The end of the exam has slowed down the stressful life a little, but the next 15 practical credits, the Feast of Holy Prayer, will almost fill up the schedule for next week.
Shade didn't have time to give himself more opportunities to relax.
Early on Sunday morning, after breakfast, Shade went out. After a whole week of delay, Mrs. Flamel's inheritance could finally be carried out.
This middle-aged woman, who is not very courageous, listened to the horrifying rumors from her neighbors and took her children to live in the countryside temporarily after the martial law ended in the city last Friday.
Seeing that nothing else happened in the city of Tobesk, Mrs. Le Maire finally returned to the city, and according to the original plan, she accepted the inheritance of the deceased sailor on Sunday morning at her home.
Mrs. Le Maire had an unfortunate marriage. Her husband left her early, and she raised her two children alone. The family of three lived in a narrow rental apartment in the north of the city. After Shade jumped out of the taxi, he found the Silver Gray Alley based on the house number.
At that time, I was also shocked by the dirty and messy living environment here.
This is a slum in the standard sense, the living scene of the lowest level citizens of this era. Foreigners from other places only have impressions of slums in backward times from their own imagination, and they only took one or two glances when passing by nearby.
Now that I have walked here in a real sense, I realize that everything is worse than I thought.
Even though it hasn't rained recently, the ground is still muddy. Take a deep breath, the muddy ground is sprinkled with a strange-smelling liquid, which mixes with the smell of the narrow and rugged alley itself, making people feel nauseous. It's damp, dark and even a little weird.
The alleys are different from the streets in the city. Even the police officers patrolling Ridwich Field will not easily walk in.
Compared with this prosperous and crazy era, the Tobesk ghetto seems to be an abnormal time zone that has been delayed for three hundred years. Last night at the Queen Maria Opera House, Shade saw the best of this era.
At this time, I also saw the worst side of this era.
"Maybe it's not the worst here, I just can't see the places far away from the city. What is the soft thing I just stepped on?"
He was glad that he chose to wear boots today.
Mrs. Flamel lived in the attic at No. 6 Silver Lane, sharing the kitchen and bathroom with people in the same building. After knocking on the greasy door downstairs, the person who opened the door was a fat woman wearing a hairband.
After being allowed to enter after explaining his purpose, Shade stepped onto the narrow stairs. At the corner of the stairs, he had to wait sideways to avoid a young man holding a pile of books and wearing patched clothes.
The first floor is where the landlord and his family live. The dark and damp second and third floors are divided into more than ten areas for rent to different poor families. A huge gas meter hangs at the dark stairwell, and rusty gas pipes are as thick as a wrist.
Climbing moldy walls lead to every home on the floor.
Every time this old-fashioned gas meter jumps, it will make an unusually clear clicking sound. Although he knows that this old product that should have been eliminated long ago is still being used, and it is most likely that the landlord does not have the money to replace it with a new one, Shade still
I believe that the clicking sound of the old-fashioned gas meter is also the landlord's warning to the poor people living here that every time they use gas, it means a penny slipping from their hands.
The musty smell in the air was mixed with a variety of strange smells, and there was a creaking sound every time you stepped on the stairs.
Even if it was only Shade's first time here, he was very sure that this kind of place must be a place where diseases and parasites are highly prevalent. Not to mention humans, even animals that are used to living in the wild would be very vulnerable if they stayed in a similar environment for a long time.
It's hard to live for too long.
The simple stairs at the end of the corridor on the third floor led to the attic. After Shade knocked on the door, the door opened was indeed a middle-aged woman whom she had not seen for more than a week. Seeing that the detective had arrived at the agreed time, she smiled and let Shade in.
Shade came here ten minutes early tomorrow morning, but he didn't expect that lawyer Locke Laurel came even earlier than him.
"It's you!"
The lawyer stood up and wanted to say hello, and then immediately recognized the young man with whom he had played Rhodes. He was surprised and immediately thought of his abnormal behavior that day:
"Wait a minute, you approached me that day, weren't you here to investigate me?"
"I have the right to maintain the confidentiality of my client."
Shade said with a smile, then walked up and shook the lawyer's hand:
"But this time, I'm really here to help Mrs. Flamel accept the inheritance."
"I know and I also know that you made more money on this trip than I did. Is the income of a detective always so impressive?"
The two shook their arms gently, and Lawyer Laurel did not mention the money he lost to Shade last time.
With work in hand, Mr. Locke Laurel today is very different from the image he had in the tavern that morning. At least, he did not propose to play a game with Shade after work.
