Pokémon Detective Case Files

Chapter 412 The Ashes Will Not Forget

Chapter 414 The Ashes Will Not Forget

Just as Azure and Hatchku deduced that there was more to the car accident than met the eye, and this message was being relayed to Lionel through the League Champions' communication channel—at the United League headquarters, the former vice president of the League was standing in the former office of Holt, an official of the Inspectorate, gently brushing his fingertips across the dusty bookshelves.

Two years have passed, and many things in the league have changed, but this office still retains the original appearance that Holt used back then.

Although his successor had already moved in, no one dared to easily clear out Holt's belongings—after all, the disappearance of this former Inspectorate official was too suspicious. While he was arrogant, his outstanding abilities were undeniable, and his conduct impeccable. Therefore,

Rumors still circulate within the Ministry of Supervision that he might suddenly return one day.

"How ironic," Lionel muttered to himself in the empty office. "An official who's been missing for two years, yet his office seems frozen in time."

"It's said that the successor to this office has a good personal relationship with Holt, and no one can be sure that Holt really won't come back." Security chief Gade stood by the door, crossing his arms in a gesture reminiscent of Lian Wutianwang's signature pose, and said, "Compared to him, your vice president's office has now been completely emptied."

He was ordered to "accompany" the former vice president of the alliance during the investigation—ostensibly to assist, but in reality to monitor him. He had to negotiate with other departments on his behalf to prevent this convicted spy from causing a disturbance by moving freely within the alliance headquarters; and he also had to ensure that he wouldn't take the opportunity to do anything out of line.

"But are you sure we can find more clues here?" Gade asked, frowning. "We've gone through all the files in the office and asked all of Holt's colleagues, but nobody knows why he suddenly resigned."

"The bureaucratic system is like a huge curtain, lying between the things that need to be done and the people who can give the order to do them."

Lionel's fingers lightly traced the edge of the drawer, his gaze as practiced as that of a night owl patiently waiting for its prey.

"Since Holt urgently requested the transport of a document at night, there must be something he desperately wants to accomplish. What we need to do is find traces on the curtains he passed through."

The disgraced former bureaucrat once again opened the drawer he had already rummaged through at least three times; the neatly arranged documents inside gleamed faintly under the light.

"Did you see the intelligence that Champion Hugo just sent over?" he asked without looking up.

"That investigation report about the car accident scene?"

Gade stroked his stubble-covered chin. "Mr. Champion suspects the car accident was caused by a small Pokémon hiding in Morikawa's car. It somehow managed to sneak into the car beforehand, and then used an Ice-type move on the road while turning, causing the vehicle to skid and accidentally destroy documents—to be honest, if this incident hadn't been brought up unexpectedly because of Morikawa's testimony, it would have been a perfect crime."

"This is undoubtedly a method used by plasma clusters."

Lionel, a former infiltrator for Team Plasma, said, "Including Holt's sudden resignation, it's all too coincidental—after all, it's not difficult to use 'hypnosis' to make someone resign voluntarily while they're in a daze. But conversely, two years ago Team Plasma's style of operation wasn't as unscrupulous as it is now. They would directly target Alliance officials, definitely because that person touched something so sensitive about the Order."

"So, Holt's disappearance was due to the Plasma Group's attempt to silence him—or perhaps he was imprisoned somewhere, but what exactly was the reason?" The head of security remained with his arms crossed, pacing irritably. "We already knew this was the Plasma Group's doing, otherwise we wouldn't have released you from the detention center to investigate."

"Shouldn't investigating cases be the job of detectives? What is that new champion doing right now?"

"He's cleaning up the mess from the previous bombing," Gade said irritably. "To help your friend, Champion Hugo forcibly covered up the kidnapping behind the bombing, directly characterizing the incident as a trap planted by Group Plasma beforehand. However, in a sense, this statement does make sense."

"That's all he can do." Lionel found the folder he wanted and began flipping through it quickly, the papers rustling between his fingers. "The public needs a simple and clear image of the enemy. A clear target is always easier for the Alliance to control public opinion than a complicated truth—of course, Team Plasma won't just sit idly by."

"Stop with the nonsense." Gade leaned closer to the table. "What are you looking for?"

The former vice president pulled out a marked report; the paper gleamed a slightly worn, pale yellow under the light. "Combined with the information the champion just provided, I believe the key lies here—Holt's last project before his disappearance: the review of the underground pipework repairs at the league headquarters."

"But it clearly says here that everything is normal, and—" Gade quickly scanned the report, "These routine reviews are conducted jointly by multiple departments, and the other departments didn't find any problems."

"The problem isn't the review itself," Lionel interrupted, "but why Holt suddenly became interested in the underground pipelines. Infrastructure maintenance isn't within that official's oversight scope, yet he took the time out of his busy schedule to specifically oversee the review of the Alliance headquarters' underground works—what was his purpose?"

What is hidden beneath the Alliance headquarters?

Both of them fell into deep thought.

Lionel pointed to the documents in front of him: "Based on the information we have so far, Holt must have become interested in the Alliance's underground before the car accident, and then launched some kind of investigation. There is no doubt that by the time he dispatched the Vehicle Management Department to Snowflake City to retrieve the data, it was already the final stage of the investigation—and it was at this point that he touched a nerve with Group Plasma."

According to the Department of Transportation records, Morikawa retrieved the document box from the League office in Snowflake City and was involved in a car accident on his way back. If, as speculated, a Pokémon had infiltrated the vehicle beforehand, the boarding location could only be one of the League headquarters or Snowflake City.

"If it's Snowflake City," Gade pondered, "it means that the Plasma Group has been watching that document since its inception."

"This is logically contradictory," Lionel tapped his index finger on the table, pointing out to his former subordinate. "Given Group Plasma's strength, if they knew the document's location beforehand, they could have destroyed it quietly. Why go through all that trouble to create a car accident after the document was sent out?"

"You mean, the Pokémon that caused the car accident infiltrated the League headquarters to get into the private car?" Manager Gade frowned.

"That's what I mean," Lionel nodded.

"Team Plasma's Pokémon started tracking Morikawa from the League headquarters. It lurked in the car until the driver picked up the documents in Snowdrop City, then disposed of them on the return trip." A glint flashed in his eyes. "And the reason Team Plasma did this—was because they didn't know the documents existed in the first place—precisely because they didn't know, they needed to dispose of them as soon as they were released!"

"Even with this level of deduction, we still don't know what the contents of this document are." Gade shrugged, his tone tinged with resentment. "Originally, apart from the part that was lost in the car accident and soaked in water, we had some information in the file box that we could refer to, but they were all destroyed as expired documents under your orders, wasting the clues that Holt risked his life for."

"Naive." Lionel shook his head dismissively.

"Since the Plasma Group has the ability to cause a car accident, they certainly have even more ways to destroy subsequent evidence. This document has caused the Plasma Group to go to such lengths, so they must have prepared multiple layers of insurance to ensure its permanent disappearance. The car accident involving Morikawa is one part of it, and silencing Holt himself is another. It was actually my unintentional handling of the document that caught them off guard, otherwise—"

He paused meaningfully for a moment: "If someone with inside knowledge were to handle this, their information blockade would be even more thorough, leaving no trace of this censorship."

"What exactly is written in this document that makes the Plasma Cluster so secretive?" Even Director Gade couldn't help but feel a chill as the discussion progressed.

"We probably won't find any more clues within the league." Lionel stood up, glancing out the window. "But don't forget..."

Someone else provided Holt with the information. If we want to find the answer, perhaps our champion should start investigating in Snowflake City.