Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 70 The Dock Union
Hugh had been in the bounty hunter business for a long time, and many things didn’t need to go through her head, and she could directly respond subconsciously.
As soon as she saw that the customer who came in was close to two meters tall, she instinctively lowered her head, and continued to eat pork sausage and French fries as if nothing had happened.
The food entered her mouth, but Hugh couldn’t taste any flavor, so she endured for a few tens of seconds before slowly raising her head and pretending to look around casually.
Quickly, she saw the same customer who had just come in sitting at the bar, waiting for his drink and lunch.
Soft, slightly curly, pale yellow hair, beastly dark brown eyes, slightly drooping mouth, withdrawn and menacing aura …… A single detail was reflected in Hugh’s pupils, gradually overlapping with the image within her mind.
It was him!
It was the suspected murderer!
The murderer of Williams!
Once again, Hugh buried her head down and slowly stuffed the remaining food into her mouth.
After several minutes, she placed her plate, along with her glass, on the bar, and then left the Workers’ Union Tavern without looking back.
–Because her boots were much padded, she effectively concealed her most obvious features.
Once outside, Hugh slowed her pace and found a secluded spot close by, watching the people entering and leaving the tavern.
After waiting for a while, she finally spotted an acquaintance, Burton, a skilled laborer who lived in the East End and worked at the East Byron Dockyard.
The young man liked to treat himself to a glass of poor quality rye ale at noon or in the afternoon, which was all he could afford on his salary, and not every day.
Hugh leaped forward with a quick movement, tapped Burton on the shoulder, and lowered his voice:
”It’s me, Hugh.”
”Hugh?” Burton looked up and down at the short man behind him and almost didn’t recognize him as Hugh Dilcha, the famous “Arbiter” of certain streets in the East End.
”I have something to ask you.” Hugh pointed to the corner next to him.
Burton followed suspiciously, and only when he reached the seclusion did something dawn on him:
”You’re on a bounty mission?”
He had heard that Hugh was also a bounty hunter.
”Uh-huh.” Hugh nodded perfunctorily, pulled out five one-penny copper coins, tossed them around and said, “Do you know that very tall man at the tavern?”
”You mean the one that’s this tall, with pale yellow hair, and very mean?” Burton gestured.
”Yes.” Hugh whirled out the folded portrait and unfolded it, “You must be perfectly sure.”
”That’s him, he’s been coming over to this side of the tavern a lot for the last two or three months, not that I’ve seen him before, he’s mean, he’s not at all reasonable, he fights very well, you’d better not mess with him.” Burton took a few careful glances at the portrait, and gave a sincere word of advice.
Well, when I saw that man just now, it was like meeting a fierce beast when I was a child, and there was a feeling that he was very dangerous, not a match, and must be avoided …… at once Hugh secretly exhaled and inquired:
”Do you know what kind of people he has close contact with?”
”I don’t know, he’s very out of touch, rarely speaks, no one is even sure what his name is, we gave him a nickname ourselves, it’s called ‘Giant’.” Burton bristled and shook his head.
Hugh thoughtfully asked again:
”Where else did you meet him besides the tavern?”
”You can go and ask your friends the same question, and remember, it must be friends you trust enough.”
Burton reminisced:
”When I go to the Dock Union on business, well, just at the Dock Union at East Byron Dockyard, I see him around once in a while, Hugh, and why aren’t you a union man? You’re so fair, and those guys not only charge us 1.5 soules a week in dues, but when there’s a strike at another dockyard and we have to feed our families, they’ll make us give up half our paychecks!”
”Lord, let it all go, we have to help each other out for a good living, but they just organized a strike and turned around and agreed with the lawyers sent by the rich guys, and our situation isn’t getting any better at all!”
”Stop, stop.” Hugh pressed his right palm and said, “Other than that, you haven’t seen that ‘giant’ anywhere else?”
”No, and neither, I suppose, have my friends; after all, we often discuss him in private.” Burton gave his answer in a very positive tone.
Without further ado, Hugh gave the five copper pennies to the other:
”Buy you a drink.”
”You must tell no one what I have just asked; it will be very dangerous.”
Before the words were out of her mouth, she had turned and walked out of the corner toward the dock union at the East Byron Dockyard.
Ten minutes or so later Hugh saw the little two-story yellow building.
She put the canvas jacket she was wearing on backwards, revealing the patches inside, transforming herself instantly from short laborer to hobo.
Glancing over at the hobos huddled on the corner, Hugh pinched her nose and went over to sit with them, while her eyes intermittently swept across to the dockworkers’ union across the street-where people were coming in and out.
Time passed, and Hugh endured the cold wind, the harsh conditions, and persevered in observing the state of the dockworkers’ union and the surrounding area.
She remembered vividly Williams’ persistence in drinking, and even more so the mood she had felt that day when she had seen the paper.
That mood made her more patient than ever.
At that moment, seven or eight men came out of the dock union, heading in groups to the café across the street for lunch.
Hugh narrowed his eyes and scanned each passerby carefully to confirm their looks.
