Hitzfeld stared at it and unconsciously clenched his fists.
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Chapter 17 Suspects
The dreamlike town is also shrouded in mystery like a dream.
With Jerry, the three of them found a restaurant in the town, had breakfast and lunch together, and then returned to their fourth-floor room on the shore of Lake Tonks.
Jerry was severely mentally traumatized, and crying consumed a lot of her physical energy. After 12 o'clock in the afternoon, she fell asleep in bed with Hitzfeld's comfort.
Ethan called Hitzfeld to the next room, and the three of them sat around a round table and began to discuss the new murder case that had occurred that morning.
"Indeed, we all eat this bowl of rice, and we should all have our own ideas." After Darent sat down, he kept twisting his ten fingers like he had ADHD, "Who goes first? This is a good time to show off."
"I'll go first." Ethan leaned back in his chair and only put his right hand on the table. "I think the body might not be Luke."
"Very bold!" Darent whistled. "Keep going, Black Lion."
"We all saw that the body had been burned many times. The murderer may have done this for many reasons, including but not limited to silencing people and destroying evidence... But one thing is easily overlooked: he may also want to forge the identity of the body."
"After all." Ethan glanced at the next door and lowered his voice very low, "It's clear that Luke is not the only one missing here."
"Ah...you mean the corpse could also be her lover?"
"Keep your voice down, Maps." Hitzfeld knocked on the table to remind Darent, "This wall panel is not soundproof. It will be troublesome if she wakes up."
"I don't think it's a good idea to treat Miss Norm as a child." Darent shook his head. "She must grow up through experience, and this process itself is not very pleasant."
"But this is just speculation. If it is confirmed that the body is actually Mr. Copperfield, we will not hide it from her."
"Then I have nothing to say."
"So what about you, Maps?" Hitzfeld asked with a frown, "Stop finding fault with others and tell me what you think."
Hitzfeld's guess was obvious, and it was exposed when she consulted Sheriff Lister. Both of them were professionals, and they could guess that she was suspicious of the town's top leaders without her having to explain too much.
"Me? My idea might be even more exaggerated than his." Darent took out a Goli silver coin and played with it on the table, his eyes fixed on the two sides of the coin. "I suspect the murderer is indeed an outsider."
"Is there any difference between what you said and not saying anything?" Ethan glared at him unhappily.
"Not the outsiders in town, but the ones outside of town."
"Huh?" Ethan was stunned, then reacted: "...You mean, the platform?"
"That place is in the east of the town." Darent nodded, "Think about which direction we came from. It's very close to the path we took, isn't it?"
"Most of the passengers in the town can provide proof of their absence. But it is difficult for those on the platform and those who stayed in the train carriage on Line 3 of Reising." Hitzfeld narrowed his one eye, "This possibility cannot be ruled out."
"More than that!" Darent pressed the coin hard on the table, making a crisp sound. "The surface of the corpse has turned to charcoal. To create this effect, even if it is burned multiple times, it is not something that an ordinary furnace can achieve."
"Are you suspecting the boiler room at the front of the train?" Ethan stared, his heart twitching violently.
The Darents looked unreliable, but his professionalism and quick thinking were indeed top-notch. He had easily thought of this possibility.
"Why don't you just name who you suspect?" Hitzfeld sighed. "To be honest, I'm reluctant to include Mr. Lux as a suspect."
In Darent's chain of suspicion, the murderer needed sufficient and free time to commit the crime. At the same time, his status on the train could not be low, at least he had to know where the key to the boiler room was hidden.
If one also adds the prerequisite that he is familiar with the town and is involved in the disappearance case - or at least is very concerned about it, then there is basically only one suspect, and that is Donmont Lux, the train conductor who served as their guide yesterday.
"Perhaps what Doyle and I are guessing is correct?" Looking at the girl in deep thought, Darent said with a smile, "Hasn't he always hated Mr. Copperfield? Maybe the corpse is him, and he killed him to prevent his beloved baby from being deceived further..."
"Maps——"
"I'm just kidding."
Hitzfeld shook his head, no longer having the energy to blame him for his excessive behavior.
If it was before, she would definitely grab him and scold him seriously for at least three minutes. But after Nan Xinze and his group, Darent's occasional "witty remarks" always reminded her of Casimir.
