Part 2 The Faceless Man Chapter 86 Rattling Fingers

　　West End, Green Park Street.

　　Crane, who already had a lighter beard around his mouth, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and carrying a half-height bowler hat and a black cane, followed Logo Carrowman into the spacious and brightly lit parlor.

　　Here a huge crystal lamp hung from the ceiling, while the walls, corners, and table tops were adorned with all kinds of golden reliefs and ornaments, and the whole appeared gorgeous, exquisite, and extravagant.

　　”Worthy of being a jeweler, a jeweler who lives in the West End ……” Klein swept over a few oil paintings next to him and secretly sighed.

　　With every step that Logo took, the fat on his body would shake a little, making people always maliciously guess when his shirt and pants would be taut.

　　But obviously, as a jeweler, he had enough money to buy the best quality clothing.

　　”Detective Moriarty, this is my boy Atru.” Logo stopped at the edge of the carpet and pointed to the fifteen or sixteen year old boy sitting on the single sofa.

　　Because every fireplace in the house had been lit and there were metal pipes transferring heat, the living room was quite warm, making Klein want to strip down to just a shirt and a pair of pants, but the boy was wrapped up in a thick fur coat and had a hot-looking blanket over his legs.

　　At the moment, he was bowing his head and wrapping it tightly around himself, shivering constantly, and his dark blue hair seemed to have lost its luster.

　　Logo glanced worriedly and shouted in a low voice:

　　”Atru, this is Detective Moriarty who is responsible for protecting you today and tomorrow.”

　　Hearing these words, Yatru raised his head, revealing a pale face, blue lips, and unfocused eyes.

　　”Protect me, protect me …… They’re going to kill me! They’re going to kill me!” His voice grew shriller and shriller, and in the end, he actually covered his ears with his hands and hissed loudly.

　　It was several seconds before he gradually calmed down.

　　And during this process, Klein had tapped his teeth and quietly opened his psychic vision.

　　Huh …… He held back the surprise that leapt to his mouth and scrutinized it two more times.

　　He saw that the color of Ataru’s aura was tinted with a deep black with a greenish sheen!

　　This was a sign of a grudging ghostly apparition haunting, or even possessing, a body!

　　Atru’s bad friends were already taking revenge on him …… Or, there was no such thing as bad friends; he had met a disgruntled spirit and was hallucinating …… Crane quietly reached out, took hold of Mr. Aztec’s copper whistle, and spread the spirit, then, thoughtfully, he moved away from the eyes to the others in the parlor.

　　Near the bulbous belly window stood a man in a black jacket, tall and unsmiling, with a pistol seemingly hidden in his distended waistband.

　　This would be one of the six security officers …… Klein was just about to size up the others when Logo Carrollman had introduced himself:

　　”Detective Caslana, her assistant Lydia.”

　　”Detective Stuart.”

　　At that, Logo half-turned his body and pointed at Klein:

　　”This is Detective Sherlock Moriarty.”

　　Caslana, in her thirties, with dark hair and blue eyes, and thick eyebrows, she seemed to be a nice beauty when she was young, but now she didn’t look too good to get along with due to problems such as slightly sagging cheek muscles.

　　Her assistant Lydia, on the other hand, was a red-haired lady in her twenties with an excellent figure and rather average looks.

　　Both ladies wore clothes that resembled noble rider’s uniforms, a waist-slimming white shirt with more tailored pants for ease of movement, distinguished from the men only by pleated styling on the collar and cuffs.

　　In addition, they were unobtrusively wearing two revolvers on their hips.

　　It reminded Klein of Lawyer Jürgen’s remark that illegal gun possession was a hit-or-miss problem for private investigators-with the difficulty of obtaining a full class weapons use permit, it would be difficult for anyone who wasn’t an aristocrat, a legislator, or a high-ranking government employee to get it applied for.

　　Stuart sat across from Kaslana and Lydia, his face little fleshy but with a large beard, those light green eyes unusually expressive.

　　He and Lydia would have been about the same age, and close to Klein in height, at a little over 5’7″ and weighing something like 140 pounds.

　　Stuart had an underarm gun pouch containing what was obviously a specially made revolver.

　　After greeting each other haughtily, Klein took off his coat, removed his hat, and handed it to the maid next to him:

　　”Put it where I can get to it quickly, there are some important items inside.”

　　In fact, he had long since transferred the paper figures, note pads, charms, and matchboxes to his pants pockets, and all that was left inside the jacket was the powdered herbs, the essence of pure dew, and the key to his wallet, as well as the twenty-six pound bill in his wallet.

　　Stuart sat, glanced sideways at Crane for a few moments, and grinned:

　　”You don’t have a gun?”

　　”Gun? This is my gun.” Klein grinned and raised his cane.

　　At the same time, he puffed out his cheeks and mimicked pronunciation.

　　Bang!

　　A gunshot came out with a loud bang, Stuart rolled forward and down without even thinking about it, while Kaslana and Lydia quickly left the couch and each found a place to hide.

　　Logo and the servants next to him were surprised and bewildered, not understanding what was going on, and Ataru still had his head down, shivering.

