Framing him was a crime he would never allow to be pinned on him.
After a brief thought, he finally came up with another possibility:
“An accomplice, who can guarantee that Weilan Costa isn’t part of a group theft?”
“The Galleons in my money pouch are enough for several people to split!”
“Alright.”
Vilan sighed.
Since things had come to this, he could only resort to extraordinary measures.
He washed the cream off his hands.
Covering his left eye, he scanned his surroundings with only his right eye.
A translucent panel appeared in the field of vision of his right eye.
【Eye of Time Trace】
【Holder: Weilan Costa】
【Experience Level: 1 (0/20)】
【magic Power: 50/50】
【Recharge Rate: 2 magic Power/hour】
【Skill: Minute Observation lv.1 (Active Skill, consumes 10 magic Power each time, lasts for 10 minutes)】
(Skill Effect: Can enhance subtle traces that appear on objects as time passes, and based on this, re-enact scenes an object experienced in past space-time.)
After consuming 10 magic Power to use 【Minute Observation】, Vilan’s right eye vision changed.
On the ground, the originally messy footprints became incredibly clear in his eyes.
As his gaze swept over the footprints on the ground, the scene of crowds jostling shoulder to shoulder in the afternoon flooded his mind.
Among these re-enacted crowds, he could roughly distinguish the appearance characteristics of each footprint owner.
Vilan shook his head.
He didn't find any suspicious individuals.
His gaze returned to the trolley.
The primary task was to clear his name.
The second-hand trolley was full of traces.
Each trace could re-enact a past scene.
He focused on the money slot.
Drip—
Drip—
The sound of condensation dripping was infinitely amplified in his ears.
He reached into the money slot and felt around.
It was all ice shards.
At the same time, the corresponding past scene re-enacted in his mind.
It was the scene of Vilan busy with the trolley throughout the afternoon.
However, this time the money slot was highlighted.
Condensation continuously dripped from above the trolley, not only wetting Vilan’s shoes and socks but also soaking the coins in the money slot.
The money slot was directly next to the ice cream bucket.
The cooling magic on the ice cream bucket quickly caused the condensation to freeze again.
This was why Vilan felt ice shards.
The evidence was sufficient.
Vilan stood up, cleared his throat, and began to defend himself:
“There’s no way I could have conspired with an accomplice to steal your money pouch.”
“This deduction, based on the time of the crime, simply doesn’t hold up.”
He turned to look at the Potter family:
“Mr. Potter, I’d like to ask you, after you purchased ice cream, did you stay nearby waiting for me to finish my work?”
Harry answered for his parents:
“That’s right, we discussed for a while, and Mum hoped to do something for you.”
“I took out Hermione’s ticket and told her we could invite you to watch the Quidditch World Cup.”
“They agreed, and after that, I stood nearby, waiting for you to pack up your stall.”
“It wasn’t long, about fifteen minutes in total.”
Vilan asked again:
“The money slot is at the back of my trolley, blocked by my body. Did you see anyone put the money pouch into the money slot?”
Harry shook his head:
“No, everyone was very orderly, queuing up in front of your trolley.”
“We didn’t see anyone go around to the back of the trolley.”
Vilan smiled provocatively at Malfoy:
“If my memory serves me right, you were the only one not following the rules, Young Master Malfoy.”
“You deliberately went around to the back of the trolley to show off your money to me, dangling the Galleons from your money pouch right under my nose.”
Malfoy gritted his teeth:
“Are you implying that I staged this myself, and put the money pouch in there for you?”
Vilan smirked: “Possibly.”
This noble young master almost raised his wand to cast a curse on Vilan:
“Potter can’t be a witness, he wasn’t by your side the whole time!”
“I didn’t see their annoying faces nearby when I arrived.”
“Potter only came here long after I left!”
That’s exactly what Vilan wanted Malfoy to say!
Vilan dropped his playful smirk:
“Malfoy, Potter can prove that no one put anything into the trolley for the ten minutes before you found the money pouch, and that’s enough!”
“Look closely at your money pouch.”
“The evidence that I couldn’t have been working with a group is right there on the money pouch.”
Malfoy weighed the money pouch, but couldn’t see anything wrong with it.
Vilan, helpless, reminded him again:
“Your money pouch is dry, neither wet nor covered in ice.”
“And what’s the environment like in my money slot? You can put your hand in and feel it.”
Malfoy reached inside.
The hard ice shards pricked his skin, and the inner surface of the slot was damp and slippery, covered with a layer of ice.
Vilan pointed out to him:
“When you got the money pouch, it hadn’t even had time to be thoroughly soaked by the condensation.”
“Nor did it show any signs of having been wet and then frozen hard by the cold magic of the adjacent ice cream bucket.”
“What does this indicate?”
“The money pouch must have only been in the money slot for a very short time.”
“And during that time, Harry and his family were waiting for me to finish my work.”
“They can prove that no one put anything into the money slot within ten minutes!”
“Your accomplice theory, in terms of time, simply doesn’t hold up!”
Malfoy grew anxious:
“Are you saying my money pouch could have Apparated there?”
Yes!
Vilan also wondered inwardly:
So, how did the thief frame him?
