It's possible that they are thinking too complicatedly.
It is very likely that, as Darent had reasoned at the beginning, the case was caused by the bishop's murder, which angered the earl's spirit.
"You make me very disappointed."
Seeing the change in Ethan's expression, Hitzfeld slowly shook his head.
"I thought you would firmly trust him."
"This isn't a question of trust, Hitzfeld—"
"Then answer me, if it was caused by Bishop Lanno, why didn't the earl's ghost go to him, but instead attacked a child first?"
"It was just a coincidence—"
Ethan lowered his voice to make sure only he and the girl could hear it clearly.
"Ghost Street encompasses the entire Einling Road - he was not targeting Brody, Brody just happened to be the first one... Mrs. Ponson's death also shows that he was not just targeting children."
"What about the fog in Dream Ruins?"
Hitzfeld continued to question him.
"Tell me... There have been no reports of people dying nearby for so many years. Why is the fog in this area of Dream Ruins so thick?"
“…” Ethan stopped talking.
He couldn't explain this, but he still felt that this thing might not be closely related to the current case.
Moreover - having found the clues, investigating based on the clues - and therefore investigating Bishop Lanno, isn't that natural?
Why is Hitzfeld so repulsive?
"If nothing unexpected happens, you have already drafted a charter to close down the church?"
Hitzfeld ignored Ethan and turned up the volume, looking at the several black-clad policemen next to him.
This is not difficult to guess...If everything had not been arranged, Karen Baker would not be so arrogant as to show off in front of her.
Moreover, after the incident in Nanxinze, the Central Diocese and the White Shadow Palace jointly restricted the diocesan bishops throughout Sara. The power of the diocesan bishops was moderately reduced, and they were no longer "sacred and inviolable" as they were in the past. As long as there was evidence, the local director of the Security Bureau had the right to investigate them.
"..."
"..."
As a result, the police officers all had sullen faces and ignored her.
"I'm afraid your boss will steal the credit from me."
Hitzfeld sneered and nodded.
"It's okay. I won't compete with him."
"Just tell me where the nearest undertaker lives."
"I'm leaving now."
Chapter 37: Undertaker
When Ethan chased out, Hitzfeld was standing at the edge of the street teasing Jess - a black-spotted mountain eagle that had landed on her left arm.
She actually didn't want to... But as soon as she ran out angrily, a shadow fell on her head. She had no choice but to stretch out her hand to use it as landing gear, and at the same time enjoy a pure Eagle Claw arm massage.
What made her happy was that Ethan came very quickly. This speed could be said to be almost without any hesitation, which showed that he still trusted her very much.
"Hitzfeld." Ethan glanced at the mountain eagle Jessie, "...Why are you looking for a mortician? Are you sure we want to back out?"
Before coming out, Hitzfeld asked the Shadow Lion agents a bunch of strange questions.
These include, but are not limited to, “Where does the nearest undertaker live?”, “Does anyone know how many relatives Mrs. Shinley has?”, “How many times have her relatives visited over the years?”, and “Did the woman Pruss married die young?”
It's not so much that Ethan didn't understand her behavior, but rather that he had never been so confused as he was today.
"I just want to confirm some guesses as soon as possible." Hitzfeld said to him with a smile, "...You don't think I'm the kind of person who likes to keep it to myself after suffering a loss, do you?"
Ethan raised his eyebrows, remembering that when he first met Karen Baker, he and Darent were merely dissatisfied with him, but Hitzfeld had already drawn his gun and pointed it at him.
Although she is fearless because of the title of the imperial weapon, it can be seen here that she is not as gentle as she appears on the outside, but has an extremely strong character.
It's just that it's hard for ordinary people to see it, and it only shows up when she's really irritated.
How could she be so easy to talk to after being targeted like that? She was willing to leave after just asking a few questions?
Thinking of this, his brows furrowed even tighter, and he leaned over to ask her in a low voice: "What is the connection between the undertaker and the case?"
Hitzfeld said, "Oh, I'm not sure yet... so let's go find a witness first."
Let Jessie go, she looked at her watch and it was already half past five.
The address they got from other agents was at the intersection of Enling Road, which was in the alley diagonally opposite the Newenso Church. They passed by the church on the way and found that it had been blocked off by layers of blockades.
The cordon was staffed not only by police but also by a group of Knights of the Flintstones stationed in the parish of Farrington.
Ethan had heard of this unit. Their leader, Gale, was a typical muscular man, over two meters tall and visible even in the crowd. He originally thought they were just "passing by", but he didn't expect Hitzfeld to take the initiative to approach them and say hello.
"Hello, Captain Gale."
"This... Hello, Miss Hitzfeld." Captain Gale turned around. Wearing power armor, he looked like a small goblin logging machine.
The little giant was obviously surprised by the girl's greeting. Facing the little black silk hand that reached out to him, he hesitated for a moment, then stretched out an index finger so that Hitzfeld could hold it and shake it a few times.
This is a matter of basic courtesy.
He had heard of this young female detective, but because their systems were different, he didn't feel jealous like the local Shadow Lion agents.
Of course, he didn't know that the source of this emotion was not Hitzfeld himself, but because of "Heidegger". Strictly speaking, the girl was implicated by her companions.
"That's right." Hitzfeld said cheerfully, "I've visited the sugarcane forest and tomato garden with Father Vander before, and I found that there were dummies erected every few hundred meters..."
