Clueless

Evelyn hopped out of the council carriage and strolled towards her department along with Elric.

"I'm curious as to how the case will be solved when we don't have a single piece of evidence," Evelyn pondered.

"We've got the body, so there's that. More information will be provided in postmortem reports." 

She received a reply from Elric. Despite the fact that he used to annoy her, she acknowledged that he had a better understanding of investigations. She gave him a nod of agreement.

They arrived at their department and opened the door to see Mr Condrad's displeased face and Alfred's nervous yet hopeful face.

"What happened, Mr Condrad?" Evelyn inquired with a puzzled expression. She noticed him sigh.

"Body is missing," he replied.

Evelyn furrowed her brows, perplexed as to how it had gone missing.

Mr Condrad remarked, referring to Alfred, "On his way back to the council, the culprit stole the body." "Did you come across any evidence or information?" He inquired further.

"Neighbors mentioned he didn't spend much time in the house. We couldn't get any useful information from them or the magistrate," Evelyn replied.

She darted a glance at Elric, who stood strangely silent. He had a stern face and a faint furrow on his forehead, which she recognized. She was taken aback by his behaviour and wondered what he was contemplating.

"You all return to the village to inquire more about him from the locals. What's his name again?" Mr Condrad enquired.

Evelyn replied, "Albert Hall."

"Get information about him and end the case as soon as possible," he said in an authoritative tone and moved out of the room, leaving the newly appointed councilmen on their own.

"Elric, what are you thinking?" Evelyn asked, hearing the click of the door being closed.

"Nothing," he said sharply, "and not regarding the case if I do either."

Evelyn decided not to bother him with questions. Furthermore, if it was relevant to the case, he would have informed Mr Condrad. This reminded her that she hadn't told her Uncle about Felix.

She wondered how it slipped from her mind. And again, uncle Admiral was not at the dinner table yesterday or else she would have remembered seeing him. She reminded herself that she needed to tell him about Felix today during dinner.

"How are we going to solve the case?"

Alfred's question snapped her back from her thoughts. "Let us think about it and come up with a strategy tomorrow," she said after some contemplation.

"I hope we find one," he said hesitantly, his face flushed with embarrassment at letting the culprit escape with the body.

Evelyn smiled ruefully, pondering how to proceed further with the case. She cast another glance at Elric, waiting for him to say something or devise a plan, but watching him stand silently with a contemplative expression made her worried for him.

Nonetheless, she shrugged it off and called it a day because it was past their working hours, and she headed to her palace.

When she arrived at the palace, she headed straight to the shower to get rid of the perspiration and weariness from walking in the scorching sun for inquiring. After the shower, she felt refreshed and energized.

Due to the cold, she dressed in her cotton gown and wrapped herself in a shawl. She reminded herself to discuss with her uncle as she placed the wooden logs in the fireplace.

A knock on the door caught her attention. She noticed a maid approach and bow to her.

"Miss Evelyn, dinner is ready," the maid informed her.

"Coming," she said as she walked down the hall to where everyone was waiting for her. She smiled in relief as she saw uncle Admiral.

"How was your first day Eve?" Renaud asked her.

"Exhausting," she said, nervously smiling as she took a seat.

"You will soon get used to it," he replied.

"I heard your team has already been assigned a case. What exactly is it about?"

The maid returned to the kitchen after serving them.

She replied, "A murder case in the village of Diremoor."

"It's strange that the case was forwarded to the council without first being investigated by the village magistrate."

She heard her uncle say. She remembered Elric saying the same and wondered about it more.

"What so strange about it uncle as in the end the case needs to be solved whether by the council or the magistrate," she asked him, looking puzzled. 

"I agree but a few things need to be followed through some protocols. There might be many small cases reported in a day and the council can't handle all of them. That's when the magistrate's work begins. He investigates them initially and gives a brief report to the council if and only if he thinks he can't handle the case," Admiral explained to her. 

She nodded in understanding and decided to inform him about her concerning bug, bugging in her mind since two days.  

"Uncle, During the interview I was asked if I had any suspicions on someone or something during the tier two exam," she stated. 

"What did you reply?" He asked. 

"I did have some suspicions on someone but at that time I didn't inform them. Should I inform Mr Condrad now? 

"Well, it totally depends on you. Although, the council won't take any action unless you have some proof against the individual." 

"It might be my over-thinking but I found him suspicious," she replied. 

Admiral nodded, understanding her concern and said, "Who is the person you are talking about? Let me keep an eye on him. Don't think about it anymore and concentrate on your case." 

"Felix,"  

Taking a bite he repeated the name in his mind, "Felix"