But I shouldn't be thinking about these things now.
This is so disrespectful to what I want to do...
Shaking his head to drive away his chaotic thoughts, Hitzfeld took a step back and began to observe the general environment around the store while Lori opened the door.
First of all, the main entrance of the store, there is nothing much to say about it. The sign of [Russian Golden Crown] is hung on the second floor... This is a three-story archway, the architectural layout is similar to Iris Street, located in the middle left, the neighbor on the left is a flower shop, and the right is next to a restaurant.
The name of the flower shop is [Miledi], which is probably taken from the name of the shop owner. Several flower baskets can be vaguely seen in the open door, and there are faint and elegant portraits floating in the air. Hitzfeld can easily smell more than a dozen varieties of flowers.
The name of the restaurant is [Cody's Kitchen], and there is a poster menu on the glass window next to it. It seems that they sell everything, from rice to noodles, from steaks to vegetable soup. It should be one of those restaurants that don't have a particularly outstanding taste and can't further explore the depth of taste, so they try to attract customers by expanding the breadth.
Perhaps affected by the case, the business of the two stores is not very good. After all, people will always subconsciously stay away from the place where the accident happened, especially when the nearby residents are middle class.
Ross Golden Crown is not a fool, they just find a place to open a store. They also have a sense of location, Hitzfeld can immediately guess that the spending power of nearby residents will be considerable.
She couldn't see clearly what was farther away from here, so she walked a little to the left and saw that there was a bookstore next to the flower shop to the left.
The store was closed, and even the sign was covered with a black tarp. There were three heavy padlocks on the iron gate, and the bookstore could be identified only by the piles of books behind the glass door.
"Do you want to start from these places?" James came up and looked at her with curiosity in his eyes.
He did not forget how the other party had easily uncovered his whereabouts. How could he handle this case with such ability... He suddenly felt like he was in a detective opera.
How could he not be curious? No matter how capable he was, he was just a young man after all.
Hitzfeld shook his head, and James didn't understand what this meant.
Was she answering me, saying that she didn't want to start from these aspects, or was she annoyed with me and wanted me to shut up?
Hitzfeld didn't say anything, and out of respect for his expertise, James didn't dare to ask more.
He didn't even dare to follow, and only let the female guard go forward, while he stood there with his eyes wide open.
Hitzfeld walked a little further and said to Daryl who had caught up with him, "Is this your first time entering human society for such a long time?"
Daryl nodded, "Yes."
“Take a guess as to why this bookstore is closed.”
"A store is a place for doing business and making money." Daryl thought for a moment and said, "If it closes, it means that there will be no money to sell, and the store cannot be opened."
"That's usually the case, but they didn't advertise the store for sublease, did they? So that's not the reason."
"What is that?" Daryl was confused. This question was too complicated for her.
"Look over there." Hitzfeld suddenly pointed.
There was no need to look, as Daryl had already spotted the man. She whispered, "It's the sneaky stalker... Your Highness's senses are very sharp."
"What's next? Your Highness, do you need me to catch him?"
"No, he's just a reporter."
"reporter?"
"It's a job that records information and news, and then publishes these things for everyone to see." Hitzfeld nodded, "If I guess correctly, he didn't come for us."
"Not for us?"
"James' identity was exposed in Blackwood City, so he certainly attracted attention, but the newspaper doesn't have that kind of power. The reason why reporters came here is probably because they were targeting the first scene of the case and wanted to try their luck."
"Do you mean digging for news?"
"Yes, see the bulge in his arms? There should be a camera hidden there. You know about film and movies, so you should understand that some people don't want anything related to them to appear in pictures other than reality."
"...I understand." Daryl narrowed his eyes and thought for a while, then looked up at the tarpaulin above his head.
"The owner of this shop knew that some people would come to take photos nearby during this period, and he thought it would damage the 'image' of the sign, so he closed the shop and even covered up the sign."
"Only a book seller would be so rigid." Hitzfeld stroked his chin. "This is a great opportunity for advertising. If it were me, not only would I not close the shop, I would also put up a large poster sponsoring the case."
“…” Daryl glanced at her and didn’t respond.
Without teasing the robot anymore, Hitzfeld continued walking forward and found an alley behind the bookstore.
There is no mystery inside. It is a dead end with a garbage dump inside. You can smell a faint stench even when standing outside.
Further ahead is a crossroads. Opposite the intersection is a fashion store. In the window are hung several boldly fashionable dresses, some so short that the knees are exposed.
Coming back from there, Hitzfeld walked right again and looked at the store layout to the right of Cody's Kitchen.
