Tuesday morning. The weather retained the usual gloomy cold of the season.
Klein tightened the collar of his woolen overcoat, put on his hat, and pulled open the front door.
He was going to mail a letter to Detective Stewart at the postbox at the end of the street. The walk wasn't far, and there was no need to dress so formally or warmly, but Klein had just recovered from a cold and, to be safe, wrapped himself up tightly.
Perhaps because of the strong winds that had blown all night,
As he passed the Ulgen residence, he heard the creak of a bay window opening. He instinctively turned his head to look.
Standing at the window was Mrs. Doris, wearing a black velvet soft hat and a thick gray-blue scarf. Compared to before, her complexion looked worse, and her figure was even more stooped.
"Good morning, Detective Moriarty. Thank you for taking care of Brody. He says you're a good person, isn't that right, Brody?" The elderly Mrs. Doris bent down and picked up the black cat with emerald green eyes.
Brody struggled with all fours in her arms and finally jumped down, landing gracefully on the windowsill. But he didn't leave. Instead, he paced back and forth, rubbing his head and side against Mrs. Doris, without sparing Klein a single glance.
*Was I just friend-zoned by a cat?* Klein thought to himself in self-deprecation, and laughed sincerely. "This is a happy thing. What makes it even better is that you've finally recovered and been discharged from the hospital, Mrs. Doris."
After exchanging a few pleasantries, he took his leave and continued walking toward the end of the street with a smile.
He had only taken a few steps when he heard Mrs. Doris calling out from behind. "When Ulgen comes back, I'll have him give you your payment!"
*...Do I look like I took this case for the money?* Klein's smile froze for a moment. He could only turn halfway, wave his hand, and signal that he understood.
Once he was far from the Ulgen residence, his expression gradually turned solemn, and he let out an almost imperceptible sigh. He had just used his Spirit Vision to look at Mrs. Doris's aura colors and found that the situation wasn't good. This was partly due to her old age, but also because Backlund's gloomy climate and terrible air had a very bad effect on lung diseases.
"Mrs. Doris should be able to make it through this late autumn and winter, but the next one, or the one after that… it's hard to say… If she wants to live a few more years, she'd have to move down south, to the Disi Bay area… It's a pity… Lawyer Ulgen probably isn't in a position to do that yet… I haven't even been to Disi Bay myself…" Klein muttered a few sentences to himself, found the postbox, and stuffed the letter inside.
This would be the prelude to the act.
And this evening, he would also go to the Harvest Church as a detective to do the remaining preparatory work.
After buying a Disi pie for breakfast on the way, Klein headed back the same way he came, feeling quite leisurely.
Before he even got close to his front door, he saw an elegantly decorated carriage parked outside. Two ladies in black hats with ribbons were anxiously ringing the doorbell, while maids and bodyguards were scattered around, as if on guard against something.
"Mrs. Stelyn... Mrs. Mary... They have a case to entrust me with? Looks urgent..." Klein walked over with the paper bag containing the Disi pie, chuckling. "Ladies, it should still be breakfast time."
When she turned her head and saw it was Detective Sherlock Moriarty, Mrs. Mary let out a palpable sigh of relief. "Detective, you must help me."
In Klein's Spirit Vision, her anxiety, tension, and fear were not the least bit feigned. So, he nodded and pointed at the front door. "Let's talk inside." As he spoke, he glanced at his landlady, Mrs. Stelyn, and noticed that her state was completely different from a few days ago. She had become very low-spirited and listless, as if she had lost interest in everything.
*What has happened to her?* Klein thought. *True, Mrs. Stelyn likes to show off a bit, but she is passionate about life...* Klein took out his keys and opened the door.
After they went inside, before everyone could even sit down properly, Mrs. Mary said impatiently, "Detective Moriarty, I received a threatening letter!"
"A threatening letter?" Klein set down the Disi pie and clasped his hands together. "What did the letter say?"
Mrs. Mary glanced at Mrs. Stelyn, but seeing that she wasn't as proactive as usual, had to weigh her words herself. "The letter demanded that when I conduct the air pollution investigation, I be fair to the factory smoke and acknowledge its contributions. Otherwise, I would end up like the doll that came with the letter... The doll's head was removed, and its arms and legs were broken."
Mrs. Mary seemed to recall the feeling of opening the letter, and her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. "This is the first time I've encountered anything like this. I don't know if it will come true. I didn't know that being a member of the investigation committee meant enduring this. I don't know..."
"Madam, perhaps Emperor Roselle once said that there are only two ultimate forms of hatred between people. One is murdering someone's parents, and the other is ruining someone's ability to make money..." Klein nodded solemnly and said, "My suggestion is to report this to the police."
In his opinion, Mrs. Mary was now a member of the Kingdom's Air Pollution Survey Committee. Her status and position were completely different from before. The police department would certainly not take the threats she had suffered lightly.