«Holy f.u.c.king s.h.i.+t!» - Charge came to his senses and ordered Rasya to keep detailed notes.

When Kyon repeated the information, Charge smelled the hair and asked in disbelief:

«How? How could you determine the f.u.c.king ingredients in this cologne?! I can't smell a s.h.i.+t! Do you come from a long line of hounds?!»

«I have a unique body of olfaction, but it does not matter. Our task is to determine the name of the perfume by its ingredients, find out who produces it and where it sells. Then we can find out the rest. Come on, get to work!»

The investigators began fussing around, and Charge laughed nervously:

«I thought I was the boss here! And they do as you say by reflex. You're creepy. f.u.c.king creepy rookie... I'm glad to get to work with you.»

The progress in the lost case of capturing the guild of thieves was the last thing Charge expected. d.a.m.ned freaking monster! It could really take him only a month! If Charge were naive enough, he'd lose a million of spheres! For some reason, the current situation warmed his heart. If they got Lanai, he would get even with her for his father. And then he could die in peace!

During the working day, the team of the investigators had quickly questioned Boston's best perfumers and found out the name of the perfume.

«Azure blue sky.» - Charge said thoughtfully after he finished reading the report. – «This perfume is sold in many parts of the city. It won't be easy to solve this mystery…»

As soon as Kyon opened his mouth, everyone almost instinctively shut up.

«You see, the thief apparently knows a lot about perfumery. He is aware that the musk contained in Azure Blue Sky loses its properties in a month after production and fails to attract the opposite s.e.x. That's why he buys a new bottle every month. It explains why I smelled a trace of the cologne that he wore a month ago.»

«You want to say… He buys a new bottle of cologne once a month, doesn't he?!»

«He does.»

The investigators looked at each other in amazement. Since the rookie had taken up the thieves guild, things started to move forward by leaps and bounds! Kyon had turned into an unsurpa.s.sed genius investigator in their opinion.

Charge ordered:

«Interrogate all the perfume sellers in Boston! We need to find a customer who buys Azure Blue Sky once a month! You know general information about his appearance. Let's do it!»

«How about teamwork, boss?» - Kyon asked scornfully.

«You are the team! He-he! Hhha!» - Charge burst out laughing with some hysterical anguish.

The working day had come to an end. When Kyon was leaving the a.n.a.lytics department, he could feel Grek's hateful eyes on him. Kyon didn't pay him any mind. However, as he left the Department, Kyon's feathered spies noticed some people in black waiting for him in an ambush nearby.

Before he left, Kyon took off his mask and changed his clothes so that the six in ambush couldn't recognize him.

The next day, Kyon arrived at the ministry before anyone else. Rasya and Charge entered the department and greeted the rookie. Suddenly, Kyon snapped his fingers loudly.

At that very moment, they heard a thunderous gunshot at the entrance to the building.

Grek was going upstairs, frustrated by his failure to catch the Stone yesterday, when his head exploded in a b.l.o.o.d.y mess as if they hit a watermelon with a heavy hammer. Not the best start to a working day... But that's a matter of opinion.

~Bang~

«Аа-а-а-а-а-а-а-а-ah!» … «MURDER! They killed him!» - The pa.s.sers-by screamed in horror, splattered with the contents of Greg's skull.

A minute later, the scene of the murder was sealed off. Investigators were fussing all around. Five minutes later, Charge, Rasya, and Kyon arrived at the crime scene.

«They killed Grek! How dared they, dirty animals?!» - Charge checked the formation on the dead man's wrist and roared in the heat of the moment. Rasya screamed in horror. The death of the second rank investigator and their colleague in one came as a shock for them.

Kyon had intentionally arrived earlier to have an unbreakable alibi. It all worked in his favor: the second-rank investigator had been killed, and his position was now vacant. The turnover rate seemed to be very high in the Department...

The investigation of the murder was going to take all day, so Kyon had to explore each perfumery in the city together with his subordinates, questioning the shopkeepers. By the evening, they had achieved certain results. A shopkeeper with mustache told them that he had a regular customer with long black hair who came to the shop every month to buy a bottle of Azure Blue Sky. Only a few days were left before his new visit.

Kyon retold the investigators all the information, shocking them once again, and outlined a plan of capturing the thief that completely ruled out any chance of his accidentally swallowing the poison pill.

The investigators were still overcome with grief at the loss of their colleague. They perked up a bit, happy to have a real genius among them at this time of great turbulence. Did Charge say yesterday that Kyon was going to stay in the Department for years trying to catch the guild of thieves? He couldn't be more wrong!

The second issue of the kingdom was getting gradually resolved. Kyon only had to catch the second brother and use him as a bait for Sauron. Then he would become an investigator of the second rank, and Vladimir would give him a task regarding Kara and Vlada, the demons. And after that, the long-awaited recommendation to the high-ranking imperial investigator would be within his grasp.

Kyon's unique body required developed souls and a huge amount of resources. The job of an investigator was almost perfect for his purposes. He could consume dead criminals' soul and extort resources. It shouldn't be a problem with his skills.

…

«What do you mean dead? Who killed him? Who?!» - Patriarch Brown screamed in a frenzy when Charge called him to express his sorrow.

«Most likely, the guild of killers. Only they are capable of eliminating someone so quickly and effectively, ruthless b.a.s.t.a.r.ds! He crossed them up once too often…» - Charge said glumly.

«No... No, it's not killers, it's your masked Stone! It's his doing! He killed my Grek, because... Because he was a Brown!»

«Herman, calm down. The rookie was standing next to me at the moment of the crime. His alibi is airtight. By the way, how do you know about the rookie?» - The head of the department asked suspiciously.

