Mr. Bondi, the musician, was born with a visual impairment. He was forty-one years old, unmarried, and lived alone in an apartment in the Lower District. Shade greatly admired blind people who lived in solitude; although over forty years of life had likely accustomed him to groping through the darkness, the courage to survive on one's own still filled Shade—who had never tasted the bitterness of blindness—with profound respect.
The alley where Mr. Bondi resided was called Rotten Fish Alley. One could tell from the name alone that it was an insignificant part of the city. The alley's location could not be found on the city's tourist maps; it could only be located in an inconspicuous corner of the north city on the map left behind by Detective Spyro.
Detective Spyro had written small notes in pencil as annotations for this alley, noting that loan-sharking gangs could be found around Rotten Fish Alley, and that with certain secret codes, one could even find people selling prohibited drugs.
Starting from St. Delan Square, Shade first took a carriage to Anthem Square in the Lower District. He then followed the northern street of the bustling Anthem Square, continuing north alongside children running wildly.
The weather was quite pleasant today, so Shade did not rush.
At the five-way intersection at the end of the street, he chose the northwestern path. After turning into the street, he walked inward at the second alleyway. Carefully avoiding the piles of feces and garbage on the ground, he used his raised collar to cover his nose and mouth, crossed the alley, and arrived at a slum entrance centered around a large locust tree.
Continuing west along a slightly wider alley, he wove between the ancient, towering, dilapidated apartment buildings. By observing the direction of the gas pipes along the walls, he knew he hadn't taken a wrong turn.
After passing a blackened, uninhabited empty building that had been ravaged by fire, Shade finally saw towers on both sides and a grey stone suspended corridor connecting them.
Crossing the archway beneath the long corridor led into the area of Rotten Fish Alley. Only after entering did Shade understand how the alley was named. The entire alley was permeated with the smell of dead fish—a scent different from the smell of mermen Shade had encountered at Coldwater Harbor, and different from the smell of fresh live fish.
He guessed that some nearby building might be used as a warehouse by a seafood operator; otherwise, there was no reason for such a pungent smell to be here.
Shade worried that when he returned home, little Mia would be overwhelmed by the stench on his clothes.
The solitary blind musician, Mr. Frank Bondi, lived on the first floor of Apartment No. 13 in Rotten Fish Alley. Shade found the house by following the faded and rusted doorplates. After knocking, he saw to his hesitation that the door opened a crack.
The door wasn't locked at all.
Naturally, he would not barge into someone's home, so he stood at the door and called out
"Excuse me, is Mr. Frank Bondi home?"
If the gentleman wasn't home, the only other possibility was that he was performing at the North Mountain Opera Troupe.
He had worried that no one would answer, but almost as soon as Shade finished shouting, a grumpy man's voice came from inside the house
"Bondi? He's dead."
Footsteps followed, and a man with a large beard, a head shorter than Shade but slightly plump, walked out. Despite the grumpy voice, he looked relatively kind.
"Dead?"
Shade, standing on the steps, was somewhat surprised.
"I'm sorry, I'm looking for the blind musician Frank Bondi. Is he really dead? How did the gentleman pass away?" he asked hurriedly.
"I'm the landlord of this house. Who are you?"
The bearded man didn't answer the question immediately, instead asking with a frown. Shade immediately reached into his pocket and pulled out a one-shilling coin
"I am this."
"Oh, I see."
Squinting at the coin and taking it into his hand, the man's tone became much softer
"You're too late. Frank committed suicide in the middle of last month. Right here in my house, he got hold of some prohibited drugs. After taking a large dose, he screamed manically and crashed around the room. By the time the upstairs tenant came down to check, Frank was already gone. The poor soul left a suicide note for the neighbor upstairs and passed away on the way to the hospital. Truly a pitiful man."
The man shook his head with some sadness.
According to Detective Spyro's files, Frank Bondi had lived here for many years. As the landlord, the bearded man must have known the blind musician for a long time, so it was normal to feel this way when discussing his death.
"The middle of last month..."
Shade felt a bit troubled. In the middle of last month, the "Mercury Blood" incident was nearing its end; he hadn't expected this commission to take such a turn at that time.
He had originally intended to just check on Frank Bondi's current situation and then submit the report to the client. Now it seemed he should investigate further with caution
"Apologies, but before he died, were his eyes still in a cured state?"
"Yes, which is why we couldn't understand it. Since he had finally managed to cure his eyes, there was no reason to give up hope on life," the landlord said.
"Then, may I ask if you read his suicide note? Where is it now? I would like to know the reason for the gentleman's suicide."
As he spoke, Shade offered another one-shilling coin.
He didn't use his MI6 credentials because it was completely unnecessary; if he used credentials for every small matter, it would greatly increase the chance of his agent identity being exposed.
