Part 2 THE FACELESS CHAPTER XLVI THE UNDERGROUND BUILDINGS
After signing the contract with Miller Carter and collecting the advance of ten pounds, Crane did not hurry to Williams Street, but made an appointment for four o’clock in the afternoon.
This Miller understood very well, and it seemed to him that the single-handed Detective Charlotte Moriarty must surely have to recruit men in order to embark on her explorations.
When the old-school gentleman left, Klein immediately returned to the table and stuffed his belly with cuts of steak that had gone cold.
Really, didn’t he even have to eat lunch? Having to pick this time of day to come to the door …… barely filling his stomach, Klein was sorely tempted to start cleaning up.
At two in the afternoon, Mrs. Mary came to visit as scheduled, her eyes slightly red and swollen, but her face growing more and more somber, and Starling Sommer, who was accompanying her, was forced to remain silent.
Klein handed over the carefully selected photograph in an envelope:
”Ma’am, you confirm it.”
Mary was sluggish for two seconds and took a slow breath before taking the envelope, pulling out the photo and scrutinizing it.
”…… Very good, very good, you’re the most efficient and responsible detective I’ve ever met, and I’m honored to introduce you to the members of the Kraig Club …… Here’s the balance of the seven pounds, which you deserve. ” Mary pulled a money clip out of her leather handbag and counted out a five pound two one pound bills.
Then, without waiting for Klein to respond, she slipped the photographs into an envelope, placed them in her handbag and jerked up to leave.
Stomping away, her buttonless leather boots stamped out with such urgency that Starling Sommer struggled to catch up before she was barely able to follow.
As she opened the door to go out, Mary suddenly tripped and nearly fell, and fortunately Starling was just in time to hold her up.
With this interlude, Mary visibly slowed down her movements and seemed to have become stoic.
Lady, you forgot to take the portable camera …… I ll give it to Mrs. Sommer afterward, and let her bring it to you …… Klein silently watched such a scene, shook his head slightly, and said nothing.
He returned to the second floor and took a nap, waking up comfortably to the punctual striking of the large clock of the nearby church.
Klein had gone over the map earlier, confirming that Williams Street was at the border of West End and Queens, in a central and livable location in the heart of Bakerland.
A nice house in the West End and Hilston District costs around 2500 pounds, Miller Carter’s home is close to Queens and is a former Viscount’s property, the area is certainly not small, the overall purchase would cost at least 3500 pounds or more, and may even reach 5000 pounds, which can be exchanged for a fairly good magical item …… He came over to visit me, and Surprisingly, he didn’t bring a butler, no valet, is it because he’s new to Birkeland and hasn’t gotten into the swing of things in every way yet? Klein put on his long double-breasted gown, put on his hat, lifted his cane, and went out into Minsk Street.
At this time, the gas streetlights had not yet been lit, and the street was surprisingly gloomier than it had been in the evening, but the air was passable, not as choking as in those districts to the east.
Riding in a hired carriage all the way to Williams Street, Crane saw the waiting manservant outside the house at No. 8.
The manservant, dressed in a red vest and light-colored pants, bowed respectfully to his visitor:
”Good afternoon, is this Detective Moriarty?”
”Yes, I have an appointment with Mr. Carter.” Klein nodded gently and followed the manservant into the mansion with a front lawn and a garden on the side.
The house had two floors, and the first floor was rather cluttered with building materials and workers coming and going to do remodeling.
Miller Carter, without his bowler hat and covering the end of his nose, greeted them:
”I’m terribly sorry for the mess and filth, but I was hoping that everything could be made nice before my family arrived in Berkland, and had to urge them to keep working.”
When he finished, he looked to the manservant and commanded:
”You continue to watch over them.”
No wonder I didn’t bring a servant before, the servants have become overseers …… Klein smiled:
”I know quite a few doctors, they told me that a freshly remodeled house is not suitable for immediate occupancy, you have to wait at least three months for ventilation, otherwise the elderly and children who are not strong enough will easily get sick.”
”Is that so?” Miller asked back suspiciously as he led Klein towards the basement.
”I haven’t verified it, but I choose to believe in the authority, which is said to have originated from the words handed down from Roselle the Great.” Klein casually compiled.
Miller nodded and turned back to look at the doorway again, unable to resist frowning and asking:
”Mr. Detective, you don’t have an assistant with you?”
”There may be no small amount of danger hidden inside that building.”
I have an assistant, it’s just that you can’t see it …… Klein made a belly laugh and said with a straight face:
”This is the first exploration, I will advance very cautiously and will retreat immediately if there are any problems.”
”In this regard, I have a wealth of experience and will not allow myself to fall into a dangerous situation, while cooperating with an assistant who is not skilled enough, in turn, will easily make my actions not flexible enough to be decisive.”
Miller said in a daze:
”You’re very professional.”
Professional flimflam …… Klein silently added.
No longer suspecting anything, Miller guided Detective Moriarty, through the cluttered living room and down the steps into a rather spacious basement.
