Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 33 Strange Omens
Alan and Talim each filled out their referral forms and left the Kraig Club, it wasn’t the weekend and they had two surgeries in one afternoon and one had to go and teach Viscount Conard’s young son horsemanship, making sure that the newly-adulted other wouldn’t be disgraced by it for the second half of the Birkeland socializing season.
Klein had watched several trips back and forth between the manservant in the red vest and the beautifully clad lady-in-waiting before finally waiting for his own proof of membership and a badge inscribed with the symbol of the constellation of the White Frost.
”Entrance fee £50, three and a half months left in the year, annual fee £4.” The manservant in the red vest pushed the two items in front of Klein.
Klein took out the 57 pounds in cash that Mary Gale had given him and counted out 54 pounds to the other man.
The amount on top of the dues and annual fee was the first payment Mary had given, and she was very pleased with how quickly Klein had figured out who Doragh Gale’s mistress was and taken the picture.
Fifty pounds for the dues …… Lady Mary is such a generous lady! As Klein watched the footman and maid verify the authenticity of the bill and confirm the exact amount, he thought about Starling Sommer’s private introduction:
Mary’s father was the co-founder of the Cowim Company, occupying twenty percent of the shares, originally it was just a small company that could barely make a little money, but as the pollution situation in Berkland increased and the demand for anthracite coal and charcoal became more, the Cowim Company rapidly expanded and grew, becoming a large company that could be ranked in the top ten within the industry in the capital region, and Mary’s fortune skyrocketed with it.
The only problem was that when she married Doragh Gale, the company was still in its infamous stage, and her father didn’t care much about giving her shares as a dowry, and instead of making a “gift of property for protection,” he used the more popular “testamentary gift” of today. The former is where the dowry is treated as a separate property.
The former means that the dowry exists as an independent, separate property of the woman, with ownership not belonging to the man, and even the right to use it depends on the mood of the woman, while the latter means that the dowry belongs to the entire family, but the man must make a valid will promising that when he dies before his partner, he will give priority to paying his wife’s rights and interests in the division of his leftover property to the extent of two to four times the dowry, and then follow the normal inheritance laws, which can effectively guarantee the widow’s livelihood.
If Mary had sued for divorce before she had evidence of Dorag’s betrayal of the marriage, the shares in the Cowiem Company would have been divided equally between the two parties.
Crane remembered Starling saying enviously at the time:
”This share alone is currently worth close to twenty thousand gold pounds, plus some other properties, Mary is a truly wealthy lady, and once divorced, she will definitely become the object of many men’s pursuit in Berkland, which will even include certain nobles.”
This amount of money is just enough for Ms. “Justice” to assassinate Ambassador Beckland twice …… Klein suddenly linked up and saw the red vested manservant and the not so bad looking maid saluting herself:
”Mr. Moriarty, welcome to the Krag Club.”
It was only after hearing these words that Klein picked up the membership certificate and the White Frost badge in front of him.
The former was made of very flexible stiff paper, as if it was a card, on which was written Klein’s name and the date of membership.
With the imprint of his index finger, this proof of membership was officially ready for use.
The latter was the distinctive badge of the Krag Club, so called because it was founded at the beginning of November, corresponding to the sign of the White Frost, with the symbol and the number “192” on the obverse, and on the reverse the inscription “Sherlock Moriarty.”
”The club has 192 members now?” Klein asked casually.
”Yes, our club does not accept people without recommendations.” The red vested manservant introduced with a big smile, “On the first floor, there is a cafeteria, bar, library, squash room, conference room, card room, which you can use free of charge, and the food and drinks can be tasted free of charge, and on the second floor, there are 16 lounges, and two small conference halls, which are also free of charge, and you can use them as long as they are available.”
The good-looking maid pointed to the rear:
”There are two tennis courts on the lawn, completely free of charge, and two shooting practice ranges on the ground floor, for which you pay only the price of the equipment rental.”
”If you are not satisfied with the simple buffet, you can order your own food, we have an exclusive chef, you only need to pay for the materials.”
Inclusive food, inclusive housing, inclusive play …… is worthy of being a high end club …… Klein thanked Mrs. Mary from the bottom of his heart.
He smiled gently and said:
”You guys send one of you to lead me around, familiarize yourself with the environment, and then give me a lounge to nap in.”
”Okay.” The red vested manservant made a please gesture.
After familiarizing himself with the surroundings of the Krag Club, Klein entered the lounge and carefully studied the layout of the place, finding that it was close to a hotel room in the latter days, which was said to be in the Intis style.
Got to think about how to get the Doragu affair evidence thing tomorrow, that camera flash is just impossible to hide …… That means there’s only a chance of one photo …… And getting it that way is a sure way to get expelled from the club …… Gotta think of a sure thing …… Go through the papers later and try to determine which three days to protect by judging the progress of the Ian affair from the news …… Klein paced back and forth and into thought.
