Whispering Verse

The Sheriff and Shade met on the temporarily deserted stairs to prevent anyone from seeing Shade. The tall, thin, and shrewd-looking middle-aged man took Xia De's ID and checked it, then immediately stood at attention:

"What do you need? How can we help you?"

MI6 is part of the Royal Army and is not the same system as the police. However, when MI6 agents are operating, low-level police officers must provide cooperation. Although the sergeant is higher than the police officer, he is also a low-level police officer.

"This murder case is related to what I am investigating. I need to know something about this case and identify the murderer as soon as possible before I can take the next step."

Shade said, the Sheriff was a little embarrassed:

"The case is not complicated. It was originally suspected that this was part of the recent serial murders of stealing internal organs, which is why so many people were brought in. However, the body is intact, with only gunshot wounds and one knife wound. It should not be recent. that matter."

The security situation at Fort Midhill is really worrying.

"However, there are too many tenants on the fourth floor. We are currently simply screening the people who may have committed the crime and screened out 21 possible murderers. If you want to do it as soon as possible."

"Where is the crime scene?"

Shade asked directly. This vigorous and resolute approach further strengthened the Sheriff's trust in him:

"In the deceased's room."

"Take me to have a look. Also, keep other people away for the time being. I don't want too many people to see me."

"clear."

The chief asked the police to take the 21 suspicious tenants and wait in another room temporarily. He took Shade to the room with the "11" metal sign.

The rooms on the third floor of the Sikal Hotel are large rooms divided into small rooms with poor privacy, while the fourth floor is a real single room, but it is just as small as the guest room of the Three Cats Hotel. Desks, bedside tables, wardrobes and beds almost take up the entire room. The room was clean and tidy, and there was no peculiar smell. The windows and curtains were tightly closed, and the flower-shaped gas lamp on the wall was lighting up at this time.

"What are you doing with the curtains closed in broad daylight? There is no taller building nearby."

Shade thought to himself.

The deceased was still lying on the ground, but had been covered with a white cloth. Shade opened it and took a look. The bullet hit the heart directly from the front. This was the fatal cause. There was also a stab wound on the shoulder, which appeared to have been a struggle before the shooting.

"Look, that's a typical Kasonrick look."

The middle-aged police sergeant who looked very shrewd commented.

"What is his identity?"

"We just briefly checked his luggage and found identification. The innkeeper, Mr. Taylor, also proved that the other party has lived here since the beginning of the Harvest Moon, claiming to be a businessman from the south and coming to Midhill. Waiting for a shipment."

Shade nodded, and then pretended to search the room. With the bleeding knife wound, he could actually directly use [Echo of Blood] to find the real murderer, but he still had to pretend.

Originally it was just a perfunctory search, but the police chief behind him dutifully introduced Sha De, so Sha De had to pretend to be serious.

The Carsonlik businessman's luggage was simple, consisting only of his personal clothes, a few novels and a deck of Rhodes cards. Among other things, worth noting are tickets to the local Three Rhodes Club of the Stars, and a return ticket from Fort Midhill to Kassenlick, tucked into the book. He had actually purchased the ticket in advance for next Tuesday, which is the first of next month. He presumably already knew the delivery time.

"Does the hotel owner know when this person usually goes out and when he comes back?"

Shade asked again, and the sergeant looked through his notebook:

"He usually goes downstairs for breakfast at eight o'clock, and then goes out. He comes back at eleven o'clock in the morning for lunch, and then takes a nap. He usually doesn't go out in the afternoon, either staying in his room or going downstairs to play cards with someone. After dinner in the evening Later, I would go out sometimes, but once I went out, I wouldn’t come back to spend the night.”

"Life is quite simple."

Shade said, and then took out the other person's wallet from the coat hanging on the chair. Black leather, looks ordinary. Before the officers could examine this, Shade opened it in front of the sergeant.

There were about 3 pounds in notes and coins, and several business cards written in Kasenlik, belonging to the deceased himself, the law firm and the warehouse. In addition, there were train tickets for the other party when they came to Fort Midhill and a few casino chips. The tickets were punched with holes, which meant they were used, and the chips came from a casino very close to here.

"When he goes out every night, doesn't he just go to the casino?"

Shade murmured, reaching into the pocket on the other side of his coat and taking out a pair of gray gloves. Checking his breast pocket, he pulled out a new-looking pocket watch this time, a few coins, a handwritten receipt for the purchase of the pocket watch, and a pen.

Opening the cover of the watch, there was a picture of a woman embedded inside, probably the other person's wife.

"Looks normal."

Then he casually picked up the pen, which was brass-colored and about as long as Shade's middle finger, but only one-third as thick as his middle finger. After a quick glance, there was no problem, but suddenly I was stunned:

"Why does this pen look so familiar?"

[Of course it looks familiar. You have used thaumaturgy on it and can identify the traces. 】

This was the pen that Shade took over from Virgil Cameron on the night of the Ayutthaya Players finals. The pen was later passed to Gray Gloves' intelligence system by Shade in exchange for 2,000 pounds. After half a month, he actually saw him here again.

Pretend to check the pen to make sure all the filaments and strips of paper in the cap are gone. If Shade hadn't touched it with his own hands or even used [Breath of Time], he wouldn't have been able to believe that there would be such a coincidence even if the appearance of the pen was exactly the same.

