Honestly any of the crime scenes weren't anything special.
Ye Lan had lost track of how many times she had visited each of them as a result each location was firmly engraved within her mind.
Even then she hadn't deciphered anything worthwhile consequently she was forced to wonder if there was even anything that could be discovered at all.
Regardless of her inner emotions she was one who performed her duties perfectly.
Therefore it wasn't surprising that she guided Jun You over to the latest addition of the Criminal's twisted hall of fame.
After carefully lifting the tape that separated the art exhibit from the mundane world she gestured towards Jun You inviting him over .
Boorish as he was , he didn't respond to her courtesy and calmly eased himself into the relic that was the only remnant of the work of a twisted mind.
He did not behave like the usual lot eagerly sniffing around for the trace of the minutest of clues that might as well have existed in their own imagination ; no the correct description that it was as if he purposefully choose not to behave in such a typical manner.
Instead he observed the surroundings in a lack-lustre manner .
It wasn't as if there was anything to observe.
The usual desolate lane sandwiched between the backs of crumbling brownstones , there were no street lights of course and the location suggested that apart from troublesome children the only patrons would be the occasional inebriated fool or a homeless wanderer seeking to put his tired legs to rest . In fact it was a member of the last class who had been the one to notify them of the murder.
Still he did not turn his attention towards the vestiges of the blood stains that still remained or the chaffed cobble stones that were the only signs of the brief one sided struggle that had taken place just the previous night .
Where the heck was he even staring ?
"Is there a drain or something nearby ? " Jun You asked abruptly.
A drain ? What in the world ?
Ye Lan answered hesitatingly , "Well there is a sewer that flows underneath these roads and there should be a manhole on this street ."
"Perfect ! " He said with a smile .
He looked around and his eyes brightened as he saw the entrance to the sewers and rapidly headed over towards it .
"Wait a minute ! Surely , You don't think ? " She covered her mouth in a bid to hide her shock .
"Yeah , " he said , " this is the way that the Culprit got in and out . "
"But that's ..."
"Absurd ? Perhaps , but I am willing to bet as much as I have in my wallet right now that you would find a sewer nearby each of the crime scenes , there's even a chance that it is the exactly same one."
"Why ? " she asked , the meaning behind her question quite obvious .
"You said yourself there's no way that so much water can be present in a place like this even after the victim has been drowned the water would have to find to a path on its own and since there was no trace of it on the crime scene that means that it was drained away . Next , the fact that the Killer himself had pretty little time to work with means that he must have a guaranteed escape route prepared beforehand there's a significant chance that he himself uses the same getaway as the water and the only possibility is , " he kicked the cover of the manhole to illustrate his point , "this."
Ye Lan however wasn't convinced , "Still the fact remains that he somehow managed to transport such a huge quantity of water all the way here and may I ask how did he do so ? Did he perhaps manipulate the water of the Drain ? " she snickered incredulously.
Jun You however didn't seem to get the sarcasm for he gave her a deep look before saying , "Who knows ? That's certainly a reasonable possibility ."
Ye Lan who managed to control herself in time nearly burst out in laughter .
What world was this man even living in ?
To believe in the Supernatural in this age of Rationality.
Even as she was criticising him in the depths of her mind he had already left the premises.
"Is that all ? " Ye Lan asked disbelievingly
"I have all that I need now ! " he answered already walking away uncaring of whether she followed him or not.
"Aren't you even going to look at the others ? " she continued to ask .
No way ..
There was no way that the man was this unprofessional , surely he just meant that he had analysed this particular scene and was heading to the next .
Ye Lan comforted her bruised heart in this manner.
"Nope ! I am done for the day ."
Ye Lan's jaw dropped open .
After a ride that seemed unnecessarily lengthened thanks to the uncomfortable silence that lingered for the entire duration the two converged back in the precinct .
The sound of paper rustling and heavy breathing could be heard as the two of them could be seen pouring over a huge map that showed a magnified view of the affected area .
The crime scenes were marked with pins and a shaky line was drawn with red marker in an attempt to link all of them .
Then the tracing of a different map was pulled up and carefully superimposed over the former one .
After observing for a few seconds a conclusion was reached .
Ye Lan gazed at Jun You complicatedly .
"Your hunch was right ! Although it sounds utterly ridiculous with the same drain passing through all of the scenes there's a high chance that the perp is using the sewers to get around . "
Jun You twirled the marker in his hand randomly seemingly unmoved by Ye Lan's praise.
Ye Lan took a deep breath and asked humbly for the first time in a long while .
"What should be done then ? "
Jun You who had woken up from his reverie let his gaze wander all over her in a manner that nearly had Ye Lan beating him till he was half dead.
She forcefully composed herself before asking as civilly as she could , "What , do , you , think , you're , doing ? "
"You would do nicely , " he muttered.
"Excuse Me ? " if there was a meter to measure Anger level Ye Lan's reading would have long since exceeded the limit .
Perhaps realising the increasingly stifling atmosphere around him , Jun You lifted his hands in a bid to explain his intentions , "What I meant was that you're good enough to lure the mice out of the hole !"
"Huh ? " She asked confused .
"Look , " he said pointing at the maps .
Ye Lan's curious gaze fell upon them .
"Doesn't the drain taper off on one end ? " he hinted .
She nodded in response.
"Good , also notice that towards the other end there's only one place that could possibly act as a hunting ground for him based on his MO !"
The gears in Ye Lan's head clicked .
"You mean that if we block the other end , he would be forced to show up at that one spot ! "
"Yep ! It seems that the gears in your pretty head are finally turning for once . "
Ye Lan ignored the sarcasm , still the fellow put forward his opinion in weird terms .Such as what did he even mean by Hunting Ground ?
It wasn't as if the Perp wasn't some crazy beast or anything .
But then for all she knew he might as well be a frenzied beast .
So it wasn't like that he was entirely wrong.
However a sudden thought suddenly struck her mind like lightning .
The reason that he was staring at her so intently , if it wasn't based on some lewd desire then ...
No way ...
There's no way he would suggest that , surely ?
But the sleazy smile that graced his face did nothing to assuage her tension instead it seemed to act as a means of confirmation instead.
"No ! " she said with an air of finality.
That repulsive fellow shrugged as if the matter had nothing to do with him at all
"You know that there's only one chance you have to nail this guy and I guarantee that if there are a troop of those elephants from the Military Police that's never gonna happen ."
Looking at his smug face she felt once more the urge to punch him in the face and knock off all of his teeth.
This revolting man seemed to possess an Innate Skill that caused him to irritate her in the short while they had met to an extent that she had never been irritated before in her entire life !
"Fine , " she bit her teeth even as she expressed her consent and then stormed off.
Jun You stared at the rapidly retreating back of that woman and then ran his fingers through his hair in his bewilderment .
Really !
With him around there was no way that she would lose her life !
Still that dratted woman had to act as if he had just ordered her to be sent off to the front lines on a suicidal mission when all he had suggested that she should act as a bait in order to lure in the prey.
It appeared that regardless of how much time passed the wavelength of a woman and his own would never match !
He yawned .
Anyways , he had better things to do .
Laying a trap wasn't so easy at all and would require some planning on his part in order to ensure that the prey successfully latches on to the bait after which it would be the time for his debut as the Hunter who would settle everything.
What a pain !
He stretched his tired limbs and decided to take some much needed rest.
It was going to be a Long Night.