The wound was on the front of the body or on the heart, and the place of death was the residence of the deceased. There is a high chance that the murderer was an acquaintance of the deceased...
The deceased was engaged in business in the past, and must have had contact with many and varied people during his lifetime. We will have to wait until we know the specific information about the deceased tomorrow to speculate on the motive for the murder...
We have to see the internal structure of the attic before we can begin to speculate on the method of murder...
All in all, there are very few things that can be done immediately - I came to this conclusion while stopping.
I knocked on the door in front of me.
[The chance of being swooped is 97%]
The door was opened, I quickly hid aside, and then a tall and thin figure jumped out:
"I'm finally back, Mr. Detective! I'm going to starve to death!"
Thanks to the divine eye, the opponent missed the target.
At this time, the person lying on the ground raised his head and looked at me gloomily.
"I'm dizzy, exhausted, and dazzled now. Detective, please carry me in quickly."
The person who made this gangster request was the gangster who talked to me in the pub last time, my cohabitant who also serves as the nominal "assistant" - Ferrinold.
"I can't help it. Who could have caused trouble this time... By the way, I brought you sesame cakes."
I shook the bag in my hand and walked in without looking back. Ferrinold quickly got up when he heard "shaobing" and followed me.
There were only a few candles lit in the room, and the light was very poor. I put my coat on the wooden chair and sat on it.
Ferrinold muttered while chewing sesame seed cakes:
"Let me tell you, Mr. Detective, such hard food is really hard to swallow~~"
"Then don't eat. There is no business this month and I don't even plan to go drinking. Just bear with it."
"Wow... This statement is so unreasonable! I can't even provide the most basic food, and the detective actually cares about drinking!"
"That's because all our money was earned through hard work by myself."
"Eh——"
Felinold made a dissatisfied sound, but I knew there was no need to pity this guy.
"Isn't it just stalking others? What about hard work..."
I raised my voice slightly when I heard this:
"Stop blabbering! If you hadn't instigated me to become a private detective when I first came to Woolworth, I would have found a real job long ago!"
It is precisely because my work as a private detective has given me such a bad reputation that I have been unable to change jobs. Even small restaurants that have just opened are unwilling to let me do odd jobs.
"Don't get angry~~ Mr. Detective...didn't you get a big deal this time?"
Ferrinold was referring to this murder.
"..."
"As long as the detective solves the case, isn't the glory and wealth ours?"
"It's easy to say...what if it fails?"
"Then of course I will immediately draw a clear line with the detective to prevent the lord from punishing me as well."
"You guys planned it from the beginning!"
"Being prepared is a knight's habit."
Ferrinold pretended to put the hand holding the sesame seed cake on his chest.
This guy...
Felinold's ancestors were once knights and could be considered nobles. However, in his father's generation, they were deprived of their title and demoted to commoners.
He was clearly not a noble but he always called himself a "knight" in front of me. I rolled my eyes at him.
"Don't think you can escape, you are a suspect this time."
"Hey?!"
"Have you been to that attic after drinking last night?"
Ferrinold was startled for a moment, then as if he suddenly remembered something, he nodded with his mouth half open, without his previous naughty look.
"What did you do there?"
"No, I didn't do anything. Mr. Detective...you're not doubting me, are you?"
"More than just suspicion, if there was no evidence, I would even think of bringing you before the lord as a murderer."
My words made Ferinod's stiff face improve a little.
I believe him for the time being, so I hope he can relax and explain to me.
"Hahaha, this is too much. Detective, how dare I kill anyone..."
"But it is true that you were seen entering the attic at night. What is going on?"
"Well..."
Ferrinold looked hesitant.
"To be precise...I'm stalking people."
"What? Who are you following?"
"Follow...Follow the detective..."
I frowned, and before I spoke, Ferrinold added:
"Last night... I saw Mr. Detective and a super beauty walking out of the pub. Out of curiosity, I followed them secretly... By the way, who was that woman? She actually didn't dislike Mr. Detective, Detective
How much did the master give her?"
"...Why is it based on spending money?"
"Isn't this natural? Does the detective think he has the charm to attract such a beautiful woman? Don't be kidding!"
"Okay! I am now sure that you are the murderer! Hurry up and confess to me!"
"Hey, hey, hey! Don't threaten me just because you are angry!"
A smooth-tongued guy.
"...Okay, okay, no matter what, it's a human life. Tell me what you did after you followed me?"
"Well...actually it's not a big deal, because the detective and the beauty separated not long after leaving, so I plan to follow the beauty..."
"Then followed to the attic?"
"No, no, no, that beauty seemed to be walking aimlessly for a long time at first. I thought she found me, but I didn't know she was just looking for a little kid... It turns out that the detective likes me
This is the type of young woman."
