Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

Chapter 129 Acting
338
On Tuesday morning, Klein got up, washed up, and just went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast when he heard someone knocking on the door of his residence.

The visitor was a man wearing a dark green postman's uniform. He smiled at Klein in a flattering manner:

"Mr. Sherlock Moriarty?"

“Yes.” Klein vaguely guessed the other party’s intention.

The visitor immediately raised his right hand and handed over a palm-sized object wrapped in layers of black gauze:
"Your package, please sign for it."

Klein deliberately expressed his doubts:
"Shouldn't they normally give me a slip and let me pick it up at the corresponding post office?"

The postal system of the Kingdom of Loen was a perfect copy of Intis, even its shortcomings were copied. For any mail that could not be stuffed directly into the mailbox, no matter what it was, they would only give a "pick-up slip" and let the recipients do the work themselves. They had no idea of ​​innovation and optimization.

"...Haha, because it is quite valuable, I have to deliver it to you personally." The postman said after a moment's pause.

It seems that you are not professional enough and are not a real postman... Klein did not ask any more questions. He took the package, pen, and form and signed for them.

After closing the door and returning to the living room, he did not rush to open the package. Instead, he took out a gold coin and juggled it into the air.

Snapped!
Klein took the gold coin and looked down: the number was facing up, indicating a negative, and there was no hidden danger... Klein nodded slightly, put away the gold coin, touched the paper man in his pocket, looked at the matches on the windowsill and in the hidden place outside the windowsill, and carefully unpacked the package.

As layer after layer of black gauze were opened, the objects inside appeared clearly in his sight: a light gold pocket watch with an elegant pattern, a handkerchief stained with dark red blood, seven or eight short brown curly hairs tied together, and a stack of notes.

Talim’s belongings, hair, flesh, and daily records were all here... Prince Edessak was very efficient, and it was only the next morning... Klein looked at the things spread out on the coffee table and suddenly felt that many eyes were staring at him at this moment.

An ancient angel family that has been passed down for more than two thousand years, its background is definitely beyond imagination. If it is involved in the royal family's struggle, it is possible to be crushed into powder at any time... Maybe I am already under surveillance... I must act mediocre and useless enough to ensure my own safety... After a night, Klein had figured out what to do and calmly checked his pocket watch, handkerchief, and hair.

This also made him doubt: Could it be that Talim's death really had a hidden purpose? Was it not just Prince Edessak's wishful thinking?
Klein became more alert, thinking that what he felt just now might not be an illusion. However, during this process, his spiritual intuition did not give him any warnings and did not stop him from doing divination.

After he had a rough idea in his mind, Klein took out a piece of letter paper in the living room, picked up a pen, and wrote down the divination statement:

"The true cause of Talim Dumont's death."

He behaved generously and openly, and didn't seem to feel that he was being monitored at the moment.

Picking up the curlers and handkerchief, Klein silently recited the divination phrase while leaning back against the sofa, his eyes turning deep into meditation.

After seven times, he came to the dream world and saw the familiar lobby of the Krag Club.

Then, he saw Talim Dumont, who was chatting and laughing with his companions, suddenly pinched his heart and fell down with a distorted expression.

This was the first time he had witnessed Talim's death. Although he had passed away and his funeral was to be held this morning, the feeling of seeing it with his own eyes was completely different from knowing the cause of death. A familiar person who was alive and well in the last second became a corpse lying on the ground with residual warmth in the next second.

“This revelation shows that Talim did die of a sudden heart attack…” Klein opened his eyes and whispered to himself.

He frowned, showing an expression of doubt, confusion and thinking.

He tried it several times with different divination statements and got the same result.

He stood up and paced back and forth several times.

He clenched his fist and hit himself on the head, as if angry that he was not competent enough to help his friend track down the real murderer.

Finally, he sat down dejectedly, not moving for a long time. In the slightly dim room with the curtains half-drawn, he looked like the silhouette of a stone statue.

That’s enough. Don’t use too much force... If no one was monitoring me, I would have just been fighting wits with the air. But my feeling should be right... Klein shook his head in self-mockery, stood up and walked towards the kitchen.

Klein originally wanted to prepare a relatively rich breakfast for himself, with a few slices of bacon, a sausage, an omelette, two slices of toasted bread, and a cup of sweet hot milk with sugar cubes, so that he could have a relatively comfortable breakfast. But now it was no longer possible. He had to appear nervous, uneasy, and anxious in the eyes of possible observers.

If the detective, who was just angry and helpless about Talim's death, was leisurely preparing breakfast for himself in the next moment, the monitor would definitely think something was wrong.

