The Inspector and Shade met on a staircase that was temporarily deserted to prevent anyone from seeing Shade. After the tall, lean, and shrewd-looking middle-aged man took Shade's identification and inspected it, he immediately snapped to attention
"May I ask what your business is? How may we be of assistance to you?"
MI6 belonged to the Royal Army establishment and was not part of the same system as the police. However, when MI6 agents were on an operation, low-ranking police officers were required to cooperate. Although the Inspector was higher in rank than a constable, he still fell under the category of low-ranking police.
"This murder case is related to something I am currently investigating. I need to understand some details of the case and identify the killer as quickly as possible before I can proceed with the next step of my operation," Shade said.
The Inspector looked somewhat conflicted. "The case isn't complicated. We originally suspected it was part of the serial killings involving organ theft that have occurred recently, which is why we brought so many people. But the body is intact, with only a gunshot wound and one stab wound; it shouldn't be related to that recent matter."
The public security situation in Midhillburg was indeed worrying.
"However, there are too many tenants on the fourth floor. We have currently only performed a simple screening of those who could have committed the crime, identifying twenty-one possible suspects. If you want to expedite—"
"Where is the crime scene?" Shade asked directly. This decisive manner further strengthened the Inspector's trust in him.
"In the victim's room."
"Take me there. Also, clear out the others for the time being; I don't want too many people seeing me."
"Understood."
The Inspector had the police lead the twenty-one suspicious tenants to another room to wait. He then led Shade to a room marked with a metal plate numbered "11."
On the third floor of the Sicar Hotel, large rooms were partitioned into small rooms with poor privacy, but the fourth floor consisted of actual single rooms—though they were as cramped as the guest rooms at the Three Cats Inn. A desk, nightstand, wardrobe, and bed occupied nearly the entire space. The room was very tidy and lacked any strange odors; the windows and curtains were tightly closed, and a flower-shaped gas lamp on the wall was currently providing light.
*Why close the curtains in broad daylight? There aren't any buildings taller than this nearby,* Shade thought.
The deceased was still lying on the floor, covered by a white sheet. Shade lifted it for a glance; a bullet had entered the heart directly, which was the cause of death. There was also a stab wound on the shoulder, suggesting a struggle had occurred before the shooting.
"See, this is a typical Carsonrick look," the shrewd-looking middle-aged Inspector commented.
"What was his identity?"
"We just did a rough check of his luggage and found identification. The hotel owner, Mr. Thales, also confirmed that the man had been staying here since the beginning of the Harvest Moon, claiming to be a merchant from the south who came to Midhillburg to wait for a shipment of goods."
Shade nodded, then pretended to search the room. With that bleeding stab wound, he could actually use [Blood Echo] to find the real killer immediately, but he had to keep up appearances.
He had intended to just go through the motions, but the Inspector behind him was diligently providing introductions, so Shade was forced to act a bit more serious.
The luggage of this Carsonrick merchant was simple: just personal clothing, a few novels, and a deck of Rhode cards. Aside from that, noteworthy items included a ticket for the local "Three Rhode Stars Club" and a train ticket tucked inside a book for a return trip from Midhillburg to Carsonrick. He had actually purchased a ticket for next Tuesday—the first of next month—in advance, likely because he already knew the time of the delivery.
"Does the hotel owner know when this man usually went out and returned?" Shade asked.
The Inspector flipped through his notebook. "He usually went downstairs for breakfast at eight, then left. He returned for lunch at eleven, then took a nap. He usually didn't go out in the afternoon, either staying in his room or going downstairs to play cards. After dinner in the evening, he would sometimes go out, and once he did, he wouldn't return for the night."
"A very simple life," Shade remarked. He then reached into the coat draped over the chair and pulled out the man's wallet. It was black leather and looked ordinary. The police hadn't checked this yet, so Shade opened it in front of the Inspector.
Inside were about three pounds in notes and coins, and several business cards written in Carsonrick—belonging to the deceased himself, a law firm, and a warehouse. Additionally, there was the train ticket from when he arrived in Midhillburg and several casino chips. The ticket was punched, indicating it had been used, and the chips all came from a casino very close to this location.
"He went out every night; could it be that he was going to the casino?" Shade muttered. He reached into the other pocket of the coat and pulled out a pair of gray gloves. Checking the chest pocket, he this time produced a relatively new-looking pocket watch, a few coins, a handwritten receipt for the purchase of the watch, and a fountain pen.
Opening the watch cover, there was a photo of a woman embedded inside, likely his wife.
"Seems normal."
He then casually picked up the fountain pen. It was brass-colored, about the length of Shade's middle finger, but only a third of the thickness. He glanced at it and saw nothing wrong, but suddenly froze.
*Why does this pen look so familiar?*
【Of course it looks familiar. You used occult arts on it; you can recognize the trace.】
This was precisely the pen Shade had taken from Virgil Cameron on the night of the Great City Player Finals. Shade had later passed this pen to the Grey Glove intelligence system in exchange for 2,000 pounds. After nearly half a month, he had actually encountered it here again.
Pretending to inspect the pen, he confirmed that the fine wire and the note inside the cap were gone. If Shade hadn't touched it personally—and even cast [Breath of Ages] on it—he wouldn't have believed such a coincidence existed even if the appearance were identical.
