"Church exorcism? For what? Did an accident happen here? Wait a minute, I don't remember there was any news here during that time."
Mr. Antonio asked suspiciously, and the middle-aged mason nodded:
"During the earthquake last fall, the old stonemason Humphrey was hit in the head by a tilted stone statue and died on the spot. There was nothing strange about this incident. The police also came. There were many people present at the time. It was indeed an accident.
It was not published in the newspaper, just an obituary. After all, if businessmen from other places knew that the stone statues were stained with blood, the prices of all the stone statues would be reduced."
Mr. Antonio and Shade looked at each other, and both felt that this matter had the value of investigation. Although Mr. Antonio was an ordinary person, he also understood that there must be a reason why the church sent people to exorcise demons.
"Besides, there is one more thing."
The middle-aged mason said again:
"Uncle Huck is the living story collection of the Stonemasons Guild. He knows the most about the stories and history of the Guild. He once said to me before that if one day he sees something scary in the Guild, he should cover his face and squat down to carry his back.
To the light source. If you want to know the story, you can..."
He showed an apologetic expression:
"You can't find him. No, he's not dead. He's been taken away now...the assassination at the banquet."
"The Uncle Huck you are talking about is the one..."
Shade made a gesture of masturbating, and the middle-aged stonemason nodded cryptically:
"The superiors don't let us talk about this."
Shade took out his wallet, gave a silver coin to the mason in front of him, and then said to Mr. Antonio:
"I know Count Granger. I'm going to try this afternoon to see if I can meet with Uncle Huck. You are in the association and look for news about old Humphrey who was beaten to death last year."
"No problem. I'm very familiar with people from the local Sun Church. You can also go there and ask about exorcisms."
Mr. Antonio said, so the two agreed to meet at the tavern at the end of Mason Street at five o'clock in the afternoon. But the middle-aged stonemason Mr. Peter Tolford had not left yet, so he hesitated and asked Shade:
"Sir, can you see Uncle Huck?"
"I know a very powerful person, but I can only give it a try."
So the middle-aged mason hesitated:
"If you have enough connections, can you...let Uncle Huck's crime be given a lighter sentence? I mean, he didn't actually hurt anyone. It's certainly wrong to assassinate the prince...It's wrong to assassinate anyone.
, but he is also a poor man."
Although Shade said that he wanted to contact the arrested "Uncle Huck" through Count Granger's channel, in fact it was impossible for Shade to go to the count. He was not familiar with the count. So after being temporarily separated from Mr. Antonio, Shade
De went directly to Margaret.
Her Royal Highness the Princess, who was having afternoon tea, heard that Shade wanted to meet the assassination prisoner, so she just thought about it and agreed to help:
"You change your clothes and blend in with my entourage. It just so happens that I was planning to go see him in the past few days. Since you want to go too, let's go now."
Although such important prisoners are closely guarded, Margaret can still see them whenever she wants...
"Is it still for Ms. Bernanise's assessment mission?"
Xia De asked, and Her Royal Highness the Princess nodded in annoyance:
"The grievances between the Stonemasons Association and our family are more complicated than I thought. If I could have been born more than ten years earlier, it would have been easy to resolve this matter at that time. But the hatred that has been fermented by time is more complicated than any hatred.
We must be strong. Time allows the seeds of hatred to germinate and take root in the land beneath our feet. And now, this hatred has been deeply engraved into the Randall River Valley. I have no intention of pointing out which party was at fault back then, but for now
For me, this is really a big trouble."
"You can't be born more than ten years early, otherwise..."
Shade pointed at himself, and Her Royal Highness the Princess stood up on tiptoes and kissed him:
"Otherwise, I will be just younger than Miss Benenice... Don't tell her this, otherwise I will pass.
If you pass the test, I'm afraid you won't be able to become the witch's apprentice. However, I think your relationship with Miss Benanis is not bad."
This sentence should have no other meaning.
Uncle Huck is currently being held in the Marsh Prison in Randall City, but Her Royal Highness will not enter that kind of place, so this meeting was arranged at the Randall City Police Station.
The meeting place was the reception room on the top floor of the police station. The police station sometimes faces such relatively dangerous meetings, so the reception room itself has a telescopic fence that can divide the room into two parts.
After Margaret sat down on the sofa, Shade stood behind him, wearing a red royal attendant's suit, a black high hat, a sword hanging on his waist, and a spear on his back.
