Li Wei slept until noon the next day. His lifespan might have been limited, but that was precisely why he refused to shortchange himself. He slept when he needed sleep and ate when he needed food. Only then could he truly enjoy each day without wasting it. His experiences before transmigrating had already taught him never to believe in suffering now so he could enjoy life later.
Because the more he thought that way, the more likely he was to end up suffering now and never getting to enjoy anything.
By the time Li Wei changed and went downstairs, Erin had laid out a steaming breakfast on the table: milk, white bread, tomato salad, ham, and fried eggs. As he ate, he casually picked up the newspaper and opened it.
Hmm... sure enough, the fire at the Glorious Club had become the biggest news story. Naturally, the reporting was exactly what Li Wei had expected. It mainly covered the fire at the Glorious Club, the death of its owner, Ms. Durex, and the police investigation into possible arson, and so on...
Li Wei skimmed through it. The article offered only a brief account of Lady Claytie's life and said the police investigation was ongoing. So far, it seemed likely that Lady Claytie had suddenly fallen ill and collapsed while preparing for bed, and the candle in her hand had ignited the carpet... Hmm, at least judging by the news report, there was nothing worth... huh?
Just as Li Wei was about to dismiss the story, he spotted the following passage near the end.
[However, according to our investigation, two new members joined the Glorious Club on the day of the fire. One was none other than Mr. Li Wei, the famed detective who recently solved the Courtesan Killer case. Could he be connected to this incident? Our reporter will investigate further on your behalf...]
Li Wei stared at the newspaper, suddenly finding the ham in his mouth much less appetizing.
Those damned gossip reporters!
Where did they dig up that information?
Still, it was hardly surprising. He simply disliked seeing information about himself printed in the newspaper like this... Oh well, it was no big deal.
Li Wei was not surprised that the reporters had discovered his visit to the club. With the Glorious Club burning down, those reporters were bound to question everyone like detectives, and naturally they would find its members. Li Wei and Katie's appearance had clearly left the strongest impression on them. It would have been stranger if they had said nothing.
Still, he had not come away entirely empty-handed.
At that thought, Li Wei felt the cigarette case in his hand. It held not cigarettes, but some of Lady Claytie's ashes. Perhaps the mastermind thought killing Lady Claytie would cut off his leads completely. In reality, however, doing so had given Li Wei a chance to identify the murderer!
If you hadn't killed Lady Claytie and had simply kept obstructing me step by step, I might really have been unable to do anything about you. But now, all I need to do is use Soul Sight to find whoever was connected to Lady Claytie's death, and I'll have you!
The only unfortunate part was that the ability still had a limited range. Based on Li Wei's experiments so far, its radius was roughly a hundred meters. And since it consumed his lifespan, he could not keep it active all day, or he might never wake up the next morning. Unless he had a suspect, he could not use it on everyone he met.
"Ding-dong!"
The Elevator bell rang. Li Wei looked up as its doors opened, and a figure wearing a flat cap came bounding inside.
"Mr. Li Wei! Have you read the newspaper? What happened?"
The visitor was none other than Katie.
Li Wei first raised a hand, gesturing for Katie to calm down, then finished his breakfast. Erin brought Katie a cup of tea before taking the dishes and excusing herself. Katie sat in a chair until Erin left, then hurried over to the desk.
"What happened? The news said the Glorious Club caught fire, and Lady Claytie died too? Don't tell me you did it?"
"If only I had."
Li Wei sighed, then told Katie what had happened the previous night. When she heard that Lady Claytie had twisted her own head around and broken her neck, Katie went pale with fright.
"Oh my God, was that... Black Magic, like in the stories? Or some kind of curse?"
"Possibly. I'm not sure either. In any case, they definitely possess some sort of supernatural power."
"Then what do we do now?"
Katie frowned slightly, looking deeply troubled.
"We're not completely without leads, actually."
Li Wei explained what he had thought of in the carriage the previous night, along with Lady Claytie's report that he had overheard afterward.
"She told that mirror everything was going smoothly, and Dolittle's sacrifice was expected..."
"Mm-hmm... huh?"
Katie nodded along, then suddenly caught on.
"Wait, we stopped Doctor Dolittle's plan, didn't we? Amelia wasn't resurrected, was she? How could that count as a success? The plan clearly failed."
"That's exactly the problem."
Li Wei snapped his fingers.
"Just as I suspected before, Lady Claytie deceived Doctor Dolittle. Maybe she really did need sinners' organs, but they didn't necessarily have to come from courtesans. There are plenty of sinners in the Lower City. By comparison, those courtesans were practically harmless."
At least they were manual laborers earning their money through work.
