Whispering Verse

The musician Mr. Bundy has a congenital eye disease. He is forty-one years old, has never married, and lives alone in an apartment in downtown. Shade admired this kind of blind man who lived alone. Although more than forty years of life may have made him accustomed to groping in the dark, having the courage to survive alone still impressed Shade, who had never tasted the feeling of blindness. .

The alley where Mr. Bundy lives is called Rotten Fish Alley. From the naming method, we know that this is just an inconspicuous place in the city. The location of this alley cannot be found on the city's travel map. It can only be found on the map left by Detective Sparrow in an inconspicuous corner in the north of the city.

Detective Sparrow wrote small words with a pencil to make notes about this alley. The note stated that loan shark gangs can be found around Rotten Fish Alley, and people who sell illegal drugs can even be found through certain passwords...

Starting from St. Teresa's Square, Shade first took a carriage to the Psalm Square in the lower city, and then continued walking north along the northern streets of the lively Psalm Square with the children running wildly.

The weather was pretty good today, and Shade didn't walk too hastily.

He chose the northwest one at the five-way intersection at the end of the street. After turning into the street, he walked inward at the second alleyway. After carefully avoiding the feces and garbage piles on the ground, he covered his mouth and nose with his raised collar and walked through the alley to the intersection of the slum with a large locust tree as the center.

Continue walking west along the slightly more open alley, passing between the old and dilapidated apartment buildings that stand here. By observing the direction of the gas pipes under the wall, you know that you are not going the wrong way.

After passing a dark, uninhabited empty building that had been burned by fire, Shade finally saw the towers on both sides and the gray stone suspended corridor connecting the two towers.

Past the doorway under the corridor is the scope of Rotten Fish Alley. Only after walking in did Sha De understand the naming of this alley. The entire alley was filled with the smell of dead fish. This smell was different from the smell of fishmen and the smell of fresh live fish that Shade had smelled in Coldwater Port.

He guessed that a nearby house might have been used as a warehouse by a fishery operator, otherwise there would be no reason for this strong smell to appear here.

Shade was worried that little Mia would be smelled by his own stench when he returned home.

Mr. Frank Bundy, a blind musician who lives alone, lives on the first floor of the apartment at No. 13 Rotten Fish Lane. Shade followed the faded and rusty door numbers to find the house. After knocking on the door, he hesitated to see that the door was open a crack.

The door wasn't locked at all.

Of course he would not rush into other people's homes, so he stood at the door and shouted:

"Is Mr. Frank Bundy home?"

If the gentleman is not at home, it will only be possible to perform in the North Mountain Opera Company.

I was worried that no one would answer, but almost as soon as Shade finished shouting, an angry man's voice came from the house:

"Bundy? He's dead."

Then footsteps appeared, and a man with a big beard, one head shorter than Shade, but slightly fatter, walked out. Although he has a grumpy voice, he looks kind-hearted.

"died?"

Shade on the front steps was a little surprised:

"Sorry, I'm looking for the blind musician Frank Bundy. Is he really dead? How did this gentleman die?"

he asked hurriedly.

"I am the landlord of this house, who are you?"

But the bearded man did not answer the question immediately, but frowned and asked. Shade immediately put his hand into his pocket and took out a one-shilling coin:

"I am this."

"Oh I got it."

He squinted at the coin, and after taking it into his hand, the man's tone became much softer:

"You're late. Frank committed suicide in the middle of last month. In my house, he got some illegal drugs. After taking a large amount, he yelled manically and bumped around in the house. Upstairs When the tenant went downstairs to see what was going on, Frank was already dead. The poor man gave his suicide note to the neighbor upstairs and died on the way to the hospital. What a pitiful man."

The man shook his head sadly.

According to Detective Sparrow's information, Frank Bundy lived here for many years. As the landlord, the bearded man must have known the blind musician for many years, so it is normal to have such emotions when talking about his death.

“Middle of last month”

Shade was a little embarrassed. The [Mercury Blood] incident was coming to an end in the middle of last month. He didn't expect that this commission would take such a turn at that time.

Originally, I just wanted to see Frank Bundy's current situation, and after the visit, I went to find the client to submit a report. Now it seems that we should investigate again with caution:

"I'm sorry. Were his eyes still in good condition before he died?"

"Yes, so we all can't understand that since he finally cured his eyes, there is no reason to give up hope of survival."

said the landlord.

"So, have you read his suicide note? Where is it now? I want to know the reason why the gentleman committed suicide."

With that said, Shade handed over a one-shilling coin again.

The MI6 ID is not used because it is completely unnecessary. If the ID is used for every trivial matter, it will greatly increase the chance of Agent Shade's identity being exposed.

