"What is this?" Lin Ze stared at the scratches on the photo.
"I made a rubbing." Mia picked up a piece of parchment from the table, "The scratches are too dense, and they have been repeatedly covered in multiple layers. Only the top layer can be identified."
She spread the rubbings on the table.
Lin Ze leaned over and saw that the marks were words. They were crooked, but they could be read.
"I've been here for nine months, and someone brings me food every day."
The next few lines are covered by new notches and cannot be seen clearly.
Identify a few lines further back.
"There was no sound when he came in. I couldn't see him, but I knew he was there. I could smell blood on him, but it wasn't the blood of a living person."
Lin Ze tapped his fingers on the table twice, his mind spinning rapidly.
"Where are these notches?" he asked, looking up.
"The side of the stone bed against the wall, where the head of the bed is, is covered by a blanket. You can't see it unless you lift it." Mia said.
"This should be carved by Number Forty-Eight, but... why was he in that darkroom?" Lin Ze said.
"If he can enter the darkroom, it means that he is not just a simple experimental subject, maybe..."
"Maybe he is the one who did the experiment." Mia continued.
"If Number Forty-Eight is the one who conducted the experiment, then who wrote the diary in the cellar?"
"Maybe it's the same person." Mia leaned against the table and folded his arms.
"Think about it, if it says in the diary 'He started talking' 'He started reading' 'I started to get scared', what if the person writing the diary is Number Forty-Eight himself?"
Lin Ze frowned.
"You mean, Number Forty-Eight is both the experimenter and the experimental subject?"
"Try reversing the logic." Mia said.
"A researcher from the Burke Family has been experimenting with wizards for many years, trying to create a perfect vampire vessel. Then one day, he used the experiment on himself."
Lin Ze was silent for a few seconds.
"He turned himself into Number Forty-Eight." he said.
"But the notes clearly record it from a first-person perspective..."
"Perhaps years of experiments have caused this man to suffer from schizophrenia?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the office door was pushed open. Ben poked half his head in, with an unsightly expression on his face.
"Lin, someone is looking for you."
"Who?"
"He said his name is Oliver·Sterling."
Lin Ze and Mia looked at each other.
That reporter.
"Let him in."
When Sterling walked in, the beige windbreaker was wrinkled and there were a few rain stains on the collar.
He was carrying an old leather bag in his hand. After entering the door, he first looked around the office, his eyes stopped on Mia for a moment, and then turned to Lin Ze.
"Team Leader Lin, excuse me."
Sterling put the leather bag on the table, opened the zipper, and took out a piece of "Witch Weekly" that was folded in half.
"This is the newspaper that will be published tomorrow. What do you guess is on the front page?"
Lin Ze took the newspaper and opened it. The headline on the front page read "The truth about the dock incident: What did Ministry of Magic hide?".
The subtitle is. "Thirty-seven Muggle died mysteriously, Special Operations Team refused to disclose the details."
The signature is Oliver·Sterling.
"Are you sure you want to send this?" Lin Ze looked up at him.
"It's not me." Sterling shook his head.
"This manuscript was revised by the editor-in-chief. In the original manuscript, I wrote 'Ministry of Magic successfully dealt with the attack by dark creatures'. I took over the first version and turned it into this."
"Some people don't want things to go away so quickly."
"Yes." Sterling took off his glasses and wiped them with the hem of his windbreaker.
"And I found out one thing. This morning, someone used an owl to send an anonymous letter to the three newspapers "Daily Prophet", "Witch Weekly" and "What's New Weekly" at the same time. The letter said, 'The truth of the dock incident is far more than the thirty-seven lives, and Special Operations Team is covering up a bigger secret.'"
Lin Ze put the newspaper on the table and tapped the headline on the front page with his fingers.
Someone is muddying the water.
"Who is the person behind you?" Lin Ze suddenly asked.
Sterling was stunned for a moment.
"What do you mean?"
"The three addresses you gave me are so accurate. There must be someone behind you. That person knows about the Burke Family, knows about Dark Night Society, knows about the dock, but he doesn't show up and lets you be a mouthpiece."
Sterling was silent for a few seconds, then sighed.
"I can't say."
"Then let me tell you." Lin Ze leaned on the back of the chair.
"That person is from the Burke Family, but not from the main family. He may be a side branch, he may be a researcher who has been squeezed out, or... he may be an experimental subject who escaped from the laboratory."
Sterling's face changed.
"Do you think Number Forty-Eight has escaped?" Mia asked.
"It's not about running away." Lin Ze stood up and walked to the window.
"It was released. During the nine-month stabilization period, the autonomous consciousness is intact, and the annotations of Runes can be modified. If I were Number Forty-Eight, the first thing I would do is to find the person who forced me to do the experiment and figure it out step by step."
He turned and looked at Sterling.
"Where is that person behind you now?"
Sterling opened his mouth, but in the end he only said one word.
"He disappeared."
"When?"
"Yesterday afternoon, he called me, said, 'Don't call me anymore,' and then hung up. When I called him again, his number had been cancelled."
Lin Ze glanced at him and didn't ask any more questions.
"I'll take care of the newspaper matters. You go back and wait for the news."
After Sterling left, Lin Ze said to Mia, "Let Ben check the list of the Burke Family's personnel. All of them are missing. Focus on those who suddenly disappeared from the records between the end of the sixteenth century and the beginning of the seventeenth century."
"You mean, Fearn·Burke?"
"Yes. On the list given by Old Mulciber, Fearn·Burke is the only one whose death or burial record has not been found yet."
"Do you think he is Number Forty-Eight?"
"I don't know." Lin Ze said.
"But I want to try."
He took out the silver badge, held it in his palm, and injected a little magic power into it.
After a few seconds, the badge became slightly hot.
"What's wrong?" Rodna's voice was as lazy as ever.
"Is there any way to find out information about a person who lived in the sixteenth century?"
"The archives in the castle can be lent to you for your use."
"Thank you... for your arm..." Lin Ze hesitated for a moment.
"It's grown."
"Ah? It's grown?"
"Noisy."
The badge dimmed.
Lin Ze put the badge back into his pocket, picked up his coat and walked to the door.
"Where are you going?" Mia asked.
"Go to Knockturn Alley and talk to the owner of the Borgin and Burkes store. Maybe you can find out something."