There were no gas lines here, but there were four metal sconces set into the walls, their dim light wavering.
Stepping on the stone slabs on the floor, Klein couldn’t help but sigh inwardly:
Worthy of being a nobleman’s property, even the basement has been “finely decorated”, and is almost as big as the living room of my current house ……
At this moment, Miller pointed to the very front and said:
”There’s a secret door there, the workers found it when they were remodeling.”
Klein gazed over and with the help of the not-so-bright candlelight, saw a grayish-white stone door in the corner, which was originally supposed to form an integral part of the wall, but was now exposed.
”I’ll leave it to you next, be safe.” Miller, a gentleman of the old school, gave Klein a horse lamp that had been lit and barked a warning.
”Pre-passed the wind yet?” Klein asked cautiously.
Miller shook his head slightly imperceptibly:
”It’s not particularly dull in there, but I didn’t let the workers go too far.”
”Good.” Klein checked his belongings, slipped on one black glove, and under Miller’s gaze, unhurriedly carrying his riding lamp, approached the stone door and pushed it open with his cane clamped on.
With a slightly heavy zapping sound, he followed the light from this side and saw a tunnel paved with dark stone slabs.
There were several wooden doors on each side and at the end of the tunnel, they showed signs of decay but were still barely functional.
Not too old …… but the pompous style of the doors and the deep thickness of the stone slabs aren’t too chiseled and …… replaced by that Viscount family before? Klein quietly turned on his psychic vision, gripped his cane tightly, carried his horse lamp, and took one step forward.
The light disperses the darkness, and when he passes the rooms on both sides, due to the fact that those workers hired by Miller have not explored deeply, he can see the slightly empty scene inside through the open door, and see the bench table that is quite consistent with the style of the door.
Nothing auroras flickered …… Klein examined it briefly and continued on without pause until he came to the black folio stone door at the end.
Extending his gloved right palm, he half-clamped his cane and slowly pushed on the door.
A toothsome scraping sound began to echo as the stone door gradually cracked open a gap, and dots of aura suddenly emerged in Klein’s eyes, reflecting the myriad colors of the entangled and intertwined auras.
His heart tightened, and he fiercely pushed the door, then took a few steps backward.
The gap in the stone door quickly widened, and a black, slippery creature suddenly fell from above.
It was a long snake with a triangular head and a red pattern!
It straightened its upper body, spat out its core, and looked at Klein with cold, brownish-yellow eyes.
Snap after snap, snake after snake fell from the door and piled up where the entrance had been.
Crossing over them, Klein saw that inside was a hall, and in the center of the hall there were countless snakes of various colors writhing and hugging each other, forming an exaggerated nest of snakes that was about ten meters long and wide, and the slippery disgusting feeling came to his face.
Klein’s scalp instantly tingled and he couldn’t help but take two more steps back, even trying to avert his eyes, not daring to look directly at it.
Although he was a man, he was still afraid of snakes, and the animal he was most afraid of was snakes.
This stemmed from one of his psychological shadows, when he was still a small child, when he was supposed to be sleeping, he liked to sneakily push open the door of his room, through the gap, and enjoy the movie with his parents piece by piece.
Unfortunately, one of the movies his parents watched was a snake disaster movie, in which there was a scene where a building was demolished, and as a result, a large nest of snakes was unearthed, and that dense writhing is still vividly remembered in his mind.
Can the “Sleeping Charm” affect so many snakes? Klein swallowed hard and said into the air:
”What do you have in mind?”
The bodyguard’s black gothic dress figure quickly appeared at his side, her mouth pursed, but she said nothing.
Klein glanced at her, she glanced at Klein, and neither said anything.
When a snake slowly swam outward, Klein finally coughed and repeated again:
”What do you have in mind?”
Miss Bodyguard didn’t answer and floated away as a cold, chilly wind suddenly blew through the tunnel.
Whoosh!
The wind stirred and blew into the hall, where the temperature soared down, close to the outside world.
Whoo!
The densely packed snakes in the center of the hall violently dispersed and swam in all directions, searching for a warmer and more suitable place to survive.
Two or three minutes later, a thin layer of frost formed on the surface of the hall and the tunnel, and the uncountable snakes had already burrowed away somewhere.
Whoosh!
The wind hadn’t stopped, and Klein shivered:
”Almost, almost.”
The stirring cold wind slowed down, but the gloomy feeling did not diminish, while the figure of Miss Bodyguard disappeared in mid-air.
Crane raised the right palm of his clamped cane, covered his mouth and nose, and sneezed, then raised his horse’s lamp and cautiously passed through the stone door into the wide hall.
It was in the same style as the canopies outside, dominated by deep black stonework and towering over eight columns of the same color.
A tall dome dangled from a round metal rod, and at its base were candlesticks carved into different creatures.
Inverted Candelabra …… As a university student of the history department, as a figure that could barely be called an elite in this field, Klein made an initial judgment through this unique arrangement:
”Quaternary architecture?”