At this moment, he suddenly palpitated, the whole person suddenly became tense.
Is this a premonition of the Joker? But there is no picture in his mind,…… Klein only felt that the air around him became stagnant, there is a storm brewing.
Soon, the feeling disappeared, as if nothing had happened.
Could it be that there is an impending danger? However, when I was attacked by Meursault before, there was no similar situation ah …… Klein was puzzled and pulled out a coin to divine whether he would be attacked in the last few days.
The answer was no.
After a few seconds of thought, Klein drew the curtains together, pretended to take a nap, and took four steps against the grain into the gray mist above.
He sat down, considered for a long time, and whispered silently:
”I will be in great danger in the last few days.”
……
In the repeated chanting, he flicked the coin again and saw the brass-colored thing tumble down and land in his spread palm.
This time, the king’s head was facing up!
This indicated certainty!
My reaction just now really was a harbinger of impending danger …… Klein narrowed his eyes slightly and leaned back in his chair.
He was quite puzzled by this.
Neither the Diviner nor the Joker had ever shown similar abilities before, and even if they could foresee danger, it was because the target was right in front of them, right next to them!
There is no one near me …… judging from the fact that my divination results were interfered with and misdirected, this matter must involve a higher serialist, and it is very likely that Beckland’s assistant …… results, in turn, inspired my precognition? This is not scientific, er, this is not occult …… There must be some other factors hidden in here, just that I can t figure it out at the moment …… Klein looked around, only to see the gray fog infinite, the crimson stillness, and the palace standing as if it were unchanging for eternity.
He collected his doubts and stopped thinking about why for the moment, focusing his attention on the impending attack.
After several more sessions of divination, Klein realized that he could only confirm that the last few days would be extremely dangerous, and could not shorten it to three days, two days, or five hours.
In other words, he could only get more vague revelations.
And in the dream divination, he saw Ian, Ian in his old overcoat, standing in the street with elegant gas streetlights and a blurry red moon behind him.
There was nothing but this image.
”How on earth is this to be interpreted?” Klein thought for a while, and could only assume that it was a prelude to danger.
Without further delay, he immediately returned to the real world, left the Kraig Club, and rushed to the nearby Hilston branch of the Bank of Beckland to withdraw the remaining 100 gold pounds in his account – the 1,000 pounds given by “Justice” had not yet passed through the liquidation and reconciliation, and the corresponding The 1000 pounds given by “justice” has not yet been cleared and reconciled, the corresponding information has not yet been sent down, the account situation has not been synchronized, theoretically, there is a loophole, that is, Klein can withdraw 100 pounds, and then withdraw it again in another branch, to catch the account out of synchronization of the time difference.
But this is only theoretically, in order to avoid similar behavior, each bank has a number of provisions for bearer accounts, one is to strengthen the transmission of similar messages between the same city, the second is to limit the amount of a single withdrawal, the maximum of not more than 500 pounds, the third is the last time the withdrawal record is not in the local area, you must send a telegram to ask, Klein today encountered the third situation.
Collecting the bills, he took the carriage to the Birkeland Bridge area and entered the Bravehearts pub.
Led by Kaspers, he saw Maric sitting in the card room, the other man still empty, no walkers clustered around him.
Crane put away the idea of wrapping the Aztec copper whistle in spirit and slapped the £100 bill onto the table, addressing the pale Maric:
”I agree to the deal.”
”I’ll pay 100 pounds up front and another 300 pounds for each day of protection after that.”
”Protection begins now!”
Marich’s gaze crossed to look behind him and nodded slightly:
”Okay, she promised.”
Huh? Klein looked back in shock, seeing only the door panel and the air.
He silently turned on his psychic vision, but still found nothing.
Maric pocketed the hundred pounds and said indifferently:
”You can go back, she’s already protecting you, in a covert way.”
If I hadn t divined in advance, I would have thought you guys were liars …… Klein looked around from side to side and made a show of biting his teeth and leaving.
Along the way, he turned his psychic vision on and off, constantly looking out of the car window, but still couldn’t find his so-called bodyguard.
Back at 15 Minsk Street, Klein closed the door to his room and entered the washroom, unscrewing the faucet and washing his hands.
As the clatter died down, he shook off the dripping water, wiped his palms on a towel, and looked up into the washroom mirror to examine his current appearance.
Just then, he saw himself in the mirror suddenly sway and change into a woman in a long black court dress.
The woman had light blonde hair and azure eyes, her features were quite delicate, but her face was unusually pale.
She wore a small black fedora, lifted the hem of her skirt, slightly yawned her body, and bowed to Klein.
This …… Klein did not hide his surprise and deliberately fell back a few steps against the wall.
He had just woken up to the fact that this was probably the bodyguard he had hired with 1,000 pounds.
The image in the mirror quickly dimmed, Klein saw himself again, and everything returned to normal.