Not even an hour had passed since Megan and Dante's mission went horribly wrong, and they were already standing in front of Camille, who glared at them with an exasperated face.
*Sigh* "So let me get this straight—The guy had a bomb vest, so you erased him along half of the building?" the handler asked.
"Well, I didn't mean for the spell to be that potent. There is something about the density of umbra in this world that I need to get used to…" Dante explained.
"I told him to use it," Megan interjected.
"She is just being nice. I told her I could control the potency of the spell, and I couldn't do it—also, I was the one who walked into the camera point of view…" the warlock continued.
"Okay, I get it—I'm actually not angry at you for using your magic, Dante. I'm more bothered by the fact they are now using bomb vests," Camille said.
"Yeah, but I thought we needed that guy alive," Dante replied, still feeling the guilt of his performance.
"Let me ask you something. You weren't the type of person to be stealthy in your past world, right?" the handler inquired.
"Not really. If something required stealth, my friend Sylas would have been the one taking care of it," he replied.
"He did try going in through the front door…" Megan muttered.
Camille nodded, understanding that the warlock wasn't used to doing things their way, so she told him that she would adjust the plans of the next mission according to his skills.
"I already checked with my men, and all the camera recordings were destroyed with part of the building, so there is no trail of you two ever being there…" the handler said.
"Still, I'll need you to lay low for a few days," she continued, dismissing the pair and sending them home.
____________________
The following day, Detective Alice and her partner June arrived at the scene, with the entire area surrounded by police, preventing citizens from taking pictures of the half-destroyed building.
"Hmmm, Detective Alice…" June muttered, inspecting the damages while reading her notes.
"I know. It's the same as in Teko District…" Alice replied.
"There is no sign of a bomb detonating anywhere, no burnt marks either—it was as if the building was cut and removed with precision…" said June, engrossed in her own little notebook.
When checking the reports, the detectives noticed that none of the corpses that were found at the scene were identified.
"Hmm, must be the Red River gang," Alice deduced, confusing her apprentice.
"Think about it—Teko District is under the control of Red River, so if the person who destroyed part of the street was hunting down their gang, then there is a big chance that these guys were part of the same group…" the detective elaborated.
June listened to her superior attentively and wrote down everything in her notebook.
"Moreover, the reports say they can't identify any of these guys. That has been the case with people from these gangs for a long time.
They have no names, no birth certificates, no fingerprints… nothing," Alice continued.
While the two detectives kept inspecting the crime scene, one of the people in the forensic team approached them.
"Detective Alice!" the man exclaimed.
"We found this in the pocket of one of the corpses…" said the forensic expert, pulling out a plastic bag with a red and yellow pill inside.
"Was this the only one?" Alice asked.
The expert nodded, explaining that they tried to do a quick test with the tools they had but weren't able to identify the unknown drug.
"Understood, we'll send it to the lab," June interjected.
When the forensic expert left the pair to resume their work, the apprentice noticed Alice detailing the pill with a skeptical face.
"Umm, should I call the forensics lab?" June asked.
"We are not sending this to our lab," Alice replied, her tone gentle but firm.
"Wh-what? Why not!?" the rookie detective asked with a little shock.
Before answering, Alice walked back to the car to make sure that nobody was listening.
From experience, the detective knew that sending unknown drugs made by the mafia to the forensics lab would end up being useless.
The few times that she had done so in the past, the lab wasn't able to get any results and disposed of the drugs, which ended up making her job much more difficult later on.
"But, how can they fail at identifying the drug? They are literally a forensics lab!" June exclaimed with a frown.
"Because our scientists are limited to what they can do when it comes to drug testing and analyzing…" Alice replied.
"Then, what's the alternative?"
"Well, if you need information about the mafia, where do you go?" Alice answered with another test question for June.
"To the mafia themselves…?" the rookie replied with uncertainty.
"Mhmm, you are starting to get it," said the detective while calling someone on her phone.
"Hey, can we meet again?" Alice asked, and June recognized who she called based on the tone of her voice.
"Of course, my friend! You got something for me?" Camille asked, her loud voice coming through the speakers and confirming June's suspicion.
"Yeah, but I'm not giving it for free—I want the info, too," Alice replied with a slightly more severe tone.
"Heh, alright. I'm quite busy at the moment, so how about in a couple of days?" the handler playfully said.
*Sigh* "Sure, but don't take too long. It's important…" replied Alice with exasperation.
"I won't. Send my greetings to your apprentice!" said Camille with a cheerful tone before hanging up.
Following a brief silence, June spoke up. "Umm, Detective Alice. Is it really okay for us to give that woman the drug?"
"I know what you are thinking—but if we want results, then yes. She is the only person we can give this to…" her superior replied.
"Besides, I already told you. I trust Camille's judgment, even if she is the handler of the Winter family," she continued, turning the car on and leaving the scene.