Part 2 THE FACELESS CHAPTER XLV HOMICIDE
The concrete road was dirty from a long rainy day, and the gas street lamps on either side, the height of a grown man, gave off a bright but dense glow due to the wetness of their glass covers.
A rented carriage traveled through the night, surrounded by pedestrians wearing hats or umbrellas.
Klein leaned sideways against the wall of the compartment, idly admiring the streets of Birkeland at night.
Just then, he suddenly felt the temperature inside the carriage drop considerably, and a chilly wind swirled and hovered.
Klein snapped his head around to see Miss Bodyguard, dressed in a long black gothic court dress, sitting across from him at some point.
Her voice was disembodied and wavering:
”That ‘Eye of Wisdom’ has sensed my presence.”
Sure enough …… Klein was not surprised and nodded his head, “He has several magical items, perhaps he relied on these things to detect, I even suspect that there is an organization behind him.”
Otherwise, just rely on the power of the “Eye of Wisdom” itself, even after spending more than thirty years, it is unlikely to be able to collect several relatively powerful magical items, the previous “Hurricane Lieutenant General” Zirincus, as one of the seven pirate generals, also has only one. “Of course, the latter is more likely to have a high level of vision, not looking at the general magical items, after all, relying on the “writhing hunger” can be comprehensive and have no weaknesses.
Well, the Eye of Wisdom itself is very rich is also a reasonable explanation, organizing so many parties, found the right magical items at any cost to take, more than 30 years later, there are several collectibles is not too incredible thing …… Hey, this is the family has a mine, or open the rhythm of the bank ah … … …Klein spat in his heart.
He did not specifically mention that he actually guessed that the “Eye of Wisdom” is the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, or the Church of the God of Knowledge and Wisdom, for fear of exposing the fact that he did not just become an extraordinary person in front of the bodyguard lady.
The light blonde-haired bodyguard nodded her head gently, seemingly agreeing with Klein’s suspicion.
Suddenly, she frowned slightly and looked at the opposite car window road:
”A very strong smell of blood.”
The very strong smell of blood …… Klein turned back suspiciously and looked out the window.
In the sparse thin rain, there was a secluded alley there.
Near the mouth of the alley, there was a woman in a long, colorful dress who had fallen down.
At this moment, a pedestrian passed by, took a closer look, and suddenly let out a scream.
In the scream, the horse was a little frightened, the driver hastily tightened the reins, and the speed of the carriage slowed down.
By the light of the gas street lamp, Klein saw that the woman who fell to the ground at the entrance of the alley had a greenish-white face, and there was a deep gash in her abdomen, which seemed to have been emptied of her internal organs.
The blood on the ground around her was slowly flowing, crimson and thick.
This …… As a qualified former night watchman, he quickly associated it with many instances with similar modus operandi.
These instances were often related to demon worship!
When it comes to devil worship, it’s hard to bypass an ancient organization that first appeared in the Quaternary period, the “Blood Worshipping Cult”!
According to the records, it was a loose alliance formed by the worship of demons, with several so-called demonic families, such as the Noss, Andrade, and Belial families, who were not under each other’s command.
Their obsessive and widespread spreading of demonic beliefs has resulted in many bloodsheds, and Mrs. Oliana, the accountant of the Nightwatchman Squad in Tingen City, was one of those victims, but was fortunately saved.
Of course, not all of the similar cases were done by them, and quite a few people thought those things were cool and began to imitate the crimes.
”Much like the Blood Worshippers did.” Miss Bodyguard whispered, her figure flew transparent and disappeared, not caring if Klein heard or understood.
By this time, the carriage had already crossed the scene of the crime, and Klein also noticed that there were police on patrol arriving, so he curbed the idea of getting out of the car and observing, treating himself as an ordinary citizen passing by.
Well, citizen Mr. Moriarty ……
The Blood Worshippers hold the “criminal” path, also known as the demonic path, and it is said that after Sequence 7, the corresponding extraordinary person will gradually become demonized, but only on certain occasions and under certain circumstances ……
Sequence 9, the “criminal”, has a strong body, sharp intuition and various criminal abilities, but his conscience is still intact. …… Sequence 8, the ancient name for the “cold-blooded”, the modern name for the “winged angel”. The modern name is “Angel with Broken Wings”, which means that he has lost his conscience, and has become more inhuman, and has gained some demonic spell-like abilities …… Serial 7, “Serial Killer”, and has mastered many knowledge and rituals of demon worship. Sequence 7, “Serial Killer”, masters the knowledge and rituals of demon worship, and enjoys pleasing demons with special serial killings. ……
The next sequences, I don’t know what they are ……
Knowledge of blood worship, of demonic pathways, flashed through Klein’s mind one by one as the drizzle outside seemed to get a little heavier, the rain on the windows of the car pooling and sliding downwards, the whole world becoming quieter and less clear as a result.
”What am I thinking so much about, surely a squad of Extraordinary Ones would take over something like this, maybe a Substitute Punisher, maybe a Night Watchman, no need for me to worry.” Klein shook his head in disbelief and mumbled inwardly.
By the time he got back to 15 Minsk Street, he had already put that earlier case behind him, first going next door and knocking on the door of the Somers’ house, asking Mrs. Starling to tell Mary to come by tomorrow afternoon to pick up the evidence, and then shuffling off to read the paper and get caught up on the current situation and the various news stories from Berkland.
