Shirou and Caules

Waver nodded.

"At 12:30 AM, the spiritual veins trembled, the Snow Spirit went berserk, and a blizzard swept around us. Our train came to a stop and landed on the ground, where a protective barrier was deployed. Since then, no one has been able to leave the train."

Mr. Frederick said gravely, "The murderer is right here among us... still in the car..."

"First," Shirou said, "I need to speak with the German Caules, who was the deceased's secretary and may be able to provide us with valuable information."

"Of course." Mr. Frederick nodded, then turned to the train conductor: "Go and fetch Mr. Caules."

The train conductor left the compartment.

The train conductor returned, bringing a notebook for recording information and the ticket, which Mr. Frederick took from him.

"Thank you, Hartless. I think you'd better get back to your post now. We'll be formally asking you for testimony later."

"Yes, sir."

Hartless turned and left the private room.

"After meeting the German Caules," Shirou said, "I would like you to accompany me to the deceased's private room."

"Ugh, why did I have to get involved in all this trouble?" Waver complained, annoyed.

"But you can't just leave it like this, especially since this case is related to Miss Rin," Shirou said.

"After we finish our work here, let's head to London immediately, by plane! The sooner the better! I don't want to stay here anymore," Waver said, hunching over and clutching his aching stomach.

In fact, Waver had considered going to see Rin, but Shirou dissuaded him at the time.

Given the devilish nature of the other party, they would probably actually accept Waver. After all, even if he were to be captured and forced to work overtime, Webber would be the perfect fit, and no one would refuse Kongming's overtime work.

Even though he already possessed Mei Tianli and CBA, Fox Concubine was still very useful.

However, I believe Mr. Waver will have an even more miserable life in this one, being exploited for his value, working every day in a state of exhaustion that would not be surprising if he died from overwork, and gaining nothing in return.

In his previous life, although he took on El-Melloi's debts, he at least obtained the title of Lord El-Melloi II, and Rin regarded him as a sworn brother.

Just then, the train conductor returned with the young German man Caules.

Mr. Frederick stood up.

He smiled and said, "Please sit here, Mr. Caules. Mr. Shirou Emiya will sit opposite you, that's all."

He turned to the train conductor.

"Let Shirou handle the case here for now. Train conductor, you can go to a room and rest for a while."

"Alright, that's perfect. I'll inform the train conductors in every carriage to follow Mr. Shirou's instructions." The train conductor agreed and then left.

Caules remained standing, realizing that something was amiss, and asked:

"Is there something you need?"

Shirou gestured for him to sit down in the chair in the corner. After he sat down, he began to speak again.

"What happened in the car? What happened?"

He looked around, glancing at Waver and then at Frederick, trying to read their expressions to understand what was going on.

The young German man certainly seemed unaware of the situation.

Shirou nodded.

"Something has really happened. You need to be prepared. Your employer Old John, is dead!"

Upon Caules leaned back, feeling more settled, and his eyes remained bright, showing no sign of shock or sadness.

"So they finally got rid of him," Caules said calmly.

"What exactly do you mean by that, Mr. Caules?"

Caules hesitated.

"Do you think," Shirou said, "that Mr. Old John was murdered?"

"Isn't that so?" This time, Caules showed surprise.

"Yes, that's right," he said slowly. "I really thought so. You mean he died in his sleep? A natural death? Hmm... but this old man was a Grand Mage, and quite strong..."

He suddenly stopped, as if he were at a loss for words because of his outspokenness.

"No, no," Shirou said, "You are right. Mr. Old John was murdered. He was stabbed to death. But now we need to talk about why you are so sure it was murder, and not a natural death?"

Mr. Frederick's eyes widened in disbelief at how smoothly things had progressed! Yes! Caules was Old John's secretary; they must have had some kind of conflict of interest, some argument, and then Caules killed Old John for money.

He wanted to point his finger at the Germans and shout, "There's only one truth! You're the culprit!"

Caules hesitated for a moment, then looked Shirou over carefully and asked:

"First, I need to figure out who you are and who you represent."

"I represent the Mystic Train Company." Shirou paused, then added, "I am Emiya Shirou, a detective who is quite well-known in Europe."

"Oh, do you run a detective agency there?" Caules asked.

"No, being a detective is just a side job. My main job is actually finding all-powerful treasures," Shirou said, shrugging.

"An all-powerful treasure...?" Caules's gaze towards Shirou changed; he seemed to have realized something.

"Alright, that's irrelevant. Let's get back to the case at hand. Caules, I demand that you tell me everything you know about the deceased. Are you related to Old John?"

"No. I was just...his secretary once," Caules replied, distancing himself from the relationship.

Chapter 1223 Shirou and Caules

"Mr. Caules, how long have you been with Old John?" Shirou asked, writing something on his pen.

