Furina was still baffled by the strange new term.
"Phone? What kind of magical artifact is that?"
She cleared her throat, pretending to understand. "Ahem. Chen Lin, go check the victim's… phone."
"Yes, Captain."
Curious, Furina followed Chen Lin into the victim's bedroom.
She wanted to see this legendary "phone" for herself.
"Captain Furina, you're here," the two forensic officers greeted in unison.
"Call me Lady Hydro Archon."
"'Captain' sounds so… common. I'm clearly above that."
The forensic team: "???"
Choosing to ignore her theatrical flair, one of the officers reported:
"We found no fingerprints or footprints at the scene. The killer came prepared."
"Based on blood coagulation and rigor mortis, time of death was roughly ten hours ago—around midnight."
"But here's something odd: the stockings on the victim don't match her size. They're clearly too small."
"We believe the killer dressed her postmortem."
"See the bruising? That kind of mark only forms when blood circulation has already stopped."
"We'll need to take the body back for a full autopsy."
"Go ahead," Furina nodded. "And check the drainpipe outside the balcony. Look for fingerprints or footprints."
"Yes, ma'am!"
With that, Furina turned to Chen Lin.
"So this rectangular black glass is the 'phone'?"
"What's it even for?"
"A mirror? But why is it black?"
She stared at the device, utterly puzzled.
Then the screen lit up.
"Wah~!" she gasped.
Chen Lin blinked. "Captain? Are you okay?"
"Nothing. Let me see."
Furina took the phone and examined it like a rare treasure.
"What a fascinating object…"
"Li Yue said we could find chat logs here. But how?"
She flipped it over, rotated it, tapped it gently—no messages appeared.
"What do these buttons do?"
She was tempted to press one, but hesitated.
"What if it explodes?"
Suddenly, the screen went dark.
"Eh? It turned back into black glass?"
"Did I break it?"
"Oh no oh no oh no…"
She quickly shoved the phone back into Chen Lin's hands, turning away with a guilty look that screamed "Not my fault."
Chen Lin checked the screen. "We don't know the passcode. And with the victim's face distorted, facial recognition won't work. We'll have to hand it over to tech."
"Is it broken?" Furina asked nervously.
"No."
"Phew… thank the Archons. I thought I'd ruined a key piece of evidence."
Relieved, Furina strode out of the bedroom.
"Give the phone to the forensics team. They're taking the body anyway."
Just then, the officer who had gone to verify Li Yue's alibi returned, panting.
"Captain… I've got a lead."