The following day.
The weather was overcast!
Locke stood on the hotel balcony, sipping his first glass of bourbon of the morning. Gazing down at this city inhabited by witches and vampires, he smote his lips thought-fully.
Compared to New York, where everything remained heavily veiled, New Orleans made absolutely no attempt to hide its true nature.
Late last night, Locke had sensed a vampire passing right beneath the hotel entrance. However, since the creature was merely passing through, and Locke possessed zero interest in sampling the flavor of bat meat, he had simply let it go.
A moment later.
The door to the other room in the luxury suite clicked open. Carrie stepped out and offered a light morning greeting to Locke on the balcony.
Locke gave an hum of affirmation, turning his gaze toward Carrie. "Cop just called. He mentioned that the surveillance footage has officially arrived."
Carrie's eyes lit up instantly. She dashed back toward the bathroom, calling out, "I'll be ready in a minute."
An hour later.
The New Orleans Police Department.
"Play it."
Inside the technical reconnaissance office, Cop turned around to see Locke and Carrie entering, guided by an officer. He offered a slight nod to the officer, dismissing him, before warmly inviting the two inside.
The television screen was rapidly displaying the surveillance footage of Lake Lery.
It was playing at eight times the speed.
Since Lake Lery was completely closed to the public during December, playing it at eight-times speed ensured they wouldn't miss anything notable.
The twentieth—nothing.
The twenty-first—nothing.
The twenty-second...
"There!"
Carrie's eyes flashed with recognition. She quickly called for a pause, pointing directly at a familiar figure that had appeared on the monitor. "That's Anila Katz."
However, Anila Katz had not appeared alone.
Furthermore...
It wasn't captured during the dead of night either. It was broad daylight, and she was accompanied by a group of five or six individuals.
Apart from Anila, there was her mother, Jim Rhodes—who, according to the café owner, served as the leader of the witch hunting group—and another man identified as Fox, a caretaker for Lake Lery. The remaining two individuals appeared to be minor accomplices.
The surveillance footage resumed playing.
Very quickly.
After lingering around Lake Lery for roughly an hour, Anila Katz departed alongside the others. From that point onward, her figure never appeared in the footage again.
Cop looked toward Locke. "Katz's mother is a devout believer in the Dolan Church. On that particular day, she brought her daughter along to visit Lake Lery."
Locke cast a brief glance at Cop, remaining completely silent.
"Furthermore, I just got off the phone with Mrs. Katz. She explicitly stated that Anila's uncle down here took her out on a camping trip. There is absolutely no missing person case to speak of."
"It's just that because they are deep in the wilderness camping, there is no cellular signal available."
"Mrs. Katz assured me that they will return in another fifteen days."
Saying this.
Cop's expression turned quite helpless. After all, with no body and no crime established—and most importantly, given that the mother of the alleged missing person explicitly stated her daughter wasn't missing—relying solely on a tracking signal was considered circumstantial evidence at best.
It would be incredibly difficult to secure a warrant from the court to search someone's private property based on that alone.
Therefore...
Cop let out a long sigh, "I'm sor—"
Locke stared fixedly at the surveillance monitor, his brow furrowing slightly. "Detective Captain Thornton, this footage appears to have been altered."
Cop was slightly startled.
Locke gestured toward the computer console, looking at Cop as if silently asking: May I?
The technician sitting at the desk removed his headphones. "By all means, go ahead. Though, I certainly didn't detect any signs of tampering in this footage."
"That is simply because the individual who did this operates at a significantly higher level than you."
"..."
Speaking calmly, Locke seated himself in the technician's chair. The moment he fired up a piece of professional video analysis software, a cascade of pop-up windows began to rapidly detonate across the computer screen.
The array of windows was dizzying.
"Right here, check the timestamp!"
"Over here, observe the shading in the shadows!"
"Look at that wild duck right there. Didn't it appear on the lake surface in the exact same spot back on the nineteenth?"
"The position matches perfectly!"
"The debris located over here matches the exact alignment from the eighteenth..."
"And right here..."
The person who had altered this surveillance footage was undeniably a capable professional. However, the disparity between high-level hackers was as vast as the disparity between ordinary individuals.
This particular culprit fell short.
Ten minutes later.
The authentic timeline of the surveillance footage was completely restored. It was completely missing a segment stretching from four o'clock in the afternoon on the twenty-second to five o'clock in the morning on the twenty-third.
The footage currently filling that specific gap had been meticulously spliced together using fragments taken from various other dates and times.
The culprit was a professional.
However...
Their intellect was clearly lacking. Didn't this fool know to pull footage from over a month ago to execute their copy-paste job? Why did they insist on using material from the exact same month?
Furthermore, attempting such a stunt right in front of Locke—someone possessing an innate photographic memory coupled with quantum speed-reading capabilities—was pure foolishness.
Locke looked at the missing segment of the footage, turning his gaze toward Cop. "Detective Captain Thornton, the final conversation Anila Katz had with Carrie occurred at two o'clock in the afternoon on the twenty-second. By ten o'clock on the morning of the twenty-third, only Mrs. Katz returned to New York. Is it truly just a coincidence that the surveillance footage for that exact window vanished?"
Out of respect for George, he intended to grant Cop a single opportunity.
After all, George had introduced Cop to him with the intent of facilitating an alliance, not providing a target to eliminate. If word got out that things ended poorly, George's professional reputation would suffer a severe blow.
Frowning deeply, Cop directed his gaze toward the technician.