"Stop talking nonsense! That's not her child!"
"Oh, oh, oh, how come the detective knows so clearly?"
"Are you asking me or am I asking you? Hurry up and tell me what you saw next!"
"Okay, okay..."
Ferrinold deliberately pretended to understand me very well, thinking he had discovered my hidden hobby.
"I'm waiting for that young woman——"
"Not a young woman! That guy's name is Snow, you obviously know that, right?!"
I couldn't restrain myself.
"Huh? It's really troublesome..."
"The trouble is yours! What kind of descendant of a knight..."
"It is a knight's habit to keep everything simple, Mr. Detective."
If this continues, there will be no end. We can’t let this guy lead us around - I came to my senses.
I adjusted my mood and continued to ask:
"When did you see the snow and find the child?"
"Well... it's probably nine o'clock."
"Then you followed her to the attic?"
"How is that possible! As soon as I saw that...Xue walking towards the police station with the child, I immediately gave up following him."
"You didn't go to the attic?"
"Well... I went. On my way back, I thought that the lord would enter the city through the north gate, so I went over there to see if there were any salutes or anything like that. I entered the attic when I passed by on the way.
But I just warmed myself by the fire and chatted with the owner for a while."
"You are really familiar with yourself...when did you enter the attic?"
"I don't know about that. I guess it's about twenty minutes after nine o'clock."
After nine o'clock...it's very similar to the time when Snow enters the attic.
"Who else did you see in the attic?"
"There were a lot of people, at least a dozen people. Alcohol was also sold there. At that time, most people came to keep warm and drink."
Ferrinold's answer was prompt.
Judging from his appearance, he must have never seen Xue there. Could it be that Xue went upstairs as soon as he entered...
"How long have you been there?"
"It took a long time... Then the lord came, and everyone left one after another in a sensible manner."
I looked at him suddenly:
"Lord?! Didn't he just come this morning?"
"Oh, detective sir, before questioning me, you'd better find out what happened recently! The lord came to see another noble man last night, and I saw with my own eyes that the lord and that noble man went upstairs together.
What?"
"Noble?"
"I heard that he is an acquaintance of the lord, and he is also friends with the owner of the attic, so he is temporarily living there...Even after hearing this, you wouldn't understand, Detective, right? After all, Detective, you don't pay much attention to me.
A matter for noble gentlemen."
Indeed, just hearing that long and difficult-to-pronounce aristocratic surname makes me dizzy.
But this is quite important information... No, it’s just that I know too little.
Comparing Manda's and Ferinod's speeches, I found two differences:
First, Manda's notebook showed that only nineteen people were seen in the attic last night, but Ferrinold said that there were more than ten people on the first floor of the attic at around nine o'clock.
Second, Manda never told me about the lord entering the attic.
I'll try to find a chance to ask that guy Manda about this.
In short, I understand a very important point - as Ferrinold said, what I need to do now is to understand some of the most basic information, and then sort out the clues through the speeches of the parties involved.
The problem is...
Can I really sort out any clues?
Is there really anything I can do for that unknown businesswoman?
I don’t have any confidence. It’s better to say that I have just started and I am already thinking about the punishment I will face if I fail.
It's really too much... A person was obviously killed, but I used such an attitude to find the murderer...
But I was forced, and what was even more egregious was the group of people who forcibly passed this responsibility on to me.
However, there was a voice in my mind asking:
"If you really don't want to do it, why did you agree then?"
...Okay, I volunteered.
You have to do something, otherwise you will feel uneasy - forgive me for being selfish and living with this mood.
"Hey, Mr. Detective, have you finished asking all the questions? If so, can you give me some hard-earned money? I'm so bored today, I really want to go have a few drinks~~"
Seeing that I was silent for a long time, Ferrinold began to mumble.
"Well, that's all I have to ask for now. Also, if you have time, go and clean up the house. There is dust everywhere and it's very dirty."
We now live in an old house on the most remote street in Woolworth. It can be said that there is nothing in the house. The only advantage is that the rent is extremely low.
"Isn't there a detective? Besides, how can a knight be engaged in cleaning?"
"...Whatever you want, I'll go out."
I stood up.
"Where to go? Drink? I want to go too!"
"No."
"The detective is so stingy..."
I raised my face with a vengeful smile and walked out of the door without looking back.
It was very windy outside, but fortunately I knew every route to every pub in Woolworth, so I could find the way with my head down.
As I walked, I folded a piece of white paper that I picked up when I went out, until a paper airplane appeared in my hand.
I threw the paper plane in the direction of the wind——
The north wind quickly swept it away, its speed was very fast, and it stabbed forward like a wild horse that had escaped the reins——
Then it got stuck into the white hair of a person not far away...