socalfunplaces Chapter 71: The Solution—A Conflict of Interests
Chapter 71: The Solution—A Conflict of Interests
"But the thought of killing and the act of killing are two completely different things. How can people decide to kill so easily?"
Azure was baffled and loudly questioned the detective's reasoning.
"The downstairs residents clearly had countless other ways to solve the problem, such as visiting them to offer advice, complaining to the building manager, or moving out voluntarily... Why did they choose to commit murder?"
"Regarding this, I later obtained some information from the apartment manager, and in the process of collecting information, I gradually filled in the gaps in the image of those young people."
The detective did not immediately respond to Azure's question, but continued his story calmly—
"The six tenants downstairs are a bunch of complete social outcasts. They rented the apartment through a sub-landlord rather than through formal channels, so the apartment manager didn't help them protect their interests; moreover, they made a lot of noise while living there. While Mr. Greta was traveling, a resident on the floor below complained about them, and those people pulled out Poké Balls and started a brawl until the other party moved out of the apartment building on their own."
After filling in the missing information, the detective asked Azure a question in return—
"Do you think scoundrels like them would ever think of using legitimate means to solve their problems? Don't forget, these kinds of people are the most likely to bully the weak and fear the strong. Greta is a well-known star trainer. Even if the residents downstairs used all their Pokémon, they would still be no match for a full-strength Sandstorm team."
"If that's the case, why don't they move out on their own initiative?"
The assistant got carried away with solving the mystery and decided to keep pressing the detective for answers, relentlessly asking him questions.
"Well, there are many reasons why someone might not want to move out of an apartment building; sometimes it might just be because of laziness."
Hugo sat on the armrest of the opposite sofa, looking around his apartment lobby—
"Moreover, there are six people crammed together in the apartment below Greta's. If one of them would rather kill someone once and for all than go through the trouble of moving, and had convinced all the other companions, then this murder would be quite reasonable."
Listening to the detective's somewhat perfunctory explanation, Azure remained skeptical, and then she asked another question—
"Even if all your previous reasoning is correct, I still have one question: Since Mr. Greta has been a Sandstorm Team specialist trainer for so many years, why would he choose to live in such a high-rise apartment? As a star trainer who uses Sandstorm Team, shouldn't he have been aware that his Pokémon would cause a lot of noise downstairs?"
"Very perceptive," Hugo praised. "This matter dates back to more than a month ago."
"What do you mean?" Faced with a time span of a whole month, Bilan was completely confused.
"I remember you and Touko beat that Sandstorm duo in a doubles match. Touko told me that the victory was almost entirely due to you, Azur Lane."
"Although the claim about the fight was a bit exaggerated, my performance at the time was indeed quite remarkable." Azure recalled the match from a month ago, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu—
"Back then, the opponent used a trading move to take down Eevee's Emboar, leaving only Eevee and Tyranitar on the field. Ultimately, Eevee, with its speed and agility, repeatedly struck the same weak spot on Tyranitar with Iron Tail, managing to defeat it with difficulty. By the way, the trainer using Tyranitar at that time was Greta."
"Was it difficult? But when you released Eevee at the Feathered Residence that day, it didn't seem to have a single obvious injury." The detective casually pointed out a crucial question.
"That's because it avoided most of the attack moves, so apart from the damage it took when blocking the sandstorm, Eevee was basically unharmed."
"That's a bit strange," the detective remarked, feigning ignorance.
"Tyranitar should have far superior attack power and durability compared to an unevolved Eevee, and its Iron Tail move isn't very accurate. I want to ask you, what does it mean that Eevee can repeatedly dodge the opponent's attacks and hit vital points with unparalleled accuracy?"
When the topic of combat came up, Azure immediately understood what the detective meant and replied, "This means that Tyranitar is not very proficient in using skills, and his movements are clumsy and slow compared to his peak condition."
"So, what do you think is slowing down Bangiras?"
Seeing that Azure was about to embark on another long period of contemplation, the detective took the initiative to reveal the answer to the mystery—
“I think it has something to do with the condition of that Tyranitar,” Hugo said, crossing his legs in a very enigmatic manner. “That Tyranitar may have just evolved before the match, so it’s not used to the new form and appears somewhat clumsy on the field.”
"I see!"
Miss Azure sat up straight, clapping her hands in sudden realization—"Mr. Greta must have honed his skills on his journey, with many of his Pokémon evolving during their travels. Greta's perception of his Pokémon's weight is still based on their pre-evolution state. Previously, these relatively small Pokémon's running around didn't cause noise downstairs, but after evolving, Tyranitar and Gigantamax increased in weight several times over, finally starting to bother the downstairs residents."