Klein hurriedly stood up and put on the cold bread slices on the table near the stove to heat them up. He then quickly fried an egg for himself and boiled a pot of hot water. When the egg was done, he hurriedly sandwiched it with the bread that was only heated on one side, took a big bite of the egg sandwich, drank a sip of hot water, and then returned to the living room again, staring blankly at Talim's relics and his notebook.

After breakfast, he seemed to be refreshed and carefully read the contents of the notes, which included what Talim had done and who he had met on the day of his death and in the days before.

Home, Red Rose Manor, Cragg Club, Viscount Conrad's residence... There was nothing unusual... Klein picked up the sharpened pencil and drew several circles on the notepad, marking the places he would visit and the targets he would question in the next few days.

After doing all this, he sighed deeply, finished his bread, and stood up to pack his things without any confidence. He seemed absent-minded in everything he did.

Klein looked up at the grandfather clock, frowned, and said to himself:
"Maybe I should go to his funeral..."

The obituary in the Tussock Gazette said that Talim's funeral would be held promptly at 12 a.m. on December 21, which is a.m. today.

He suddenly discovered a flaw in his performance, and cold sweat broke out on his back.

Since I had no intention of attending the funeral from the beginning, I had not taken this schedule to heart. Otherwise, I should have left immediately after the postman delivered Talim's remains at around 8 o'clock, instead of acting at home!

There was actually a mistake here!

But I can't go in case Edward Vaughan is there...

But if I really put this matter behind me and ignored the fact that I missed the funeral, it would contradict the image of the "loyal but helpless friend" I played!

This is a case of one hair moving the whole body. I began to regret divining the underground evil spirits. That matter had nothing to do with me at all. Why did I have to be curious at that time... I always felt that everything was completely out of control after that divination... The most important thing is what to do now? Klein's head was also sweating rapidly.

It was almost half past nine, and the usual funeral process had probably already been completed. Even if I took a carriage to attend the funeral now, I would probably only have time to say goodbye and lay flowers before the burial.

The detective, who was immersed in the death of his friend, belatedly realized the passage of time. He cursed inwardly, slapped his head, quickly grabbed the coat hanging on the hanger, picked up his top hat and rushed out the door.

After going out, he immediately stopped a public carriage and rushed to the Crown Cemetery a few kilometers away.

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This place is specially used by members of the nobility, and it occupies a large area on the outskirts of Backlund. It has a superior geographical location, an elegant environment, and most importantly, it is not too far away.

Klein was extremely nervous along the way. He secretly did divination when there were few people in the public carriage to see if it would be dangerous to attend the funeral. He did divination twice, but the answer he got was unexpected.

The first time, his answer was: Attending the funeral would put me in danger.

The reaction of the topaz was a medium-amplitude clockwise rotation, indicating that there was a considerable danger, but in the blink of an eye it turned into a large-amplitude rotation. This abnormal phenomenon surprised Klein very much, but when he divined this problem again, the topaz pendulum stopped moving. Klein stared at the pendulum that was hanging down in a straight line, and suddenly felt his hands and feet cold.

At this moment, the carriage just stopped, and many passengers got on one after another. The empty carriage was soon filled with people, just like the subway in memory.

Klein had no choice but to put away his pendulum. He took out his pocket watch, opened it, and calculated that he still had about seven or eight minutes to go to the cemetery. He touched the pendulum wrapped around the inside of his wrist and was very confused about the result of his divination: he couldn't understand why attending a funeral would be so dangerous. Because if it was Edward Vaughn, the divination would not have been successful from the beginning.

But something unexpected happened. The answer to the first divination hinted at danger, but it failed to work the second time.

"Why would a funeral hide such a great danger? What on earth is Talim involved in? What are the people who have been there doing now? Is this danger directed at me, or is it for everyone?"

"Edward didn't go? Why? Isn't he also Talim's friend? Why don't you pretend?"

Klein pondered for a moment, then hesitantly took out a penny and tossed it up.

After it fell, the face value was facing up.

——The question he asked this time was whether he should attend Talim’s funeral.

“Hey, what’s going on here…” Klein was confused for a moment. The divination results showed that there was a huge danger hidden at Talim’s funeral, but at the same time, he should attend it? What did this mean?
As they were about to reach the next fixed parking spot, Klein moved a bit, but ultimately did not stand up.

He carefully considered the two divination results and believed that while they were contradictory, there must be other connections between them.

My second divination failed, proving that the danger was real... At the same time, I should also attend the funeral, after all, I have to act in front of possible observers... So? Prince Edessak will never harm me. After all, he is also Talim's friend and is likely to go to pay his respects. If Talim's funeral is dangerous, he can't have heard about it. He still needs me to investigate, so there is no way he wouldn't tell me.