*Did Detective Spyro cast some kind of curse on me? Why do I keep bumping into Grey Glove people?* he thought in astonishment, but on the surface, he calmly capped the pen and put it back.
【You have no such curse on you.】
Therefore, this dead so-called "merchant" was the receiver who had received intelligence from the Duchy of Sette and come to Punjab Street to collect the goods. Shade remembered clearly that the delivery date was the last day of this month, which was next Monday. That was why the deceased had pre-purchased a ticket for the first of next month, next Tuesday; and why he had time to frequent casinos instead of acting like a normal merchant.
*But what does this have to do with me?* Shade thought, stuffing everything back into the clothes, and then said to the Inspector
"Let's take a look at the corridor."
He blinked, trying to forget the fact that he had recognized the pen, and then followed the faint blood trail left by the stab wound. He watched the trail fly out the door, turn in the corridor, and enter the room to the left.
"The killer is his neighbor," Shade said steadily. Although the Inspector was surprised by how Shade reached the conclusion, he didn't ask further seeing his composed demeanor.
As long as the killer was found, there were plenty of ways to make them reveal every detail.
"Who lives opposite him, and to his left and right?" Shade asked while standing in the corridor.
"Opposite is a linguistics professor from the south, Professor Lul Higgins. He only moved in last week for a visiting exchange in Midhillburg. The professor is also one of the suspects, but he doesn't look like the killer by any means."
The fact that it wasn't folklore made Shade slightly disappointed, but if it really were folklore, he would instead worry about whether this matter was related to the Ring-Wielders.
*But, another Carsonrick person again?*
To Shade, every Carsonrick person now looked like a Grey Glove agent.
"Two people live in the room to the right, Armand Bernhard and his nephew Lester Bernhard. They are also Carsonrickers who came to Midhillburg to seek refuge with local relatives; this is easily verifiable. Additionally, the two of them are not on the fourth floor right now; they went out this morning, so they can be excluded as suspects."
"Bernhard?"
These two names were the same as the two vampires he had encountered in the [Interstice of Life and Death], so they certainly weren't Grey Glove agents.
*Good thing they're out, so I don't have to face them,* Shade felt slightly relieved, then asked
"And the one on the left?"
"On the left is Mr. Bane Bennett, also a merchant from Carsonrick who has lived in the hotel for half a year."
Another Carsonrick person, and coincidentally the killer, so he might be...
*Nothing to do with me,* Shade suppressed the stray thoughts, emphasizing it to himself again, and then said to the Inspector
"It's highly likely to be him."
Currently, Mr. Bennett was locked in another room with the other suspects. Those people were quite vocal, unwilling to have their personal freedom restricted, but the Inspector ignored them. Aside from Professor Higgins, there was no one else inside with a noteworthy identity.
"Are there this many foreigners here?" he asked casually.
"During winter, trains through the Sicar Mountains are affected and frequency is reduced, so people who have business between the two countries this year choose to finish it in autumn as much as possible," the Inspector explained.
They opened the foreign merchant's room, and Shade once again performed a mock inspection. He easily discovered a blood-stained dagger and two different models of handguns under a loose floorboard beneath the bed.
*Someone actually carried two guns out? I see... the receiver doesn't carry weapons to avoid exposure, while others who arrived half a year early provide armed protection. So the killer is also... but why the shooting? Internal strife?*
The fact that Detective Spyro knew about the important mission in the Harvest Moon half a year in advance indicated that the Duchy of Sette and the Grey Gloves had prior communication. Thus, the Grey Gloves might have known the delivery location was Midhillburg in advance. However, the specific location was only transmitted by the "Grey Hawk" during the Harvest Moon once the Duchy of Sette had secured the goods. Therefore, it wasn't a plot hole for Grey Glove agents to have settled locally half a year early.
*With such great effort, what exactly is the cargo being delivered?*
Though this was a question, it had nothing to do with Shade. He didn't probe further; he couldn't get any more entangled with spies.
Thus, he didn't step forward again, and the Inspector announced to the crowd that the killer had been found. Mr. Bane Bennett, who initially tried to argue, slumped in defeat and admitted he had done it after seeing the evidence
"I played Rhode cards with him, and the guy owed me three pounds over a week. He said he'd pay today, but when I went to find him, he denied it. In a fit of rage, I..."
To Shade, who had nearly touched the truth, this was certainly a lie, but he didn't expose it.
Mr. Bennett was then taken away by the police, and the parts of his and the deceased's luggage that could serve as evidence were taken as well. Since neither he nor the deceased had acquaintances locally, the remaining luggage was temporarily left in the care of Professor Higgins, the Carsonrick native living opposite, until the police found a contact to claim them.
The deceased, the killer, and Professor Higgins were all Carsonrickers, and since the three of them were on good terms, Shade understood there were many stories involved, but he still chose not to interfere.
Regardless of what the cargo was, and regardless of whether others knew the information inside the pen or could receive the goods after the death of the pen-holding victim, it had nothing to do with Shade. His primary occupations were already numerous enough—detective, Ring-Wielder, Rhode card player. He couldn't add a title like double agent to make himself even busier.
【You thought the same before you passed that intelligence.】
"She" whispered softly; the voice was very pleasant.
"This time it's definitely for real."
【Is it?】
Following that, there was only a string of laughter.
(End of Chapter)