Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 67 The First Steps
East End, in a corner.
A drunken Gene was facing the wall, with his pants down, comfortably nourishing the moss.
By the time he was done with his problem, there was a sudden tap on his shoulder.
Gene shivered a couple of times and, holding up his pants, half-turned his body to see a short boy in a canvas jacket and cap.
The “boy” lifted his head, revealing a soft, delicate, if dirty, face.
”Hugh? Why are you dressed like that?” Gene blurted out in shock.
Hugh raised his forefinger and held it against his lips, signaling the other woman to be silent.
Immediately afterward, she suppressed her voice:
”I ask and you answer, keep your voice down.”
Intimidated by the majesty, Gene was reduced to the idea of nodding.
”Of the guys Williams knew, who else has died in the last two days?” Hugh asked in a hushed voice.
Gene said after a moment of careful recollection with his alcohol-paralyzed brain:
”Gavin! Gavin was found drowned in the Tassock River this morning!”
”He must have fallen in last night; the poor fellow knew absolutely nothing about swimming, and liked to go to the river and blow off steam when he was drunk.”
Hugh’s eyes sharpened suddenly, and without thinking he pursued the question:
”Did Gavin accept a commission from Williams to search for the wanted man Lanlus?”
”Of course, we all got this commission from Williams, anyway, anyway, it’s not like it’s any trouble, we just need to show the portrait to all the people we know, and ask them to keep an eye out for any similar guys, that’s all, oh, Williams, and he said, and he said, if there’s any clues, he’ll buy me three days’ worth of booze and meat! The poor guy, he died in a gas explosion, so, so I was adamant about not letting the landlord put in a gas line! Uh …… that was months ago, and I can only afford cheap hotels now.” Gene rambled on.
”What area is Gavin in charge of? Did he mention anything to you?” Hugh asked as he glanced sideways to the side, pursed his lips, and then whirled around to stare at Gene’s face.
”He, he usually goes near the East Byron Dockyard in the docklands, and he met with me yesterday evening and said he went to the Workers’ Union Tavern there to spread the word about the search for Lanlus and showed the portrait of Lanlus to those who were there.” Gene said with a belch.
There were a number of docks in Berkland and most of them were zoned for the docklands and named variously ‘Dockyards’.
”And after that? Did Gavin say what he was going to do after that?” Hugh asked again, frowning in confusion.
”Drinking, of course! He intends to have a good drink and then find a place to sleep! Oh, the poor fellow must have gotten so hot from drinking that he wanted to take a bath in the river and forgot he couldn’t swim, and it’s almost winter!” Again Gene uttered a lamentable contumely.
This …… Gavin didn’t find out anything, just went to the Workers’ Union Tavern in East Byron Dockyard to distribute “flyers” looking for Llanerus, and was killed, and implicated Williams…. …the murderer’s reaction can’t be described as overreaction, it’s madness. ……
If I were Lanlus, the best and easiest choice would be to immediately change places and avoid the search, unless, unless he’s caught up in something and won’t be able to get out of it for a long time …… But it’s not like I’m the only one who’s looking for him, there’s a lot of bounty hunters too… Can he kill Williams, can he kill that many people? If he had the ability, he would go and kill the Severus Field that issued the wanted notice cleanly!
Hugh found herself completely unable to understand this matter, just as she had difficulty accepting Williams’ death.
In the end, she decided to report the encounter to Miss Audrey first, and then went in disguise to the Workers’ Union Tavern at the East Byron Dockyard, not to ask questions, but just to observe and see if there were any suspicious people.
……
Jorwood District, Rice Police Precinct.
Once again, Klein was crammed onto a bench with a backrest with the thieving drunks.
What bad luck …… to have encountered a police prowl and not be able to change his route in time, I blame that damn serial killer! Klein cursed some guy while thinking about how to hide the charms and unexplainable herbal powders on his body from the ensuing search.
He tried to put it all in a black glove and find a way to stuff it into a hidden part of this police precinct and retrieve it when he left.
Just then, his eyes lit up as he saw Jürgen Cooper, a young lawyer with neatly back-combed hair and dressed formally as if he were going to a party, approaching, accompanied by a police officer.
”You go and sign the papers and you can go.” Jürgen said with his usual serious and proper expression.
”That will do?” Klein asked back in surprise.
Jürgen nodded slightly:
”Yes, they know you are a well-known detective.”
What kind of reason was this? Klein didn’t dare to ask more questions, and instantly got up, followed behind Jürgen who wore a long black tweed dress, and signed out the door unhurriedly and unhurriedly.
Unlike the weather when he was last led out of the police station by the other party, there was no overcast rain at this time, only thick clouds obscuring the red moon and stars, and the streets were all illuminated by the gas street lamps on both sides.
”Thank you so much! Once again, I’ve bothered you!” Klein took two quick steps to Jürgen’s side.
Jürgen looked at him with a sideways glance without smiling and said:
”No need to be thankful, it’s my profession.”
”Two pounds.”
”……” Klein said with a smile as he gave the other man a serious look, “Okay.”
His wallet was bulging these days, and he instantly produced two bills of one pound denomination.
Jürgen was not polite and took the payment saying:
”If you’re willing to establish a formal partnership, then every time you come to the police station after that, I’ll only charge £1. Of course, this doesn’t include the serious kind of cases, and you have to understand that a large portion of the fees I collect will have to be turned over to the firm.”