"Ahhh!" Lily, who was following her, shouted twice.
"Dummy?" Captain Gale first glanced at the Sherries dog, then his brows jumped. "Yes - of course it is necessary! Because we are short of manpower, without dummies, the bird damage will be too serious. Many fruits will be pecked to pieces before they are ripe."
Birds don't just eat grains and bugs; they eat everything, including fruit.
"Excuse me, are you... relying solely on the internal resources of the parish to run the orchard?"
The answer to this question was well known to everyone. Captain Gale did not hesitate: "Yes, because Bishop Lanno is only willing to trust people within the diocese."
"So you guys will take off your armor and go in to help during the harvest season?"
"Yes."
"A considerable part of your usual patrol missions also takes place inside the orchard—especially the red eggplant orchard?"
"That's it...why don't you just tell me what you want to ask? This feels a bit...well, uncomfortable."
Like Ethan, Captain Gale was also confused by the girl's questions.
"What I want to ask is the intensity of your patrols," Hitzfeld said. "Since you are short of manpower, I guess you can't provide too tight coverage..."
"..." Gale raised his brows.
This girl's words are really a headache. Why does she pick on the Knights' pain points?
It is difficult for the Knights of Fellington to recruit local people. This is partly because the locals have no ambition and are content with having a small fortune. Another factor is that the air here is bad.
Bad air means bad lungs, and if the lungs are bad, it is difficult to support high-intensity training. Moreover, the Flintstone Knights themselves need to accumulate metal toxins in their lungs, so it is difficult for them to recruit new people, and they are basically transferred from other places.
But he didn't expect that this was just the beginning. Hitzfeld's subsequent questions were stranger than the last.
"You guys farm... I mean, when you turn the soil, how deep do you usually dig?"
"When Enling Road was renovated, did they only repair the road? Didn't they take care of the yard?"
"Has the church got a cellar?"
"Within the boundaries of Huishi Orchard, I mean before those lands were incorporated into the orchard, could there be a cemetery on those lands?"
In response to this, Gail could only answer inexplicably with "Just dig to the normal depth", "They only built the road", "As far as I know, I don't think I've seen a cellar", and "There is no cemetery, definitely not."
"Thank you, Captain Gale."
"This... If I can help, I'd be honored..."
After saying goodbye to the confused Captain Gale, Hitzfeld crossed the road with Ethan, who also looked confused.
Lily trotted behind her, looking up at the sky from time to time.
According to the address provided by the police, they found the opposite street - the intersection of Enling Road and Fiton Road, No. 19 Fiton Road, and knocked on the wooden door in an alley.
But there was no response, as if no one lived inside.
"They say this undertaker, Mr. Binns, hasn't been in business for nearly three years."
Ethan turned to look at the girl.
"continue."
Hitzfeld's face was expressionless.
"Push harder."
"You didn't eat?"
The corner of Ethan's mouth twitched, he shook his head, and slapped the door.
"Bang bang bang bang!"
"Who! Who!"
Now there is finally movement.
A howl was heard from inside, mixed with increasingly clear curses: "A bunch of bastards! I told you I'd pay for the wine next time! Am I the kind of person who refuses to pay? Can you give your neighbors a little trust?"
With a creaky sound, the door opened inwards and a shrunken, slovenly old man who looked only about 160 cm tall stood at the door. When he saw the two people's faces clearly, he immediately frowned.
"You are not... who are you?"
"Well, Mr. Binns, we heard that you were a mortician..."
Ethan spoke up.
This was a normal start, but unexpectedly the old man's face changed and he was about to close the door.
Ethan quickly moved forward and used his body to block the door panel. The old man rolled his eyes and screamed again: "Murder! Murder--"
"Mr. Binns, we're here to talk to you about the car accident three years ago."
A light voice came from behind.
The old man seemed to be strangled by the neck, and all his howling stopped abruptly.
He stared at the gray-haired girl standing outside the door, his eyes bulging and all his expressions almost frozen.
Three years ago...
The car accident?
Ethan opened his mouth, looked at the old man first, then turned his neck to look at Hitzfeld, and found that she was smiling particularly happily at this moment.
It's like... the state of a child who finally gets candy or finds the lost building block, and the joy and relief cannot be concealed at all.
Of course, there is also pride.
The high spirits that cannot be concealed.
Chapter 38 Half the Truth
A minute later, the door of No. 19 Fiton Road was closed, and the two guests and a Sheltie were welcomed into the house by the owner and sat comfortably on the sofa and carpet.
"Let me make it clear first that I have no idea what happened three years ago!"
Without waiting for them to say anything, the sloppy old man started to defend himself, "I... I just dealt with some corpses... I put makeup on the corpses, pieced together the remains, and prayed for them... These are all the jobs of a funeral director."
"No." But Hitzfeld said firmly, "You missed one... and that includes speaking for the corpse."
The old man looked at him fiercely, his eyes were as fierce as a tiger staring at a hunter, which made Ethan nervous and he couldn't help but want to touch the gun.
"You're not a policeman." Binns' tone was also very firm, "You don't look like a pure detective..."
"Of course I'm a detective, otherwise how would I have found my way here?" Hitzfeld shook his head and interrupted him, "But I do have another profession... Yes, just like you used to be, a funeral director."
As soon as these words came out, old man Bins' momentum immediately deflated.
