No matter what you say, Jie Li is still stubborn and she is so angry that she turns around and leaves, saying that she wants to go back to the car to rest alone.
"You shouldn't have made him angry."
Hitzfeld said softly.
"I know...I know he cares about me."
Jerry also looked guilty.
"But, Miss Hitzfeld, if you meet someone, even if you are not even friends, and you just have some suspicions that he is missing... would you just ignore it?"
"No." Hitzfeld shook his head, "But that's not an excuse. You have better ways to handle it."
"In what way?"
"Well, it's no fun to tell you this directly."
After checking in with their suitcases, Hitzfeld quickly realized how much help Tang Meng had given them.
The room was on the fourth floor, very high, to avoid humidity. She and Jerry lived in one room, and Ethan and Darent lived in another. The two rooms were separated by only one wall. There was a bathroom, but no hot water. If you wanted to take a hot bath, you had to ask for water to be boiled in advance, but all this was not the point.
The point is-
Pushing open the window, Hitzfeld saw a silver mist.
A lake surface as smooth as a mirror suddenly appeared in her sight.
White mist rolled over the lake, and several ships were drifting on the water. The winding shoreline was composed entirely of a row of houses, which surrounded the lake in a crescent shape, with various boats, railings, and fishing nets intertwined and overlapped on the edge... At that moment, she almost thought that she had not come to an isolated human town, but an elf village that only existed in fantasy stories.
Darent could be heard cheering and shouting from the next room, and Hitzfeld couldn't help but curl up the corners of his lips.
It's really great here.
If she had not insisted on upholding her professional ethics, she would have thought, like Tang Meng, that Eugenie Kopperfield's disappearance here was pure nonsense.
Chapter 14: The Postman
As it grew darker, it looked as though the investigation could not be carried out immediately.
Hitzfeld opened the box, took out books, notebooks and pens, put his own things in place, and began to help Jerry organize.
It can be seen that Jerry Norm is essentially still a child who has not grown up. Perhaps because she has been well protected by her family since she was a child, she has rarely been exposed to the dark side of society.
Hitzfeld thought that if she hadn't met someone like Donmon Lux, her fate might not have been so good.
But as she said to Jerry, it would be pointless to tell the other person these things directly.
She knew very well what the state of people at this stage was. The advice of others was like wind in their ears. To her, at best, Jelly would just remember it for a while longer. She didn't understand why they were raising these issues.
"If this case is not resolved within three days, will you go back with Mr. Lukes or stay in town with us?"
Before going to bed at night, Hitzfeld found Jerry and asked her this question.
"Of course I'll stay!" Jie Li was determined. "I saw him enter the town with my own eyes... I don't believe no one here has seen him. I have to find him even if I have to ask around!"
Stubborn girl.
Shaking his head, Hitzfeld gave up his final attempt at persuasion.
Today was Thursday, and she had no right to sleep. After Jie Li fell asleep, she took a book about incense making and read it, trying to find out whether there was any record of using rotten red apricots.
I have to say that although the location of this hotel is excellent, the soundproofing is really poor. She could hear people arguing or laughing next door even when she was sitting on the bed, which made her vaguely worried... because for those who have the money and time to come to Green Town for vacation, they are likely to explore new entertainment activities late at night.
That sound is not so easy to bear... Hitzfeld fantasized about it and felt that insomnia was really a torture at this time.
Then she heard footsteps, followed by a knock on the door.
Lifting the quilt and straightening the folds of her skirt, Hitzfeld opened the door in her slippers and saw it was Ethan.
"This is for you." Ethan came up and handed her a thick notebook.
"What is this?" Hitzfeld took the thing, but did not open it and looked at him suspiciously.
"This is... um... some information I've compiled about the Devourers during this period." Ethan felt a little uncomfortable, staring at the door frame. "Although there are almost no examples of Devourers truly mastering the power to eliminate insomnia... there aren't even any legends, but there are indeed some people who can resist and control that power to a certain extent. And I'm not a Devourer, so I can't verify this information, so..."
"I see." Hitzfeld's mouth curled up slightly, "Thank you, Ethan."
