Martial Kim was confused.

Granted, he was an experienced investigator in his own right. He has cracked many cases back in the Jade Empire, in and out of the martial arts community. His own prowess was a beacon of inspiration of other warriors and knight-errants who fight the never ending battle for truth and justice.

However, he found himself mind-boggled with the foreign procedures the local authorities employ in their own investigation. It can’t be helped, the difference in detective culture was staggering. And he was only able to bear the tip of the iceberg during his time as being seen as a framed suspect.

This time, he was getting a first hand experience as the police and forensic units were at work.

“Professor Stone, if I may ask a question. What are those yellow ropes the constables are using?”

“Huh? Oh you mean the police cordons?”

“Police...cordons?”

“Yeah. We usually set them up around the crime scene, to keep people out.”

“...Why the hassle? Why not place guards at every corner? Human eyes should be faster than strolling around the air to fence it off. Right?”

Prof. Stone chuckled, “Our predecessors all thought the same, but they smartened up when they realized how easy it is for nosy people like reports, journalists, or even the killer themselves, can sneak in between guards unaware. The yellow cordon helps, both us investigators and the crowd, to visualize this area is off limits. If they cross that line, we are authorized to charge them for disrupting an investigation.”

--- Ah...A visual cue to keep unnecessary people out. And to protect the integrity of the scene... Such a convenient method. I should do well to memorize this. Would prove to be useful knowledge when I return to my world...IF I can return to my world that is.

Prof. Stone also added, “This also allows us to prevent any contamination of the evidence.”

Martial Kim raised a brow, “Contamination, how so?”

“Simply put, if we had people throwing trash, dropping phones, or even stepping onto valuable evidence – the authenticity would be destroyed and would make our work ten times harder. The more ‘sterile’ we can maintain the scene and it evidence, the faster we can figure out the truth without sifting through garbage.”

--- Oh. This man has a good point. Another lesson learned... I wonder, if this man is a teacher on the side. His explanations are impeccable.

Martial Kim would be taking mental notes of what he was seeing and listening. He did however, spare some brain power to think upon this case, “We conclude that these bricks falling from the sky were intentional, that means the killer is probably nearby—”

“Let’s not jump to conclusion.” Prof. Stone chuckled, “The first principles of forensic science, is to look at the crime in all avenues based on the details provided by evidence. Was it really a murder, or a frame up? Was the evidence there to begin with, or falsified and planted? One thing I learned in my line of work: people lie, evidence does not. And it is best to keep an open mind while looking at said evidence and come up with plausible theories. That way, we avoid missing any small details that could be crucial to the case.”

--- That...is a good point. Slower, yes, but it does minimize mistakes. Granted, I was a bit hasty with Fae Fae’s case and pointed fingers at her deplorable brother. Now that I think about it, I nearly framed Fae Fae’s ex-lover for her murder until I noticed his hand was crippled... Hmm.

Prof. Stone inspected the area for a moment, “Given our circumstances and interest of time, we should narrow down most hypothesis to the most plausible. The bricks clearly do not belong in this area and fell down with some intent. We can deduce, for now, there is some level of foul play. Before we focus in on the exact motive, let’s try to figure out where the bricks came from exactly.”

Martial Kim nodded and followed the forensic chemist in inspecting the buildings around them. East, West, they looked more or less the same. Regardless of difference in height, each of them across the street were at least six stories high of apartments or office spaces.

“Could be either one of them,” Martial Kim contemplated.

“West side...” Prof. Stone eyed both buildings. “or East side.”

“Perhaps, you can have your men and women search both buildings. From bottom to top, floor to floor, and find any traces of bricks that were tossed out a window or so.”

Prof. Stone tried not to laugh too hard, “How long would you think it would take to pull that off?”

Martial Kim used his hand and finger as an abacus to calculate the manpower, resources, speed, and efficiency – based on what he’s seen so far, “A full day. I predict at most some hours after nightfall.”

“Hey Kim. Wanna bet, I can figure this out in under two hours?”

“...Oh? You sound rather confident.”

“Damn right I am! Hahaha!”

