The young Demon Hunter's second-hand Mustang definitely couldn't rival the Black Market Dealer's Rolls Royce, however, even if the Black Market Dealer asked for a trade, Ye Qi wouldn't have agreed because this Mustang was one of his birthday presents given by John. Even though it was a second-hand, with Ye Qi and John's modification, it had a performance that was belied by its looks.
With one hand on the steering wheel and another holding a cigarette, the young Demon Hunter went over the details of the mission the merchant had given him before he left.
About a month ago, a series of grave-robbery had been reported at Winter Forest’s Leafless Town. At the time, the police thought this was the work of common grave robbers but as time passed, the grave-robbery hadn't stopped and if anything, it had only gotten more severe. Finally, the police couldn't ignore it anymore and started moving. However, the intended effect wasn't reached, and the police force ended up with the loss of 2 police canines and one officer in the hospital…
Weirdly enough, the graves that were robbed were completely cleaned… including the bodies…
Could this be a case of Dark Magician doing necromantic experiments or ghouls out for a meal…
With these questions in mind, the young Demon Hunter's Mustang passed the road sign that welcomed travellers to Winter Forest.
Early in the morning, Leafless Town was just like any other small town, shrouded in a haze of peace and quiet.
Ye Qi who had been driving for two days non-stop was heading towards the town's only police station with a cuppa in hand—according to the handy road signs in town, the police station would be next to the central square. Ye Qi headed towards his destination as he got out of his car. Shedding his usual get-up of leather jacket and jeans, today the young Demon Hunter was in a fresh suit. It attracted quite a few eyeballs, especially from the ladies of the town who were out early for morning jog.
After nodding at the third lady that smiled at him, Ye Qi finally arrived at the station. After he walked through the main entrance, he tapped lightly on the front desk's glass partition.
"Good morning, sorry for disturbing but where is the constable's office?"
A polite smile hung on Ye Qi's face, he even bowed a little as a sign of respect.
"And you are?"
The receptionist studied Ye Qi with confusion.
"Secret Service, Jack!"
Ye Qi produced the identification given to him by the merchant. It was impossible for Demon Hunters to deal with every Erebus cases under the table. Certain cases would be so huge that it was impossible not to be reported by the media, an example being this multiple grave-robbery incident. Ye Qi remembered reading about it on Tarlin State's morning papers. Therefore, for certain cases, Demon Hunters had to use official identity—of course, the identities were all fake, for example, this identification in Ye Qi's hand. However, unless one went to the Secret Service office to double-check, normal people wouldn't be able to tell its inauthenticity. After all, as a merchant who had his hands in every part of the dark society, producing false yet believable identification was pretty much a cakewalk for Old Walter.
"Good morning, sir! Glad to be of service!"
When the receptionist saw the Id, he sprung up from his seat immediately to give a formal salute. The next moment, he picked up the phone to call the constable's office while smiling fawningly at Ye Qi—the Demon Hunter couldn't really blame the receptionist for acting that way, his identity was rather unique after all.
Secret Service, unlike normal law enforcement, only answered to the highest government officials. They dealt with cases that couldn't be handled by normal police or military. Furthermore, if the situation called for it, they had the right to kill. With so many special perks, just how could the receptionist not treat Ye Qi this way? It was natural for the officer to shake with anxiety and fear.
"Sir, the constable will be coming down soon, do you wish for a cup of coffee or juice…"
"Thank you but I think I will go see him myself!" Ye Qi, who had no interest in another cup of coffee after just finishing one, interrupted the officer with a wave. "Where is his office?"
"The second floor, the first room after you turn the corner, Sir!"
"Thank you!"
Ye Qi bade the spooked officer farewell and stepped upstairs. As he took the first platform, he saw a rather portly African American man rush down the stairs. Based on the badges on his shoulder, this was most likely the constable. When Ye Qi saw the constable, the constable saw him as well and the latter greeted him warmly, "Welcome, Sir. I am the constable for Leafless Town…"
With the constable leading the way, Ye Qi followed him into the constable's office. After rejecting another offer of coffee, Ye Qi went straight into the point, "Mr. Constable, I'm here because of the grave robberies incident, it has caused quite a ruckus around the country and the fact that it has not been solved is not looking that great on us. If we do not solve this with expedience, it wouldn't be far to suppose that there might be protests or worse. Therefore, I wish constable will be willing to hand over all the related information. Also, my partner should have arrived at this town already, I wonder if Mr. Constable has met him or not?"
Even though Ye Qi had gotten some information about this quest from the merchant, he wouldn't mind getting some first-hand information. Furthermore, people from small towns like this was always guarded against outsiders, sometimes escalating into open hostility. Leafless Town was brought under national scrutiny due to the grave robberies and the underlying atmosphere of the town must be tense no matter how idyllic it looked on the surface. Someone had to answer for the crime and since these people normally wouldn't point finger at themselves, they would gang up on new arrivals. Therefore, John, who picked this sensitive time to enter the town might have rubbed certain people the wrong way. If that was the case, finding John through the constable might not be a bad way. Of course, if John's phone was working, the young Demon Hunter wouldn't have to jump through all these hoops.
"He's about 6 feet all, sandy brown hair, grey eyes, and looks around in his 40s…"
Before the constable asked, the Demon Hunter provided John's description. However, as he continued his description, the Demon Hunter noticed the face of the constable slowly turned white. He stopped to ask, "Why? Anything wrong?"
"Sir, I'm so sorry! We have no idea he's your partner, as you know, times are sensitive at our little town at the moment and your partner just happened to appear at the wrong time! So…" The constable started to break out in cold sweat. He petered off into silence as he grabbed the phone on his office table.
"Go invite the person we detained three days ago to my room… Dumbass, he's not a suspect…"
Listening to the constable roar on the phone and his earlier weird countenance, the young Demon Hunter could attempt a guess at John's current situation—he was detained as a suspect to the grave robbery incident!
No wonder he couldn't be reached by phone!
After knowing John's actual location, the young Demon Hunter sighed under his breath and his worried heart could finally relax.