The living conditions of all the residents nearby are similar. Mrs. Le Maire's house, where the family is crowded in the attic, is also shabby. Even because the ceiling of the attic is low, Shade subconsciously lowered his head when he entered the door, and then realized that he
She must be at least as tall as a little Mia before her head would be touched by the ceiling.
The children were not at home now, and Mrs. Flamel served the detective and the lawyer with clean tea cups.
The three people sat down at the dining table with old newspapers padding the table legs. The three chairs were of different styles. There was reason to believe that they were all second-hand goods.
The home was kept very clean. Maybe the family's life was in embarrassment, but this middle-aged woman maintained an optimistic attitude. Sunlight shone in from the attic window, and the stains on the floor that could not be removed all year round were reasonably covered by the furniture. The attic
Regardless of the room, there is a dining table at the door, and then two mattresses placed directly on the ground.
The family needs money. Although this idea is a bit cruel, the crew member who died because of provoking the mermaid statue died at the right time.
Everything on the dinner table had been taken away. Although there was still a pungent sour smell, at least it looked tidy. The lawyer took out the brown paper document bag from his briefcase and took out the documents inside solemnly.
. He handed it to Mrs. Flamel first, and then Mrs. Flamel handed it to Shade.
She didn't know much about literacy, so the advertisement for Hamilton Detective Agency was read to her by a neighbor.
That document was the text of the will, handwritten in blue ink, and the date it was signed was a year ago. I think sailors who often go to sea have long thought that sooner or later, they will encounter an accident.
"If there is nothing wrong with the will, we can start transferring the inheritance now."
Lawyer Laurel said, Shade asked him to wait a moment, and then read it carefully:
"no problem."
Mrs. Flamel was very satisfied with the detective's seriousness.
"The inheritance is divided into three parts, the first is the cash part. Mr. Jonathan Le Maire stored 53 pounds 4 shillings in cash with a friend. Because the inheritance tax is involved in the notarization of the estate, you can get 49 pounds 16 shillings.
7p.”
The lawyer pushed the envelope containing the money and the tax return form to the middle-aged woman on the other side of the table. She took the envelope at a loss and counted the banknotes inside, while Shade took the tax form and read it.
If the inheritance is only transferred privately, then of course it does not involve tax filing, but this kind of inheritance that is notarized by the city hall must file taxes. It is not a war era anymore, so the tax rate is not very high. The inheritance tax is about 5%.
In fact, it is mainly because the property is transferred to another place.
"no problem."
Shade whispered to his employer, who nodded nervously. The banknotes in front of him had been sorted and stacked according to their face value. It was indeed that number.
"The second part of the inheritance is the personal collection of Mr. Jonathan Le Maire, which mainly consists of some souvenirs from the New World and items obtained from sea voyages. It is difficult to estimate the value of these items because most of them are worthless.
.So there is no issue of tax payment. In addition, Mr. Le Maire did not leave a manifest to record what he had. These were all given to me directly by his friends, so I cannot guarantee that everything is here."
As the lawyer spoke, he bent down and carried a black suitcase at his feet to the table. After clicking the lock a few times, he opened the lid of the suitcase and then pushed it to Mrs. Le Maire with great effort. The suitcase was placed on the table.
There are red ink marks, but the things inside are placed together casually and not neatly arranged:
"By the way, this box is also a relic, not provided by me."
The lawyer added that he probably thought the box itself might be worth more than the contents inside.
The crew's collection is very rich, including dark minerals, fish specimens, colorful masks with weird smiles, badges with no origin, anchor-shaped pendants, wooden toys, etc., etc., they all seem to be miscellaneous.
However, if it is a travel souvenir, it can also be accepted by people.
Shade was originally worried that there would be something dangerous in the relics. He was even worried that the mermaid statue belonging to the crew had also been sent to Tobesk. But until the box appeared in front of him, he did not feel any whispering elements.
After getting Mrs. Flamel's permission, he took out the items in the box and checked them one by one. When he touched them with his hands, the voice in his head did not give any hint.
"Sure enough, it's so easy to encounter [relics]."
The combination of the keywords "Legacy of a sailor whose distant relative died in a shipwreck" looked like the beginning of a classic horror novel, but at least everything seemed to be normal this time, so Shade signaled the lawyer to read out the last part of the estate.
content.
"The third part of the inheritance is the personal belongings belonging to Jonathan Le Maire. He went to sea all year round and left some personal belongings with his friends, roughly diaries, clothes and some books. These relics are also not subject to tax, but
There is also no list."
He struggled to lift the last suitcase to the table, opened it, and pushed it to Mrs. Flamel.