No, even if magic was used.
All actions and movements would inevitably leave traces!
【Minute Observation】 had only one minute left.
Vilan covered his left eye and observed the trolley and the ground around it again.
He yearned to find some new traces.
Squeak squeak squeak—
A few squeaks of a mouse came.
Vilan’s heart stirred, and he looked down, seeing a mouse running circles under the trolley in the re-enacted scene.
Vilan remembered.
There was indeed such an annoying mouse in the afternoon, squeaking by his ear.
He had thought at the time that the mouse was simply greedy, burrowing under the trolley to steal cream.
Now it seemed, it wasn’t that simple.
Because in the re-enacted scene, the mouse was running while dragging a round, bulging object.
However, there were not enough traces here to deduce what this object actually was.
So, in the re-enacted scene, the object the mouse was dragging was blurry.
After the mouse ran a few circles around the trolley, an even more astonishing scene appeared:
Vilan, wanting to leave a good impression of hygiene, kicked the mouse away.
It didn’t give up, but rather learned its lesson, silenced its movements, and then, dragging the unknown object, began to climb onto the trolley.
This process was certainly arduous, but this mouse clearly had a sense of conviction beyond the normal scope of animals.
He cleverly used the clinking sound of coins falling into the money slot to cover the sounds he made during his climb.
He left mottled, bloody claw marks on the trolley, but he did not give up.
Finally… he placed that object in the money slot.
Then, it leaped down from the trolley, its paw prints disappearing into the vast crowd.
The only suspect was… a mouse?!
Vilan made a request: “Malfoy, I need to see your money pouch again!”
Malfoy seemed reluctant.
After all, Vilan just now, in the eyes of an observer like him, was simply too, too strange!
He looked as if he could see ghosts that no one else could, carefully examining and feeling the dim air.
Malfoy suspected that Vilan might be mentally unstable.
That’s why he would deduce that his money pouch had Apparated into the trolley out of thin air.
Finally, James spoke, advising sternly:
“Malfoy, if you refuse to provide the evidence, no one can directly determine who the thief is!”
Malfoy pouted, then firmly gripped his money pouch and placed it under Vilan’s eyes.
This time, Vilan saw more subtle traces on the money pouch.
For example, the large area of dust adhering to it, and the rodent bite marks.
In the re-enacted scene, the object the mouse was dragging became clear.
It was Malfoy’s money pouch!
Vilan truthfully reported:
“The biggest suspect is a mouse.”
“Look closely at the money pouch.”
“The large area of dust on it was left from being dragged on the ground for a long time.”
“At the opening of the money pouch, there are rodent bite marks.”
“And on my trolley, there are also claw marks left by a mouse.”
As he spoke these words, a line of text flashed in his right eye.
【Parting the mists of time, perceiving past truths. Eye of Time Trace experience +2】
Vilan swallowed, maintaining his facial expression.
This strange 【Eye of Time Trace】 had only appeared three days ago.
He had only studied the 【Minute Observation】 skill.
As for the rest, Vilan knew very little.
Now was not the time to investigate that strange thing in his right eye.
Vilan offered two conjectures:
“There are two possibilities regarding this matter.”
“First, a mouse, either trained by humans or controlled by magic, stole the money pouch.”
“Second, an Animagus turned into a mouse, stole the money pouch, and then framed me.”
In the magical world, people who can transform into animals are usually called Animagi.
Vilan saw Malfoy open his mouth and guessed what he wanted to say:
“If you want to accuse me of being in league with a mouse, then you can stop right there, Malfoy.”
“Lower your head and take a good look at the bloody paw prints on my trolley.”
“This mouse paid a heavy price to climb into my money slot.”
“If we were accomplices, how could this thieving mouse suffer so much useless hardship?”
“Or, why would a thief with such superb thieving skills team up with me?”
“Furthermore, even if we were accomplices.”
“With such a powerful teammate, why would I bother selling ice cream? Wouldn’t it be better to lie in a tent counting Galleons?”
Malfoy was silenced, deflated like a frost-bitten eggplant, his whole demeanor wilting.
The atmosphere immediately fell silent.
Although Vilan had presented sufficient evidence, a mouse stealing a money pouch still sounded too preposterous.
Vilan carefully observed James’s expression.
If he remembered correctly, the original story did feature an Animagus who could turn into a mouse.
Peter Pettigrew, he was James Potter’s good friend.
In this timeline, because Lord Voldemort died early, Peter Pettigrew hadn’t had time to betray them yet.
He was still one of James’s most trusted friends.
Harry even received Christmas presents from Peter every Christmas!
However, Vilan didn’t have conclusive evidence, so he couldn’t definitively say that Peter had stolen the money pouch.
Moreover, there was still one point that didn’t make sense.
Why did the money pouch have to be put into Vilan’s trolley?
Why not just steal the money and run, why go through all that trouble and increase the risk?
Vilan glanced at Malfoy, who was standing under the streetlights.
The money pouch was being turned over and over in his palm; he had counted all the coins, and none were missing.
Malfoy was utterly confused.
Vilan, on the other hand, felt somewhat uneasy, always feeling that the thief’s target was not as simple as just money.