"Did Detective Sparrow cast some kind of curse on me? Why do I always bump into Gray Gloves?"

He thought in shock, but he put the pen back on normally and put it back where it belonged.

[There is no such curse on you. 】

So this so-called "businessman" who died was the receiver who came to Punjab Street to pick up the goods after receiving intelligence from the Principality of Set. As for the date of receiving the goods, Xia De remembered it very clearly. It was the last day of this month, which was next Monday. Therefore, the deceased would buy tickets in advance for the first day of next month, which is next Tuesday; so that the deceased could have time to hang out in the casino instead of acting like a normal businessman.

"But what does this have to do with me?"

Shade thought in his mind, stuffed all these things back into his clothes, and then said to the police chief:

"Let's go take a look in the corridor."

He blinked, trying to forget that he recognized the pen just now, and then followed the faint blood stain left by the stab wound, watching the trace fly out the door, then turned around in the corridor and entered the room on the left next door. .

"The murderer was his neighbor."

Shade said calmly. Although the police chief was surprised at the reason for Shade's conclusion, he didn't ask any more questions seeing how calm he looked.

As long as the murderer is found, there are ways to get the other party to reveal all the details.

"Who lives across from him, and to the left and right of him?"

Shade asked as he stood in the corridor.

"The person living opposite is a professor of linguistics from the south, Professor Ruel Higgins. He just moved in here last week and came to Fort Midhill for a visit. That professor is also one of the suspects. One, but he doesn’t look like a murderer.”

It wasn't folklore that made Shade a little disappointed, but if it was really folklore, he would have to worry about whether this matter had anything to do with the ring warlock.

"But, he's from Kasenlik again?"

Shade now looked at all the Carsonricks as agents of the Gray Gloves.

"There are two people living in the right room, Armand Bernhard and his nephew Lester Bernhard. They are also from Kasenlik and came to Fort Midhill to join their local relatives. This can be easily ascertained. In addition, the two of them are not on the fourth floor now and went out in the morning, so the suspicion can be ruled out."

"Bernhard?"

These two names are the names of two vampires encountered in [The Gap of Life and Death], so they are definitely not agents of Gray Gloves.

"Fortunately, I'm out, so I don't have to face each other."

Shade felt a little happy in his heart, and then asked:

"Where's the one on the left?"

"The one on the left is Mr. Bain Bennett, also a businessman from Carsonlik. He has lived in the hotel for half a year."

He's from Kasenlik again, and he happens to be a murderer, so he could be

"It has nothing to do with me."

Shade suppressed his distracting thoughts, emphasized it in his heart again, and then said to the police chief:

"The murderer is most likely him."

Mr. Bennett is now locked in another room with other suspects. Those people have strong opinions and are unwilling to be restricted from their personal freedom, but the police chief pretends not to hear. Except for Professor Higgins, there are also other suspects inside. No one of note.

"Are there so many foreigners here?"

he asked pretending to be casual.

"During winter, the trains passing through the Sikal Mountains will also be affected and the frequency will be reduced. Therefore, if people need to travel between the two countries this year, they will try to do it in the autumn."

The sergeant said that they opened the foreign businessman's room, and then Shade pretended to check it again. He easily found a blood-stained dagger and two pistols of different models under the loose floorboard under the bed.

"Someone really brought two pistols out? It turns out that the person receiving the goods did not bring weapons to prevent exposure, and was protected by other people who came here half a year in advance with guns, so the murderer was also. But why did he want to kill him because of the internal strife?"

Detective Sparrow knew about the important mission in Harvest Moon half a year in advance, which shows that the Principality of Set and Gray Gloves had previous exchanges, so Gray Gloves may have known in advance that the pick-up location was Fort Midhill. But the specific location was not passed on by the "Grey-Headed Eagle" until the goods were obtained by the Principality of Set during the Harvest Moon. Therefore, it is not a loophole for people with gray gloves to settle down locally half a year in advance.

"With all this effort, what exactly is the cargo delivered?"

Although this is a question, it has nothing to do with Shade. Shade did not explore it. He can no longer be related to the spies.

So he did not come forward again, but the police chief announced to everyone that the murderer had been found. Mr. Ben Bennett, who still wanted to quibble, after seeing the evidence, dejectedly admitted that he had indeed done it himself:

"I played Rhodes with him, and this guy owed me 3 pounds in a week. I originally wanted to pay it back today, but when I went to see him, he refused to admit it, and I got angry."

For Shade, who almost touched the truth, this was definitely a lie, but he did not expose it.

Mr. Bennett was then taken away by the police, together with him and that part of the deceased's luggage which could be used as evidence. Because neither he nor the deceased knew anyone locally, he temporarily gave the remaining luggage to Professor Higgins, who lived in Carsonlick across the street, for safekeeping until the police found the contact person.

The deceased, the murderer, and Professor Higgins were all from Kasonlik, and the three of them had a good relationship. Shade understood that there were many stories involved, but he still did not choose to intervene.

No matter what the goods are to be picked up, or whether other people know the information in the pen after the death of the deceased who owned the pen, and whether they can receive the goods, it has nothing to do with Shade. He already has enough main occupations, including detective, ring warlock, and Rhodes card player. He can't add identities like a double agent to make himself even busier.

[You thought the same thing before passing on that information. 】

"She" was murmuring softly, and the voice was very pleasant.

"It's definitely true this time."

【Yeah? 】

Then there was only the laughter.