The Crime System

The Lone Detective's Problem

Luke stood there, facing Detective Priscillia in the precinct's Special Crimes Unit office. Her arms were crossed, and she looked mildly annoyed. He could feel the eyes of many detectives from the unit on them, clearly interested in the commotion.

"I didn't mean it like that," Luke tried to explain. "I just felt that since the criminal cut off Lisa's hand without leaving any evidence, he must have planned this ahead of time! So he must've stalked Lisa for a long time. I feel like we shouldn't just focus on surveillance near the time the crime was committed, but also..."

Priscillia cut him off immediately. "Alright, alright," she said, not letting him finish. "Luke! I already know that you and Vincent have that bet! You're rushing the case since you don't want to lose! But... I hope you can understand, solving a case isn't about winning a bet or even justice - it's about responsibility! Responsibility, do you understand?"

She pointed at the few officers in front of their computer screens. "These detectives have already pulled two all-nighters checking the security footage! They even pulled out the records from the past two months. Are you saying they need you to remind them how to do their jobs? Also..."

She then gestured towards the photos plastered all over the bulletin board. "Do you think we've been sitting on our hands these past few days? Has anyone on this entire team gone home? If they weren't conducting interviews, they were processing evidence. We're putting everything we've got into solving this case, not just running our mouths!"

Luke looked carefully at the investigation board. It was packed with various information, photos of the victim, background details, and possible suspects. There were also potential connections and evidence circled in red marker. The amount of information was staggering. He realized this was the first time he had really looked at it, and it was eye-opening. No wonder the police were always one step ahead of him before! These people were incredibly thorough. His own photos had probably been featured on those boards plenty of times too.

Noticing him staring at the board, Priscillia reflexively stood in front of it, blocking his view as her expression darkened. "What? Don't tell me you want intel from me? Do you need... my help?"

"What?" Luke couldn't believe that Priscillia, as the unit commander, would say something so petty. What was that supposed to mean? Could it be that not only Vincent Parker, but the entire Special Crimes Unit was waiting to laugh at him? At that moment, he felt that all the detectives around him were smirking. He clenched his fist and snapped at Priscillia, "Jesus Christ, you think you're so special?" He pointed at the board behind her. "You guys were so hardworking, so focused, so capable, yet still didn't c***k the case? Hell! If you had the guts to give all that information to me, I'd solve it before any of you!"

To his surprise, his outburst didn't intimidate any of the detectives. Instead, it made them laugh. Even Priscillia was unfazed. She uncrossed her arms and said, "Fine, Luke! All the information here, take it! I'll tell Vincent to make you a complete copy of everything we've got, without missing a single word or photo. We'll see how the great detective Sullivan solves the case before us, alright?!"

Hearing Priscillia's words, the detectives in the unit mocked him even more.

"Fine by me!" Luke agreed immediately, not caring about their reactions. What he truly needed was the newest information on the Maimed Case.

When he returned to his desk with a whole box full of case files, the detectives from the other unit looked at him like he'd lost his mind. No one knew what he was thinking. He pulled a bulletin board in front of his desk and tried to copy their setup, putting up sticky notes and information from his notebook.

"Hmph! What's the big deal?" he thought. "Don't act like you're the only professionals here, I can do this too!" In his previous life, when he needed to catch a spy, he had sat in the snow for a whole month. Just organizing pictures on a bulletin board, how hard could that be?

But it hadn't even been an hour before he felt completely lost. He finally understood that processing these complex pieces of information wasn't something just anyone could do. Despite all the evidence in front of him, connecting the dots wasn't as simple as it seemed. It required sharp analytical skills and deductive reasoning - things he seriously lacked.

Eventually, Luke felt like he couldn't add anything more to the board, as if his brain had shut down. He sighed and looked over at Bella's empty desk. Where was she? Maybe she could help him make sense of all this.

But today was the day to officially close the York Case. As part of the analytics team, Bella had gone with Captain Jake to the downtown street to file the final report. They won't be back until tomorrow.

As if his day wasn't frustrating enough, just as Luke hit a wall in his progress, the system in his mind displayed the completion message. The system told him today's mission was finished - with a pathetic nine percent completion rate! With numbers like that, obviously there were no rewards.

"Damn it!" He checked his watch. The system hadn't even activated five hours ago; how was it already over? Could it be that the mission the system had given him had been wasted?

Looking back on his day, other than talking to Miss Jessica in the morning, he hadn't even left the station. So it was pretty obvious that this time the mission's focus had been Miss Jessica. If he hadn't chosen to cut the conversation short with his awkward humor, maybe something would have developed with Miss Jessica. But not getting close to Miss Jessica didn't make Luke feel the least bit of regret. He was only frustrated. It seemed like the Crime System wasn't planning on helping him solve the Maimed Case.

If things kept going like this, how was he supposed to solve this case? To beat that smug Vincent? He couldn't count on the system, and there was no progress on the case. Not to mention, the entire Investigation Unit was waiting to see him fail. Even Bella wasn't around. He was completely on his own.

But Luke wasn't someone who would back down easily, even when things got tough. The thought of giving up never crossed his mind.

"So what if I'm alone! Even if I have to do this by myself, I won't fail. I'll never give up until the very end!" he thought defiantly. "Hmph! Besides, anything could happen! Wait..." Following that train of thought, he suddenly remembered something, focusing on an exciting possibility. "Oh right. How could I forget about 'that'?!"