"Although you are Auror of Ministry of Magic, I also have the right to refuse your request, sir." Caractacus said.
"Oh, of course you have the right, but I think you don't want others to know your relationship with Tom Riddle, right?" Lin Ze looked at Caractacus with a smile on his face.
However, Caractacus's pupils shrank and his lips trembled as he said, "I think... it is the obligation of each of us to cooperate with Ministry of Magic in the investigation. Please wait a moment."
It took Caractacus a long time to find the contract from the family archives.
Lin Ze took the contract, turned around and left Borgin and Burkes.
Number Forty-Seven, Knockturn Alley.
This place is hidden in the deepest part of the alley, next to a brick wall covered with mold. There is no signboard at the door, only a vague outline of a raven drawn with chalk on the door panel.
Lin Ze stood in front of the warehouse door, looking at the lock.
The lock is new.
The bronze lock body is engraved with anti-pry Runes on the surface. The keyhole is clean and there is still a little oily luster inside.
It is completely different from the mottled mildew on the exterior wall of the warehouse.
"It seems that someone has been maintaining this place." Mia stood beside him.
Lin Ze nodded. He had just gone to the owner of the house with the contract and asked for a spare key. Then he called Mia and wanted to find out.
The moment the door was pushed open, a stream of cold air rushed out from inside. It was dry and cool, with a hint of metal and dust mixed smell.
Lin Ze's wand lights up fluorescently, illuminating the interior of the warehouse.
The place is not big, with a long table, two chairs, a row of iron cabinets against the wall, and a few linen bags piled in the corner, with the mouths of the bags tied tightly with hemp ropes.
The table was clean, with a copper inkwell, a quill, and some cut parchment on it.
The parchment is empty.
But the inkwell is full.
"Someone comes here often." Mia walked to the iron cabinet, gently picked it with the wand, and the cabinet door popped open.
There are more than a dozen notebooks neatly stacked inside, with the same binding as the manuscripts in the Whitechapel darkroom, but thicker, and the covers are sealed with wax.
Mia Pull out the top book and open the first page.
The handwriting is exactly the same as the diary in the darkroom.
She quickly flipped through a dozen pages, then stopped on a certain page and frowned.
"Lin, come and see."
Lin Ze walked over and looked down at the page.
"I no longer need to eat, and my body no longer rejects vampire blood."
"The outside world has changed. Burke Family has erased me from the family tree. What can I do if I go out?"
"I decided to stay here. No one would think that I was living under their noses."
"Occasionally, people come to pick up the goods, and I give them what I have to give them in exchange for some things I need."
"Today I saw a young man. He was walking through Knockturn Alley with a smell that I have never smelled before."
Lin Ze's finger stopped on the last line.
Mia Continue to the next page.
"He's looking into these things."
"I'm tired."
As I write this, my notes are broken.
Lin Ze Close the notebook and stuff it inside the jacket.
"Perhaps, he is nearby?" Mia whispered.
"No." Lin Ze shook his head.
"This man has lived for nearly four hundred years. Our movement may have been too big, making him aware of the danger, so he hid."
He walked to the table, pulled out his chair and sat down, his eyes falling on the blank parchment on the table.
There was no writing on the paper, but Lin Ze gently swept his wand over the paper, and an extremely weak magic residue emerged.
Lin Ze Lift the parchment under the fluorescent light and slowly turn it toward the light.
A line of small handwriting emerged:
"If you can see these words, it means you are very close to me. Come to the same place at midnight tonight, alone."
The old place.
Old place?
Lin Ze put down the parchment and mentally went through all the places he had visited recently.
Whitechapel tomb, Kent Road tavern cellar, Number Seventeen, Charles Street, dock ruins?
Where is the old place?
Are these words written for yourself?
He stood up and walked around the warehouse again.
There is a stack of old newspapers on the bottom floor of the iron cabinet, with a wide range of years. The earliest one is from fifty years ago, and the latest one is from last month.
He flipped through the latest copy and found that one of the pages was dog-eared.
The dog-eared page contained an inconspicuous text message, dated three weeks ago.
"London Southwark District The gas pipeline is aging and some sections of the road are closed for repairs. The construction period is expected to be two weeks."
Southwark District.
Lin Ze Fold the newspaper and put it in your pocket.
"Is there anything special about Mia, Southwark District?"
Mia thought for a while, "There is an old abandoned wharf underneath Southwark Bridge. It used to be used by Muggle cargo ships to unload coal. Later, the river course was changed and it became deserted."
"Where does it lead?"
"There is an air-raid shelter built during World War II below. The Muggle government has closed it down several times, but there are always some Muggle homeless people who use it as a temporary residence. Later, something happened there, and Ministry of Magic intervened. Since then, no one has dared to go there."
Lin Ze inserted the wand back into his waist and pulled the collar of his coat.
"Okay, I'll go take a look tonight."
"I'm with you." Mia said.
"No, he said he would go alone."
Mia looked at him for a while but didn't insist.
She put the notebook into her pocket and walked towards the door.
When she reached the door, she paused.
"Lin."
"Huh?"
"That Number Forty-Eight, if he wants to see you, why doesn't he wait for you in the warehouse?"
Lin Ze did not answer.
He was thinking about this issue too.
Mia pushed the door open and went out. Only Lin Ze was left in the warehouse.
He stood in front of the long table, looked at the blank parchment, was silent for a moment, then turned and walked out.
When I pushed open the warehouse door, it was completely dark. The lights of Knockturn Alley were on one by one, making the road wet.
He walked out of the alley and stood at the intersection of Diagon Alley, when he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.
He looked back.
Deep in the alley, in the shadows beyond the reach of the street lights, there was a figure standing against the wall, motionless.
Lin Ze didn't move.
The figure didn't move either.
After a while, the figure slowly raised a hand and waved lightly towards him.
His movements were very slow, as if he was saying hello or saying goodbye.
When Lin Ze took a step forward, the figure had turned around and disappeared around the corner of the alley.
Lin Ze stood there, the wind coming from the alley, making the hem of his coat rustle.
"Mysterious." He whispered and walked in the direction of Ministry of Magic.