Part 1V THE UNDEAD CHAPTER XIX RUENE-STYLE INTEGRITY
Late at night, 7 PINSTER STREET.
Leonard Mitchell sat down to his chair, lifted his feet, stretched them to the position of the desk, and rested them on the edge.
Then he leaned back, squeezing and creaking the wooden joints, and his breathing gradually became languid.
I don’t know how long it took, but his eyelids drooped and covered his eyes.
By this time, Leonard’s spirit had come to a gray, cloudy world, but the place it was in was still his bedroom.
He flew to the window and saw that a thick gray fog enveloped the neighborhood and stretched outward, seeming to encompass all of Bakerland.
The gas streetlights beside the street and the warm fires inside different houses all looked unusually dim at the moment, only illuminating a very small area around them and tinting them with a slight haze.
At the same time, an illusory oval-shaped ball of light, either hidden or visible, interspersed and enveloped one house after another, seemed to be the source of their existence.
This is the city in the eyes of the “nightmare”.
Leonard according to the previous investigation, “nightmare” in the form of leaping out of the window, flew to the Joe Wood District Minsk Street 17.
He didn’t break in directly, but landed on the doorstep of the other side in the thick fog and politely rang the doorbell.
She held her silver-encrusted court feather fan to her chest as she asked, confused and puzzled:
”Which one are you looking for?”
She was none other than Crane’s landlady when he played Sherlock Moriarty, a blonde-haired, blue-eyed lady in her mid-thirties.
Leonard, who by now had changed into his black and white checkered Rune Police uniform, casually showed his ID and said:
”Do you know Sherlock Moriarty?”
Due to being in a dream, Starling was slow to respond and it took several seconds before she said:
”Has something happened to him?”
As she asked the question rhetorically, she naturally materialized next to Leonard’s influence in the mind’s eye as Sherlock Moriarty:
Wearing a half-height silk bowler hat, a long double-breasted gown, gold-rimmed spectacles on the bridge of his nose, and a beard growing around his mouth ……
This was consistent with the Sherlock Moriarty look-alike Leonard had gotten before, and so there was no doubt about it, and he said directly:
”He is involved in a case and is under investigation.
”I hope you can cooperate with us.”
”Okay, okay.” Starling would have lifted her chin, but for some reason she was a little afraid.
Leonard thought for a second and said:
”When did he rent the house?”
”Early last September.” Starling said as she recalled.
Leonard continued to ask:
”What do you know about him? Or rather, what kind of person is he in your mind?”
At the mention of this, Starling said as if she had already considered the answer:
”He comes from Mashai County, has an accent from over there, is a very capable detective, and once helped Mary solve her husband’s cheating affair, however, he doesn’t have a high income, and can’t even afford to hire a full time handyman maid, so he can only let my maid help out on a part time basis……. My child told me that he is a very good storyteller, especially good at the detective side of things, which is probably why he chose that profession ……”
Not giving Leonard a chance to interrupt, she rattled on:
”He wasn’t as rude as the average detective, went to grammar school, studied history, and one of the most enviable things about him was being thanked by Mary for joining the Cragg Club, which was full of very respectable people, and I’ve been there a few times ……
”Then he seemed to become famous in detective circles, and he was often approached by private detectives ……”
Leonard listened with some impatience, and could not help raising his hand to rub the corner of his forehead.
From Mrs. Starling here, he didn’t get any useful information, except for the two points that Sherlock Moriarty’s financial situation wasn’t too good and was good at telling detective stories, the rest were all within the scope of the intelligence that he had investigated before, and he even knew that Sherlock Moriarty had a good relationship with Eisinger Stanton.
Next from the Kraig Club within the relationship with Sherlock Moriarty better several check …… patiently listened to Mrs. Starling’s nagging, Leonard immediately thanked the other party, left her dream world.
……
160 Birklund Street, inside the mansion of Dawn Dantes.
Inside the hall where hundreds of guests could dance, Klein was embracing a lady in her thirties.
This was the etiquette teacher that Walter had gotten called Vahana Hazen.
She had a common female name, but was not common in person, her features were clearly only medium to high, but she was extremely graceful and her every move was charming.
According to Walter, she was born into a baronial family and received a good education from an early age, then entered the court and served as a female officer until her marriage.
Because the family had fallen into decay and her husband’s financial situation was average, she, who believed in the Goddess of the Night, chose to become a tutor in etiquette, often going in and out of different noble or wealthy families to teach their children.
Although the butler didn’t explicitly say so, Klein knew that he couldn’t behave too poorly in front of this lady, or his wind rating would be basically hopeless.
–One of the most important ways for nobles, tycoons, and other upper-class people to find out about a person is through common acquaintances. And at certain times, interactions between servants had implications in this regard.
With light footsteps and a swaying body, Vahana, whose black hair was lightly pulled back, nodded approvingly:
”Mr. Dantes, it’s really hard to imagine that you haven’t learned this kind of dance before.
”In less than two quarters of an hour, you are skillful as if you were a nobleman who received similar education from a young age.”
”It’s you who taught me well.” Klein humbly smiled with a gentle expression, not seeing any bravado.
