The Lucky Southern Cross Club's legitimate main business was the collection and appraisal of alcoholic beverages; only at night did it host an illegal Rhodes Cards casino. According to Miss Bayes, the Orthodox Church and Ridgewich Field had conducted a joint search here yesterday afternoon, but had found no clues.
Due to the club's connections with powerful nobles, a thorough search was the limit of what could be done. As a newcomer to the Police Department, she believed she possessed certain special investigative abilities and might be able to uncover some clues.
Shade guessed that Miss Bayes might possess some Thaumaturgy related to investigation, which reminded him of his own spell, Blood Echo. He had used it in the club last time.
He knew Miss Bayes's true identity, yet could not understand why she was so proactive in investigating. The young woman did not seem like someone greedy for credit, so for the moment, he could only assume that she had some other connection to the Blood of Mercury.
Miss Bayes was a newcomer to the "Police Department," and no one here knew her identity, so the two of them could enter the club directly. Their cover identities were young merchants who had come to purchase fine wine for entertaining distinguished guests. Thus, after receiving a warm welcome, they were led by a club maid to the reception room on the second floor to wait.
"Detective, you'll be responsible for keeping the club staff occupied and discussing business with him. I'll use the washroom as an excuse to conduct my investigation. That's your entire task. I assume that's no problem."
Before the manager on duty at the club could arrive with a wine catalog, Miss Bayes briefed Shade on the plan. Shade had only a few objections to this simple