mm

I'm just...

Do you think it's hopeless? That the evidence must have been destroyed?

It's true that I wasn't able to find any clues...

(Miss Heidi must be disappointed.)

(Oh no, the tears are starting to flow... please stop!)

I-I'm sorry, Miss Heidi, I, I could find a more experienced detective if you're not satisfied with my performance.

But p-please just give me a little more time.

I, I'll get to the bottom of this... please don't fire me! *wails*

I never said I was firing you.

What?

You may be inexperienced, but I see potential in your determined search for clues.

There must be a way, even if we might be missing some evidence.

After all, the truth is always there. It never changes.

The truth's always there...

Any crime must leave a trail...

Exactly!

A great detective won't let herself get frustrated so easily.

B-But I'm just a no-name detective, and this is my first big case... I... I...

I don't know if I can do this on my own.

Say, what happened to the confident young detective I hired?

Besides, you're not alone.

What do you mean...?

Didn't you say I was your first assistant?

Or are you taking it back so hastily?

Miss Heidiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!

Yes! I'll become a household name, and everyone will know that you were my first assistant!

Ugh.

Don't be so harsh, Sonya. It's just a little bit much for the dinner table.

That's basically what I meant, yeah.

The fat guy did it. Why are we even talking about this?

You're all the same!

This was the second most touching scene of my first case! The detective and her assistant! The assistant comforting the detective in her darkest hour...

Isn't it touching?!

Er... well, sure, I suppose so.

The interaction between the detective and his assistant is certainly one of the selling points of many mystery novels. Classics of the genre set these two characters up to contrast with each other.

See? Hehe...

(Not sure if a mystery novel would work with a detective like this, though.)

Okay, let's forget this first assistant you never saw again. Didn't you call Skyfire your seventh assistant last time?

She almost set you on fire for that. A couple words of encouragement, and you're falling head over heels.

Hmph! You don't understand the detective-assistant dynamic at all!

Yeah, whatever. Just get this over with.

After that, it was the Metis Show, of course...

The scene of the crime looks the same.

(We've searched it many times. Another sweep won't yield any clues.)

(We should look somewhere else.)

Hmm.

(Nothing here... don't suppose anyone would leave bloody evidence out in the open.)

Ouch!

My head...

(No, nothing here either.)

(I must have missed something... but where could it be?)

(Did they really destroy all the evidence?)

No, that can't be!

Any crime must leave a trail. They won't fool me!

(This is the last area. If there's nothing here...)

(Could the killer really have committed a crime without leaving a trail?)

(Oh...?)

(What's that outside the window?)

(The lake outside the manor?)

(Wait, if it's visible from here, it must be visible from the scene of the crime!)

This must be the place!

I knew it!

This room is higher than the wall, and the window faces the lake!

I've got it...

Give me a second... whew. What happened, Miss Metis? Why did you...?

Miss Heidi!

Ah, I'm here?

I found it! I found the clue!

It wasn't fire, it was water!

That's where the evidence must be... over there!

The lake?

Do you mean that the killer threw the bloody clothes into the lake?

And we didn't search outside the manor!

But...

Let me guess, you want to say that they couldn't have thrown their clothes such a distance, right?

But clothes aren't the only thing we're looking for!

We're also looking for the murder weapon!

Why didn't anyone see the bloody clothes? Because the killer didn't leave the scene wearing them!

Why didn't we find the weapon? Because the killer wrapped the bloody clothes around it and threw it into the lake!

This explains everything!

But finding the killer won't be easy, if they indeed threw all the evidence into the lake.

Just because it's not easy doesn't mean it's impossible!

I'll find the clues and the killer, no matter what it takes!

Why the face?! This is the climactic moment!

Where's the applause? Where's the praise?

(Slow clap)

And then what happened?

Don't tell me that's the end.

O-Of course not! After that, it was the Metis Show...

We heard that part already.

Enough nitpicking! Do you find some fault with my detective adventure?

Now then, the ending—

This is quite enough. When can we leave?

This is absurd! I refuse to entertain this little girl's detective games any longer!

Miss Metis, I don't think we can proceed without any evidence.

Hehehe...

Hehe, hehehe, hahahaha!

Wh-What are you laughing at?

I'm laughing at the foolish killer, who still thinks they can escape me, and justice.

A criminal always leaves a trail, and it's up to a detective to find it.