Ink stains can be seen on the edge of the book, indicating that the entire material was copied by Ethan himself.
She could imagine how much effort Ethan had put in to sort out these things despite Nan Xinze's busy work.
"It should be useful, right? It's good if it's useful." Seeing her smile, Ethan also smiled, "Take a look first... take a look first... If it doesn't work, I'll ask someone when we get back to the capital."
After thanking Ethan again, Hitzfeld took the initiative to change the subject and asked him what he thought about the case.
She really meant it, and she thought that the experience of veteran agents like Ethan was very important.
"Let me put it this way...Copperfield's disappearance is indeed bizarre." Ethan lowered his voice.
He also knew that the wall panels here were not soundproof.
"Green Town is not big. The total population here is less than 10,000, maybe even less than 5,000... The locals basically know each other. I think it would be difficult for an outsider to disappear here without anyone noticing."
"He's too conspicuous," he said. "Since Miss Norm left by boat, she must have considered that Copperfield took the same route. But I just asked the store owner and found out that there is only one water route here, which is a medium-sized passenger ship of the Corwin family. The ship only sails once a week, sending people across Lake Evans and returning immediately. Miss Norm took the boat less than a day after she discovered that Copperfield was missing. If she left by boat, it is impossible for Copperfield to leave by boat as well."
"You think so too..." Hitzfeld nodded gently. "Indeed, his identity as an outsider is too conspicuous in the local area. If he stole a boat or a horse and escaped, the locals would not have no impression of him."
She asked this question to Jerry, and Jerry's answer was that in addition to asking for information about No. 14 Red Maple Street, she also asked many residents of the town if they had seen where Copperfield went in the end.
The townspeople's response was that they had no impression of this person and they were sure they had never seen him.
This was very strange. Either the townspeople had lied, or Copperfield had lied and had never entered the town.
Or, it did not slip in through regular channels or at regular times.
"Do you have any doubts, Hitzfeld?"
Seeing the girl lost in thought, Ethan asked her.
He had heard Xia Yibing say many times that Hitzfeld had a very active mind, and he was somewhat curious whether she had already had an idea.
"It's like this." Hitzfeld hesitated and lowered his voice: "I suspect that No. 14 Red Maple Street does exist, but this place is not in the town."
"Hmm?" Ethan frowned, "Why do you think so?"
"Whether this person is really missing or not, he did come here... and he did get off the train at that platform," the girl said. "There is a whole train of people guarding the tracks, including someone like Tang Meng. I don't think he can walk back along the tracks... which means he did come to the town. At least he is not lying about this."
"Are you suspecting there are ancient ruins near the town?" Ethan immediately connected her thoughts with the group of stone tablets he encountered during the day.
Greentown has a rich history.
The area and appearance of such a town cannot remain unchanged over hundreds of years. It is always expanding or shrinking, and some abandoned buildings may be left in the mountains and forests in the process.
No. 14 Red Maple Street might be such a place.
"Here's a question." Hitzfeld continued, "If he went to such a remote place that most of the townspeople didn't even know existed, how did he find the letter that someone sent to her (referring to Jerry)?"
"So you want to start as a mailman?"
"Well... I want to visit the local area tomorrow to find out who delivered the letter. If we can find him, we will have a clue to the case."
"What if you can't find it?"
"Then we can only visit the three families that Tang Meng mentioned."
Hitzfeld held out one hand.
"No. 14 Red Maple Street."
"If such a place really exists, they must know something about it after governing the town for nearly three hundred years."
……
The next day, although he didn't have to get up, Hitzfeld still washed up with a sense of ritual and personal hygiene.
After tidying up his appearance and dragging Jerry out of bed to go downstairs for breakfast, Hitzfeld was about to announce his plans for the day to these people when he noticed that the atmosphere in the hall was not right.
Many of the passengers were talking about something excitedly, while the bartender and some locals had gloomy faces and looked at them in silence.
"Mr. Tonks."
Hitzfeld saw the store owner leaning there with his arms folded, so he walked up to him and asked politely.
"Can I understand what happened?"
