The police chief and Shade met on the stairs where there was no one at the moment to prevent anyone from seeing Shade. The tall, thin and shrewd-looking middle-aged man took Shade's ID and checked it, and immediately stood at attention.
good:
"What do you need? How can we help you?"
MI6 belongs to the Royal Army and is not the same system as the police. However, when MI6 agents operate, 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 killings 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 room of the deceased."
"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. There is a desk, bedside table, wardrobe and
The bed almost takes up the entire room. The room is clean and tidy, and there is no peculiar smell. The windows and curtains are tightly closed, and the flower-shaped gas lamp on the wall is 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 he had been covered with a white cloth. Shade opened it and took a look. The bullet directly hit the heart, which was the cause of death. There was also a stab wound on the shoulder. It seemed that before the shooting, there was
There had been a fight.
"Look, this is a typical Kassenrik look."
The middle-aged police chief who looked very shrewd commented.
"What is his identity?"
"We just briefly checked his luggage and found his 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 bloody stab wound, he could actually directly use [Echo of Blood] to find the real murderer, but he still had to pretend.
It was just a perfunctory search at first, but the police chief behind him dutifully introduced to Shade, so Shade had to pretend to be more serious.
The luggage of this businessman from Carsonlik is very simple, only his personal clothes, a few novels and a deck of Rhodes cards. In addition, it is worth noting the tickets for the local "Three Rhodes Cards Club of the Stars" and a
Tucked into the book was a ticket for the return trip from Fort Midhill to Kassenlick. He had actually purchased the ticket in advance for next Tuesday, which is the first of next month, presumably because he already knew the time to pick up the goods.
"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 for lunch at eleven o'clock in the morning, 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 he took out the other person's wallet from the coat that was placed on the chair. It was black leather and looked very ordinary. The police hadn't checked it yet, so Shade opened it in front of the police chief.
There were about 3 pounds of banknotes and coins in it, as well as several business cards written in Kasenlik, belonging to the deceased, his law firm and the warehouse. In addition, there was also the train ticket from when the deceased came to Fort Midhill.
And a few casino chips. The tickets were punched with holes, which meant they were used, and those chips came from a casino very close to here.
"When he goes out every night, doesn't he just go to the casino?"
Shade muttered, then put his hand into the pocket on the other side of his coat, and took out a pair of gray gloves. He checked the chest pocket, and this time took out a pocket watch that looked new, a few coins, and a
A handwritten receipt for the purchase of a 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. It was brass-colored and was about as long as Shade's middle finger, but only one-third as thick as his middle finger. After a quick glance, it was fine, but he suddenly froze:
"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 Grand City Players final. This pen was later passed to Gray Gloves’ intelligence system by Shade and exchanged for 2,000 pounds. Less than half a month later.
, he actually saw it here again.
Pretending to check the pen, he made sure that the filaments and strips of paper in the pen cap were 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 it even if the appearance of the pen was exactly the same.
There is such a coincidence.
"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 person who came to Punjab Street to pick up the goods after receiving intelligence from the Principality of Set. As for the date of picking up the goods, Shade remembered it very clearly. It was the last day of this month, which was next Monday.
.That’s why 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 to the corridor and take a look."
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 saw that he looked calm and composed and did not ask any more questions.
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 on the left and right sides of him?"
Shade asked while standing 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 the 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 looks at all the Carsonliks as Gray Gloves agents.
"There are two people living in the room on the right, 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 the 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."
Xia De felt a little happy in his heart, and then asked:
"Where's the one on the left?"
"The one on the left is Mr. Ben 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 might be
To be continued...