Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 225 The Invitation
”The Crown ……,” Klein muttered silently to himself as he held the letter Eisinger Stanton had sent.
He looked up to see the overcast rain dripping down outside his window, and the gas streetlamps emitting ring after ring of quiet glow.
Within the living room, the coffee table was neat, a few stacks of newspapers lay in one corner, and there was no sound around.
Klein sat on the couch, leaning forward slightly, and was silent for a long time.
After nearly ten minutes, he exhaled a cloudy breath, shook his head, and threw the letter in his hand into the trash can with a slow but heavy movement.
He slowly stood up and rowed towards the second floor without expression.
The letter from Eisinger Stanton inside the trash can silently caught fire and quickly curled up into blackened ashes.
……
On Monday morning, Klein stood in front of the wash mirror and pressed his right thumb and middle finger to each side of his temples and rubbed them slightly harder.
That done, he unscrewed the faucet, buried his body, cupped the cold tap water and splashed it on his face, finishing washing his face in a shiver.
Refreshed, he hung up his towel and walked to the first floor, simply fixing a one-sided cooked omelette with buttered toast.
Of course, a cup of black tea with a few lemon slices quenched his thirst as well as the grease.
Finishing his breakfast and leisurely flipping through the rest of the newspaper, Klein suddenly heard the doorbell jingle.
”Who? A new commission? Could it be that ‘Mechanical Heart’ has already finished exploring the Amon family’s tomb? No, not so soon ……” Klein made a mutter, put away his napkin and newspaper, and walked slowly towards the front door.
As he gripped the handle, a natural image of the visitor at the door came to his mind:
It was a meticulously dressed middle-aged gentleman, his shirt snow white and straight, his thick gray-blue vest perfectly tucked in his stomach, and his long tuxedo with sharp lines and not a single blemish.
The gentleman wore a pair of shiny leather shoes that showed no signs of having walked through rain and mud.
He wore a pair of white wire-knit gloves, a few strands of silver hair laced at the temples, deep lines of decree on his face, and light brown eyes so serious that they held no hint of a smile.
Not recognizing …… Klein muttered and opened the door to the room.
”Excuse me, who are you looking for?” He asked politely.
The middle-aged gentleman took off his hat, pressed it to his chest, and saluted with the most standard gesture:
”I am a butler, in place of my master, to invite you, Mr. Sherlock Moriarty.”
”Do I know your master? What business does he seek me out for?” Klein was simply filled with fog.
But by this time, he had noticed a carriage parked on the opposite side of the concrete road, with a dark, thick shell and curtains fitted on the inside of the windows, which were not ordinary goods at first glance.
Understated with luxury …… Klein gazed at it and suddenly realized that there was a coat of arms in a conspicuous position on the carriage.
The main body of the coat of arms is a vertical downward sword, the hilt of the sword has a red crown.
This …… “Sword of Judgment”…… represents the royal Augustus family’s “Sword of Judgment”! Klein’s heart was in awe, and he roughly understood the butler’s origin.
Perhaps he is also a more powerful extraordinary person …… Klein made a guess in his heart.
The professional and strict butler did not care about his scrutiny and revealed a polite smile and said:
”You and my master have not met, but should be called acquaintances, and you have been providing him with clues about that organization symbolized by the tarot cards, and he has paid the money you needed.”
Sure enough, it’s that big shot Talim mentioned, I’ve been cheating the funds with plausible false information, and even passed on the expenses that needed to be reimbursed at Old Kohler’s place …… It’s not good to turn down the other party’s invitation, ah, especially since Talim is dead …… Klein pondered for two seconds and said:
”Your master asked me to go over there because of Talim’s death?”
”Yes, Talim was his friend and he was saddened and perplexed by his death, and he heard that you were there.” The old butler sputtered clearly.
No, I wasn’t …… Klein subconsciously tried to deny it, but in the end he could only nod:
”Yes, I watched Talim die in front of me.”
”What a sad and regrettable thing.” The old butler said in a sincere tone, “Will you accept my master’s invitation?”
Is there any reason for me to refuse? That would look very suspicious! Maybe you will be grilled on the spot …… Klein looked at the other party and said:
”I happen to have nothing to do in the morning.”
”Yes, Mr. Moriarty, please.” The old butler bent slightly and extended his white-gloved right palm, pointing to the carriage across the concrete road.
Hey, I have been avoiding contact with big people, but it still turned out that because of Talim’s death I had to face the one behind him …… I also don’t know if this will attract attention or more and more in-depth background investigations …… I have to make a good plan in advance, and I’m always ready to give up this The stronghold of this identity …… Also, as soon as possible to get the characteristics of the human skin ghost shadow and the hair of the deep sea Naga, as soon as possible to promote to the “faceless man”! That way, my ability to resist risk will be doubled! Klein changed into his jacket, put on his hat, and walked towards the carriage with the royal coat of arms, but he had already thought of some things to follow.
