On Tuesday morning, Klein woke up naturally and prepared two slices of toast, a piece of butter, a serving of bacon, and a cup of coffee for himself. He leisurely ate his breakfast while reading the newspaper.
With the terrifying spell " Words of Filth " in hand, he felt much more at ease and was no longer as tense as before.
After flipping through the Backlund Post, Klein picked up the Tussock Times and saw a news item on page two:
"A fierce gunfight broke out in Red Brick Lane in the East Borough at 2:00 AM today. According to the police, it may involve a conflict between two gangs, one of which is the notorious Zmanger Gang."
Zmanger Gang... East Borough Red Brick Lane... Klein suddenly had an idea, left the table, and found a map of Backlund.
He glanced at it and noticed that Red Brick Lane wasn't far from White Rum Street White Rum Street, where Ian Wright used to frequent the telegraph office.
Is Red Brick Lane where Ian Wright is hiding? Was the fierce conflict between special military departments and Intis intelligence agents? I wonder what the outcome will be... Klein forked the last piece of bacon, put it in his mouth, and slowly chewed.
He only told both sides the Divination results yesterday morning, and they located Ian's position that very night, which was incredibly efficient.
Klein took a sip of coffee, put down the newspaper, and fell into deep thought.
Suddenly, he heard the doorbell ringing, its sound echoing endlessly.
"Who?" Klein wiped his mouth with a napkin and walked toward the door in confusion.
Could it be a new commission? I've been running around these past few days dealing with Ambassador Intis, and I don't know how many commissions I've missed or how many potential clients I've lost... It's such a waste of my advertising money... If this continues, my finances will be in dire straits... Klein suddenly thought of many things and reached out to open the door.
Two ladies stood outside. One was Mrs. Summer, dressed in a formal morning suit, her face made up with exquisite makeup, making her even more beautiful than at home, and she didn't look like she was around thirty at all. The other wore a wide-brimmed hat with a thin black veil hanging down, and her dress was a darker color and rather fluffy.
" Detective Moriarty, I have a friend who needs your help." Starling Summer held her veil in her hand, her blue eyes devoid of any smile.
"Please come in." Klein gestured to the living room area, and while turning around, he fastened the top button of his shirt and straightened his black vest.
Starling nodded slightly, said nothing more, and led the woman whose face was veiled in black into the room.
She was very familiar with the place and easily found the sofa without Klein reminding her, and sat down.
Klein was about to ask a question immediately, but considering Starling Summer's style, he smiled and asked instead:
Coffee or black tea?
In his eyes, Summer. Summer was a woman who pursued a high quality of life and always wanted to demonstrate her superiority.
"No need." Another woman removed her wide-brimmed hat with a fine black veil.
Her individual features are all nice, but together they are disappointing. In addition, her cheekbones are too high, making her look much older than her actual age.
A touch of anger, a touch of sadness, a touch of hesitation, a touch of fear... Klein read the woman's emotions.
It wasn't that he suddenly gained the ability to Spectator, but rather that the other party made it too obvious.
"Yes, neither coffee nor tea can solve the problem." Starling tried to sit more gracefully, mimicking the posture in a magazine. "This is Mary Gale; she is a shareholder of the Coim Company."
"Mrs. Gale, what would you like to ask for?" Klein sat down on the armchair, leaning forward slightly and resting his arms on his thighs.
"Don't call me Mrs. Gale, just call me Mary," Mary Gale said, pursing her lips. "I want you to follow my husband and find out if he has a mistress, preferably with concrete evidence."
Due to the active promotion by the Church of the Evernight Goddess over the years, the Kingdom of Loen is more radical in its marriage law than countries such as Feysac, Intis, and Lenburg, stipulating that those who betray their marriage must pay a monetary price, meaning they will be at an absolute disadvantage in terms of property division.
I've heard that other private Detective handle at least four out of ten cases involving marital infidelity... I never thought I'd encounter that too... Klein said thoughtfully.
"Substantial evidence is not easy to obtain."
"I'll lend you a brand-new portable camera first," Mary replied without hesitation. "If you can get the evidence, I'll pay you 10 pounds; if it's just to confirm whether she has a mistress, you'll only get 3 pounds."
Are you referring to that so-called portable camera that's two-thirds the size of my head? £10, that's not cheap... Klein has been focusing on entrepreneurship lately and has some knowledge of the latest camera models.
He hesitated for two seconds before saying:
"OK."
"But you must provide detailed information about your husband, as well as his activity patterns."
"... No problem!" Mary paused for a second, then said with all her might.
"Thank you for your help. I hope you won't tell anyone about this," Starling said from the side.