"It's easy to prove it." She covered her forehead and said, "The heel of one of the body's feet was left behind, so it's not difficult to determine his height and body shape. Let Luke's family identify him and confirm if it's him."
"As for Mr. Lux, just ask him what he was doing last night. If anyone can testify for him, we can get a rough idea."
"What about the furnace?" Darent asked again. "Those incinerators are rare, you have to admit."
"We can ask Lister to check the town," Ethan said, "to see if there is a stove that is big enough to hold a whole person."
Green Town is located in the southwest, and its climate is warm and humid, which means that unlike Wayne, every household in the town does not have a fireplace.
Some country folk do not trust the hearth for various reasons, which is not to be blamed, because before Sarah took over here, they had been living a wild and wild life for a long time. During this time, they did not receive the protection of the cult and may have had to face the invasion of various beasts and evil spirits.
For these things, chimneys are alternative passages, and in their eyes, it is safer not to repair fireplaces and chimneys.
This is indeed the case. Even big cities like Nanxinze do not like fireplaces. Ordinary civilians use tube stoves in their homes.
"We also need him to check the surrounding area to see if there is that black-gray powder," Hitzfeld added.
Since the body had been burned several times before being sent to the gutter, that meant it was already in that state on the way there.
Unless it was brought in a completely sealed container, it is unlikely that no trace would be left.
Humans can't figure out how to detect this fine powder, but dogs can.
The police station should have a few dogs that we can ask them to bring out and take a look.
"I'm busy this afternoon~"
Ethan sighed and looked at Hitzfeld.
"We can split up to do these things... Are you planning on going to the monastery this afternoon?"
"Yes." Hitzfeld nodded. "I said I would go to the castle tonight. How can I do that without getting some intelligence?"
"Then I'll come to see Liszt, Mapus, and you go to the train."
After assigning the tasks, Hitzfeld returned to the next room.
Jie Li was still sleeping. She opened the window and looked at the scenery, wondering what the murderer's purpose was.
"no, do not want!"
Hearing a scream from behind, Hitzfeld woke up suddenly. He turned around and saw Jerry struggling desperately against the quilt with her eyes still closed.
This was obviously a nightmare. She quickly came to the bed, reached into the quilt, grabbed Jie Li's hand, and shook her hard: "Wake up! It was just a dream!!"
Jie Li woke up quickly, her face was pale, her eyes were bloodshot, and she looked like she had just had a serious illness, with sweat covering her neck.
Hitzfeld poured her a glass of water, and after she drank it, her face looked a little better. Hitzfeld took the opportunity to ask her what happened.
"I dreamed of monsters..."
Jerry said weakly.
"I first dreamed of the postman... I still remember his face. His skin was very dark, his teeth were very white, he smiled very brightly, he ran very fast, and he always carried a shoulder bag..."
"He came to see me again, Miss Hitzfeld," she said, holding the girl's hand tightly. "I saw him coming to see me, in that terrible appearance..."
"Don't be afraid, Jerry." Hitzfeld pulled his pillow over to cushion her. "Those were all dreams. Dead people can't turn into monsters."
"No, Miss Hitzfeld, he is not the monster I'm talking about."
But Jerry shook her head.
"It's a dragon, a fire dragon."
Hitzfeld's pupils contracted.
"I saw it chasing him." Jerry was still describing her nightmare, "It was breathing fire... A terrible flame swept over, and he fell in front of me with a scream, stretched out his hand to me, and then his whole face changed into... into Eugenie's appearance..."
"Ms. Hitzfeld, I'm so scared..."
After comforting Jerry again, Hitzfeld came out of the room with a gloomy face.
If this were a world without evil, the other person's dream would have no meaning.
But Sarah was shrouded in the dream world.
This dream cannot be simply regarded as a fantasy.
Chapter 18 Father Booker
In fact, Hitzfeld also thought about whether the so-called No. 14 Red Maple Street might not be in the real world like Puslint.
But it may be in a dream, in the ruins of a dream.
It was precisely because of this doubt that she specifically asked Jie Li at the beginning whether "Red Maple Street" did not exist or "No. 14 Red Maple Street" did not exist.
Jie Li's answer was that "Red Maple Street" did not exist. From what she had learned, there was no related street in the town.
