Chapter 191: Chapter 179 Story Seven Chapter 191: Chapter 179 Story Seven The content of this phone call didn’t need to be auctioned off… because the following scene made everything clear.

After the transition… what we saw was a café near the street, with the sun setting and the light casting long shadows, sparse pedestrian traffic outside, and the edges of the buildings across the street outlined in a faint gold.

At the very back of the café, sitting against the wall, were two men—Sheriff Paine and Mr. Andrew. Their seat was right next to the floor-to-ceiling windows, offering a fairly open view. Each man had a coffee in front of him, but neither had taken a sip, clearly showing little interest in the bitter drink… The two just sat there quietly, resting their heads on their hands, gazing at the apparently old apartment building across the street.

“You… really saw it?” Mr. Andrew asked, his mind burdened from the beginning of this shot.

Sheriff Paine, still staring outside, said faintly, “Although there’s no camera in the alley, there aren’t few surveillance videos along the street. I went back to the station that day and checked many times. A man… in a trench coat… coming out of the alley… There’s no mistake, and besides, how many people wander the streets after 3 a.m.?”

After listening to him, Mr. Andrew subtly furrowed his brow, “All right… If you’re so sure, then why don’t we just barge in and pin the murderer to the ground instead of waiting here?”

“Barge in? Into where?” Sheriff Paine asked helplessly, “Do you even know which floor he lives on? Go door to door and ask: ‘Hello, we’re looking for a murderer, is it you? Oh, by the way, we haven’t found the murder weapon yet, so could you bring that along and come to the station with us?… Is that your plan?'”

Mr. Andrew, unoffended by the sarcasm-filled response, continued his thought process, “… then why didn’t you apply for a search warrant, or just now make a phone call and have some subordinates head up there to search, posing as utility workers or advertisers? As for the murder weapon… if he really did kill someone, once he’s in your hands, don’t you get to call the shots whether there’s a murder weapon or not?”

“Enough!” Sheriff Paine interrupted Mr. Andrew roughly, and for the first time, he turned his gaze away from the apartment building to face his companion, “Listen, whether it was yesterday’s witnesses I summoned, or us sitting here today waiting for the murderer, none of this can be let out to the department! This case is yours alone, the witnesses were found by you, the clues were uncovered by you, the murderer was caught by you… I was just called over after you had apprehended the murderer, got it?”

As the sheriff spoke, his eyes filled with suppressed anger, “All the credit for this case goes to you alone, and you’ll surely be recognized at the precinct, probably even get reported, with some line like ‘Detective Captures Murderer Single-handedly’—you’ll become the department’s golden boy, and a lot more cases will be waiting for you… so you absolutely must not mess this up…”

He ranted… just then.

“Then… please hold on a moment!” Yuto joyfully interrupted the scene.

The image froze on Sheriff Paine’s face, then, the TV’s neutral voice sounded, “Paused. Is there an issue?”

Yuto smiled lightly, “Of course, there is, and it’s a very critical question…” he said, turning his gaze to Chen Xiao, “But, this question is related to the ‘Sheriff Paine’ information I bought earlier, so, I don’t want my competitor to know what I’m asking…”

Upon hearing this, Chen Xiao immediately showed his displeasure, “What’s the deal? Just ask outright! Are you trying to find out the officer’s measurements? Don’t worry, I won’t make assumptions, even if…”

Chen Xiao spouted nonsense, but the TV quickly interrupted him, addressing Yuto, “Of course, that’s a reasonable request. You may ask your question via text message, but your rival can still participate in the bidding. They would just have to pay a third more chips than the final bid price without knowing what the question for this auction is. And even if they succeed, they wouldn’t know the answer to the previous related question.”

“Haha… so that’s how it is,” Yuto said with a laugh, “It means that the storylines in the auction continue and missing earlier answers could mean missing out on the whole storyline later. Even if one wants to bid on some related clues, it would cost a lot, but even if successful, they would just get a fragment that’s unclear. So now, Mr. Chen, who has 150 chips less than me, would you like to join this bidding?”

Chen Xiao grimaced, “That’s none of your business!”

This behavior, in the eyes of Tsujido Yuto, was undoubtedly the lowest and most rogue way to retaliate after being hit where it hurts.

“Hmm… indeed, I can’t manage that, but I’m kindly reminding you that if even this issue is captured by me, then the entire clue chain concerning Police Chief Paine seems to be in my bag. Because as it goes on, the clues you receive become vaguer.” Tsujido Yuto said suddenly, as if he thought of something, “Oh, right~ I forgot, you don’t even know what I want to ask… hehe.”

He pretended to be surprised while saying this, and then sneered a few times.

Chen Xiao still had an indifferent expression, but now, it was clear to anyone with eyes that he was at a clear disadvantage, both in terms of chips and the clues about the story. Recalling the last scene about “Andrew’s Bedroom,” he seemed to have indeed been a bit impulsive… So, now his slightly haughty demeanor appeared more like an expression of guilt in the eyes of the other party.

Yuto smiled slightly and lowered his head to write down a question, of course, Chen Xiao had no way of knowing what he asked.

“The other party has already posed a question, but since the question is related to other clues, you still cannot know the price of the question, though you can choose whether to raise the price…” the television said in a very official tone.

“Oh? Not only can I not know what the question is, but I also can’t know the price of the question?” Chen Xiao posed a very surprised look.

“Of course…” the television replied briefly.

“Yo… this rule is really considerate…” Upon hearing this rule, Yuto quickly seized the opportunity to mock, “You see, I suggested clarifying the competition rules at the beginning, but you refused. How do you feel now, surprised or not? Unexpected or what?”

Of course, Chen Xiao wouldn’t follow the rhythm of this low-level taunting and continued with a haughty face, “Hmph~ I won’t raise it!”

“Not choosing to bid? Then, the answer to this question… has been sent to Tsujido Yuto’s phone!” the television said.

Tsujido Yuto shrugged his shoulders, “Ha~ not biting at all? I was thinking of probing your bottom line a bit more… but, if you don’t want to bet any more chips, then you can only watch as I slowly gather the clues to the story… In the end, when you want to bid, you might only get some insignificant events…”

Um… It must be said, this guy named Tsujido Yuto really talks too much… but fortunately, the sound of the phone timely interrupted his rambling. Yuto lowered his head, glanced at the answer to his question… and then revealed a meaningful smile.

“So that’s how it is… I think I understand…” he said, not sure if he was talking to himself or to Chen Xiao.

The story continues…

Police Chief Paine still maintained that very serious and fierce expression, suddenly, in front of the apartment building across the street, it seemed a crowd had gathered.

Mr. Andrews saw this scene and pointed outside the window, “I say… there… did something happen…”