Part 2 the faceless man chapter 29 baker’s ransom
Early Tuesday morning, Klein, who had slept in, prepared himself two slices of toast, a piece of butter, a side of bacon, and a cup of coffee, and leisurely read the newspaper while he ate his breakfast.
With the dreaded “Tainted Words” spell, he was much more at ease and not as tense as he had been before.
Clattering, Klein finished flipping through the Birkeland Post and picked up the Tasok Gazette, seeing a news item on the second page:
”At two o’clock this morning there was a fierce gun battle on Red Brick Lane in the East End, which, according to the police, may have involved a clash between two gangs, one of which is the notorious Zimanga Party.”
Zimangue Party …… East End Red Brick Lane …… Crane suddenly had an idea and left the table to find a map of Berkland.
With just a glance, he realized that Red Brick Lane was not far from Branham Street, and that Ian Wright used to hang out at the Telegraph Office in Branham Street.
Red Brick Lane was where Ian Wright was hiding? It was the military special services and Intelligence officers from Intis who had the heated confrontation? I wonder how it turned out …… Klein forked up the last of the bacon and put it in his mouth, chewing slowly.
He had only “told” both sides of the situation early yesterday morning, and they had pinpointed Ian’s location that night, which was not too efficient.
Taking a sip of his coffee, Klein put down the newspaper and fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, he heard the doorbell jingling and echoing.
”Who is it?” Klein wiped his mouth with a napkin and walked towards the door suspiciously.
Could it be a new commission? I’ve been out and about for the past few days for Ambassador Intis, I don’t know how many commissions I’ve missed and how many potential clients I’ve lost ……It’s a waste of my advertising money ……If I keep this up, my finances are going to be stretched thin …… Klein associated a lot at once and reached out to open the door to the room.
Outside stood two ladies, one in a morning dress, rather formal Mrs. Sommer, her face painted with exquisite makeup, more delicate than at home, half a point can not be seen has been about thirty, one wearing a wide-brimmed hat hanging down the fine lattice of black veil, the dress is darker in color, more fluffy.
”Detective Moriarty, I have friends who would like your help.” Starling Sommer grasped the gauze hat in her hand, her blue eyes not smiling.
”Come in.” Klein gestured down to the living room area, taking the opportunity to turn around and fasten the top button of his shirt, straightening his black vest.
Starling nodded gently, not saying another word, and led the black veil-covered lady into the room.
She was so familiar with the place that she easily found the couch and sat down without needing to be reminded by Klein.
Klein was about to immediately ask a question, but after thinking about Starling Sommer’s style, he still asked with a smile:
”Coffee, or black tea?”
The Mrs. Sommer in his eyes was a lady who pursued quality of life and wanted to embody superiority at every turn.
”No need.” The other lady removed her wide-brimmed hat with its fine checkered black veil.
Her features were all fine on their own, but the combination was disappointing; besides, her cheekbones were so high that she appeared quite a bit older in appearance than she really was.
A little anger, a little sadness, a little wandering, a little fear …… Klein read the lady’s emotions.
It wasn’t that he suddenly had the ability to be an audience member, it was that the other person was showing it so obviously.
”Yes, neither coffee, nor black tea, can make things right.” Starling studied the pose in the magazine and tried to sit a little more gracefully, “This is Mrs. Mary Gale, she’s a shareholder in the Cowiem Company.”
”Mrs. Gale, what is it you wish to delegate?” Klein sat to the single sofa, leaning forward slightly and resting her arms on her thighs.
”Don’t call me Mrs. Gale, just address me as Mary.” Mary Gale pursed her lips and said, “I want you to follow my husband and confirm if he has a mistress, and it’s best to get substantial evidence.”
Because of the active promotion of the Church of the Goddess of the Night over the years, the Kingdom of Ruen was more radical in its marriage laws than countries such as Forsak, Intis, and Rumburg, stipulating that those who betrayed their marriages would have to pay for it monetarily, which meant that they would be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of property division.
I’ve heard that other private detectives, at least four out of ten commissions are to investigate extramarital affairs …… I didn’t think I’d run into it …… Klein said with deliberation:
”Substantial evidence is not good to take.”
”I’ll start by lending you one of the latest portable cameras.” Mary replied without hesitation, “I will pay you ten pounds for as long as you can get the evidence, or three pounds if it’s simply to make sure there’s no mistress.”
You mean the so-called portable camera that’s two thirds the size of my head?Ten pounds, that’s not a low price …… Klein had been focusing on entrepreneurship lately, and was aware of the latest cameras.
He hesitated for two seconds and said:
”Okay.”
”But you’ll have to provide details of your husband and his activity patterns.”
”…… No problem!” Mary froze for a second, then said as if summoning all her strength.
”Thank you for your help, and I hope you won’t tell anyone about this.” Starling admonished from the side.
Hearing this, Klein sighed instantly and said:
”I’m a very secretive person and often get into trouble for it.”