"He was murdered simply because he didn't notice the weight change after his Pokémon evolved," the detective sighed, reflecting on the tragedy.
"But what do you mean by 'interests' in the prompt?" Azure asked one question after another. "Killing someone because they couldn't stand the noise" doesn't really count as a conflict of interest.
"Speaking of this, Azure, don't you think there's something strange about the lifestyles of those six young people?"
"There's absolutely nothing suspicious about this case, okay?"
The girl couldn't help but complain: "The corpses in the locked room, the elves in the flowerpots, the suspicious administrator, the troublesome sandstorm team... now it's no big deal if six more unemployed people live together in one place."
"I think those six guys are definitely doing something shady in that shared apartment."
Hugo, with a playful expression, continued, "Just as our first piece of information revealed, that apartment building is an outrageously expensive high-end residential building. Even if the rent is split into six parts, it would still be a considerable expense for the unemployed. How exactly do they manage to pay the rent?"
“Unemployed people who stay at home must have very limited means of making a living, right?” After thinking hard for a while, Azure honestly surrendered to the detective, “Hugo, I can’t think of anything.”
The detective wagged his finger, offering a further clue: "These six unemployed people have also been complained about by their neighbors for making noise before. When their complaints went unanswered, those neighbors even moved out because of the noise."
"What does that prove? Group living is usually quite noisy, isn't it?"
"There is another way to make money, which is to make the apartment incredibly noisy immediately."
Hugo reached into his pocket and pulled out the cell phone he had retrieved from the duty room when the incident ended.
The detective pressed a button on the touchscreen, and dial tones played in sequence. Before the call connected, he spoke to Azure in a loud voice, as if answering a phone call—
"When six people are making phone calls in an apartment at the same time, the noise they create is enough to make the downstairs residents move out overnight."
"Making phone calls?" The assistant didn't react for a moment. "How can these people profit from making phone calls? Do they think people will willingly send them money after they make a call?"
Hugo couldn't help but chuckle: "Such things really do exist in the world."
At the same time, the detective's call went through, and Officer Jenny answered. Her voice was loud and clear when she said "hello," indicating that the interrogation had made a breakthrough.
“Yes, I want to know how the suspect explained his motives,” Hugo asked the policewoman as he switched the call to speakerphone.
“You’ve come to the right person, Hugo. You’d never guess what those guys do all day holed up in their apartment.” Officer Jenny’s tone was very smug, wanting to use this rare opportunity to whet the detective’s appetite.
Hugo, holding up his phone and suppressing a laugh, deliberately sighed: "Please tell me, Azure and I are both waiting."
"I really can't do anything with you guys." An even more smug voice came from the other end of the phone. "Since you're so sincerely asking for advice, then I'll mercifully tell you—"
“Those people are a gang of phone scammers. They can get personal information, including phone numbers, from the nearby Pokémon Center registration office. Then they hide in their apartments all day dialing numbers in the phone book, impersonating various identities to trick people into transferring money to their bank accounts!”
The detective put his hand to his forehead and winked smugly at his assistant.
Azure was completely stunned. After a long pause, she stammered and asked Officer Jenny on the other end of the phone, "Then... then, Miss Officer Jenny, the reason these people killed Mr. Greta was because..."
"They hated the upstairs residents who let the elves roam freely in their homes every day. The constant noise from upstairs made it impossible for them to continue their so-called work. So these people ordered potted plants containing Galar Sun Corals from the Unified Dark Web and delivered them to the dead person's home, pretending to be friendly neighbors."
The police officer's summary was clear and fluent, and Bilan felt that the whole incident was suddenly connected.
"Furthermore, the reason they moved to this apartment was because they heard that the occupancy rate of high-end buildings in western Feiyun City is generally very low, so renting here to commit crimes would be less likely to arouse suspicion. Moreover, that area is a well-known wealthy area, where rich people always live, and the phone numbers of rich people are more valuable for fraud."
“A complete struggle for interests…” Azure murmured to herself, recalling the last clue the detective had given her.
Hugo also sighed: "Mr. Greta is truly unfortunate..."
.
"Hey? Why did the atmosphere suddenly become so heavy? Hugo, did you already know the truth all along?"
In the silent Feather Residence, only Miss Officer Jenny's voice, filled with electronic static, echoed continuously.