--- Does the professor possess some sorcery or magical trick to find the answer? A form of Divination and Scrying. Perhaps, if I had possessed a higher cultivation, I would be able to pull off some form of psychometric and learn of these bricks involvement prior the incident. Alas, this world halved everything to bare minimum. I should feel blessed, I did not arrive as a cripple.

Intrigue of what trick or knowledge the forensic chemist held under his sleeves, the young master accepted the challenge between them. Now, Martial Kim would fold his arms and watch the show to see who was the better sleuth in this situation.

And Prof. Stone – called a friend.

“Eva. I need you to set up a Fall Physics Experiment. Meet you at the fire station!”

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

--- Fire station? What does visiting a burning building have to do with this case?

image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/e5d49d01-e685-46aa-8d92-b07d57dc33fb/didaiyy-7cc70b06-faf9-4771-a24f-b7127efe7b76.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_207/moon_tavern_page_break_by_suimaifiles_didaiyy-fullview.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MjA3IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZTVkNDlkMDEtZTY4NS00NmFhLThkOTItYjA3ZDU3ZGMzM2ZiXC9kaWRhaXl5LTdjYzcwYjA2LWZhZjktNDc3MS1hMjRmLWI3MTI3ZWZlN2I3Ni5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.V__LDKPGxPLEElJXKGgxKvmlMcRIG9Nv3hgCGY_VlEE]

Of course everyone know what a fire fighter was. Martial Kim himself knew, but he never at all recognized it as a profession.

Don’t get him wrong, where he came from – anyone in the village or town capable of grabbing water from a well to smother the flame was enough. There were no station, no personnel, or even training to fight fires. When it happens, the whole community – be it the local butcher, tailor, doctor, or even constable, night watchman – all would holler FIRE, bang away at gongs or pots to sound the alarm, and chuck buckets of water at the chaos.

Nothing like a well-paid government job specifically to save people from burning buildings.

That’s why we can’t blame Martial Kim for being in awe like a little boy when he witnessed his first fire station in life.

--- Incredible! This place is more a military fort than anything else! Are those soldiers? What are they hauling on their backs like shells. Those helmets look difficult to breath in. OH! Wh-what is this, this giant red wagon on six wheels!? Is that a bridge of water they are shooting off!? And those watch towers, good gods, they certainly seen better days. They’re blacker than charcoal! How in the world could it still stand from being set on fire over and over? Is this place under constant attack? By who!?

So many questions in a single setting, Martial Kim wanted to be greedy and ask them all at once. But he focused on the mission, the case, so that was priority number one. He always wanted to know – what was Professor Stone’s secret weapon in solving this case?

“Professor. Your crew members, what is the point of playing with sand in a time like this?”

“They’re making a sandbag. We’re trying to match it with the weight of the bricks back at the crime scene.”

“Whatever for?”

“To figure out which building in the street did it come from, if not the exact floor.” The Prof. Stone pointed at the blackened tower. “This building is to train fire fighters in scaling stairs while carrying heavy equipment. Under certain circumstances, our forensic unit often borrow this tower to figure out how high or which floor a body fell and to simulate whether it was an accident, suicide, or murder.”

--- Oh! A training tower? Not a sentry tower? So that is why I do not see any archers on the top. Wait, there are still people moving through those stairs.

“That’s Eva and the others,” Prof. Stone answered the young master’s curious stare. “We’ll start small and work our way up.” He then faced the blackened tower to say, “Alright Eva. Whenever you’re ready. I got eyes on you.”

“...Professor.”

“Yeah Kim?”

“If you speak that softly, your friends cannot hear you from that distance.”

“That’s...what walkie talkies are for.”

“Walkie...what?”

Prof. Stone wiggled the communication device, click click, in his hand and tried not to bully the clueless young master anymore. Instead, he focused on the tower – specifically the band of forensic technicians who prepped a sand bag over their heads. On his count, threw two one, they toss.

Faaaaaaaall. Splat. It totally missed a big X mark taped on the ground by several meters.

“Too close to the ground,” Prof. Stone talked into his walkie talkie to his team. “Try sixth floor.”

Move, move, move. Ready. Set. Throw!...Faaaaaaall. Splat.

“Huh. Still not enough. This means we know which building it came from?"