Upon hearing this, Klein sighed and said:
"I'm a very confidential person, and that often gets me into trouble."
Inside the hall of Earl Wolfe's house, men and women danced gracefully to the melodies played on violins.
Audrey, holding a glass of pale gold champagne, "accidentally" bumped into Bakerland Jean Madan, the ambassador of the Republic of Intis to Loen.
"You are the most beautiful lady I have ever seen." Bakerland, with his thin face and a few stubble, gave Audrey's gloved hand a polite, perfunctory kiss, his gaze passionate and bold.
Audrey's eyes flickered, and she chuckled softly:
Is this just Intis's way of speaking?
"Yes, we never hesitate to praise beautiful things," Bakerland chuckled. "If it weren't for the customs of the Kingdom of Loen, I might call you my Angel."
"You old lecher... "Audrey said with an elegant smile.
" The Loen people and the Intis people are indeed quite different."
"Ha, that reminds me of a joke, and if I may be so bold," Bakerland said, winking. "After a wonderful time with a beautiful girl, most Loen men would say, 'Oh, darling, I'd like a cigarette,' while most Intis men would say..."
He paused deliberately, Audrey tilted her head slightly, suppressing her nausea, and asked with feigned ignorance:
What will they say?
"Most Intis men would say, 'Oh, honey, I have to go back, I can't let my wife find out,'" Bakerland laughed, raising his glass.
"People who can make fun of themselves always have an extra charm," Audrey said with a polite smile.
Her beautiful, bright green eyes suddenly looked behind Ambassador Bakerland:
"Sorry, a friend is looking for me."
"It's a pleasure chatting with you." Bakerland bowed slightly, stepping aside.
Audrey walked on gracefully, never looking back.
Just as she was considering who to use as the object of her earlier excuse, a young gentleman approached and whispered a reminder:
" Audrey, don't be fooled by that Ambassador Bakerland. He's a lecherous old man! He's slept with countless women."
Bakerland is lustful? That matches my observation... It's a weakness... Audrey turned and smiled, not hiding her disdain:
" Cons, do you have some misunderstanding about me? My Goddess, how could I be bewitched by that Ambassador Bakerland? His perfume made me want to vomit, his words were so filthy, and his taste was like that of a male peacock."
Cons was the youngest son of Viscount Lielsen, and his family had a very good relationship with the Hall family.
According to Audrey, after graduating from the Tingen University, Cons joined Military Intelligence Section 9 and became shrouded in secrecy.
Her original plan was to chat with Ambassador Bakerland for a while, observe him closely, and then, under the pretext of being annoyed with him, ask Cons and other friends who had entered the intelligence field for more information. Who knew that Cons Lielsen would come to her on his own and take the initiative to start the conversation.
"Your feeling is correct." Cons smiled sincerely, glanced around, and said in a low voice, "Besides, Bakerland is a very dangerous guy."
"How dangerous is it?" Audrey asked curiously in return.
"You've heard of the Beyonder? I know you've always been interested in that," Cons said carefully.
Audrey nodded lightly:
"I know quite a bit, mostly from what Glaint told me."
Cons glanced at Bakerland, who was chatting idly with a noblewoman, and said with a serious expression:
"He's Intis's intelligence chief in the kingdom, and he's done a lot of bad things, but we haven't gotten any useful evidence. He belongs to Sequence 6, the ' Conspirer '."
He didn't go into too much detail with Audrey, who was not in the circle, and didn't mention that " Conspirer " belonged to the " Hunter " route.
However, Audrey already knew this, and feigned innocence as she remarked:
"He's really amazing!"
"He also has a secret assistant, perhaps at Sequence 5. Furthermore, all of Intis's intelligence personnel in the kingdom are under his control, including many Beyonder. Unfortunately, we only have information on a few so far..." Cons added briefly, "Even if Bakerland praises you, don't be happy. That's not his true intention; he just wants to use it to obtain more intelligence."
I don't really like hearing that... Audrey glanced up at the magnificent chandelier, thought for a few seconds, and said:
"Is Bakerland really that smart? You've never gotten any evidence against him..."
"He's certainly good at plotting, but he has his problems too. He likes chasing women, enjoys romance, and is quite adventurous and radical. If it weren't for his ambassadorial status preventing many of our operations from proceeding, he would have been arrested long ago," Cons said, pursing his lips. "However, he'll be replaced soon, very soon."
"Why?" Audrey asked in surprise.
"My dear, beautiful lady, this is not something you should know." Cons insisted on maintaining secrecy.
As the ball drew to a close, Audrey, having gathered a considerable amount of information, approached Viscount Glaint and asked him to help contact Hugh and Fors.