"That's true... I know a few scoundrels who are much worse."
"That's why I suspect that, to Lady Claytie, whether Doctor Dolittle succeeded didn't matter. What mattered was whether he carried out the plan at all."
Katie looked at Li Wei, utterly baffled.
"It's only an idea. I couldn't give you a concrete explanation even if you asked."
Li Wei shook his head. He had vaguely grasped something, but he was no expert in the occult. It was merely a feeling he had gotten from comparing this to the movies, anime, and novels he had seen and the games he had played. He still did not know the specifics.
"Speaking of which, Lady Claytie didn't seem to recognize you last night?"
"Of course not."
On that subject, Katie proudly lifted her chin and puffed out her chest.
"My disguise was perfect. Besides, I hardly ever saw Lady Claytie. Most of the time, I was helping the girls."
"What could you help them with?"
"Running errands, buying things they wanted but couldn't get themselves, or chasing off customers who wouldn't leave them alone."
Katie's expression dimmed as she spoke.
"I think they're pretty pitiful, but there isn't much I can do to help."
"Every little bit counts."
Li Wei sighed, then stood up.
"Since you're so worried, let's go check on them now."
"Sure!"
The news in the newspaper had caused no disturbance at the Pink Lady. Or rather, the people there did not yet know that the "Ms. Durex" mentioned in the article was their boss. So when Li Wei and Katie returned to the Pink Lady, everything seemed quite peaceful.
The same muscular young man was guarding the door. Li Wei greeted him, then gained entry with a penny. Perhaps the man assumed Li Wei had come to see another courtesan.
But not this time.
"What are we here for today?"
"We're going to take a look in Lady Claytie's room."
Li Wei answered Katie's question in a low voice.
"There are some things she probably kept here rather than at the Glorious Club."
"You mean her office? Can you pick locks?"
"I don't need to."
As he spoke, Li Wei sighed inwardly.
"I have a key."
As a detective, not knowing how to pick locks really isn't good enough.
Perhaps because everyone had finished work and gone to rest, there were few people inside the Pink Lady. Using the key he had taken from Lady Claytie, Li Wei easily opened the office door, and the two slipped quietly inside.
"Ooh... this is so exciting."
Katie's eyes shone as she cautiously entered the office.
"It's just like being a thief!"
"We're not here to steal. We're here to investigate."
Li Wei corrected her, then began rummaging through the room. Katie looked eagerly around as well, just like a player barging into an NPC's room, desperate to smash and loot everything.
"What are we looking for?"
"Any useful clues. You can check the desk, the drawers, or behind the paintings to see if there's a safe..."
Before he finished speaking, Li Wei saw Katie reach out and pull a painting off the wall, revealing the safe hidden behind it.
"There's a safe here, Mr. Li Wei!"
"Ah, yes..."
Momentarily speechless, Li Wei stood and walked over to examine the safe. To his disappointment, it was a combination safe. Opening it required a combination, not a key.
And he did not have the combination...
"What's wrong, Mr. Li Wei?"
Seeing Li Wei standing silently in front of the safe, Katie asked curiously. He nodded.
"I'm thinking about how to open this safe."
"Huh? You can't open it? Let me try..."
As she spoke, Katie loosened up her arms and reached for the safe's handle. Li Wei froze for a moment at the sight, then hurried forward to stop her.
"Wait, let me try first. Hmm... I remember there's a way..."
Li Wei remembered seeing somewhere how thieves opened safes like this: they placed a stethoscope against one, then turned the dial and listened. He had no stethoscope, but he could try using [Investigation] and [Perception]. He immediately leaned close to the safe, reached out, and slowly turned the dial. Sure enough, his keen hearing caught a faint click coming from within the thick safe door.
"Whew..."
Fortunately, safes in this era were not too complicated, or he would have been stumped. He did not dare let Katie force it open, either. Although he thought opening this safe would be easy enough with her strength, he did not want anyone to know they could open it... Leaving no trace was best.
After several turns, the safe finally opened. Katie's eyes widened in astonishment.
"Mr. Li Wei, you're amazing..."
"Just a little trick. Nothing worth showing off."
Li Wei waved a hand, then looked inside the safe. It contained a money pouch, several punched cards, and a black notebook.
Li Wei picked up the black notebook and opened it. Inside were financial records, the Pink Lady's income and expenses, and records of crimes such as smuggling.
Under normal circumstances, this would have been good supporting evidence. But Lady Claytie was already dead, so those dealings of hers no longer mattered much... huh?
Just as Li Wei finished leafing through the notebook and was about to put it back, he suddenly paused.
Something feels wrong!
Before you continue