Whispering Verse

Entering the sewer autopsy room from the sunny alley, which is filled with the smell of antiseptic mixed with stranger smells, is like entering another world from one world.

Mr. Ptolemy Albert was still wearing Shade's familiar brown burqa. He was busy performing an autopsy on a corpse that was suspected of choking to death on his own vomit, so he was talking to the two of them while working.

Of course, all three of them wore masks, and a curtain was drawn around the morgue. Mr. Albert was inside the curtain, and Mr. Schade and Mr. Bernhardt outside could only see his busy figure.

"The case of the unknown female corpse has been solved, and the murderer was killed by you two. I won't say more. The headless serial murder case has now been classified as a supernatural event. Those headless corpses will no longer treat us like this. The autopsy room in Xiacheng District has been transported, and the investigation on this matter has come to an end."

Both Schade and Mr. Bernhardt saw him taking out a large lump of something from the corpse's belly and placing it on a plate aside. Even though they could only see the shadow on the curtain, they subconsciously held their breath together.

"But something interesting has happened recently, and you know it's always like this in the Lower City. Specifically, within this week, I dissected two corpses that died of heart attacks."

"That doesn't sound too outrageous."

Mr. Bernhardt said in a sullen voice.

"Yes, but after careful inspection, I found that the two male corpses were relatively healthy during their lifetime. After using the secret method to test, I found that it was very interesting that they did not have hereditary heart disease. It is summer now, even if the temperature is higher than in previous years If it is low, the possibility of a heart attack will not be so high.”

As he spoke, he took off his gloves and picked up the notebook beside him to record a few entries:

"I did a little research and found that these two people have nothing in common, and their life trajectories do not overlap. The only thing they have in common is that they are married, have lovers outside, and treat their own families very badly."

Mr. Bernhardt looked at Shade subconsciously, and Shade was startled:

"I'm good to my family."

He tried to convey this with his eyes, but it was clear that Herr Bernhardt did not understand.

"Ptolemy, so you think there's something weird about this?"

"Yes, I'm just not sure if it is related to what you are investigating. I will continue to pay attention to whether there are any similar corpses recently, but I think there should be more."

Shade and Mr. Bernhardt both nodded. They were both very busy recently, so they just kept this matter in mind. If it really overlaps with what they are currently investigating, we will conduct an in-depth investigation at that time.

The two of them didn't want to stay here long, and quickly said goodbye to the coroner.

Then they took a carriage to the dock area together. When they arrived at "Princes Trading Partners", Ms. Anne Bonny happened to be out, but among the three people in the trading company, Mr. William Kidd, who was in charge of business activities, exist.

After he heard that Shade wanted to find Captain Rudolph, he asked Shade and Mr. Bernhardt to wait here for a while. Half an hour later, when the card game between Shade and Mr. Bernhardt came to an end, Mr. Kidd came back happily:

"Captain Rudolf is drinking with people in a pub three streets away from here. I said you are Anne's friends and he is willing to meet and talk to you."

"Great. I've sent letters many times before, but he never replied to me once."

With a wave of his hand, Mr. Bernhardt directly messed up the deck of cards on the table, and took the opportunity to mix his own cards into those cards.

Opposite him, Shade, who was just waiting to announce "win at 21 points", raised his eyebrows and dropped his cards. Of course, he deliberately threw the four cards neatly on the table to show that it was still him. Won.

"Then let's set off. Speaking of which, does the tavern have a word like 'rose' in its name?"

Shade asked another strange question. Mr. Kidd shook his head:

"The tavern is called the Golden Lion Tavern. The name comes from the fact that the owner of the tavern has a beautiful lion cat.

After you go out, walk to the left. After about ten minutes, you will see Old George's Fishing Tackle Shop and then turn into the north-south street. Continue forward and you will see it. It was still more than an hour before the sailors and porters got off work, and there were not many people in the tavern. If you were slower, you might have to squeeze in with others to enter the tavern. "

The Golden Lion Tavern is one of the larger taverns in the dock area of ​​Yuewan City. The tavern is divided into three floors, one underground and two above ground. There is no accommodation service here, it is just a tavern. From this point of view, the Golden Lion Tavern is more professional than the Three Cats Hotel in Tobesk.

Following the path pointed out by Mr. Kidd, Mr. Shade and Mr. Bernhardt quickly arrived there. Because it wasn't work time yet, there weren't many people in the tavern. They asked the bartender and found out that Captain Rudolph was currently on the underground floor of the tavern.

