The mysterious figure

For Li Wei, this case was quite a headache.

After interviewing the victim's classmates and teachers, Li Wei learned that the victim had been in good spirits lately, especially after the Courtesan Killer case had been solved-well, perhaps the fellow had been afraid Amelia would crawl out of her grave to take revenge on him?

After all, he had supplied that surgical device.

Besides, Edwards had been writing his graduation thesis recently and had even decided where he would work after graduating. Under those circumstances, he certainly had no reason or motive to kill himself.

Then there was the cause of death.

It was all but certain that Edwards had died from blood loss-after all, there had been almost no blood in his body during the autopsy. In the words of the medical examiner who performed it, he was "practically like a pig that had been washed clean." That raised the question: where had Edwards's blood gone?

It wasn't as though you could simply make a wound and all the blood would drain out on its own. That was impossible.

So there were two possibilities.

First, a vampire really had attacked the victim and drained him of blood.

Second, someone had used some newly invented device to drain the victim's blood-and there was no saying that was impossible. After the Courtesan Killer incident, Li Wei felt that the people of this world had an almost limitless enthusiasm for technological invention.

Worse still, moral standards in this era weren't particularly high.

At least, if you dragged a condemned prisoner off to conduct experiments on him, no one would object, much less declare the entire nation shocked, its allies appalled, or cry out about human rights violations.

Well, the newspaper Li Wei had read that day had carried a front-page headline about the latest scientific method for curing violent psychiatric patients: cutting out their frontal lobes to turn them into obedient, well-behaved people. It had even shown off the "experimental results"-two patients who had become docile after frontal-lobe surgery.

Trying to discuss scientific ethics in a world like this would probably be... hard to say.

God only knew what else those mad scientists, with nothing holding them back, might come up with.

Still, Li Wei didn't believe this was merely an ordinary case.

Even setting aside the bizarre disappearance of the victim's blood, several aspects felt very familiar to Li Wei, reminding him strongly of the Courtesan Killer case.

These two cases had one thing in common-the perpetrators seemed very eager for others to see what they had done.

Both the killings of the courtesans and Edwards's murder demonstrated that. The perpetrators could easily have killed them secretly, without anyone knowing, then hidden the bodies. In a world without surveillance cameras or much advanced technology, a body could stay hidden for a year or more without anyone discovering it.

Or they could simply have thrown it into the river. That thick, filthy water could swallow a body like a bottomless swamp, and probably no one would be willing to go in and retrieve it.

Thus, in Li Wei's view, the common thread between these two cases looked more like a display!

If Li Wei's guess was correct, another vampire-like case might occur before long!

He was becoming fairly certain that this case was connected to the organization behind Lady Claytie.

The reason was simple: so far, Li Wei had received no quest from the system concerning this case.

Either he hadn't found any useful clues yet, or-this case was part of the quest itself.

After all, that quest's objective was to investigate Lady Claytie's true purpose. Although she was already dead, and Li Wei knew no Spiritualism that would let him raise the dead for questioning, the similarities between this case and the Courtesan Killer case made him suspect that Lady Claytie's true purpose might have something to do with it.

And that girl... how strange.

Having finished thinking over the case, Li Wei recalled the girl named Betty. She looked exactly like the girl he had seen in his dream, yet right after having that dream, he had run into her in person?

What on earth was going on?

That dream had been strange too. Unfortunately, Li Wei couldn't find Freud here to interpret it for him.

Hmm... looks like the real trouble is still ahead.

Knock, knock.

A knock sounded at the door. Li Wei looked up and saw Officer Fletcher walk in with a stack of documents.

"Here's what you wanted. Detailed information on Lady Durex's accounts."

"Hmm... thank you."

Li Wei gathered his thoughts and opened the documents, reflecting on how convenient it was to have something like the Difference Engine, letting this Industrial Revolution-era world enjoy the conveniences of the information age. He had previously filed a request to investigate Lady Claytie's accounts and real estate holdings. Although he wasn't certain there would be any records of them... everything left a trace. He refused to believe he couldn't find anything at all.

Hmm, the transaction records are all very clear. Good thing the Difference Engine became widespread throughout the Empire years ago... huh?