From this perspective, the probability of No. 14 Red Maple Street being in Dream Ruins is very small.
Because the Dream Ruins are also based on reality, the wonders like Puslint are special cases, and are the great legacy left by countless generations of principals and extraordinary people who have sacrificed their lives. No matter how you analyze it, Green Town cannot have such conditions, so if you want to assume that No. 14 Red Maple Street exists in the local Dream Ruins, then first of all, there must be a place called Red Maple Street in the local area.
At least, there should have been one.
It is not ruled out that it did happen, but it was so long ago that most of the townspeople have completely forgotten about it. So Hitzfeld has not come to a complete conclusion, as she still has too little information.
I went to the next room and saw that no one was there.
Darent and Ethan were gone.
We had to hurry here too. Hitzfeld took out his pocket watch and looked at it, checked his clothes and weapons, took the necessary notebook and pen, and before leaving, he found the bartender and hired him for a Goli silver coin, asking him to keep an eye on the room upstairs.
She didn't want anything to happen to Jerry again.
Next, according to the address she had inquired about, she walked west along the main road of the town, admiring the unique town buildings along the way. Half an hour later, she saw a red spire on top of a group of buildings.
At the top of the spire is a cross with a circle, which is one of the symbols of the Mechanical Sun Cult.
Walking around the building, the first thing that catches your eye is a lawn.
It is on the left side of the street and is not very large, but it is considered quite luxurious in a town where the buildings and street entrances are relatively narrow.
The architectural style of this monastery is similar to other houses in the town, with whitewashed walls and bright red bricks. A circle of brown-red stone walls on the lawn surrounded the monastery. Through the iron gate and the mottled shadows of the trees in the yard, Hitzfeld discovered that the spire building she saw at the beginning was farther away in the yard, and it was most likely not a monastery, but a town church on the other side of the monastery.
It seems that she went the wrong way. This should be the back door of the yard.
After finding the place, Hitzfeld was not in a hurry to go in. She looked back and forth on the street and saw a fruit stand.
There were only two kinds of fruits on the stall, one similar to an apple and the other an orange-yellow fruit about the size of a baby's fist.
Hitzfeld picked up the smaller orange and asked the shopkeeper, "How do you sell this fruit?"
The boss was an elderly woman, probably in her forties or fifties. At first, she was a little scared when she saw Hitzfeld approaching, so she hid on the other side of the stall and pretended not to see her. Only when she realized that she just wanted to buy something did she come over.
She had never seen Hitzfeld, didn't know her, and didn't join in the morning's fun. But she had heard about the murder in the town, so it was understandable that she was afraid.
"11 becquerels per pound will do," the woman quoted.
The price was undoubtedly very fair, and Hitzfeld bought five kilograms at once. The woman was immediately happy and gave her a hand-woven rattan net bag to hold the fruit.
"What kind of fruit is this? Can you tell me?" Hitzfeld took the opportunity to ask.
"Don't you know what kind of fruit this is?" The woman was surprised and wiped her hands on her apron nervously. "This is a red apricot fruit. It's yellowish now. Leave it for a while and it will turn red and you can eat it."
"Will it be poisonous if it doesn't turn red?"
"How could that be! It's just that it's very sour. It tastes better when it starts to turn red."
After a brief exchange of pleasantries, the woman's remaining wariness was dispelled. Hitzfeld got to the point: "I plan to visit the monastery. Could you tell me what kind of person Father Booker is?"
"You ask Father Booker..." The woman glanced at the lawn across the street and smiled faintly, "He's a good man, and everyone likes him."
"Oh?"
"Don't disbelieve me! It's true... In the beginning, many people didn't really trust them, because here, we don't really care about the Goddess Jiyang. So when they came to preach, many people were disgusted at first."
The woman lost her guard and at the same time seemed to open up, telling him everything she knew.
"They just... made trouble! They threw stones, splashed stinky water, threw rotten fish in the middle of the night, and did everything... Many people were forced to leave, only Father Booker stayed."
"Did you accept him because of this?"
"No... but he knows medicine! Many times when children are sick, they ask Father Booker to see them, including my child. He doesn't care whether the child has done anything strange or not. As long as they go to him, he will see them."
"so."
After the conversation, Hitzfeld got a general idea of what kind of person the priest was.
