Whispering Verse

Mr. Albert's suggestion is quite good. If the fortune teller Shade is looking for really possesses an unknowable relic, it will definitely be impossible to divine the other person. But if you can rely on the local ring warlocks who are well-connected to inquire, it will indeed be much more convenient than Shade's own search.

But the phrase "female fortune teller" aroused Shade's vigilance, so he asked again while holding a glass of wine:

"That Amethyst lady, does she still have any quirks?"

"Basically she doesn't do divination for men. It's not that she doesn't do divination. It's very rare. Over the years, I've hardly ever heard of her choosing a man as a divination target."

Shade blinked, feeling that he had roughly guessed who the "Amethyst Lady" in the Moon Bay area was.

The vampire, who is a coroner by profession, has lived in the local area for nearly ten years and knows a lot about the situation of the local ring warlocks. He didn't know that Shade had made up his mind not to see the other party, so he kindly recommended Shade to take a walk near the Yuewan City Hall. It was said that he was more likely to be seen by "Amethyst Lady" there.

"I came here for the relics, not the witch."

As he picked up the cup and drank, Shade kept thinking silently in his heart.

If you really want to get to know the great witch of destiny, it is better to wait until witches like Miss Aurora or Miss Bernice arrive locally, and then be introduced through them.

The coroner's job was probably very easy, at least it was very easy today. It was approaching noon, and Mr. Albert had no intention of going back to work. He simply ordered lunch at the Spider Hotel and met Mr. Bernhardt and his new friend John Walter. Had lunch together.

During lunch, in addition to discussing the basic situation of the local ring wizards, the work of Mr. Albert was naturally also discussed. Although this topic was not suitable to be brought up at the lunch table, the three people present were not ordinary people, so no one minded too much.

"There haven't been many murders in the city recently, but there have been a few corpses with strange deaths in the Lower City area."

As he stirred his salad greens with a fork, he explained to Schade and Bernhardt:

"You also know that the plague has been prevalent in various parts of the Old World in recent months, and the Yuewan City City Hall is of course also vigilant. Therefore, we coroners are asked to pay more attention to the corpses with strange deaths recently."

He lowered his voice slightly:

"Typical plague victims have not yet appeared, but headless corpses have appeared in the city for two consecutive weeks. This matter is now making a fuss. Fortunately, most of the corpses are concentrated in the lower city area, so among the nobles and businessmen of Yuewan City, It didn’t cause too much tension. As for the headless corpses, they had pretty neat cuts on their necks.”

He even touched his neck to indicate their position:

“But the strange thing is that if someone really cuts off the victim’s head with a sharp weapon, the splattered blood and the large amount of blood on the taken away head will also be sensed by our racial talent. But after the cadavers brought two such victims here, I went to the scene to check the situation, but I found no clues at all."

"The handiwork of a ring warlock?"

Mr. Bernhardt also lowered his voice and asked. Mr. Albert shook his head slightly:

"It's hard to say now, and we can't underestimate ordinary people. Maybe it's a method we didn't expect. But the church should take over this matter, and it has little to do with us. Armand, I want to meet you in the autopsy room today. Actually it was for another body.”

"Have there been any other strange corpses in Yuewan recently? Oh, please continue."

Shade said, and the coroner, who was still wearing his robe, continued to introduce:

"I have been doing this job for many years, and I have seen all kinds of strange things in the local area. The night before yesterday, the corpse bearer delivered an unclaimed and unnamed female body. Judging from the physical characteristics, I guessed that it should be in Xiacheng District. She was a prostitute. The cause of death was excessive blood loss and there were teeth marks on her neck."

The conversation between the three fell silent for a while. Mr. Bernhardt blinked, turned to Shade and said:

"Don't draw any conclusions yet, although even I suspect that he is a fellow Ptolemy, please continue talking."

"I initially came to the same conclusion as you. But an in-depth autopsy found that the blood loss of the corpse was not external blood loss, but that most of the blood was taken away by the things that once existed in the belly. No, she was not pregnant. I was in the body An abnormality was found in the abdomen of the corpse with scars all over the body, and then it was discovered that there was something that did not belong to the human body in her stomach, but it is gone now. I am not sure whether it was a creature like a blood-sucking monster insect, or something else. But it can It’s certain that that thing was the real cause of her death.”

"What about the tooth marks?"

Shade asked again, and the coroner answered affirmatively:

"After inspection, it was confirmed that the marks were made before and after death. I used the unique secret technique of the race, and the teeth marks were definitely not the cause of death."

"Mr. Watson, you can trust Ptolemy's honesty, I will vouch for this. So, someone wants to put the blame on a vampire?"

