Whispering Verse

Today, Miss Servit finally no longer wears that maid dress. When Shade opened the door downstairs and saw the girl outside, he was stunned for a moment, and then he dared to confirm that the person in front of him was the maid.

Her long black hair was tied into a complicated style with a wide purple hairband, tied up and hanging behind her back. There was only a silver-white four-leaf clover hair pin on her hair as a decoration. The thick black hair is parted in front of the right forehead. The right side is drooped and the broken hair is tucked behind the ear. The left side is combed diagonally to the left, and the tail of the hair almost covers the eyebrows.

She is wearing a high-quality blue women's fabric dress. Except for some silvery white slender lines on the sleeves, it has no other color. There is an inconspicuous black belt tied around the waist, and a pair of black flat leather shoes on the feet.

Seeing that Shade was a little surprised, Miss Servit lowered her head to look at her outfit, then looked up at Shade with her beautiful brown eyes:

"Sorry, is there something wrong with my outfit?"

"There's nothing wrong with it, I just haven't seen you wearing it like this before...it's very beautiful."

Shade nodded and made room for her to enter. The whole day's detective work officially began.

After sorting out the information obtained so far at home, and then leaving Mia to look after the house, Shade took Miss Servitt in a carriage to the Anthem Square in the lower city, and then entered the Three Cats Hotel located around the square.

Last time Shade investigated the merchants selling spices, he had a chat with the doctor and the doctor's friends here. Today's Three Cats Hotel is no different from that day. Guests from far away stay here, while idlers sit drinking and chatting on the first and second floors.

The female poet who played the lute sat on a high stool on the small stage on the east side of the hotel and sang softly. This song was a bit sad and seemed to be praising the love stories of ancient legendary heroes.

If it weren't for the very bright gas lamp above her head, Shade would probably have thought that she had suddenly arrived in the ancient medieval adventure era.

There would be no prostitutes, drunkards, or gamblers in the Three Cats Hotel during the day. Now it is a serious business.

After Shade and Miss Servit walked into the hotel, they each ordered some drinks and sat down at the table near the counter on the first floor. Shade introduced the features of this place to the maid who rarely came here. After a while, the two stood up and came to the counter. Shade stopped the aggressive female shopkeeper who was about to go to the back kitchen to scold the noisy chefs.

This is a woman in her forties, wearing a reddish-brown cloth headscarf, with dull skin and small dots all over her face. She was slightly shorter than Shade, but seemed to have a large frame and a wide frame. Being able to open such a large hotel in the lively Anthem Square is definitely not an easy thing for this woman.

"Sorry to interrupt, but do you remember Mr. Frank Bundy?"

Shade asked as he put down a one-shilling coin on the counter. The female shopkeeper accepted the coin naturally:

"That blind man who lives nearby?"

She spoke very rudely, observed Shade's expression, and then said without sincerity:

"Sorry, this wording may be a little wrong. After all, his eyes are healed now."

Shade signaled his assistant to start recording, and then he asked:

"Have you known that musician for many years?"

"Yes, he used to come to our place to drink often, and every time he would only order Coldwater Harbor Light Rum made from bagasse. He is obviously a blind man, but he still finds some cheap girls here every week. But there is nothing wrong with being a bachelor. expenses, so he was quite generous. A few months ago, after his eyes were cured for some reason, he liked to play Rhodes with the guests at my place again, but the stakes were very small, so there was no debt... ....oh!"

Her eyes suddenly widened, as if she understood something:

"Did Bundy bet at your place on Rhodes, default on the bill, and then run away? Tell me, why haven't you seen him for so long?"

The female shopkeeper thought she had found the truth, but Shade shook her head:

"I don't run a casino, and Mr. Bundy didn't run away. He committed suicide in the middle of last month."

Upon hearing the news, the female shopkeeper who had spoken very rudely just now twitched her mouth, with a strange expression on her face. She seemed to want to show sadness for a moment, but in the end she simply said:

"It's really unlucky that we've lost another regular customer who has been a regular customer for decades."