Spoken like I’ll be invited to the police station for tea on a regular basis from now on …… Bah, they don’t give tea at all, not even a glass of water! Before Klein could reply, he heard Attorney Jürgen add:
”For a private detective, going in and out of the police station is something that happens every once in a while and is an occupational trait.”
”Well, I’m well aware that every private investigator has problems with illegal gun possession and trespassing on other people’s homes.”
”You responded very well this time, the police couldn’t find enough evidence to prove that you were illegally carrying a gun, and the explanation that you had a gunpowder reaction on your person was quite adequate, and the name of the Kraig Club was enough to win them over, otherwise you’d probably have had to make a trip to the magistrates’ court.”
”So you’re not a suspect, but a good citizen who found a firearm and voluntarily handed it in without being frisked and checked again.”
Okay …… but I lost a revolver and the corresponding bullets, a couple of pounds, and legal fees …… Klein squeezed out a smile:
”I see, Counselor Jürgen, let’s establish a formal partnership.”
Jürgen pulled the corner of his mouth and reached out with a very professional smile:
”Happy cooperation.”
”I sincerely hope that I will rarely see you at the police station.”
It’s not for me to decide. …… Klein smiled to himself.
……
Back at 15 Minsk Street, Klein eased himself into a hot bath.
But just then, he once again heard the disembodied cascade of prayers, vaguely coming from a female.
”Ms. Justice? A clue to what happened to Lanius this time? Klein sprang up from the tub, quickly dried himself, donned his clothes, and simply entered the gray mist above.
Looking up at the expanding and contracting crimson star, he spread his aura and chose to listen:
”O Fool who does not belong to this age ……”
”Dear Mr. Fool, there’s a problem with Llanerus’ investigation ……”
For some reason, “Justice”, who was wearing a white coat, told the story of the explosion on Dharavi Street in the East End and Gavin’s drowning.
As a “mind reader” who had already started, she did not add her own guesses so as not to influence Mr. “Fool”‘s judgment.
After listening carefully, Klein frowned, feeling that the murderer had overreacted to the point of being unimaginable.
This is different from the “Hurricane General” Zylingus, Llanerus as a fraudster, found the wind blowing, immediately moved to the place is the professional instinct, he has no reason to reverse the pursuit and kill those who are looking for him.
By that standard, eighty percent of the bounty hunters in the East End would have to be dead, and that would cause a stir that would get the case taken over by the Night Watch, the Substitute Punishers, or the Mechanical Heart Squad!
Hmmm …… Llanerus is going crazy from the benefits of the ritual of praying to the “True Creator” to send down an heir? This is very much in the style of the Real Creator …… But the problem is that it’s hard for a madman to hide himself, except potentially …… Klein was lost in thought and didn’t rush to respond! “Ms. Justice.
He had read the newspaper and knew about the explosion, so he used dream divination to recall the specifics.
Immediately afterward, he wrote down a new divination statement:
”Clues to the Dalloway Street bombing.”
In the midst of his silent recitation, he leaned back in his chair, entered the dream world, and saw a three-story gray and blue apartment.
There were rooms on the third floor of that apartment that had lost their windows and collapsed half of their walls, covered in the remnants of the explosion.
The image quickly shattered and Klein awoke, tapping his fingers on the edge of the long table and muttering silently to himself:
”The clue is at the scene of the crime?”
”…… This revelation could also mean that the killer is still staring at the crime scene, trying to solve the people who came to probe the matter.”
”Well …… that gives him a chance to find the person who recently issued the Ranelus bounty.”
”I’ll go over there in disguise and take a turn, not enter the crime scene, just go around and see if I can spot the murderer, he’s bound to have some connection even if he’s not Ranulph, he can use it to find Ranulph.”
”But he must be hiding, how do I find him without attracting his attention?”
In a flash of thought, Klein’s gaze went to the all-black eye on the bronze table, a remarkable feature left behind by the “Master of Secret Puppets” Rosago.
In the real world, I can’t use this item to manipulate those strange threads because of the residual mental pollution from the real Creator, and contact beyond a certain limit will bring irreversible damage, but if I only use it for a short period of time, to find the hidden person through the threads, I can still withstand it, just like I used it to make sure that the bodyguard lady had left or not… …Klein narrowed his eyes and removed the Spirit Pendulum, making a divination of the dangers of this trip.
The answer was yes, but it didn’t spin much, not fast enough.
”Acceptable ……” Klein was silent for a few seconds and returned to the real world.
Then, summoning himself in the same way he had summoned himself, he put the all-black eye into an iron cigarette case and took it back to his bedroom.
Changing his clothes and putting on a beard, the well-prepared Klein went to the dressing mirror and examined his current self.
The faint smell of books had been completely covered by a full beard, while the brown eyes seemed like ancient pools of water, which seemed to be hiding and sealing something deep.
Compared to what he would have been in Tingen City, Klein was close to not recognizing himself.
Stretching his fingers one by one and clenching them into fists, he looked into the mirror and spoke in a low, husky voice:
”Captain, this is the first step toward your revenge for me.”
Before the words left his mouth, he saw himself in the mirror grinning a wide smile.