"We didn't read the note. Frank asked us to deliver it to the North Mountain Opera Troupe. He left the furniture he bought to me and gave his other assets to the troupe. Sir, if you want to see the note, you can go to the troupe."
Shade bit his lip. He hadn't expected a commission he thought was simple to become complicated. After thinking for a moment, he asked
"Then, before the gentleman died, did he say anything or show any strange behavior?"
The bearded landlord stood at the door hesitating, seemingly wondering if he should speak. Shade immediately reached for his pocket again, but the man waved him off in refusal
"I was just wondering if I should tell others about his condition after the poor man died. Sir, I see you are a decent person; you probably won't spread what I'm about to say."
"I won't," Shade nodded immediately.
"Very well. For a while before Frank died, he had some mental issues."
The bearded landlord pointed to his head with a helpless expression
"He seemed to be afraid of something. He had been blind before, but now he was terrified of the darkness and terrified of sounds that suddenly rang out. These mental issues became more intense before he died. So, regarding his suicide, we were surprised, but not very confused..."
The bearded man sighed and lowered his voice
"We suspect he had been taking those prohibited drugs for a while, which is why he gradually became mentally unstable."
Shade was skeptical of this. It sounded as though the blind musician Frank Bondi's mental issues occurred *after* his eyes were cured.
"If you want to know more about his condition before death, you can go to the 'North Mountain Opera Troupe' and the 'Three Cats Inn' at Anthem Square; he often spent his time there. Also, he left a final word before he died—'I was once deep in darkness yet did not lament my fate, but why now must you make me see the light?'"
Shade frowned
"Did Mr. Bondi's eyes deteriorate again? Did he commit suicide because he couldn't accept being blind once more?"
"We aren't sure about that."
The landlord shook his head and then gave Shade the information regarding the North Mountain Opera Troupe's headquarters. Next, Shade could go to the troupe and the Three Cats Inn to gather information, but because he wanted to see the suicide note first, he planned to visit the North Mountain Opera Troupe.
Large-scale opera troupes generally have their own headquarters for daily rehearsals and administrative work. Unfortunately, as a locally well-known troupe, the North Mountain Opera Troupe's headquarters were not in the Lower District of the north city, but near the "Tobeske Grand Opera House" in the south of Tobeske.
The city of Tobeske was roughly distributed as: South Noble (higher elevation, mostly nobility residences), North Poor (Tobeske Lower District, lower elevation, many slums), East Wealthy (many rich people and wealthy merchants), West Dirty (relatively more textile factories, steam machinery factories, and foreign merchants), and Central Power (Yodel Palace, kingdom administrative departments, city hall, embassies and consulates). The university district was located between the core city, the south district, and the east district; therefore, most of the city's famous opera houses were distributed in the southern and eastern parts of the city.
Seeing that it was getting late, Shade first took a carriage back to St. Delan Square and had lunch with the cat. After lunch, he stayed home for an hour flipping through books to avoid the midday break time, and then set out by carriage again.
Although the daily life of a professional detective was quite leisurely, once things became busy, time was truly very tight.
Finding the North Mountain Opera Troupe was not difficult. The troupe's headquarters were in an office building with yellowing walls. The troupe's sign hung from the roof, but likely due to its age, most of the letters formed from gas pipes were missing some horizontal or vertical lines.
When Shade arrived downstairs, the elderly doorman mistook him for an opera enthusiast coming to visit an actor, and only let him in after he produced his business card.
The interior of the building was also very lively. Not only were there clerical staff walking around with documents, but Shade even encountered a group of young girls at a stair landing, wearing heavy makeup and patched coarse cloth long skirts, giggling as they walked downstairs.
One of them even whistled at Shade, which made everyone laugh.
In short, after some effort, Shade finally met the director of the North Mountain Opera Troupe. The two met in a slightly narrow office filled with performance photos. The walls were covered in yellow wallpaper, which, due to the color, made the already small office feel even narrower.
After Shade explained his purpose, the tall middle-aged man wearing a monocle looked at Shade's business card in surprise
"Hamilton of Reged?"
"You know me?"
"How could anyone in Tobeske not know you? Do you need me to change this for a better red tea?"
"No, that's not necessary. I am conducting a commission and wish to inquire about Frank Bondi. May I see his suicide note? Additionally, did the gentleman show any abnormal behavior after his eyes were cured?"
His knightly title saved Shade from a lot of trouble; the director of the opera troupe was very happy to help him.
He not only fished Mr. Bondi's suicide note out of the filing cabinet but even showed Shade the belongings Mr. Bondi had left at the troupe.
As for the blind musician's behavior during the final period of his life, the director allowed Shade to speak freely with anyone in the troupe to visit those who were familiar with Mr. Bondi.
(End of Chapter)