This process is even shorter because there is also an alley on the right side of [Cody's Kitchen]. This alley is very wide, deep and wide, so many vendors set up stalls in it. It can be regarded as a small commercial street. There is no need to continue exploring to the right here.
Hitzfeld stood at the entrance of the alley and looked for a while, and found that this alley was quite popular.
The stalls sell small items, mixed with some metal objects and pottery. Considering the consumption power and living needs of the residents in this area, she guessed that this was a place similar to the "antique street" that specifically attracted people like Dacongming to buy antiques.
"Something is missing..."
Daryl heard her mutter.
"It's pretty shabby... but it's not enough..."
If Daryl had been able to follow her thoughts and grasp the key points from her hints before, now she was completely confused.
What is she saying?
What is missing?
What's shabby?
What's not enough?
Without waiting for the answer, Hitzfeld took the initiative to enter the alley, squatted at the outermost stall, and began to pick things up, pretending to be a tourist.
The stall owner was an old man as skinny as a monkey. When he saw such a young girl wearing such delicate fabrics, he thought she was a sucker and immediately started to introduce things to her enthusiastically, even praising a shriveled wooden stick as a magical artifact.
"This... You may think it looks unattractive, but it is actually an antique from the 'Lumis Continent'."
"And this, this is an ancient artifact from the Red Soil Plains! It contains mysterious blood magic. Legend has it that if a person who holds it drinks a can of sheep's blood every day, he or she can stay young forever!"
"..."
As someone who had actually been to the Red Plains, Hitzfeld couldn't hold back when he got here.
She was no longer silent, but pretended to chat with her boss.
“Your business isn’t doing well… can I really trust you?”
"You seem to know a lot about Lumis Continent. You should know that it is a new continent that was only confirmed to be discovered hundreds of years ago, right?"
"I have seen pottery jars from the red clay plains once at my uncle's house. I think that red is different from this red. Is this really not made by mixing pigments with mud?"
The boss was sweating profusely after being asked so many questions. He racked his brains to explain and tried to win back this rare customer.
"By the way." Hitzfeld changed the subject, "How much do you know about the jewelry store next door?"
"Ross?" The boss was stunned, with a look of contempt on his face. "They are very arrogant... They look down on this and that all day long. Oh, by the way, I tell you, please don't tell anyone... We all say that this theft is their retribution..."
“How’s their business normally?”
"As much as I don't want to admit it, it's definitely better than here."
"Oh?"
"Because those nobles endorsed it... You know, some people, those fools, like to cling to things they don't have."
"But there are probably more people like this active around here."
"What do you want to ask?"
"Is there anyone doing that kind of business nearby?" Hitzfeld raised her head and faced the stall owner with her beautiful face and blue eye.
"that is……"
She pointed to the manhole cover placed nearby.
“The city cleaner.”
"Can you tell me where they live?"
Chapter 17 Scene 2
Such a strange question not only stunned the stall owner, but even James and Lowry who followed him raised their eyebrows in confusion.
Hitzfeld walked around the scene... They could still understand this kind of thing. Scene exploration was the basic skill of all detectives - even grassroots police officers. Although most people couldn't see anything, they still had to go through the process.
But she didn't ask the stall owner whether he had seen any suspicious people in the past few days, nor did she ask whether he usually went out to sell at night or whether he heard any strange noises at night. She just stared at the inconspicuous cleaner and asked, which made people confused.
Did she suspect that the cleaners were responsible?
The construction of sewers in Wayne Port is at the forefront of all cities at present, but even so, these guys are indispensable. They appear frequently, and there is basically a cleaning team in each street area. Whenever there is a blockage, sewage or other dirt, they have to go there to clear it, but almost no one really cares about them.
The main reason is that it's too dirty... James may be one of the few nobles who can distinguish between "sewer cleaning" and "excrement cleaning". This is because when he was managing the mining area, he brought in a team specializing in sewer construction in order to improve local sanitary conditions.
Yes, he had seen with his own eyes those people pulling out a large mass of condensed objects from the old pipes that were more indescribable than any evil spirit. They contained residues, foreign objects, hair... mainly grease! Because there were always workers who ignored the advice and threw leftover food into the sewers, over the years, the grease accumulated more and more in the pipes, becoming harder and harder to shake than granite.
Although he didn't want to admit it, that experience did cause James a lot of mental damage. He was even more reluctant to pay attention to this field. Ah... since they are professionals, let them be professionals!
"What do you want to do by asking this?" the stall owner came back to his senses and asked.
