Shadow's Hand-Chapter 10: Diamond 3 Reappearance

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While Burke's very existence was wiped out, there was practically zero reaction.

Lucas casually returned to the inside of the carriage and said, "Let me know when my colleague arrives or not."

"Yes Sir." Karl nodded in response. Fear was still within his eyes, but there was no sympathy or pity for the deceased Burke. Even he didn't dare to curse a TI aloud and merely kept it in mind.

Burke was truly courting death for disrespecting a TI in public—right after his demotion was made known as well. Had Burke remained a detective, then the situation would have been a bit tricky.

However, a uniformed officer's death was not a big deal whatsoever. That was especially true if the reason for their death was speaking ill of a TI.

A TI could legally execute any low-ranking person on the spot as long as they had reasonable clauses. No, in fact, they could just execute them based on speculation regardless if there was evidence or not.

This was precisely what made people widely feared the TIs.

Naturally, such a privilege was usually held for the higher-ranked TI. A Ninth Order wasn't allowed to behave in such a manner unless they had legitimate proof. Or their identity was special enough—as in having a great background or connection within the TIs.

And in this particular case, Burke provided two great reasons to enable Lucas to act.

First, Burke publicly spoke ill of the TIs for no reason, and second, it was witnessed by a lot of people.

Legitimate proof was obtained on the spot, and most importantly, the person that Burke spoke ill of wasn't just any TI, but a Seventh Order one.

Such an amateur mistake wouldn't have occurred if Burke was in his right state of mind. However, to be demoted and lost his career path because of his unsightly remark. It was a big blow to him.

Eventually, Burke met his demise due to being unable to overcome the adversity.

The death of Burke was just a small matter in the eyes of many, and no one even bothered to raise a concern. The nearby uniformed officers also chose to turn a blind eye and remained on their duty. So long as they were doing their duty, Lucas wouldn't be targeting them either.

While this occurred outside of the crime scene, Damien remained unaware of his cause-and-effect action. He merely wanted to safeguard his identity and authority. His intention was never to take Burke's life.

However, the news didn't take long for it to reach his ears.

"Investigator Damien, I've received a message from Lucas." Jasmine then proceeded to explain the skirmishes that occurred outside.

When Damien received the news that Burke was killed right after cursing him in public, he was silent.

His expression on the surface remained unchanged, but deep inside, he was alarmed. 'A human life was lost just like that? And why was her voice so calm and collected?'

Since Jasmine relayed the news in the presence of Eugene and the remaining detectives, her intention was made clear to them.

She might not have wished to incur any conflict between them, but that didn't mean the officers were allowed to insult and smear TI's name. This was especially so if the TI was of a high rank.

Damien was their superior, and to insult their superior in public was equivalent to a slap across the face. Had Jasmine and Lucas' positions were to be swapped, then Jasmine would have done the same thing as well.

Her fear for Damien was not formed due to the difference in their rankings, but rather by his achievement and the respect she held for him.

"This is indeed an oversight on my part." Suddenly, Eugene took a step and bowed 90-degree toward Damien.

"I didn't expect to have raised an unruly person in my Skyler Division and resulted in today's disgrace. Please forgive my poor leadership and judgment." He apologized solemnly. Eugene was extremely worried that the matter wouldn't rest with just Burke's death, but their entire Skyler Division.

Never once did Eugene anticipate a detective of his choosing could be so foolish as to publicly shame a high-ranked TI.

A few minutes had gone by, and Damien remained quiet. The atmosphere was so silent that it actually appeared loud on the surface.

'I should have gone further in my punishment against Burke. Even in death, he still caused more trouble for me.' Eugene was feeling extremely worried that Damien might choose to implicate him and the rest as well.

Each second seemed no different than a grim reaper hovering their scythe around their neck. It would only require one simple gesture for their neck to be disconnected from the rest of their body.

With all eyes now on Damien, the latter finally opened his mouth.

"The mistake was caused by Burke and he had paid the price for it already. There's no need to worry about anything, Sergeant Eugene." He calmly said and essentially pardoned them.

'This world is really living life on the edge.' He thought to himself. The truth was that he spent a while to reply because he needed to compose himself and remained nonchalant. Just one slip-up from him would incur suspicions and his very life might have ended here on the spot.

As Eugene breathed a sigh of relief that the incident ended with Burke's death, Damien was once again distracted.

'It appeared again.' Alarmed, Damien noticed the position and brightness of the Diamond 3 card had shifted. Previously, it was at the top of the lighting, but now it was near a wall decorated with some fancy paintings.

'Could it be a clue?' At this point, Damien refused to believe the reappearance of the Diamond 3 card to be random.

There must have been some sort of linkage behind it—as well as his presence in this unfamiliar world.

"Jasmine, keep taking notes and discuss with the fellow detectives for insight. Don't make any loud noise or distract me in the process unless I call for you." Damien warned and walked toward the decorated wall.

To prevent a similar situation from occurring, he made sure to warn solemnly so that the Diamond 3 wouldn't disappear because of external factors.