The technician was completely struck with awe, staring at the small program Locke had rapidly assembled within a few minutes—a tool designed to instantly detect whether video frames overlapped. "Mr. Broughton, could I possibly..."
Locke offered a polite smile, "Feel free to save a copy."
The technician thanked him profusely.
Seeing this, Cop looked toward Locke, then at Carrie.
The next second.
Cop retrieved his mobile phone and placed a call.
Very quickly.
The call connected.
"I require a search warrant that needs Judge Yaris's signature immediately."
"..."
A subtle smile emerged on Locke's face. While explaining the necessity of the warrant to the judge over the phone, Cop signaled to Locke and Carrie with his free hand before stepping out of the office.
"Hey!"
Stepping into the main precinct floor, Cop waved his hand, calling out to a plainclothes female detective standing a short distance away—a woman with long brown hair who had transferred to his unit from another department six months prior. "Kaynor!"
Chatting with another officer near the break room entrance, Detective Kaynor snapped out of her conversation. Her eyes lit up as she looked over.
Carrie whispered softly, "That's the female detective who seems to have feelings for Cop."
Locke gave an hum of affirmation.
Fortunately.
Those feelings could continue to develop safely.
After all, just moments ago, Cop had essentially been hovering right on the thin precipice dividing life and death.
"Cop."
Detective Kaynor walked over, offering a friendly nod to Locke and Carrie. The news that Locke was the future son-in-law of New York's Senior Inspector George Stacy had spread through the precinct the moment they arrived yesterday.
Apart from Cop, even the captain of the Organized Crime Division had dropped by to offer Locke a warm greeting.
Accepting a freshly printed search warrant from a clerk, Cop folded it carefully. "We're heading to Lake Lery."
Kaynor was slightly startled but immediately nodded her compliance.
However, before proceeding to Lake Lery, Cop and Kaynor needed to make a quick stop at the courthouse. A printed warrant carried zero legal weight until it bore a judge's official signature.
Inside the Audi R8 parked outside the courthouse.
Recalling Cop's initial reluctant demeanor back at the precinct, Carrie mused aloud, "I can't help but feel..."
Locke's expression remained perfectly neutral. "Gambling does not merely destroy the individual; it destroys everyone around them. Fortunately, he only faltered during the initial stretch. There is still a chance for redemption."
Had he gone through with harming others to protect himself, he would have been utterly beyond salvation.
In reality...
Even if Cop had failed to perform, Locke could easily have approached the captain of the Organized Crime Division. That captain was also one of George's former classmates, and he was already planning to bring his family to New York this coming January to join George for a deep-sea fishing trip.
Yet another individual whose mind was entirely preoccupied.
Of course, that was strictly in reference to the act of fishing itself.
Carrie was slightly taken aback. "Could it be that..."
Locke cast a casual glance toward his rearview mirror. "Behind us, that black Volkswagen has been tailing us the entire way. It seems that the moment Cop placed his call yesterday, the other side immediately began organizing their countermoves."
Glancing at the black Volkswagen in the mirror, Carrie opened her right hand. "Let me handle it."
Locke shook his head. "Wait a moment. Find an appropriate opportunity to send that vehicle crashing straight into a wall to detonate itself."
He had never possessed the mindset of a saint.
Furthermore, if you desired to achieve a certain outcome, you had to be prepared to pay the corresponding price; that was an absolute law of nature. Since they had chosen to stalk him, they needed to be fully prepared for the consequences.
Shortly after.
Cop and Kaynor emerged from the courthouse entrance, waving toward Locke seated inside the Audi R8. Leading Kaynor to their police cruiser, the siren wailed to life as they sped off toward Lake Lery.
Locke started his engine and smoothly followed behind.
Further back.
The driver of the black Volkswagen quickly accelerated to keep pace. The occupant in the passenger seat retrieved his mobile phone.
"They are rushing over there right now."
"Fuck."
"What do we do now?"
"Delay them."
"How are we supposed to delay them?"
"You're driving a fucking car, figures it out yourselves!"
"..."
The man in the passenger seat froze for a moment before turning his gaze toward the driver.
The driver offered a firm nod.
He slammed his foot down on the accelerator.
Vroom!
Instantly, the engine roared to life. The black Volkswagen, which had previously maintained a three-car-length buffer behind Locke, surged forward at eighty miles per hour, initiating an aggressive overtaking maneuver.
Watching the black Volkswagen make its unmasked advance in the rearview mirror, Carrie flexed her fingers as her magical energy began to spread. She spoke with genuine curiosity.
"What exactly are they trying to accomplish? Are they rushing to their deaths?"
Was that not precisely the case?
Although her magical reservoir was completely boundless, her current level constraints dictated that the greater the distance, the more variance she would experience in terms of mana consumption and skill precision.
Yet here they were, delivering themselves directly to her doorstep.
Locke cast a brief glance, letting out a dismissive chuckle. "The world has never lacked fools who are in an absolute hurry to meet their demise. Very well, give them a helping hand."
Carrie nodded. Keeping her gaze locked on the black Volkswagen that was now a mere car-length away from pulling alongside them, her right hand—completely enveloped in dark magical energy to the point where even her fingernails were stained pitch black—suddenly snapped wide open.
Buzz!
The dark magical energy instantly turned completely translucent as it surged out from the open car window, howling through the air.
Inside the black Volkswagen.
Screech!
"What the—"
The driver froze in absolute shock, staring at his steering wheel which had violently locked itself entirely to the right side. "What the f—"
Before the exclamation could even leave his lips.
Boom!
***
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