"Rook is dead," Tonks replied grimly, "He's been missing for over a week... Poor guy, I didn't expect this."
"Rook? Is he a resident of this town?"
"Of course." Tonks nodded.
"He was barely a postman."
--------
Thanks to: onlookers?, Lotus Seed Pudding for the blades and rewards~!
Thanks for your support~!
Chapter 15 Ashes
When they arrived at the crime scene, Hitzfeld and others found that they were far behind the average progress.
It was a remote corner on the east side of the town, outside the fence of a dilapidated house, in a ditch where rocks, soil and weeds met, and there was already a large group of people gathered there in three layers.
Hitzfeld and Ethan looked at each other and saw him take his secret police ID from his pocket and pretend to hold it up to lead the way.
But Ethan was not the first person to do this. Before he could open his mouth, a hurried cry came from the back of the crowd:
"Sheriff Lister!"
"Sheriff Lister is here!"
The crowd quickly parted to the sides, revealing a team of police officers in fading gray uniforms.
These men were a little bit fatter than their counterparts who often patrolled the city, but they were certainly not "fat". At least they were much more robust than the policemen Hitzfeld had met in Barwijk.
"Sheriff Lister," as people called him, was easy to spot because the entire team respected the man at the head of the line and would rather lag two or three steps behind than walk side by side with him.
Hitzfeld looked at the man carefully and saw that his belly was slightly bulging and his entire waist was completely controlled by a belt.
But at the same time, his chest and shoulders were extremely broad, and his height was estimated to be over 180 cm. He had a brown beard on his lips, and wore a large hat neatly. His loose trouser legs were tucked into a pair of black boots under the knees, and his walking posture was a bit funny.
This person parted the crowd and came to the so-called crime scene. Under Hitzfeld's gaze, he squatted down with some effort with the help of his subordinates, apparently examining the body.
He checked very quickly, and after only three or four seconds, he immediately stood up and announced loudly to all around: "He was burned to death... This is murder!"
boom!
The discussion suddenly exploded, and the panic and resentment that had been suppressed and brewing all burst out at once, which was even more noisy and annoying than the busiest vegetable market.
"Are you sure it's Luke?"
"He's the only one missing. Who else could it be if not him?"
"Has anyone informed Luke's grandfather? I remember he's been posting notices around town these days."
"How horrible...murder...who could it be?"
"I dare to bet anyone a glass of Dragon Nightmare Wine that it was definitely those outsiders who did it!"
As soon as these words came out, the looks they gave to all the outsiders, including Hitzfeld and the others, suddenly became complicated. All the townspeople around the travelers spontaneously moved at least three body lengths away from them, isolating them in an instant.
"Ah! Is it you?" Sheriff Lister immediately noticed the situation here. He walked over quickly with his men and glanced fiercely at the passengers' uneasy or confused faces.
"If one of you did this, I advise him to confess his crime." He said, "Otherwise, if the truth is discovered by everyone... the Green Town Police Department will not guarantee your safety!"
Is this person deliberately causing trouble or does he really think so...
Hitzfeld widened his right eye, somewhat incredulous that the sheriff would say such a thing.
Let's not talk about whether the murderer is really a tourist, hiding among these people. Even if he is, wouldn't it seriously aggravate the conflict between the townspeople and the tourists if he said it directly in front of so many people?
This is not helpful for solving the case. If a physical conflict or a stampede breaks out, resulting in casualties, it is hard to say whether the responsibility should be attributed to the townspeople or to the sheriff.
"I think," Hitzfeld suddenly said, "the most important thing to do now is to evacuate the crowd, protect the scene and collect as much evidence as possible."
Her voice was very clear, and it was even more obvious in the silence. Countless eyes immediately fell on the one-eyed girl, and the people who were originally three steps away from her squeezed a few steps to the side again.
"Who are you?" Lister came over like an angry goose, glaring down at Hitzfeld, "You want to teach me how to investigate a case?"
"I'm afraid she does have the qualifications." Ethan said next to her.
At the same time, he took a step forward diagonally, shielding the girl from Liszt's fierce gaze, and shook the small notebook that he had taken out long ago but had no chance to use at him.