Her voice suddenly dropped. She lowered her head and fiddled with the cups on the counter. After seeing Shade didn't speak for a while, she asked again:

"Then who are you? What do you want to do? I don't think you came to my place to find a girl. The girl behind you is more beautiful than all the girls I know."

Shade looked at the girl next to him. Miss Servit smiled, but did not speak. Instead, she continued to record, maintaining the habit she had when she was a maid.

Shade then handed over the business card he had prepared:

"I am a detective. I am currently commissioned by North Mountain Opera Company to investigate the cause of suicide of the blind musician Mr. Frank Bundy."

The female shopkeeper was obviously literate and raised her eyebrows when she saw the address on the business card:

"Saint Teresa Square? Tsk tsk, his friends are really rich. Well, what do you want to ask?"

"What was Mr. Frank Bundy's mental state like during his last several appearances?"

The female shopkeeper picked up the rag on the table again:

"I remember this. When his eyes were first healed, he was very keen on talking and playing cards with my guests. But the last few times he showed up, it was like he was blind, sitting alone in the corner drinking. .”

She pointed to the table in the corner on the first floor. Since there were not many customers in the morning, there was no one in the corner.

"So Mr. Bundy, has he ever been manic or anything like that?"

Shade asked again.

"Not this one."

The female shopkeeper shook her head while wiping the cup:

"He doesn't talk to others, and others certainly won't disturb a drunken man."

This makes sense, but it also means that there are no valuable clues here at the Three Cats Hotel.

"but......"

The female shopkeeper looked at Shade hesitantly:

"Bundi has a very good girl here, and most of the time he spends money and entertainment with her. Because he often stays overnight at her place, I think that our girl not only knows Bundy's recent mental state, but may even There are still his belongings.”

"I need the lady's address."

"I can't tell you this directly. After all, we are doing sensitive business."

Shade knew that this was an excuse. The other party just wanted him to pay another information fee. So he took out another one-shilling coin, but the landlady shook her head:

"It's not enough, I need this amount."

He stretched out his right index finger, which was a bit thick and still had old scars, and shook it.

"Ten shillings?"

"No, one pound."

"Oh, ma'am, I can't even make that much from this business."

Shade immediately shook his head, and the female shopkeeper smiled and said:

"I heard Bundy say that the North Mountain Opera Company is very rich, and you must make more money from this business."

But the problem is that Shade never received a commission from the opera company.

Miss Servit behind her wanted to speak, but Shade shook her head and stopped her. It’s not that he can’t afford one pound, he just doesn’t want to be taken advantage of:

"It's better than this."

Under the astonished gaze of the female shopkeeper, he took out his Rhodes deck from his pocket, pulled out the [Kasenlik Southern Folklore Moon Dance Festival] blessed by two ghosts and displayed it:

"Bet, if I win, you tell me the lady's address. If I lose, I will give you two pounds, and you tell me the lady's address. I heard that you are also a master of Rhodes, and you like and have special How about playing cards with card players? Are you interested in playing a game with me?"

The story about the female shopkeeper being a Rhodes master was told by the doctor's friend, Mr. Madison, who was selling special spices. (Chapter 362)

The woman behind the counter smiled in surprise:

"No, since you want to bet on cards, you have to bet bigger. I like to play cards with players who have special cards. How about this, you use your card as a bet, and I use mine as a bet. The loser hands over his special card. Whether you win or lose, I will give you the information for free."

She stretched her head forward slightly:

"Detective, do you have the courage?"

Shade lowered his head and looked at the bet that the female shopkeeper took out——

[King's Secret Order·Substitute], Suit Flower 2: When you draw this card, you can exchange this card with the opponent's hidden card that is not shown, but you cannot suspend the card in this round. If your opponent has no hidden cards revealed, this card has no effect. (Note)

On the card, a man wearing a gorgeous robe and a crown is sitting on a throne, and there seems to be a person hidden in the shadow.

Seeing this card, Shade raised his eyebrows. The [King's Message] series of Rhodes cards were released about 120 years ago when Carsonric and Delarion signed the first version of the "Continental Peace Treaty." This set of cards is to commemorate the hard-won peace.

