken care off by Barney and Brigal. Other than the vile stench, there were only a few rats looming around.

”Please don’t happen!”

Hoskin obviously knew what Kieran meant. He opened the door to his cruiser and started it up with a bitter smile.

As the cruiser engine roared to life, the police communication channel inside the car was started up as well.

”Attention to all officers. Attention to all officers!”

”The ex-chief officer Teresa is suspected to be the culprit behind Winchester House explosion case and the killer to mayor candidate Symende Augen plus a couple more lives. She has wounded a couple officers when she escaped and now listed as first class wanted criminal!”

”All officers have the permission to shoot on sight, repeat…”

...

The voice that came from the radio channel made Hoskin widen his eyes.

Kieran raised a brow and turned his attention to the sub-mission that popped up.