Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 199 The Letter
After thinking of the possibility of a demon dog owner, Klein immediately changed his strategy and recounted in great detail the process of his acquaintance with Eisinger Stanton over the serial murder case.
In addition, he also took the initiative to mention the incident where Eisinger Stanton organized a group of detectives to investigate the serial murder case and succeeded in getting part of the reward.
”In that commission, although I only gave some ideas, well, to use the professional terminology of the private detective industry, that is, provided advice, I was still considered by Mr. Stanton to have contributed the most, so I got the most bounty.” Klein concluded.
The two policemen in charge of the interrogation swiped these notes and asked if anyone could attest to the above, and Klein gave the names and addresses of private detectives such as Stuart and Caslana.
”Very good, Mr. Moriarty, your answers are sufficiently detailed.” One of the officers stopped his pen and turned to ask, “How long were you at Eisinger Stanton’s house today? I mean from the time you entered until we found you.”
Klein thought briefly, and without bothering to consult Attorney Jürgen, answered directly:
”Something like two or three minutes.”
He was speaking true to his personal feelings.
The other officer raised an eyebrow:
”Multiple residents in the neighborhood were able to confirm that you entered the home of Eisinger Stanton around 2:10 p.m., and we arrived on the scene at 2:28 p.m., which means that you were inside the house for about eighteen minutes, not two to three minutes!
”What on earth were you doing for that length of time? Why didn’t you leave without calling the police?”
After what, eighteen minutes? Klein frowned horribly.
He felt like he had been at a standstill with the silent watching one for a minute or so tops, so how had a full eighteen minutes passed?
Is that strange feeling of being watched confusing my grasp of time, or is it something else? Is this the other party’s extraordinary ability? If it really is the owner of the demon dog, he has at least Sequence 6, and the probability Sequence 5 …… Klein was puzzled and contemplative when Jürgen leaned forward, ready to accuse the police officer of alleged baiting in his questioning.
It was not a very good reason; he simply wanted to interrupt the rhythm of the interrogation in such a way as to delay the obviously unfavorable question that had just been asked.
Just then, Klein raised a hand to rub the corner of his forehead and said:
”What I just said is all true, in my personal sense, I entered Detective Eisinger Stanton’s house for only two to three minutes.”
Here he emphasized:
”Well, in my personal feeling.”
The two officers looked at each other and dropped their pens to record this.
After a brief silence, the officer who had just asked the question said:
”During those eighteen minutes a certain servant returning from an outing rang the door-bell, but when no answer came, he looked in through the cambered window, and saw the body-pieces all over the floor and you standing in the doorway of the sitting-room.
”He was so terrified that he ran like mad to the police station to report the crime, as many passersby and some of the residents can confirm.”
Klein ignored Attorney Jürgen’s eye gesture and shook his head to himself:
”I didn’t hear the doorbell ring.”
Again the two officers looked at each other without comment, simply taking notes.
They asked a few more questions about other details, all of which Klein, who hadn’t done anything to not feel guilty or guilty about, answered truthfully.
Toward the end, he couldn’t help but be concerned:
”Any luck finding Detective Eisinger Stanton? I don’t see any body in the living room, so he should still be alive ……”
One of the officers said, pestling his desk with a pen:
”That’s one thing we’re very puzzled about, the only signs of a struggle in the entire house were in the living room, and the windows were closed and hadn’t been opened for many days, which, as you know, is normal for fall and winter in Bakerland.
”The assailant and Mr. Eisinger Stanton, however, strangely left that room and went who knows where, and we found no clues in the rest of the house or the surrounding area, not even blood.”
Without waiting for Crane to speak, he asked himself:
”I’m sure you want to talk about the living room door and the front door of the house, but many people have confirmed that there was no chase in the neighborhood and no one took hostages or left with a body.”
Maybe it really happened in the middle of the night? Maybe they go through walls? Klein mentally offered other possibilities and said a silent prayer:
May the Goddess bless Detective Eisinger Stanton with an escape from doom.
–The Goddess of the Night is the Empress of Doom and Fear.
The interrogation completed, Klein was handcuffed to a small room while the police department sent a man to follow Attorney Jürgen to 15 Minsk Street to extract the letter exhibits.
It was tossed about until late in the evening, when Crane was finally allowed bail in the sum of fifty pounds.
”That’s a lot more expensive than last time, and it’s hard for the average private detective to come up with that kind of cash on short notice.” Exiting the gates of the Hissack police station, Klein gathered up the collar of his tweed coat and grumbled to Attorney Jürgen.
Jürgen still had that professionally square look on his face:
”Last time the circumstances were in your favor, and this time many suspicions point to you.”
As he greeted the hired carriage to a halt, he gave Klein a serious sideways glance:
”Sherlock, I’m your lawyer, and you’d better make some kind of contact with me, even if it’s just eye contact, before you answer the police’s questions.