There are 15 special cards in the entire series, one for each of the numbers 1 to 13, and one for the King and Queen. Five of them were given to the royal family of Delarion, five were given to the royal family of Carsonric, and five were issued normally. More than a century has passed since the original version of [King's Secret Order] was released. Most of these fifteen special cards are treasured in the hands of nobles from the two countries. In addition to their own value, they also have historical commemorative value.

There are only three cards in the set that remain unaccounted for, and Shade didn't expect to see them here:

"Authentic?"

"Of course, the identification certificate is in my hand."

"This card is more valuable than my Moon Dance Festival."

Shade pointed out, but the female shopkeeper smiled:

"It doesn't matter. I like to bet on special cards with others. The card itself is also won. In my eyes, all special cards are of equal value."

"No, I won't take advantage of you. I'll bet you this."

Shade pulled out Moon Nine's [Demon·Soul Stealer Bishop] (Note). This time it was the female shopkeeper's turn to be surprised:

"Legendary Demon Series? Authentic."

"Of course, but the identification certificate is at my house. I don't think you will doubt that the detective of Saint Teresa Square will speak at such a time. I want a reputation."

"Your card is more valuable than a substitute."

"To me, the value of special cards is the same."

Shade replied with a smile, shuffling the two cards back into the deck.

In fact, it is because he thinks that the possibility of losing is very small.

"What an interesting opponent... Detective, next month's big city players have entered the official registration stage. Have you signed up?"

The woman behind the counter seemed aroused.

"Of course, and it was the invitation letter given to me by the Prophet Association. I am a special player."

Shade said.

"Okay, then let's treat this as a warm-up match for the big city players before the game starts. This is really interesting. I didn't expect such an interesting thing to happen so early in the morning. Detective, wait a moment, since it's a senior Rhodes like you. Card players must of course be more formal when playing cards. Also, you can call me Mrs. Sangmei."

After saying that, he left the counter and asked the waiters in the hotel to help clear the table in the center of the first floor of the hotel and use two other large tables to form a Rhodes gambling table.

Shade and Miss Servit stood aside and waited. The idlers who were drinking in the Three Cats Inn early in the morning heard that someone was going to challenge the innkeeper, and they were using their own special cards as bets, and they all joined in excitedly.

The maid held a notebook and asked softly next to Shade:

"Mr. Hamilton, the conversation just now was really exciting, and it was exactly the same as the description in the detective novel. However, do you often obtain information by playing cards?"

"Not often, because not everyone plays Rhodes. Also, ordinary detectives don't use playing cards to get clues."

Shade said, then turned to look at the black-haired girl next to him. Although her eyes were very ordinary black-brown, they were still very beautiful. This is not only because the eye shape makes her eyes slightly more charming, Shade thinks that more importantly, there is a rarely seen light in Miss Servit's eyes, which is clear and pure.

"And I don't actually play cards often, at least I never take the initiative to find someone to play cards with."

Shade explained his habits, and the black-haired girl chuckled and said:

"I also thought you were the kind of gambler who goes around playing cards and collecting special cards."

Maybe it was because she was able to joke with Shade without wearing that maid dress.

"No, no, although I like special cards, I don't play cards everywhere. For example, I went to Coldwater Port some time ago. In those two weeks, I only played cards with one person. This Demon series is where I won Arrived."

"So that's the case. This seems to be a very legendary story."

Miss Servit said. At this time, the table was placed, and Shade walked over and sat on the chair on the west side. He took off his coat and put it on the back of the chair behind him. Miss Servit stood behind him as before, with her hands on the back of the chair.

The female shopkeeper, Mrs. Sangmei, sat on a chair on the east side, and people gathered around her. However, according to politeness, they were not allowed to touch the card table or stand directly behind the card players.

"This is a fair bet between [King's Message - Substitute] and [Demon - Soul Stealer Bishop]."

She announced loudly, and the sound even attracted many guests staying above the third floor of the hotel.

Skylight shines on the tabletop in the center of the first floor from the patio on the second floor through the windows on the east side. Shade touched his nose and smiled. He still liked this kind of matchup.