Herman could not tell Charge too much. He should keep mum about the blackmail and Grek's motives. That's why he just smashed the sound transmitter into pieces, hurling it against the floor as hard as he could.

Herman was hoping to find out that Stone, the blackmailer, had been caught, but instead, he got the news that his dear 2nd-rank investigator had been killed. Grek served the Browns faithfully and truthfully for many years, covering up the dark deeds of the family. His death meant a loss far greater than the sum of blackmail payment.

«Patriarch, we have very little time... If we don't pay for the deposit box in an hour, it will go to the Ministry of Justice! We are going to lose a lot of money! Those doc.u.ments are real!» - The accountant said, wringing his hands in despair.

Herman rose from his seat, shattering the solid table into pieces with a fist punch, and hurried to the trade guild Golden Piggy.

The manager in luxurious clothes welcomed the two guests, and after a small talk, he gave them a doc.u.ment to sign, which the patriarch did without looking. Then he loaded a large amount of cash on the counter.

«It's a pleasure doing business with you.» - The manager smiled politely. – «The transaction will be complete soon. The best messengers will deliver you the content of the deposit box with a maximum level of protection.»

Herman and Allen stared blankly at the manager. Then the patriarch said dryly:

«Just give us the contents of the deposit box. We do not need any - how did you call it? - "transaction with protection." Hand me the doc.u.ments, and we will leave!»

«But you have already signed the doc.u.ment and paid the fee. It can't be undone.»

The patriarch and his accountant looked at each other in surprise and started reading the signed agreement carefully.

"Premium delivery transaction, agreement No. 666... ...Trade guild Golden Piggy is obligated to deliver the parcel to Nikolas Grand, the Chief Executive Officer in the Ministry of Justice, no later than three days after the current agreement is signed..."

Herman couldn't see, everything went blank. He staggered and leaned against the wall, his hand on his forehead with his palm. The patriarch felt sick and dizzy.

«Patriarch! Are you alright?!»

«No… Nothing is alright… Why on earth didn't you stop me when I was signing the contract?! It's your job to take full responsibility for the doc.u.ments! You could have read it at the very least! WHY?!»

«B-b-but you signed it immediately... Besides, I checked the contract yesterday. Everything was alright. It's a completely different doc.u.ment in your hands! I thought you were signing the right one! It was replaced at the last moment. We didn't even notice it in our rus.h.!.+ Someone has tricked us…» - The accountant whispered the last sentence in a strangled, shocked voice. The full realization of what had just taken place hit him hard.

The manager only shrugged indifferently at this dramatic scene. He did his job as expected of him. The clients could have no claims against. They should have read the contract first, dumbheads.

Herman groaned. – «I see… It's clear as day… The d.a.m.ned blackmailer was always one step ahead. He knew that we would wait till the last minute and then we could make a mistake in a hurry... Manager!»

«Yes, Sir?» - The guild manager replied.

«Did you get any special instructions from the customer?»

«I was told that you might refuse to sign this agreement, then I must provide you with another one.»

«Give it to me! I'll take a look!» - Herman barked.

The manager held out another agreement, and the patriarch read it carefully.

«That's what I checked yesterday!» - The accountant exclaimed, rubbing his smooth bald head.

It turned out that the first contract was designed for those who have "gullible" written on their forehead. The second one was more or less a good faith agreement. The money would have gone to the blackmailer anyway, but the patriarch would have received the compromising material!

Herman was on his last legs, he struggled to catch his breath. The patriarch collapsed into a chair, staring blankly at the ceiling. If only he had taken a look at the contract, he would have avoided a huge pain in the a.s.s. Now he had to put up with the fact that he had signed his confession in five cases of tax evasion. His family was facing a large fine that could seriously damage their status and position in the list of n.o.ble families.

Things had been going uphill for the Browns. A lot of influential people had already taken them for a potential family number one in the kingdom. The other families would go to any lengths to make friends with the Browns. Lots of mutually beneficial agreements were signed, promises and obligations were made. All in all, the Browns successfully established relations.h.i.+ps with the top families in the kingdom. They a.s.sumed great responsibility to become the family number one after the Tournament of Families. This event was to be a turning point in history. When all of a sudden, the old lion Stone, who should have given up the ghost long ago, tore off a chunk of meat from the Browns! Well, it was only an investigator, but it was obvious that he had been a.s.sisted by his family and acted under Bai's instructions!

«Nasty Stones! I can't believe you had the guts to raise a hand against us, the new leaders of the kingdom! If this is what you want, your failure in the tournament will leave your reputation in tatters. We will turn you into laughing stocks if it's the last thing we do!»

The patriarch was fuming, steaming. Everyone around him could feel his rage in a palpable wave.

Allen tried to calm him down, his voice trembling:

«Sir, the tournament will be over before the trial, before the verdict is pa.s.sed. The reward for getting first place is, as you know, ten million and Tokens. When we have them on the family account, we'll pay off the debt almost with no impact on our budget! No one will ever know about the crisis in our family! The Browns will suffer no consequences!»

The patriarch's eyes brightened. He joyfully looked at the accountant, belligerently raising his bushy eyebrows.

«Of course… You're right, Allen!» - But his enthusiasm quickly faded. Herman was not used to looking for excuses. One thing was clear, though. The Browns pinned all their hopes on the tournament, on the first place they were going to take no matter what. The patriarch had no doubt that they would take first place because they had been preparing for this event for years. Moreover, Herman's brilliant son Timothy was his secret weapon. He alone would turn even all his opponents into dust. There was nothing to worry about. The Browns would most certainly become the leaders of the Iron Throne, just like they planned. Yeah... Everything was going according to plan.