……
Inside the hall of Count Wolfe’s house, a man and woman danced to the melody played by the violin.
Audrey, carrying a glass of champagne of a pale gold color, “accidentally” bumped into the Ambassador of the Republic of Intis to Rouen, Beclan Jean Madan.
”You are the most beautiful young lady I have ever seen.” The thin-faced, stubbled Beclan kissed Audrey’s white-gloved hand ceremoniously, his gaze warm and bold.
Audrey’s eyes rolled back in her head and she laughed softly:
”Is that Indis’ style of speaking?”
”Yes. We are never stingy with praise for beautiful things.” Beckiron chuckled, “If it wasn’t for the Rune Kingdom’s ethos, I might have called you my angel.”
Old colorful wolf …… Audrey kept her elegant smile and said:
”The Ruins are indeed not quite the same as the Intis.”
”Heh, that reminds me of a joke, allow me to be presumptuous.” Beckiron squeezed his eyes and said, “After a nice moment with a beautiful girl, most Ruin men would say, oh dear, I’d like a cigarette, while most Intis men would say ……”
He paused on purpose, and Audrey cocked her head slightly, stifling her nausea and feigning ignorance as she asked:
”Would say what?”
”Most Intis men would say, oh baby, I gotta get back, can’t let my wife find out.” Beckiron raised his glass and laughed.
”…… People who can laugh at themselves always have extra charm.” Audrey said with a polite light smile.
Her beautiful crystalline turquoise eyes suddenly looked behind Ambassador Beckrand:
”Excuse me, a friend is looking for me.”
”It was a pleasure talking to you.” Beckrand owed his body and stepped aside.
Audrey moved forward at a graceful pace, not looking back again.
Just as she was contemplating who to approach for the subject of her earlier excuse, a young gentleman leaned in close and lowered his voice in warning:
”Audrey, don’t be fooled by that Ambassador Beckland, he’s an old lecher! I don’t know how many ladies he’s tricked into bed.”
Beckrand lusts after beauty? This is consistent with my observations …… It’s a weakness …… Audrey turned her eyes and smiled, not hiding her own dislike:
”Cons, are you misunderstanding me in some way? Goddess, how could I be mesmerized by that Ambassador Beckland? The perfume he sprays irritates me to the point of wanting to vomit, his words are so filthy, and he has the taste of a male peacock.”
Combs was the youngest son of Viscount Leeson, and their family was quite good friends with the Hall family.
From what Audrey understood, Combs had entered MI9 after graduating from Tingen University and had become secretive.
Her original plan was to chat with Ambassador Beckrand for a while, do a close-up observation, and then, under the pretext of annoying the other party, find friends such as Combs who had stepped into the intelligence world to ask for more information, who knew that, without her needing to look for them, Combs Lilson came over on his own and took the initiative to open up a relevant topic.
”There’s nothing wrong with what you’re feeling.” Conce revealed a heartfelt smile, looked around the room, and whispered, “Also, Beckrand is a very dangerous guy.”
”How dangerous?” Audrey asked back with matching curiosity.
”You’ve heard of it, Extraordinary One, right? I know you’ve always been interested in that aspect.” Cons said with deliberation.
Audrey nodded lightly:
”I know quite a bit about it, mostly from what Glorinte told me.”
Cons glanced over at Beclan, who was chatting with a noblewoman, and said with a grave expression:
”He is Intis’s intelligence head in the kingdom, he has done a lot of bad things, but we have not been able to get any useful evidence, he himself belongs to Sequence 6, ‘Conspirator’.”
He didn’t go into too much detail with Audrey, the outsider, and didn’t mention that “conspirator” belonged to the “hunter” pathway.
However, Audrey had already known about this and exclaimed with feigned naivety:
”He’s amazing!”
”He secretly also has an assistant who may have reached Sequence 5, in addition, all of Intis’s intelligence personnel in the kingdom are under his management, and there are quite a few extraordinary people in them, but unfortunately, we only have a few of them at the moment ……” Combs slightly mentioned. “Don’t be happy even if Beclan praises you, it’s not what he really thinks, he just wants to use it to get more information.”
That’s not so much what I like to hear from you …… Audrey glanced upwards at the ornate chandelier and thought for a few seconds:
”Is Beckiron smart? You’ve never gotten proof of him ……”
”He’s really good at plotting conspiracies, but he’s also got quite a few problems, likes to chase ladies, loves the romance, takes risks and is quite aggressive in his actions, and if it wasn’t for the ambassador’s status preventing many of our operations from getting underway, he’d have been caught a long time ago.” Cons skimmed his mouth and said, “But he’ll be replaced, soon.”
”Why?” Audrey asked back in surprise.
”My dear beautiful lady, that’s not something you should know.” Combs held fast to the principle of secrecy.
By the time the ball drew to a close, Audrey, who had gathered a lot more information, approached Viscount Graylingt and asked him to help contact Hugh and Forsyth.