The maids around Margaret actually knew Shade. Seeing his appearance, they all tried their best to hold back their smiles. Margaret was also very interested in Shade's cross-dressing. Fortunately,
She still remembers her purpose.
After a while, the criminal who attacked with a gun at last Wednesday's banquet was brought over. The last time Shade saw him, he thought he was a haggard guy. When he saw him now, he felt like he had aged ten years again.
age.
"Uncle Huck"'s hands and feet were shackled, and he was sandwiched between two armed police officers and entered the room. After sitting on a separate iron chair, his hands and feet were fastened to the ground and the chair with locks. But he
Although he was haggard, he seemed to have no external injuries. The interrogation by the Randall Valley police and Gray Gloves was actually more civilized than Shade expected.
After doing this, the policemen bowed to Her Highness the Princess and exited the room. Most of the people behind Margaret also exited. In the end, only Shade and a personal maid responsible for recording documents were left.
Margaret put down the tea cup in her hand and started the next conversation directly:
"You probably know me, Margaret Anjou. Don't worry, I'm not here to persuade you to name anyone else in your confession."
Margaret handed the key chain on the table to Shade. Shade walked over and opened the fence door that separated the room. Then he opened the lock and shackles on Uncle Huck's right hand, put a cup of tea on his
at hand.
Uncle Huck was in his forties, but at this moment he looked almost as old as Priest Augustus. He picked up the tea cup and drank from it unceremoniously. Shade said on the side:...
"Don't be so anxious, there's no shortage of tea here."
"I came here just to ask you a few questions."
Margaret continued
"If I wanted to buy off your hatred with a sum of money, how much gold would I have to spend?"
"Unless your money can turn back time, your money is useless."
Uncle Huck's voice was very hoarse, his facial expression was extremely tired, but his eyes were still bright.
"If I want to use a sum of money to buy out the hatred of the entire association, how much gold do I need to spend?"
Margaret asked again. Although Miss Benenice would not allow her to pay for it herself, she wanted to determine how deep the hatred was.
"Money, ha, although I don't want to admit it, 60,000 crowns should be fine."
That is about 800,000 gold pounds, which is several times the original project payment of 100,000 pounds.
Margaret nodded. The number did not exceed her expectations. The reason why Uncle Huck was willing to answer her question was of course not just because of the cup of tea that Shad brought. It was because the masons in the association really needed this.
Money. Some people care about dignity, but some people still need to live. His own family has collapsed, but there are still people struggling to support it.
Next, Margaret asked many questions about the local masons' association. Uncle Huck answered most of them, and his attitude towards Margaret was not bad.
And at the end, Her Royal Highness the Princess expressed her thoughts:
"I am just a princess, and I cannot represent the entire royal family. But during this visit to Randall Valley City, I saw the pain caused by past grudges to current people. I want to resolve the hatred between the Masons and the family. Hatred does not have to be
It continues into the next decade."
Her hands wearing white lace gloves were folded together:
"Huck, I know your hatred,
I can also understand your thinking. But no matter who it is, procrastinating this matter without resolving it will not bring any benefits. I have no intention of telling you that the past cannot be changed, and the future must be created by yourself. But if you are willing
Help me, I promise to do my best to help you get a reduced sentence after solving this matter. You only need to stay in prison for a maximum of two years before you can get out."
This is already the limit of what Margaret can promise.
"Your Highness, I understand what you want to express. But you must understand that whether this matter can be resolved does not depend on us, but on you, or in other words, on His Majesty the King."
The old man looked at the princess in front of him, and his last words were solemn:
"What we lack is not only the delayed project payment, but also an apology. Maybe I am the first person to dare to do this, but I can guarantee that I will definitely not be the last."
This is the key to the whole incident. Margaret can think of ways to get money from other channels to serve as compensation, but the royal apology is definitely not that easy to achieve. For some people, face
Far more important than gold coins. Miss Bernanice's condition is that "both parties are satisfied", which is a task with a double meaning.
"I can think of a way to apologize. What I lack now is someone who knows the inside story and can act as an informant for me. Although you are a criminal now, you are also a hero in the eyes of the masons' association. If you are willing
Help me, and you also help yourselves. I can allow your friends to visit you in a few days, and then you can express some of the things I want to convey. "
Margaret was very vague, but it was obvious that after more than a week of preparation, she already had a general plan.
