Detective? A colleague… However, being able to assist the police department in handling such a serious case shows he is a truly famous detective, at least very well-known within the Westvilles Field… Eh, a serial murder case involving demon worship, shouldn’t it have been handed over to the Nighthawks, the Punishers, or the Machinery Hivemind? The police department just needs to provide some assistants; why hire a private detective on their own?
Hmm, the successive 11 murders must have already caused a sensation. Westvilles Field is under great pressure and unwilling to just wait in agony?
Klein instantly had many thoughts flash through his mind, but he revealed a smile on his face: «Alright.»
He boarded the carriage hired by Aixin Ge Stanton and saw a sharp-looking young man with brown hair inside.
«This is my assistant,» Aixin Ge, with his sharp, angular face, introduced. «Please have a seat.»
He didn’t close the carriage door nor let the driver proceed, to show he harbored no ill intentions.
Klein deliberately sat down nervously and asked uneasily: «Mr. Stanton, what do you want to talk to me about?»
Aixin Ge took out a dark tobacco pipe and said, «I want to know what you gained from following Mrs. Lopez. What did you hear or discover?»
«This… I’m also a detective. You should know the confidentiality agreements in our line of work,» Klein pretended to be troubled.
«I’m asking you on behalf of the Westvilles Field. This has nothing to do with confidentiality agreements,» Aixin Ge said as he stroked his tobacco pipe with his thumb. «One pound, hmm… how about two pounds?»
With the lesson from the previous Mersault incident and no real need for confidentiality, Klein immediately answered without hesitation: «Deal.»
«Good.» Aixin Ge smiled and took out two one-pound notes from his pocket.
Klein pretended to recall and said frankly, «We only heard one sentence. Mrs. Lopez tried to send her subordinates to tell Capin to stop sending people over recently.»
«Capin?» Aixin Ge nodded slightly with realization. «I see.»
«You know Capin?» Klein didn’t hide his surprise.
Aixin Ge handed over the money and said with a light smile: «He is a controversial wealthy man in the Jo Wood district.»
«In
If this is true, this guy deserves to die ten thousand times… Klein nodded and sighed: «This is Rune, this is Backlund. Mr. Stanton, I should take my leave.»
«Thank you for your cooperation.» Aixin Ge politely half-stood to see him off. «By the way, your fighting skills are quite excellent. We might have opportunities to cooperate in the future. How should I address you?»
«Sherlock Moriarty,» Klein replied concisely and got off the carriage.
After he boarded a tram that had just arrived, Aixin Ge Stanton had his assistant close the door and told the driver to go to the Hillston district.
Turning his head to look out the window, the middle-aged gentleman with graying temples put away his dark tobacco pipe and took out a brass ornament from his pocket, holding it in his hand as he slowly rubbed it.
The brass ornament was a miniature open book with a vertical eye in the center.
«Mr. Moriarty’s appearance and attire are somewhat incongruous. He wears very scholarly gold-rimmed glasses but deliberately grows a beard around his mouth, appearing crude and barbaric. This doesn’t match normal expectations. In this era, people willing to wear gold-rimmed glasses often care about their image, an image of knowledge and sophistication. Perhaps he is deliberately hiding something… Of course, it could also be that he is a gentleman with unusual aesthetic sense,» Aixin Ge seemed to mutter to himself or teach his assistant.
At this moment, on the tram, Klein leaned against the wall and silently muttered: «That detective Aixin Ge Stanton is a bit problematic. Since I opened my spiritual sight, he has maintained the blue of rational thinking and the violet of detached spirituality, with few other emotional colors appearing.»
«For normal people, unless they are concentrating on a difficult problem, it’s hard to maintain such a state for long. Other emotional colors will inevitably appear, the difference being how long they stay.»
«Hmm… either Detective Aixin Ge Stanton is such a genius constantly observing and reasoning, a gifted individual, or he is a Beyonder.»
The tram, with two levels and carrying over forty passengers, moved towards the Backlund Bridge area. Klein gradually withdrew his thoughts and looked out the window, admiring the various two- to three-story buildings across the street.
Occasionally, he could also see brown houses five to six stories high, showcasing Backlund’s latest trends and the kingdom’s cutting-edge architectural techniques.