Martial Kim raised an eyebrow, not taking his eyes off the forensic technicians darting up the stairs, “That is true. One of them is only six stories. Even if you threw hard from the room, the brick wouldn’t make it that far from where it fell on us.”

“You know Kim,” Prof. Stone paused in coordinating the experiment to sneak in some words, “You sure you’re not a cop? Or some kind of law enforcer? You give me that impression.”

“...Cop?”

“Ah. Who am I kidding. Probably don’t know what a microwave is.”

--- Oof! Ruuuude!...What is a microwave?

Prof. Stone sucked in the air and went, “Okay Eva. Three. Two. One...Go!”

Throw!...Faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall. Splat!

“Oh! Oh! We got a bingo!” Prof. Stone raced over to the X mark on the ground and crouched down. A big grin was on his face when he clearly saw the sand bag punching the X-mark in the face. “Looks like the brick were dropped from the 8th floor!”

--- Incredible. He truly figured it out. And it has not been, what, less than an hour worth of travelling!?

Prof. Stone saved his celebration for later as he quickly pulled out his phone and made a speed dial, “...Detective Fraulein, yeah it’s meet. 8th Floor! The building on the East side of the road. Check all the rooms facing the street. I’ll follow up with more details after I get back to the lab.”

Martial Kim found himself staring, dumbfounded.

--- This is truly an eye-opening moment. The average methods back in the Empire would take at most a day or two to figure out. But this foreign version of forensic science is on a completely different level. Incredible. I cannot imagine how much time, resources, maybe mistakes would be saved... Where did the professor learn all of this!

If only Martial Kim realized such knowledge was readily available as a bachelor and masters degree in any university – or the internet.

“Excellent work, professor,” The young master clapped in admiration, “You cracked the case before the day is over!”

“We’re not out of the woods just yet.”

“...There...are no trees or forests around us, professor. Everything is just stone and metal buildings.”

“What I mean, Kim, there’s still one more problem.”

Martial Kim shrugged, “Problem? All there is left is to arrest the culprit. Surely Detective Free...Frow...the lady detective would be able to handle figuring that out.”

Prof. Stone replied, “What if the detective came across 20 potential suspects?”

“Simple. Ask each and every one of them precise questions, to isolate the likely culprits. In the end, interrogate them to force a confession. Is that not how it is done?”

“...I’ll do you one better. The answer – is in the palm of your hands.”

--- ...I cannot tell if the professor is teasing me or trying to hint a riddle? Either way, I feel I am being made fun of.

What forensic magic and wisdom does Prof. Stone have to bestow onto our hero?

image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/e5d49d01-e685-46aa-8d92-b07d57dc33fb/didaiyy-7cc70b06-faf9-4771-a24f-b7127efe7b76.png/v1/fill/w_1280,h_207/moon_tavern_page_break_by_suimaifiles_didaiyy-fullview.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MjA3IiwicGF0aCI6IlwvZlwvZTVkNDlkMDEtZTY4NS00NmFhLThkOTItYjA3ZDU3ZGMzM2ZiXC9kaWRhaXl5LTdjYzcwYjA2LWZhZjktNDc3MS1hMjRmLWI3MTI3ZWZlN2I3Ni5wbmciLCJ3aWR0aCI6Ijw9MTI4MCJ9XV0sImF1ZCI6WyJ1cm46c2VydmljZTppbWFnZS5vcGVyYXRpb25zIl19.V__LDKPGxPLEElJXKGgxKvmlMcRIG9Nv3hgCGY_VlEE]

image [https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/e5d49d01-e685-46aa-8d92-b07d57dc33fb/di6ht8a-6b7841a9-7268-4fab-a51a-b1367877f8d8.png/v1/fit/w_828,h_1210/moon_tavern___pavilion_arc__lightnovel_image_01__by_suimaifiles_di6ht8a-414w-2x.png?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTY2NyIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2U1ZDQ5ZDAxLWU2ODUtNDZhYS04ZDkyLWIwN2Q1N2RjMzNmYlwvZGk2aHQ4YS02Yjc4NDFhOS03MjY4LTRmYWItYTUxYS1iMTM2Nzg3N2Y4ZDgucG5nIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTExNDEifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.1MRXBAT-lkHjJI86BlLFW_2-DsZ2mPQmrpQnyPY-Ay8]