”Don’t just open your mouth if you don’t think you have a problem with it yourself, it’s easy for an untrained layman to leave a leg up on his words.”
This …… I’ve gotten used to making up my own stories and solving my own problems …… Klein thought back to just now and laughed dryly:
”Good, I will pay attention.”
Without further ado, Jürgen boarded the carriage.
Klein sat down across from him and pondered over the matter of Detective Eisinger Stanton’s attack.
As he thought about it, he suddenly heard his stomach growl.
It was already half an hour past the normal dinner time …… Klein pulled out his gold cased pocket watch and pressed it open to look at it.
He wasn’t going to waste any more energy preparing food, and began to think about which restaurants to look forward to.
At that moment, Jürgen raised his eyelids and said:
”I’ve asked my grandmother to prepare dinner for three.”
”How is that good?” Klein was stunned for a moment, then smiled, “Mrs. Doris’s handiwork is always desirable.”
……
By the time the two men returned to Minsk Street in the Chorwood neighborhood, it was completely dark, and the glow of the gas street lamps was even brighter than the red moon that seemed to be halfway across the sky.
After dawdling over dinner at Lawyer Jürgen’s house and jerking off the cat, Klein paced back through the cold, damp air to the outside of the house at number 15.
He went through the letterbox out of habit and took out a copy of the Birkeland Evening News, which had just been delivered a short time before.
Crane took the paper, opened the door and entered the house, and had just set down his cane when suddenly something didn’t feel right.
His soothsayer psychic intuition told him that a stranger had entered his house!
Was it the police officer who had come earlier to take evidence? Crane looked around warily and suddenly realized that there was a letter sitting on the coffee table.
There should have been only newspapers there!
Klein, always on guard against attack, entered the living room and leaned in close to the coffee table, the whole time the surroundings were quiet and silent, without the slightest abnormality.
Looking down and examining the letter for a few moments, Klein pulled out his black gloves and put them on before picking it up and opening it.
Inside the envelope was a thin piece of letter paper, and after unfolding it, a dark red color was immediately reflected in Klein’s eyes, and the faint smell of blood lingered on the end of his nose.
On top of that letter paper, a line of words was written in coagulated blood:
”You will all die!”
Is this …… really the owner of the Devil Dogs? He was taking revenge on the people involved in getting his men killed? What a bully, why don’t you go directly to the Night Watchman powerhouse in charge of the removal operation? Klein’s heart tightened, instantly flashing through many thoughts.
But he quickly dismissed his complaints. It was the most normal choice for revenge to start with someone who could handle it first, just like how he came to Berkland for a few months and never thought of looking for Ince Zangwill, but chased after Lanlus instead.
After looking around the circle once more, Klein grew to find the whole thing a little confusing:
”To retaliate in such an ostentatious manner, isn’t he afraid of being squatted by official powerhouses? Is this a requirement for his magic potion play?
”Or, because Detective Eisinger Stanton escaped, he knew that he could no longer stealthily remove his targets one by one, and had to do it in a different way, but this way didn’t make much sense either, did it?
”Also, when he was at Detective Stanton’s house, he clearly had me locked down and was watching me at all times, so why didn’t he do it? Would he still be concerned about an ordinary private detective like me?
”No, it’s never possible …… that he knows I’m an Extraordinary? Possibly, I because of the lost side effect of the universal key, and the demonic dog directly met, it has seen my appearance and figure, although at that time I have to do a certain camouflage, but does not know that the ‘demon’ can not see through this ……
”Perhaps, after that incident, it had some way of presenting itself to its master to see ……
”But, I couldn’t even beat the Demon Dog at that time, and could only run away in a mess, so what does he have to be concerned about? Unless, of course, he had other things to be concerned about, such as Eisinger Stanton, who was hiding in the neighborhood due to his injuries?
”He wrote to me very ostentatiously because he thought that I, a wild extraordinary, must not dare to seek official help?”
With his head full of questions Klein examined up the house and made his way to the second floor.
As he opened the door to his bedroom room, another letter jumped into his eyes.
This letter was lying quietly on the desk and seemed to have been waiting for a long time.
Klein picked it up and unsealed it, gently unfolding it to see a line of words outlined in dark red and blood:
”You are next.”
The next …… really arrogant ah …… Klein could not help but sigh twice.
Just then, he suddenly felt something in his heart, raised his head, and looked out the window.
Across the street were several two-story houses, each lit up with lights.
The glow of the gas street lamps reflected on their outer walls, forming an area of interlocking light and darkness.
Suddenly, the shadows within those areas wriggled and twisted, forming a black shadow in a straight tuxedo.
This shadow raised its right hand, compared it to the shape of a gun, and pointed it at Klein.
Immediately, it withdrew its arm and blew on the muzzle of the gun.
Immediately afterward, it fell backward without a sound, turning into a myriad of unconnected shadows.