The next day, Saturday morning, Crane took a slow breakfast and went out to fetch the freshly developed photographs, selecting the one that best showed the faces of Doraghou Gale and Erica Taylor, and best captured their flaming passion.
Putting the picture away, he grabbed Mrs. Mary before she could get to the door and made another trip to the Rice police precinct, where he successfully asked for the ten pounds bail.
In the process he also saw the real Sergeant Farthing there, rather uncomfortably.
After withdrawing the remaining 500 pounds in cash from his account, Crane, who had been busy all morning, finally had nothing more to do.
Before preparing for lunch, he gave the bodyguard lady the remaining 600 pounds, leaving himself a total of 146 pounds, eight thou and five pence, which was all he had at his disposal.
There was nothing left to pay, except for Miss Justice. …… Crane relaxed as he fried himself a bone-in steak and doused it with black pepper sauce.
Just as he was in the mood to savor the texture of the medium rare, the doorbell was suddenly rung, and the sound of jingling echoed continuously.
”Mrs. Mary? It’s too early, isn’t it?” Klein suspiciously put down his knife and fork and walked towards the door.
He paused for two seconds as the image of the visitor at the door naturally came to his mind.
It was an old-school gentleman in a light gray overcoat, a half-height silk bowler hat, and a black, gold-encrusted cane, with sharp blue eyes that were tinged at the temples, and lines of decency etched so deeply into his face that the muscles appeared to sag.
”Excuse me, who are you looking for?” Klein asked as he opened the door.
The old-school gentleman spoke in a thick, Middle Sea East Coast accent:
”Are you Detective Charlotte Moriarty?”
”You have something you wish to commission?” Klein nodded and moved out of the way, leading the older gentleman to the parlor.
He hesitated for two seconds, but spoke up and asked:
”Would you like coffee, or black tea?”
”A cup of hot water, please.” The old-school gentleman had removed his hat and sat down.
Good, that’s easy …… Maybe I’ll have to consider hiring an assistant who specializes in refilling tea and cleaning the room …… Klein thought furtively, and turned his head to the kitchen to rinse a cup.
After placing the hot water in front of the old gentleman, he walked over to the single sofa and sat down with his hands interlocked:
”What shall I call you?”
”Miller Carter.” The old gentleman replied in simple language.
”Mr. Carter, what is it you wish to delegate?” Klein asked directly without pleasantries.
While speaking, he quietly opened his spiritual vision and observed the opposite side.
This old gentleman’s body was still quite healthy, and the color of the aura of the left leg joint was a bit of a problem, probably arthritis …… The mood was dominated by a calm and thoughtful blue color, with a bit of anxiety …… Klein had already roughly come to a conclusion just by sweeping that glance.
Miller Carter picked up the clean white porcelain cup and rubbed the outer layer:
”The thing is, I bought a house in Williams Street, heh, I come from the Intercoastal County, because of business, will later settle in Bakerland.”
Where is Williams Street ……? It had been less than a month since he had arrived in Bakerland, and Klein, who went out either checking maps or relying on his instincts, tried to appear calm and reliable.
Miller-Carter gave him a look and, at the sign of his gaze, continued:
”That house was said to have originally belonged to a bankrupt viscount, which was about twenty or thirty years ago, and after changing hands a few times, it was eventually purchased by me.”
”I intended to do a little remodeling in line with the modern style, but it turned out that there was a hidden secret door in the basement that led to a very large piece of underground construction, I considered that it might not be safe inside, and temporarily halted the construction to prevent the workers and servants from exploring it hastily, and I would like you to help me to confirm the condition of the interior of that piece of underground construction.”
Underground building …… Ancient ruins? Secret treasure? Klein thought for a moment:
”Why don’t you call the police?”
”The police can mobilize dozens and hundreds of times more resources than a private detective like me, and the exploration will definitely be more effective and guaranteed.”
Miller Carter rubbed the spot between his eyes:
”I don’t want too many people to know about this, especially government departments.”
”If it’s confirmed that there’s nothing dangerous inside that subterranean structure, I intend to repurpose it as part of the entire house.”
”I know that there is a higher risk for you, and I’m willing to pay fifty pounds for that, but you can’t get more than three assistants, and I can also make some compensation afterward, depending on the specific encounter.”
50 pounds, the price opened very high well …… If I am an ordinary detective, this is already equivalent to my income for two or three months …… He first arrived in Bakerland, do not know other detectives, can only look at the newspaper to hire people, so he looked for me… …Klein said after a few seconds of deliberation:
”I’ll think about it.”
With a sudden apologetic smile, he gestured back and said, “I’ll go down to the lavatory.”
Miller-Carter nodded imperceptibly and took a sip of hot water.
Entering the washroom and closing the wooden door behind him, Klein looked into the wash mirror and pulled out a quarter-penny copper coin.
Since he couldn’t go above the gray mist to confirm it because of the bodyguard lady’s presence, he had to rely purely on his own level of divination.
”I should take this commission.”
……
Crane mumbled seven times and popped the copper coin, his eyes turning deep as he watched it tumble down.
Snap!
The copper coin fell into his palm, the king’s head facing upwards in affirmation.
Klein nodded slightly and whispered into the air:
”Where is your intuition?”
The figure of Ms. Bodyguard quickly emerged within the mirror, and she replied, still without much expression:
”There is some danger, but not much.”
Very well …… Klein put away the coins, washed his hands, and turned to walk out of the lavatory and into the living room.
He looked over at Miller Carter and smiled:
”I’ll take the commission.”