"This lid hasn't been opened for a long time." Hitzfeld stood up and looked at the manhole cover at his feet. "The silt and dirt accumulated on it has been more than a week. This is very abnormal. I must understand the reason."
The stall owner wanted to ask something else, but Xia Yibing came over and showed him an ID.
"The Security Bureau is investigating the case... Please cooperate."
At first he was confused, and then the stall owner's face turned pale in an instant... and became pale all the way to the point of being completely bloodless.
Of course he would think wrongly - the source of the jewels had not yet been made public, and ordinary jewel thefts were not serious enough for the Security Bureau agents to intervene in. Most of the cases that could cause these black-clad people to be dispatched were related to evil spirits, so could the jewels have been stolen by monsters?
I have indeed heard that some nightmares would be particularly greedy for treasures because of the obsessions of their host during his lifetime. If that were true, it would be terrible. Not only would his business be ruined, but all the vendors and shops in this neighborhood would be ruined.
Evil spirits are still scary, even though this is a place where the sun shines. But as long as the news gets out, no one will come to buy things.
"The truth may not be as exaggerated as you think." Xia Yibing had more experience dealing with such minor characters than Hitzfeld. She put on an impatient expression, "Just tell us what you know."
"She is also from the Security Bureau...?" The stall owner was overwhelmed by her aura and looked at Hitzfeld stutteringly.
Not everyone can recognize the person in the newspaper at the first sight. Even for a peddler, especially an antique swindler, observing words and expressions is a basic quality, but this is a far cry from the truth. He never dreamed that this person would be Count Xie Yang.
"We were going to ask a few questions and leave, but it seems you want to go back with us for investigation?"
"No no...! I'm just curious...just curious..."
"Answer her question! Where is that group now?"
"It should be somewhere on the corner tower!" the stall owner blurted out, and seeing Xia Yibing's puzzled look, he quickly explained to her: "It's like this... I've been doing business here for a few years. During these years, I did see them coming to pry open the lid and go down to investigate from time to time, but you know... even for someone like me, that kind of work is too menial. I heard that only criminals would be sent to do this kind of thing... so I didn't pay much attention to them, but they have indeed come less frequently recently..."
"Where is the corner tower?" Xia Yibing asked.
"Just go to the right from this opening. There is a building with a clear angle in the middle, diagonally opposite the intersection."
"Isn't that building abandoned?" Hitzfeld interrupted. "I just looked at the intersection and the building was abandoned."
"It's only reasonable because they are abandoned!" the stall owner explained hurriedly, "People like them... people like them... right? No one cares about them... You see, no noble lord in this city is willing to have anything to do with them. After all, they often have to deal with those filthy things. Who knows if they are sick? Then naturally, don't expect any store to receive them. In many cases, they have to find a place to live by themselves..."
"For example, an abandoned corner building?" Xia Yibing frowned. "Is there probably a large group of homeless people there?"
She felt a headache - regardless of why Hitzfeld asked this, she believed her reasoning anyway, but it was not easy to follow this line of inquiry. It was difficult for ordinary people to imagine how dirty and messy the interior of such an abandoned building was.
Refugees, poor people, displaced people, and some local gangs all gathered together in a mess, and conflicts broke out from time to time. The situation in Wayne Port was relatively good, at least there were no refugees here, but even so, these scattered abandoned buildings, including the dark alleys between these buildings, were the most difficult to manage dark areas.
Not to mention the missing group of sewer cleaners, she wouldn't be surprised even if they all died there.
"How many of them are there?" Hitzfeld spoke again.
"I can't remember clearly..."
"Try to recall as much as you can."
"Maybe seven or eight people..." The stall owner rolled his eyes. "Sometimes there are four or five people, sometimes there are seven or eight people. Yes... They have a clear division of labor and even know to use tarpaulin to build a shed to cover the place."
"Are they all men?"
"I haven't paid attention to this, but no woman would do such a thing, right?"
"That's hard to say. Do you remember more details? Like, did any of them smoke?"
After asking the stall owner a few strange questions, such as "Does anyone of them wear extra-large boots?", "Is anyone particularly tall and impressive?", and "Did you smell any strange odor on them when you were close to them?", Hitzfeld finally let him go.
They were about to leave, but the stall owner rolled his eyes and asked Xia Yibing, "Then... Sheriff, do you have an evacuation plan for this street?"
Xia Yibing turned around, and her cold eyes made him break out in a cold sweat.
Despite this, he still spoke with difficulty: "Well... I just want to do my part for the safety of the city... If you need me to run errands and inform you -"