"Only a little over a year."

Please tell me the whole story.

"Yes, I only met Mr. Old John a little over a year ago, when I was in Persia."

Shirou interrupted him.

What are you doing there?

"I'm just trying to make a living. To my shame, I wasn't originally groomed by the family to be their heir. There's an exceptionally talented older sister above me. But one day, she voluntarily gave up her Magic Crest and her status as heir, so I had to take over the family business. However, in this era, it's incredibly difficult for a family like mine to even survive, so I'm out here earning money."

"And then?"

"We traveled around, Mr. Old John wanted to see the world, but he found it very inconvenient because he didn't understand foreign languages, so I translated for him along the way. I was more like his travel companion than his secretary. He was a generous and good boss, so the journey was quite pleasant."

"Now, please tell me about your employer. Tell me as much as you know."

The young man shrugged, a bewildered expression flashing across his face.

"That's not easy."

What is his full name?

John Derendo

Is he a Romania citizen?

"Yes, but he has a large villa there with an estate."

Where in Romania is he from?

"I have no idea."

"Okay, tell me what you know."

"I'm sorry, Mr. Shirou, I've told you everything I know. In fact, I know nothing! Old John never talks about his situation, nor about his life back home."

Why do you think that is?

"I don't know. Maybe he suffered some humiliation when he was young, so he doesn't want to look back on the past. Some people are like that."

"Do you think this argument makes sense? Even if there are bad memories, does that mean we should completely deny all past memories? No matter how bad the environment, a child's childhood is still full of laughter."

"Okay, I also feel it's a bit of a stretch."

Does he have any relatives?

He didn't mention that either.

Shirou kept asking questions, Caules answered them one by one.

"You must have made some guesses about your mysterious employer, Mr. Caules," Shirou asked.

"Oh, well, first of all, I don't believe Old John is his real name. I think he left his hometown and traveled all over the world to escape someone or something. I thought he was successful until a few weeks ago."

"And then what?"

"He started receiving threatening letters."

"Have you read these letters?" Shirou asked.

"Yes, as his secretary, I handle his correspondence every day. The first letter was received two weeks ago."

Were all these letters destroyed?

"No. I think I have two more in my folder, and Old John tore up the other one in anger. Do you need me to get it for you?"

"If only it could be like that, that would be wonderful."

Caules left the private room. A few minutes later, he returned and placed two very dirty sheets of paper in front of Shirou.

The first letter reads as follows, "Did you think you've successfully fooled us? Did you think you're safe now that you've escaped the country? Absolutely not! We're going to kill you, Old John, we will definitely kill you!"

No signature.

Shirou raised an eyebrow but offered no comment; he picked up the second letter.

"We plan to kidnap and kill you in a car, Old John. It won't be long. We're going to kill you! Kill you! Watch out!"

Shirou put down the letter.

"The writing style is monotonous!" he said. "The handwriting is diverse."

Caules stared at him.

"It's not surprising that you can't tell," Shirou said cheerfully. "You need a professional's eye to judge this. This letter wasn't written by one person, Caules."

It was written by at least two people, or even more, each taking turns writing one letter of a word in turn, and using the printed font, The New Roman. This makes handwriting identification much more difficult."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Did you know that Mr. Old John asked me for help?"

"They contacted you?"

Caules's surprised tone told Shirou that the young man truly didn't know about this. He nodded.

"Yes, he was scared. Tell me, how did he react when he received the first letter?"

Caules stammered, "It's hard to say. He smiled and put the letter aside, still looking calm and collected. But somehow... I always felt that behind that composure, he wasn't really at peace inside."

"He didn't say it aloud, but he was experiencing a great deal of turmoil inside."

Yes, that's exactly what I meant.

Shirou nodded. Then, he asked a few unexpected questions.

"Mr. Caules, can you tell me honestly what your impression of your employer is? Do you like him?"

After a pause, Caules paused and said:

"Feel sorry..."

"Why?" Shirou asked.

"I can't say for sure. He usually behaves very elegantly, like a true aristocrat, even though he doesn't actually have noble blood..."

He paused, then continued, "To be honest, I don't like him, and I don't trust him. I'm certain he's a cruel and cold-blooded man, and a dangerous one at that. However, I must admit I don't have enough evidence to further support my opinion."

"Thank you, Mr. Caules. I have one more question: when was the last time you saw Old John?"

"Last night, around," he thought for a moment, "I think it was around ten o'clock. I went into his private room to help him write down some important things, otherwise he would forget."

Was that the last time you saw Mr. Old John alive?

"Yes, that's true." Caules nodded.

"Do you remember when Mr. Rachel received the last threatening letter?"

"The morning we left Constantinople."

"I have another question for you, Mr. Caules: how is your relationship with your employer?"