　　Only after seeing clearly that Klein was only holding a black cane in his hand, and realizing that nothing had happened, Caslana and the others regained their composure, frowning at the same time and asking:

　　”What happened just now?”

　　”Ever since I picked up a pistol and turned it in, I’ve been learning the technique of simulating vocalizations, and it seems to be working pretty well.” Klein replied half-jokingly.

　　”It’s not a fun thing to do, Detective Moriarty.” Caslana said in a hushed voice.

　　I’m just trying to show you guys magic …… Klein spat, handed the cane to the maid, and nodded solemnly:

　　”I’ll take care of it.”

　　Stuart, who had been the most wretched just now, showed little sign of anger, patting his clothes with interest and rising to ask:

　　”Mr. Moriarty, how come I haven’t heard of you? I mean, I know quite a few people in the detective business, but I didn’t know you before.”

　　”I didn’t get to Birkeland until early September.” Klein explained slightly.

　　”So ……” Stuart laughed, “It’s okay for two of us to cover the early hours of the morning until tomorrow morning tonight, right?”

　　”No.” Klein responded with the same smile.

　　”Okay, once we’ve had dinner, you guys get some rest and then rotate in the wee hours of the morning.” Caslana added from the sidelines.

　　Klein gave a deep look at Ataru, who was buried in a quivering mess, and nodded seriously.

　　……

　　Nothing happened all afternoon, and the worried men and women prepared a hearty, but non-alcoholic, dinner for Mr. Detective and the security staff.

　　With his fill of food and drink, Klein, piece by piece with Stuart, a young man with a bushy beard on his face, headed for the second-floor guest room that belonged to them.

　　Seeing no one around, Stuart shook his head and spoke:

　　”Sherlock, as you should have seen, Atru’s problem isn’t that someone is trying to get back at him.”

　　Bro, you’re very self-conscious …… Klein’s expression didn’t change as he asked rhetorically:

　　”How so?”

　　”He looks like he’s having a mental problem or, or, according to the countryside, is being haunted by a ghost or evil spirit, and frankly, I’m scared of that.” Stuart sighed, “Mr. Carrowman should take him to a psychiatrist, and if that doesn’t help, get the Storm Lord’s clergy to sprinkle holy water and do the ritual!”

　　”You could suggest that to him.” Klein said pertinently.

　　”I’ll consider it in a couple of days, if Ataru isn’t better.” Stuart gave Klein a sideways glance.

　　Klein smiled:

　　”That’s your business, I’ll finish the commission tomorrow.”

　　At that point, the two reached their destination and entered their separate rooms.

　　……

　　At 1:00 a.m., inside Ataru’s bedroom.

　　Klein was sitting in a rocking chair, holding the Aztec copper whistle and quietly watching his protégé, while Stuart sipped his coffee from his desk position.

　　The two didn’t speak for fear of waking up Atru, who had managed to fall asleep.

　　Time passed by, and suddenly a chill rolled through the room.

　　Ataru sat up with a start and opened his eyes.

　　”What’s wrong?” Stuart asked, slightly nervous.

　　”Go, to the lavatory ……,” Atru replied in a low, wavering voice.

　　His face seemed paler, his lips increasingly blue.

　　Stuart was about to speak when he saw Sherlock Moriarty rise and nod to himself:

　　”I’ll follow him.”

　　”Good.” Stuart was secretly relieved.

　　With his hands in his pockets, Klein walked a step behind Atru and followed him to the door of the lavatory two rooms away.

　　Atru was just about to casually close the door when he suddenly saw a figure flash in.

　　”I can’t let you out of my sight. Heh, do what you need to do, pretend I don’t exist.” Klein laughed and leaned into the corner.

　　Ataru stayed silent, his eyes sweeping unfocused-like over to the sink mirror.

　　He unscrewed the faucet and let the water clatter down.

　　At this time, Klein pulled out a box of matches and brushed one off, as if he wanted to smoke.

　　But, instead of doing so, he blew softly and let the match turn into an extinguished state.

　　Snap!

　　Klein casually tossed the match in front of him and pulled out a new item.

　　Ataru, who had his back turned to him, suddenly straightened his posture, and the figure in the mirror paled to the point of being as pale as a dead body.

　　Ugh! Inside the lavatory, the gloomy wind whistled, and without moving his waist or his legs, Atru turned directly that way, his eyes fixed dead on Klein’s left hand, on the delicate copper whistle that was constantly being thrown upward and caught again.

　　Woo!

　　A blast of cold wind slammed into Klein’s face.

　　His smile unchanged, he snapped his fingers.

　　With a roar, a flame rose from the ground and ignited the invisible figure.

　　The silhouette only struggled twice before it completely dissipated, and the flames went out with it.

　　Klein put away the Aztec Copper Whistle in his hand and calmly looked at Atru whose eyes gradually came into focus.

　　Atru seemed to have had a long nightmare, and finally came to his senses at this moment.

　　Bewildered, he saw a young man in a white shirt and dark pants with gold-rimmed glasses standing a few paces away, and saw that the other man was leaning against the wall with a smile in his eyes.

　　Then he heard a gentle voice:

　　”What on earth has happened to you?”