"We didn't read the suicide note. Frank asked us to send it to the North Mountain Opera Company. He left me all the furniture he bought and gave his other properties to the opera company. Sir, if you want to see the suicide note, you can Go see the opera.”

Shade bit his lip. Unexpectedly, what he thought was a simple commission would become complicated. He thought about it and asked again:

"So, did that gentleman say anything or behave in any strange way before he died?"

The bearded landlord stood at the door and hesitated, as if wondering whether he should speak out. Shade immediately went to dig into his pocket again, but the man waved his hand and refused:

"I was just wondering whether I should tell others about the poor man's condition after his death. Sir, I think you are also a decent person, and you shouldn't spread my next words around."

"Yes."

Shade nodded immediately.

"Well, Frank had some mental problems some time before his death."

The bearded landlord pointed to his head and made a helpless expression:

"He seemed to be afraid of something. He was obviously blind before, but now he is very afraid of darkness and sudden sounds. This mental problem became more intense before his death. So we are only surprised by his suicide. But I’m not very confused.”

The bearded man sighed and lowered his voice:

"We suspect that he was taking illegal drugs before, so he gradually became insane."

Shade expressed doubts about this. It sounded like the mental problems of blind musician Frank Bundy only occurred after his eyes were cured.

"If you want to know more about what happened before his death, you can go to the 'Northern Opera Company' and the 'Three Cats Hotel' in Psalm Square, where he often went to pass the time. In addition, he left a last word before his death. I was trapped in darkness without lamenting my fate, but why should I see the light now?”

Shade frowned:

"Did Mr. Bundy's eye condition deteriorate again? He committed suicide because he could not accept being blind again?"

"We don't know this."

The landlord shook his head, and then gave the information about the Schadeno Mountain Opera Company's residence. Next, Shade could go to the Opera Troupe and the Three Cats Hotel to inquire about information, but because he wanted to see the suicide note first, Shade planned to go to the North Mountain Opera Troupe to check the situation first.

Large-scale opera companies generally have their own residence to facilitate daily rehearsals and administrative work. But unfortunately, as a well-known local opera troupe, the North Mountain Opera Company is not located in the Lower Town in the north of the city, but near the "Tobesk Grand Opera House" in the south of Tobesk.

In the urban area of ​​Tobesk, there are generally southern nobles (higher terrain, mostly residences of nobles), northern poor (the lower town of Tobesk, lower terrain, more slums), eastern rich (more wealthy people and businessmen). (more textile factories, steam machinery factories and foreign businessmen) and Zhongquan (Yodele Palace, the Kingdom's administrative department, the city hall, the embassy and consulates), the university area is located in the core urban area, South City District and Between Dongcheng District, most of the famous opera houses in the city are located in the south and east of the city.

Therefore, seeing that it was getting late, Shade took the carriage back to Saint Teresa Square and took the cat for lunch. After lunch, I stayed at home for an hour to read books, avoiding the lunch break, and then set off again in the carriage.

Although the daily life of a professional detective is very leisurely, once he gets busy, his time is really tight.

I didn't have any trouble finding the North Mountain Opera Company. The opera company is located in an office building with yellow walls. The opera company's signboard is hung on the roof of the building. However, probably because of its age, those made of gas pipes Most of the letters are missing some horizontal or vertical lines.

When Shade came downstairs, the old gentleman at the door mistook him for an opera fanatic who came to visit the actors, and refused to let him in until he took out his business card.

The building was also very lively. Not only were there clerical staff walking around holding documents, but Shade even met a group of young girls with heavy makeup on their faces and patched coarse cloth skirts at the corner of the stairs, laughing and joking. Come downstairs.

One of them even whistled at Shade, which made everyone laugh.

In short, after a lot of setbacks, Xia De finally met the leader of the Nuoshan Opera Troupe. The two met in a slightly narrow office with yellow wallpaper hung full of performance photos. After Xia De explained his purpose, the tall middle-aged man wearing a monocle looked at Xia De in surprise. Germany’s business card:

"Rejed's Hamilton?"

"You know me?"

"How is it possible that someone in Tobesk doesn't know you? Do you need me to change you to better black tea?"

"No, no need. I'm working on a commission and want to inquire about Frank Bundy's situation. Can I read his suicide note? In addition, did this gentleman have any abnormalities after his eyes were cured? Performance?"

The title of knight saved Shade from a lot of trouble, and the leader of the opera troupe was very happy to help Shade.

Not only did he dig out Mr. Bundy's suicide note from the filing cabinet, he even showed Mr. Bundy's belongings in the theater troupe to Shade.

As for the performance of the blind musician in the last period of his life, the director allowed Shade to talk to anyone in the opera troupe and visit those who were familiar with Mr. Bundy.