When the two of them saw the captain with the little bat symbol floating above his head, he was playing cards with a well-dressed middle-aged gentleman in front of a group of people. They have been playing for a long time. The cards that have been drawn are scattered on the table, and the corners of everyone's tables are piled with change.

Captain Rudolph is the strongest vampire Shade has ever seen. To be more precise, he is almost the strongest person Shade has ever seen. He gives people a very strong sense of oppression just sitting there. When he stands up, his height will definitely exceed two meters.

The temperature in the tavern was very comfortable, so he rolled up his sleeves and held playing cards that were small compared to his palm in his big hands. And looking at the traces of his body shape and the bulging muscles on his arms, his strong figure is definitely not an illusion.

"This time I win again."

As he spoke, Captain Rudolph laughed and threw out the cards in his hand:

"We played blackjack all afternoon, and this is the first time I have played blackjack."

"Damn it!"

The middle-aged gentleman opposite him complained, grabbed a handful of coins and threw them towards the opposite side.

When he heard "blackjack", Shade looked at Mr. Bernhardt again, who blinked sheepishly:

"It's not like there's something urgent going on, so we can't keep playing cards over there."

"Come again, come again."

The middle-aged gentleman picked up the wine glass at hand and took a sip. He touched his pile of cards and wanted to continue playing, but was held down by Captain Rudolph's strong hand:

"Next time, this time I count it as a small win. If a friend comes to see me, I have to give it to Ms. Bonnie. Let's play again next time, but I hope that the person behind you can come to me to play."

Captain Rudolph said, and the middle-aged man snorted, packed up his deck and the remaining change and left the place.

So the people watching the excitement dispersed in a tacit agreement. The vampire who continued to sit at the table waved to Shade and Mr. Bernhardt, and the two walked over together and sat down.

"Do you know who that was just now?"

The vampire was sorting out his deck as he spoke, and Shade saw at least two special cards in his deck.

"That middle-aged gentleman? He was the champion of the Grand City Players in 1850 and the cousin of Viscount Belgra. I have met him before."

Mr. Bernhardt said, and Captain Rudolf nodded in surprise:

"Viscount Bernhardt, it seems that I have really underestimated my compatriots in Willendale. Yes, it is not the first day that there are rumors that Viscount Guerra is doing some Rhodes business locally. He relies on his reputation , I have made a lot of money these years.

The champion of big city players heard the news from nowhere, and actually thought that one of the three precious Rhodes cards that had gone viral recently and was missing in the local area was in my hand. "

He shook his head:

"So what if he sends his cousin here to test it? I still want that card, but that [Ancient Alchemy·Dragon Stone] is not in my hand."

If he didn't know the purpose of this visit, Shade would really want to continue this topic. Among the three special cards, the [Holy Sword·Dragon-Slaying Sword] with flower 13 is already in his hand, and he actually doesn’t mind getting two more:

"The Ancient Alchemy series is also a very ancient series of playing cards. What will the card surface and rules be like?"

He thought to himself that the other two gentlemen did not continue the topic of the card.

"Viscount Guerra has a very strange reputation. He is probably the most controversial big city player champion in the past fifty years."

Mr. Bernhard nodded in agreement, and then introduced:

"I am Armand Bernhard. This is John Watson."

"Viscount Bernhardt, you are really capable. I tried my best not to see you, but you were able to find a way to Ms. Bonnie. Okay, okay, what kind of trouble do you want to get me into?"

The sturdy vampire put away the cards and frowned slightly:

"I also have friends in Willendale, and I have heard about what happened at Fort Midhill last year. Let me tell you first, although we are all relatives, I have no obligation to help you with anything."

"Of course, we actually just want to ask some questions."

Mr. Bernhardt stretched out his hand. The captain hesitated for a moment, then reached out to shake his hand. Shade could clearly see the difference in the size of their palms.

"What do you want to ask? I travel between north and south on the boat all year round. I don't know much about Moon Bay."

As he spoke, he leaned back, and Mr. Bernhardt waved to Shade with his left hand under the table, meaning that the captain was not their target.

"There are people from the local clan who are cooperating with the [Dragon Cult]."

Mr. Bernhardt explained the recent events as briefly as possible. Captain Rudolf frowned and listened. He waited until Mr. Bernhardt finished speaking before nodding:

"I understand what you mean. The sect wants to investigate who has desecrated the bloodline? I don't know why you want to find me, but as I said, I have been at sea all year round, and I don't know anything about the Moon Bay. Clearly, you have really found the wrong person."