There were no suspicious people …… Hugh was ready to withdraw his sight and wait for the next batch.
Creaking, the door to the café was pulled open, the heat inside rushing violently outward, and a man couldn’t help but remove his gold-rimmed glasses and wipe the fog with his cuff.
Hugh glanced at them casually, and his gaze suddenly froze:
Those eyes!
That mouth!
The image of the man who always held a mocking smile!
Langlois? Hugh turned back sharply, not daring to look again.
The man’s complexion was bronze, his hair short and thick, his face angular, so different from the portrait that only those eyes and the corners of his mouth gave her a sense of familiarity.
A feeling that taunted everyone!
Was it Lanlus? Could it be Llanerus? Hugh buried his head and gazed at the flagstones of the street.
……
Sommer’s house.
After a hearty lunch, the hosts and guests gathered in the living room to chat and agree to play Texas together later.
Some interesting rumors and funny stories echoed intermittently, and Klein kept a smile on his face, interjecting a few words every now and then, and seeing the two children of the Sommer family come and go in and out of the house in a lively manner.
And beside him, Jürgen Cooper still had a serious and proper expression on his face, offering the occasional legal opinion to the discussion.
Klein smiled, turned his body slightly sideways, and lowered his voice to ask:
”Do you get bored?”
”No, they have interesting topics.” Jürgen nodded seriously.
Klein was stunned, and offhandedly asked again:
”Then why don’t you laugh?”
Jürgen frowned slightly and looked at him quizzically, saying:
”Why should I smile?”
”……” The corners of Klein’s mouth twitched, and he didn’t really know how to respond.
He was about to make a joke about how much the other man resembled his cat Brody, ever so serious, when the sound of illusory cascading prayers suddenly rang in his ears.
Women …… Ms. “Justice” found useful information so quickly based on the clues I provided? Klein stood up and owed a slight bow:
”I’ll go to the washroom.”
Entering the washroom, Klein unlocked the door to his housing and took four steps against the grain, entering above the gray mist.
His judgment was very accurate, the prayers came from Ms. Justice.
Suddenly tense, half expectant, half grave, Klein spread his spirituality and listened to the other’s words.
After the customary honorifics, Justice described it truthfully:
”They found the lead you provided at the Workers’ Union Tavern in the East Byron Dockyard in the Docklands, where the other party is nicknamed ‘The Giant’.”
”Tracking the ‘Giant’s’ frequenting pattern, they found another suspected Llanerus in the Dockworkers’ Union in East Byron Dockyard, but were unable to identify him.”
”The women did not dare to contact Lanlus for the time being, as the ‘giants’ were powerful and dangerous, and could only continue to wait for an opportunity.”
”They asked at the same time if they could inform the police department and collect the reward after confirming that it was Lanlus?”
Lanlus has a very powerful and dangerous helper …… Does he have any other helpers? Is there some force behind him? Why was he so overzealous in his killings, and what was he plotting in the dock union? A series of questions flashed through Klein’s mind, making him feel that things were much more complicated and full of fog than expected.
As for the last request, his answer was undoubtedly yes, and he would even suggest that the other party inform the Church of the Goddess of the Night directly, as there was a possibility of leakage on the side of the police department.
Having the Church of the Goddess of the Night’s watchmen kill Llanerus would likewise be considered vengeance! Klein muttered silently to himself, having a strong urge to immediately go and confirm if that person was Lanlus, before waiting too long and having a change of heart.
He took a breath, pressed his emotions, and undid the spirit pendulum at his sleeve.
”Go to the dock union and confirm that things are in danger for Lanlus.”
After seven silent recitations with his eyes closed, Klein opened his eyes and looked at the citrine pendant to find it motionless and completely still.
Divination failed? Klein instantly frowned.
He changed another statement and changed the way of divination, but the result was still a failure.
After thinking carefully for a while, he found three reasons, one was that there was not enough information to divine, two was that the Dock Union did not have any Llanerus at all, making it difficult for the divination to be established, and three was that Llanerus, just like Ince Zangwill, had items that could shield the divination.
Items that shield divination …… He got a benefit from that Son of God ritual? A little bit of divinity from the “True Creator”? Klein pondered for a few seconds and decided that no matter what, he had to make a trip to the dock union.
There were things that you knew were dangerous, but you still had to do them!
Those two ladies were able to covertly observe without being detected, so can I. …… I only need to take a look at Llanerus once, and I can confirm it with the help of divination. ……
Of course, this is also not reckless, I must prepare in advance, for example, to send the “all-black eye” to the gray fog, not to carry it with me, so as not to allow the spiritual pollution of the “real Creator” to resonate with the divinity of K. For example, to elevate myself so that the “giant” can not be seen by the “giant”. The “giant” can’t recognize me as the guy who “passed by” last night, for example, to find a suitable and sufficient reason not to arouse suspicion, well, I can pretend to be a reporter to cover the story, I’ll find Mike Joseph to borrow his fake press card first! ……
The corners of Klein’s mouth slowly turned up, covered himself with spirituality, and fell back into the real world.