Taking a hired carriage, Angel arrived at Minsk Street in Cherwood Borough.
This is a small street in a residential area. The two sides are similar to the Red Rose Street where she lives. To be precise, it is similar to the side where Red Rose Street faces Tussock River. They are two-story houses in a row. There are bay windows of the same style on both sides of the first floor, and a large balcony is separated from the second floor.
There is a small mailbox at the door of 15 Minsk Street, with sticky notes and pencils hanging next to it. It should be prepared so that Detective will not miss any requests when he goes out.
Angel knocked on the door first, but there seemed to be no movement behind the door. She secretly sighed at her bad luck and picked up the note paper next to the mailbox to leave a message.
At this time, the door opened, and a man with a thick beard, a pair of gold-rimmed glasses that did not match the rough beard, a short-brimmed hat for easy movement, a man wearing a white shirt and a black vest poked his head out and looked curiously at Angel who was holding a note and pencil at the front door step.
The latter was surprised to find that he had seen this Detective before.
Rather, I have seen it many times.
"Mr. Sherlock Moriarty?"
"It's me," the Luck son who appeared at "Eye of Wisdom" gatherings many times and claimed to have killed Mid Sequence's enemies for 400 pounds replied, "Is there anything you need to entrust?"
Angel, who entered the living room at the invitation of Mr. Moriarty, quickly looked at the indoor furnishings. The house didn't look big from the outside, but inside, the length from front to back was greater than the width, so the actual area was not small. The living room and dining room had excellent lighting, and there were kitchens, washrooms and guest rooms at the back. There were at least three or four bedrooms on the second floor. Well, there was also the large balcony that could be seen from the street.
Assessing the financial resources and income of private Detective, Angel came to the corner of the living room and sat down on the single sofa near the bay window at Moriarty's invitation. The other party brought a teapot and teacup and sat opposite her.
After a brief self-introduction and pleasantries, the two quickly got down to business.
"Miss Irene, please tell me about your commission."
Politely pouring a cup of tea for the guest, he took off his short-brimmed hat, revealing the short black hair underneath. His eyes showed curiosity and exploration, and he looked at Angel and asked.
He looks vaguely familiar... Well, if the hairline is further back and the beard is shaved off, he will look a lot like Mr. Benson. Their hair color and eye color are the same, and the curvature of their cheeks is also the same...
After a few seconds, he realized that his behavior of staring at the other person was not polite. Angel looked away, looked at the black tea in his hand, and replied:
"Actually, I'm here to look for one of your customers. Do you remember Mr. O'Neill? Jason O'Neill, looking for his daughter, Emily."
O'Neill, Emily.
Moriarty muttered these two names silently, recalling them with unfocused eyes for a few seconds, and nodded. The gold-rimmed glasses that didn't fit the shape of his face were shaking, making Angel almost think they would fall into the tea cup below.
"I remember him. Jason O'Neill commissioned me to find his kidnapped daughter. On the evening of October 5, this gentleman found me through someone else's introduction. Then I went with him to investigate several places he provided and confirmed that the kidnapper passed by."
With that said, Detective stood up, walked quickly to the bookshelf that separated the living room and dining room, found a map, returned to the oriel window, and handed it to Angel.
The latter could tell at a glance that this was the Backlund map on which she had noted the kidnapping route when O'Neill sought help in divination.
"After analyzing the relevant clues, I quickly determined the final hiding place of the kidnapper and found the gang members who were guarding Mr. O'Neill's daughter Emily. Since Mr. O'Neill was worried that calling the police would trigger unscrupulous revenge on their part, I used some negotiation skills to get them to let Emily go. Of course, I still called the police afterwards. This is my duty as a law-abiding citizen."
When Moriarty mentioned "negotiation skills", a smile appeared on the corner of Moriarty's beard, which reminded Angel of the other party's meaningless smile at the "Eye of Wisdom" party.
I almost forgot that after asking for help at the "Eye of Wisdom" party and miraculously solving the huge crisis, this Detective is now a Beyonder. His so-called negotiation skills were probably used to solve the gangsters through violence or Beyonder Ability, and get Emily back. This is also consistent with what Mr. O'Neill said...
I just don't know if he still remembers the first meeting with me when we went to the party. Although I wore a hood and it has the effect of Madness Ring making people forget my appearance easily, my height and hair color can easily reveal my identity.
With these thoughts quickly passing through his mind, Angel nodded and replied, "Thank you, could you please tell me the place where Emily was found?"
"Why? Sorry, I'm not making things difficult for you, but this belongs to the privacy of the previous client."
Although I have little hope, it turns out that Detective is quite professional...
Angel sighed secretly and told the inquiring Detective about his part-time job at Divination Club, O'Neill's request for help, and the analysis of the location and route of the kidnapping.
Of course, she covered up the part involving Beyonder Ability by saying "analysed".
Then, she took out the newspaper she carried with her and handed the page with the obituary of the O'Neill family to the other party. She watched as his expression changed from curiosity to seriousness, with a hint of anger.
"Do you think this is a normal suicide?"
Putting down the newspaper, Moriarty's tone carried a completely different emotion from before.
"Of course not. I just met Mr. O'Neill last weekend. He gave me a large extra payment and said he was going to leave Backlund and take his family to live with Midseashire for a few years. Leaving this familiar environment that scares his daughter, I don't think this is what someone who plans to commit suicide would do."
"Extra payment... well, that's not the point. You're right, there was something fishy about his death," Moriarty replied with a frown, "Backlund, who just rescued his daughter and planned to move away, would not commit suicide with his whole family by jumping into the river, unless... someone coerced them, or simply 'did it on his behalf'."
"However, the police should investigate this kind of thing. I read in the obituary that the family all left suicide notes. If the handwriting was forged and there were problems at the suicide scene, the police would have discovered it. Since the obituary has been issued, it proves that the police also believe it was a suicide."
This Detective looked at Angel with a searching look.
Alas, would a private Detective like you really believe in Sivellaus Yard's ability so much? Or are you saying that you have recognized me and are trying to trick me?
Looking at him for a few seconds, Angel smiled.
"Okay, I guess you have recognized me. Since everyone is Beyonder and has attended the 'Eye of Wisdom' party, let's not go around in circles and say things to test each other. I determined through divination that the O'Neill family committed suicide, but this is the biggest problem. There is Beyonder who hides the truth through his ability. The purpose may be revenge or silence."
Moriarty first looked at Angel with surprise, and then his eyes behind the glasses flashed with a smile.
"Yes, 'Dog Mask Lady', well, that Apothecary called you that. I did recognize you at the door, but because I didn't know your purpose, I didn't tell you. I'm sorry."
Looking at the somewhat familiar brown eyes, Angel was stunned for a moment, and then felt unhappy because of the other person's name.
"By the way, you said 'confirmed through divination', is that the kind of divination in the occult sense?" As if aware of Angel's emotions, Moriarty quickly changed the topic, "I thought the Divination Club you were talking about was just an ordinary fan club."
"The club is indeed a common one, but I..."
Angel wore a less eye-catching Loen style dress today. The long sleeves covered her wrists on both sides. At this time, she pulled up the leg-of-mutton sleeves to reveal the citrine pendant on her right wrist.
"... But he is a master of divination."