With the balance and coordination of a “clown”, dancing was a very simple matter for him.
Wahana lowered her head and said with a light laugh:
”You are a gentleman who is quite capable of delighting a lady.”
Her light brown eyes then lifted and swept over Dawn Dantes’ silver laced temples and dark blue eyes.
”That’s the best compliment I’ve heard all day.” While Klein smiled in response, he didn’t pause in his steps, leading Vahana in a gentle circle, not far from where the hired band kept the beautiful melody echoing through the hall.
He had a mind to familiarize himself with Vahana, not just to boost his wind rating, but also because the other woman had served as a courtesan.
Wahana said after correcting Dawn Dantes’ one tiny mistake:
”Inviting a lady to dance is not just dancing, there must be conversation, not like two mannequins, unless you are both immersed in the music immersed in the rhythm of the dance do not want to talk, of course, it is also a kind of communication, communication of the heart.
”When you talk, you must be subtle, this is Rune, not Intis.
”Simply put, don’t be direct don’t be rude, make yourself appear poised.
”Let me give you an example, if you want to compliment a lady’s perfume, you can’t just say how nice it smells or ask which perfume it is and give a compliment, you have to associate it with a more subtle meaning and make a sideways reference to, well, you could say something like this: it’s like I’ve come to the countryside in the spring.
”Of course, it has to fit the perfume.”
Without a literary sense, shouldn’t you say, “The moon is beautiful tonight”? Klein belted out a Japanese innuendo stunt and smiled to himself:
”Thank you for not saying those compliments of mine weren’t sassy enough earlier.”
Vahana’s smile deepened for a moment:
”Mr. Dantes, do you know what a gentleman who is very popular with women in social situations looks like?”
”No.” Klein shook his head frankly.
Vahana said with an unabated smile:
”The second most popular is the male who makes a lady think he’s smart.”
”And number one?” Klein asked cooperatively.
Vahana glanced at him and said:
”Number one popularity is a male who makes a lady think he’s smart.”
At that, she smiled and didn’t say another word, while Klein understood her veiled praise at once.
This is the Rune style of subtlety ah …… not like the side of the Intis, all running to the lower half of the …… Well, this is all reported in newspapers and magazines, the real Intis social scene is what it is like, it is impossible to determine based on this, and anyway, the two countries are always denigrating each other …… The time of the Great Emperor would fit that description …… Klein nodded with some dawning realization.
The two-hour etiquette lesson came to an end in such a congenial atmosphere, and Klein, with his butler Walter, and his valet Richardson, sent Ms. Vahana Hessen to the door, giving her a small gift.
It was the “Moonlight” perfume of the Drim company, mixed with gray amber, which was quite expensive.
Klein didn’t know how much it cost, because Walter, the butler, was responsible for buying it, and the expenses came from the housekeeper, and when the 1000 pounds were almost spent and new funds were needed, Tanya would come to him with the bills and forms for review.
The only reason Klein knew which company and what perfume it was was because Mr. Butler had told him in advance, lest he should appear insincere if he knew nothing when Lady Vahana asked.
From these details, he deeply appreciated the role of a good butler.
Watching the satisfied Ms. Vahana Hessen leave, Klein resisted the urge to rub the corner of his forehead and heartily sighed in his heart:
”This is even more tiring than fighting an extraordinary person, one must always pay attention to the movements and weigh the words …… I must take a rest.”
Just then, Walter, wearing white gloves, stepped forward and said:
”Sir, since you are making rapid progress in your etiquette studies, it would be a good idea to bring forward the rest of the course.”
”What course?” Klein had a headache.
”History, international politics, philosophy, music, and general knowledge of sports such as golf, horse racing, and hunting ……” Walter replied meticulously.
”Philosophy?” Klein asked rhetorically, slightly startled.
Walter nodded and said:
”It’s one of the easiest topics to talk about in high society, it doesn’t require you to have a very in-depth study, but at least to know what others are discussing, to know that the origin of the philosophy of pragmatism is Conceição, Marede, and Patterson, not Rossel the Great, and to know that the one who came up with the idea that ‘life is born free’ is Lulmi.
”Many rich men, when they first enter high society, are always prone to make mistakes in this regard, and they are accustomed to pushing philosophical ideas they don’t know from words they don’t know on Rosel the Great.”
Klein, who was getting a growing headache from the talk, forced a laugh:
”I haven’t had much to do lately, so you can schedule your lessons any time you want, except for naps and going to church.”
……
Inside a darkened room, the envelope floated up, opened itself, and shook out the paper.
Sharon’s figure in a compact fedora was outlined next to it, taking hold of the letterhead and reading it carefully.
She whirled around to write a reply, set up the ritual, and began summoning Sherlock Moriarty’s messenger.
In this process, she did not forget to place a gold coin.
Soon, Sharon finished the incantation and saw the candle flame swell and tinted a shadowy green.
The figure of Renette Tignicole carrying four blonde, red-eyed heads then burrowed out of the candle flame and arrived in front of Sharon.
Sharon’s gaze faltered, and her doll-like face suddenly took on an intense change of mood.
She blurted out:
”Teacher!
”Didn’t you already ……”