At that moment, the servant carried by the old butler opened the door of the carriage for him.
Stepping on the thick brownish-yellow carpet and looking at the wooden cabinets storing red wine, white wine, champagne, Ranzi, Black Rand and a crystal-polished glass, Klein was a bit constrained for a moment and found a seat by the window.
–Ranch refers to pure malt distilled spirits, there are many kinds, such as the sailors favorite “strong Ranch”, and the bottles in the cabinet are obviously high-grade goods, as for the black Rand, refers to the mixture of other grain fermentation of strong distilled spirits, and Ranch, are the same as Ranch, belong to the special characteristics of Rouen, the same as Ranch. Like Rangie, it was a Ruin specialty.
Watching the carriage drive through the wet streets, Klein casually asked:
”To Queens?”
”No, my master is waiting for you at the Red Rose Manor on the outskirts of Queens.” The old butler didn’t hide it.
It seems to be a royal estate …… Klein thought about it and asked again with a smile:
”Can you tell me the identity of your master now?”
The old butler’s already straight back became more and more straight, and his chin lifted somewhat:
”He is a descendant of the ‘Founders’, the ‘Protectors’, a descendant of the ‘Strong’, the fifth child of His Majesty the King, the Rustin Earl, His Royal Highness Prince Edzak Augustus.”
So it was the third prince, the penultimate youngest one, but it seemed to be twenty-two or twenty-two years old …… Klein recalled what he had seen at the Krag Club and the occasional descriptions that had appeared in newspapers and magazines.
The carriage drove through a street, circled around from the area with the artificial lake to the northwest direction, and spent more than an hour before finally arriving at a manor that covered an extremely large area.
At the entrance of the manor, Klein was inspected by two soldiers wearing white pants and red uniforms, and did not hide the presence of his underarm gun pouch and revolver.
He believed that there were definitely people around Prince Edesak who could tell that he was carrying a gun, and trying to rely on illusions to deceive him would easily turn out to be a mistake.
Anyway, the prince knows that I am a private detective, and his men will surely not twist guests to the police station …… just because I am illegally carrying a gun Klein watched as the soldiers took the gun pouch and the revolver and was told to collect them when he came out.
After two more checks, Klein followed the old butler around the main house to a wide area with hills and water running through it.
The only drawback here was that the grass and trees had long since withered from the long winter and were barren.
Da, da, da, a couple of horses came galloping up from the distance and stopped in front of them.
A young man in white pants, tall black boots, slim shirt and dark rider’s uniform deftly dismounted and approached, with the rest of the group following close beside him.
He removed the helmeted hat that protected his head and smiled at Klein:
”At last I see you, Detective Moriarty.”
At the sight of him, Klein had a flash of light, not because of how handsome he looked, but because he resembled Henry Augustus I as printed on the five pound bill.
Edzak Augustus had the same round face and narrow eyes, but was not at all serious, but on the contrary always smiling, young and energetic.
”I did not realize before that it was you, Your Royal Highness, who commissioned me.” Klein bent down and bowed.
Edzak took the horsewhip, weighed it in his palm, and laughed:
”I heard about the important role you played in the two cases of ‘Serial Killer’ and ‘Apostle of Desire’, Talim’s recommendation was indeed good, ai, who would have thought that he who was racing with me a few days ago would just leave the the world of man, heading for the land of storms and lightning.”
Since the founding of the country, the Augustus family has always believed in the “Lord of Storms”.
Without waiting for Klein to answer, he sank his expression and said:
”The investigation of Talim’s death did not go through me, Mr. Moriarty, I hope you can help me find out the truth.”
The conclusion given by the rest of the royal family? Your two older brothers? Right off the bat, this level of dumping, I can’t take it …… And, Your Royal Highness, your style is so direct …… Klein sighed:
”Although it’s unfortunate, I still want to say that Talim died because of a sudden heart attack.”
”Is that so? There’s news from the ‘vicarious punisher’ side that a certain great detective named Sherlock Moriarty identified Talim’s body with traces of a curse.” Prince Edzak let out a light laugh.
Klein could only respond with a bitter smile:
”Your Highness, you should know my principle, I still want to live another fifty years.”
”Isn’t Talim your friend?” Prince Edzak immediately asked back.
Klein was at a loss as to how to answer, when suddenly a maid came from the main house, approached the prince with a quick step, and lowered her voice to say a few words.
Edesac instantly scowled:
”Tell her not to go out!”
After saying this, he paced two steps, his serious expression easing, his blue eyes softening and helpless:
”But I will allow her to leave the room and walk around the manor as she pleases.”