However, as they inspected the room, Benjamin let out a sudden puzzled "Huh," drawing Kira closer where she noticed his gaze fixed on the wall next to a window.
Upon examination, Kira noticed nothing noteworthy on the wall. However, upon closer scrutiny, she discovered a barely visible thin scratch at the junction of the wall and window sill.
This mark resembled those left by bouts of forced entry, prompting Benjamin to muse, "It appears we indeed had an intruder."
Kira seemed unconvinced, questioning the credibility of his claim, "Could it not be a result of glass shards caused by flying debris?"
"Kira, it is a requisite skill for an agent to observe minute details and infer the behavioural logic behind them. Many agents earn the title 'King of Special Agents' due to their knack for noticing such details and extracting information most people overlook," Benjamin explained.
"Observe the tiny scratch—it's positioned at the junction of the window sill and wall, pointing upwards. If it were made by flying glass shards, it should have been triggered by the lower part of the window, and, therefore, should point downwards."
"While scattering, the lower glass shards cannot suddenly swerve midair and fly upwards. Therefore, this could not have been caused by glass. More importantly, you can see it begins with a deep scratch leading to a long shallow one—what does that tell you?"
"Whatever made the scratch was irregularly shaped, suggesting it comprised two parts."
"So then, what was it?"
"It was very likely from the zipper of a jacket, or perhaps from a trouser pocket. The facile contact between the zipper pull and the wall's surface could have created this shape."
As he spoke, Benjamin demonstrated by lightly scraping his own jacket's zipper on the wall, indeed recreating the scratch they had seen earlier.
"The intruder was experienced, as they cleared all traces from the floor but failed to consider evidence left on the wall."
Turning back towards the scratch in disdain, Benjamin added, "in the field of espionage, it's often the details that determine success or failure."
"Remember, it's the details that decide the outcome," Alfred reminded Hal, as he brought out the double-barreled shotgun in a room on the fifth floor.
Standing beside the bed, Hal sighed, "So, after you cleaned all traces, you intentionally had me make a light scratch with my zipper near the window to throw the leading agent off?"
"Correct, it will make him think I overlooked this crucial detail, leading him to misjudge my abilities and pique his interest."
"If I hadn't done anything and left the traces intact, the agent's leader would have assumed I was a novice and would have simply sent one or two agents to deal with me. That wouldn't attract his attention."
"However, if I had been too thorough and left no traces, he might not realize there had been an intrusion here. Or worse, if he had suspected my high level of skill, he might have called in all his agents to launch an extensive search, which would be disadvantageous for us."
"So, the idea is to capture his attention and lead him on a chase without attracting unwarranted scrutiny." Hal summarized.
"Exactly," Alfred responded, nodding and continued, "as of now, I seem to have succeeded in sparking his interest and even, perhaps, incited a certain combativeness, challenging him to match up to me."
"So, what's your plan next? Will you duel him?"
Looking at Hal like he was a simpleton, Alfred responded:
"Why would I duel him?"
"The young master and mistress are old enough now. I believe it's time for them to learn some essential self-defense skills."