Li Wei read from the beginning and flipped through to the later pages, where he finally noticed some issues.

After both her sons had died, Lady Claytie's accounts had shown several substantial changes. According to the records, she had used these funds for investments, purchasing several properties. One of them was the Pink Lady.

Of course, back then it hadn't been the Pink Lady yet, but [Property A392, White Birch Street].

Lady Claytie had also purchased several other properties. Li Wei gave them a quick look: there was a warehouse, a factory, and an apartment building. He didn't know whether they were a smokescreen or whether something was wrong with those places too. He planned to investigate them one by one over the next few days, assess the situation, and then decide.

For now, though, he would focus on this vampire case.

Li Wei set aside the supernatural elements of the case and considered the ordinary ones first. Whether it was a vampire attack or a murder, the perpetrator would at least have needed to get close to the victim. So he first visited the victim's classmates and friends to ask about his recent circumstances.

"How Edwards had been doing?"

Faced with Li Wei's question, a man in Edwards's research group frowned and thought for a moment.

"Well, he hadn't been acting strangely lately. Graduation was coming up, and he was busy writing his thesis. Really, we were all much the same. After all, our prospects after graduation depended on it. Everyone was busy..."

The Royal Academy of Medicine supplied elite talent to the government. Although it waived many expenses, such as tuition, the price was that graduates could only take the jobs the academy assigned them. Their graduation results were closely tied to the departments where they would work. Those with high evaluations went to important departments with promising futures, while those with poor evaluations could only be "exiled" to impoverished, remote regions.

Incidentally, because they were under contract, even those who were exiled couldn't resign. Otherwise, they would end up in prison.

"Then have you seen anyone else around him lately?"

"Now that you mention it, yes. A rather beautiful young lady. Probably one of his classmates."

At that topic, the man couldn't help looking envious and resentful.

"I really don't know what's so great about that fellow. There are always beautiful young ladies hanging around him... sigh..."

"Oh? She was very beautiful?"

"Yes. That young lady was as beautiful and captivating as an angel in a painting."

"Could you describe her appearance in detail? Her hair color, for instance?"

"Well, of course..."

At that point, the man paused, looking puzzled.

"I can't remember..."

"Didn't you say she was very beautiful?"

"Ah, yes..."

Faced with Li Wei's question, the man looked surprised himself.

"How strange. I clearly remember that she was beautiful, but when I actually try to describe her, I can't recall exactly what she looked like... sorry. Perhaps I'm a little mentally exhausted from working on my thesis lately. But you could ask Edwards's classmates. I imagine a young lady that beautiful wouldn't go unnoticed."

Li Wei stared at him, fell silent for a moment, and asked another question.

"Then roughly when did that young lady start appearing around Mr. Edwards? Do you remember?"

"Hmm, let me think... ah, it must have been shortly after the Courtesan Killer case was solved. I remember Edwards relaxed quite a bit after they solved it. Before that, he'd seemed frightened and uneasy. Maybe he was worried about some courtesan he was involved with."

"Oh... all right."

Li Wei nodded, closed his notebook, and stood.

"Thank you for your help."

Afterward, Li Wei went to Edwards's class and found one of his classmates to question.

"How Edwards had been doing? He was busy writing his thesis lately, constantly running around. He was basically either in the library or the laboratory, so we hardly ever saw him. But now that you mention it..."

At that point, the classmate looked thoughtful.

"I remember seeing a very beautiful young lady sitting with him a few times when I went to the library. They seemed quite intimate. Perhaps she was a colleague from Edwards's research group. That fellow really was lucky."

A beautiful young lady.

Li Wei glanced at the classmate without betraying any reaction, then asked again.

"She was very beautiful? Can you describe what she looked like? Her hair color, for instance?"

"Of course. She..."

The classmate opened his mouth, then scratched his head awkwardly after a long pause.

"Sorry, all I remember is that she was very beautiful. Perhaps it's because I barely interacted with her, but I don't remember much about her. Still, a young lady that beautiful must be quite rare in the research group."

Li Wei looked at the entries in his notebook, then stood.

"Thank you for your help."

It seemed he had found the problem.