Pokémon Detective: Cynthia Forces Me to Adopt a Pokémon

Chapter 138 The Other Side of the Telegram: Current Situation and Condition

Chapter 148 The Current Situation and Condition on the Other End of the Phone

Hugo sorted the black garbage bags and threw them into the distant recycling point. The shredded pieces of the detective's notebook were specially picked out, and the little fire monkey took them five meters away and burned them to ashes with a "flame".

As Hugo and Azure left, the rock music in the Liyong Dojo resumed its cacophony, with drums, keyboards and guitars intertwining, and the bass, though inconspicuous, truly supporting the overall tone of the performance.

……

On the same afternoon.

"I've found the information about the female engineer you mentioned."

In a separate booth on the left side of the Pokémon Center, the detective and his assistant were gathered around a medium-sized telephone screen, discussing the case with a female police officer on the other end of the line.

On the screen, Officer Jenny, dressed casually at home, curled up in her computer chair with her legs tucked in, a stylus between her fingers, tapping away at her tablet. Finally, she pulled up a white-background, passport-style photo, placed the tablet in front of the camera, and said to the detective and her assistant—

"Arno, female, 32 years old, electrical engineer at Liyong Power Plant, joined the company in the second year after the power plant was established and has been employed for five years. Two years ago, she was involved in a major production accident that resulted in death, but the accident was later proven to be caused by the employee's distraction and negligence, so she was not held responsible. Until the explosion, she was still working at Liyong Power Plant, but she was frequently transferred to other positions. The most recent assignment was to the electrical machinery maintenance department."

"It seems that the guitarist wasn't lying." Azure hugged her sun hat to her chest and nodded. On the way to the Pokémon Center, she had already learned about the inside of the power plant from Hugo.

Detective Hugo stared at the ID photo on the tablet. The woman in the photo, with her braided hair, had the stiff expression often seen in ID photos. He pondered and said, "This ID photo hasn't been updated in a long time, has it? A thirty-two-year-old engineer wouldn't look this young and plain."

Officer Jenny happily twirled the capacitive pen: "I knew you'd say that. Actually, I've already found a recent photo of this person."

"How so?" Hugo raised an eyebrow.

The policewoman, who was at home, tapped a few times on her tablet and entered someone's social media profile: "Ta-da! This is what Arno looks like now."

Officer Jenny pointed to a mature woman with short hair, glasses, and an artistic air, and said—

"This Ms. Arno has been active on social media for the past two years. She frequently posts articles criticizing the current practice of enslaving Pokémon and spreading rhetoric in support of the Pokémon liberation movement. With the rise of Team Plasma, there are more and more people like her online."

“It is indeed the same person.” The detective stroked his chin and silently noted down Arno’s account name. “I didn’t expect that after the production accident, this person would not only not calm down, but would become even more outrageous.”

Upon hearing the words "Plasma Group," Azure couldn't help but become suspicious of this person: "Does this person have an alibi for the time of the bombing?"

"It wasn't mentioned in the information my relatives gave me, but I think she should have an ironclad alibi."

Officer Jenny flipped through the screen on the tablet—

“Look, this is what Arnaud was doing on the day of the incident. She was meeting with her editor at the publishing house when the explosion happened, and the two of them heard the explosion together.”

The screen showed a group photo, and the delivery message, filled with exclamation marks, clearly indicated that the delivery person was quite shocked by the explosion.

"Editor? Does this person still plan to publish books?" the assistant asked, puzzled.

"She mentioned this in her previous posts. It's a book that teaches you how to properly release Pokémon, such as choosing different release locations based on different Pokémon, and training their wild foraging abilities before releasing them... I think it's called 'Pokémon Release Guide.' Apart from the fact that her guidance is fundamentally wrong, everything else is surprisingly reliable."

"Is the meeting place far from the Liyong Power Plant? Is it possible that Arno took some time to come to the crime scene before or during the meeting?" Hugo asked warily.

“That’s unlikely. I’ve already investigated beforehand.” The policewoman zoomed in and out with two fingers, making the location in the background of the video clearer.

"The explosion occurred at the final stage of the talks, and the meeting took place near the editor's publishing house, which is at least an hour's drive from the factory where the explosion occurred. That's a two-hour round trip. Even if Arno rode his incredibly fast flying-type Pokémon, he wouldn't have had time to travel between the two locations. Hugo, do you think Arno is the culprit?"

The detective sighed, seemingly regretting something: "I just feel she should have been there..."

Had Hugo thought of something? Azure keenly observed the detective's changing expression. Just as she was about to ask, the detective suddenly shook his head violently—

"No, no, no, no! Even if they weren't physically present at the scene, there should be a corresponding method, right? A phone call, it's always a phone call!" the detective asked excitedly, staring at the screen of the video communication device.

“Officer Jenny, can you find the call records of Factory Manager William or Ms. Arno? The police station's evidence storage room should have them. Oh, and the Liyong City Police! Please help me check when the Liyong City Police Department received William's emergency call!”

Faced with the excited detective, Officer Jenny scratched her head with her pen and said with a troubled expression, "Hey, I'm just a detective in Feiyun City. Even if I can get some information from a relative who is also a police officer, I can't access such specific evidence. And since it's evidence in an investigation, I don't have the right to lend it out."

“In that case…” Hugo turned his gaze to the azure.

"Are you planning to investigate the Liyong City Police Department? To ask the police for the call records as evidence?" The girl became spirited, looking eager to try.

“I have a better idea.” Hugo’s tightly furrowed brows relaxed, revealing a meaningful smile—

“N should probably start taking action soon. That guy has been focusing his investigation on the police station. We might as well follow him and see what happens.”

"Following N? Can we find that elusive guy?" Azure paused, then suddenly realized, "Right, Douzi has been with him the whole time. If we just contact her..."

Just as the assistant was feeling elated at the thought of a junior colleague, a strange sound suddenly came from the communications compartment—it was Hugo's cell phone.

The detective pulled his phone out of his white coat pocket, and the contact name on the lit screen was clearly visible—it was Douzi, the person the group was discussing.

Hugo turned on the speakerphone and greeted, "This is Hugo, what can I do for you?"

"Hugo! Something terrible has happened! Quickly, call Sister Blue over!"

The girl with the high ponytail spoke in a panicked and urgent voice—

"That guy N, he's trying to force his way into the Liyong Police Station!"