Mr. Bernhard also understood, and the coroner nodded:

"Yes, this body will be taken away by the church soon. Although I believe that the church can also detect the real cause of death, I also believe that the church will still suspect that this matter is related to us. So, Armand , I need your help. I want to investigate the true origin of this body and who is her murderer. Then the news will be spread to the black market, and the church will also understand that we are proving our innocence."

His idea was correct. Even if it was confirmed that the tooth mark was the fault, it was impossible for the church not to investigate the local vampires. Either the vampires had sucked the blood, or they might be conducting experiments. Once the investigation is launched, those vampires who have settled in the local area may face big changes in their lives.

"Who else have you told this?"

Herr Bernhardt asked again, and the coroner replied:

"It's just you two outsiders for the time being. Armand, we have been old friends for many years, and you are also the strongest local fellow I know."

Seven-ring vampires are already strong enough. There must be high-ring vampires in Yuewan City, but those people are hard to find.

"I understand what you mean. I am a foreigner. Mr. Watson can tell at a glance that I am a resident of Delrayon. It is unlikely that this matter is related to the two of us. The tooth marks are a frame-up, but are the local people of the same race You can trust it, but it’s hard to tell.”

Mr. Bernhardt looked at Shade again and saw that Shade also showed an interested expression, so he nodded to the coroner:

"After lunch, you can take us to see the body."

If Shade hadn't interrupted just now, they would have checked before lunch.

Shade then said:

"Although I have other things to do locally, I am still willing to help."

This is not to be nosy, but past experience shows that after arriving in a new city, being exposed to more weird things is beneficial to the progress of major investigation tasks that have no clue for the time being.

"Of course you can, but don't eat too much for lunch, or the scene will not be pretty later."

After the three had lunch, they returned to the corridor with the two autopsy room guards who were playing Rhodes. After the latter two learned that Schade and Mr. Bernhardt were friends of the coroner, they had no problem with them entering and exiting such a controlled facility at will. It was obvious that Ptolemy Albert was very popular.

Entering the corridor behind the iron fence, the three doors after turning at a right angle are all autopsy rooms. Of course, they also serve as morgues. There are four coroners working here, but due to the special nature of the work place and the issue of remuneration, Mr. Ptolemy Albert usually spends the longest time here.

He opened the door on the left, then took out the burqa and asked the three of them to change into it. The space behind the door is quite vast. After walking down the slope of about three steps, the underground space surrounded by stone walls is lit with dim gas lights. There are about thirty iron frame beds placed against the wall, but most of them are covered with cloth. The curtains block the divisions, making it impossible to easily see whether all the bodies are parked.

In the center of the room is a square area protruding from the ground with one step. Three relatively professional metal operating tables are placed on the high platform. A powerful gas lamp was hung from above for illumination, where the autopsy was supposed to be performed.

The air is filled with a strange smell mixed with the smell of corpses and preservatives. The cold feeling after entering here is even worse than outside. After putting on masks, hats, goggles and gloves, Mr. Schade and Mr. Bernhardt watched Mr. Albert pass the slope on the side of the central platform, push the body on the iron bed in the southeast corner to the side of the operating table, and then directly He used a spell to float the corpse covered in white cloth to the operating table.

Schade and Herr Bernhardt gathered around, and the coroner repeatedly made sure that they were mentally prepared, and then lifted the white sheet.

"Tsk tsk, this is really true"

The female body was in a strange and shriveled posture due to the loss of a large amount of body fluids. Her eyes were closed, her cheeks were sunken, and her withered yellow hair was as messy as weeds. She appeared to be older than 25 but no older than 30. Her body was covered with marks of whip marks, binding and candle oil burns, and lacerations could be seen in sensitive areas.

There were marks of sharp cuts on the abdomen, but only one of them was caused by Mr. Albert.

The coroner explained the overall process of the autopsy in detail to the two gentlemen beside him, and deduced the living conditions of the corpse from the fingernails, hair color, eyelids, foot marks, and finger marks.

Then he asked the two of them to hold their breath, and then opened the stomach of the corpse and took out the contents for inspection to explain the living condition of the corpse. This was also the first time that Mr. Albert had opened the stomach of a corpse, but there were no noteworthy foreign objects in the food residues, which only meant that the deceased had eaten a quite sumptuous meal before his death.

Not only are there non-digestible pasta desserts, but there are also expensive ingredients such as lobster and caviar. Because the death took so long, some of the food remains were difficult to distinguish, but it could also be judged that such a meal was not consistent with the identity of the corpse.