In other words, the danger is hidden deep down? Unwitting participants will not trigger the "bomb"?
A flash of inspiration came to Klein's mind: Maybe it's true! If there's something fishy about Talim's death, then the person or organization that killed him would most likely observe the funeral. This might be the "hidden danger."

This way it is easy to deal with. As long as I don't think too much, don't run around and look around, and just do what I need to do, these hidden observers won't notice me, and I won't be in danger...

The tram rattled forward, and a few minutes later, Klein arrived at the area where the Crown Cemetery was located.

He glanced at the current time. It was already nine forty. Klein held his hat with one hand and ran towards the entrance of the park, but saw a group of people in black clothes slowly walking towards him.

Klein stepped aside and was surprised to see Doctor Allen and Reporter Mike among the crowd of people in black.

The funeral was over. Klein suddenly looked away with some discomfort. This time it was not a show.

Dr. Allen and Talim's father were talking in low voices. The gray-haired old man listened silently to his son's friend talking about the club. He looked haggard, and he and the elderly woman beside him supported each other as they walked forward. They also looked trembling. Talim's mother had red and swollen eyes. She tried to speak several times, but couldn't cry.

The scene came into view. Klein tilted his head back slightly and closed his eyes.

I'm sorry... he said silently in his heart.

He was already late, and there was no point in going any further. As Klein stepped aside and prepared to leave, he noticed that reporter Mike and surgeon Allen were approaching him.

"It's such a pity, I never thought that Talim would, would, ah..." Mike had a sad expression on his face and was unable to finish his words.

Allen, who was always cold and indifferent, took off his glasses, wiped the corners of his eyes, and sighed softly:

"He was a passionate guy and didn't deserve to end up like this."

“Yes, he had hope of getting rid of the bad reputation left by his grandfather.” Klein agreed.

Just then, he saw a female figure wearing a heavy black dress and a face-covering veil separate from the other people participating in the funeral, and accompanied by a maid, walked towards a plain, unmarked carriage parked on the side of the road.

Klein looked away without paying much attention, leaving only his remaining eyes on that side.

The maid brought a footstool, and the tightly wrapped woman lifted her heavy skirt with her right hand. With her left hand wearing a black gauze glove, she grasped the hand that the maid extended to her for support, and took two light and graceful steps into the carriage.

A blue gem was faintly visible at the little finger position of her left palm.

The maids also got into the car, and the curtains were lowered, completely hiding their figures.

How mysterious... Klein retracted his attention and continued to communicate with Mike and Dr. Allen.

340
Edward sat in a house with a thin gauze curtain drawn on the only window.

Outside the window, a red moon hangs in the sky, the moonlight is magnificent, and in the distance you can see the windmill slowly turning with the help of wind. The streets are bustling with people, men and women, young and old, walking back and forth, communicating in a language that sounds like the roar of animals.

Edward sat against the wall, his arms resting on the table, one hand resting on his cheek with a clenched fist, listening carefully to the conversations between these "people" and taking notes in his mind from time to time.

The grammar is very similar to the official language of the Solomon Empire, and occasionally some slang unique to the Northern Continent can be heard. It seems that as a duke, Antigonus has learned a lot of human systematic language norms in the empire and compiled them into the relevant culture of the Kingdom of Darkness.

"ka-ci", the throat is tightened, the mouth is wide open, and then the teeth are bared, and the sound is made with a breathy sound. When the "ka" is emphasized, it means "good morning", and when the "ci" is emphasized, the meaning becomes "goodbye". It is not clear whether there is an additional meaning such as "see you tomorrow".

"a-no-el" has multiple meanings, which roughly means "Nice to meet you." This sentence was only heard twice, and it seems to have to be accompanied by a low roar to express the corresponding meaning. It is impossible to tell whether it is a word or a phrase.

The pronunciation of "你" is "si-a", and "伱好" is "si-a-li", which is also done by opening the mouth wide and baring the teeth, with a short ending sound...

Out of boredom, the decadent king took the initiative to study the language system of the Kingdom of Darkness. As expected of a small social circle established and led by the descendants of the Demon Wolf, the pronunciation of the dialect of the Kingdom of Darkness is very standard and tests one's facial muscles.

He has figured out how this town works. When the red moon hangs in the sky, its spirituality increases, and its influence on Antigonus increases. The secret puppets of the Kingdom of Night will act out the activities of his previous life according to Antigonus's subconscious, but they are limited to chatting on the road and will not enter the house.

When the moon is covered by clouds, its spirituality weakens and the secret doll will be taken back. This is the time when it is safe to move around.

but.

The moment he entered the town, he saw the clouds in the sky dispersing. Just as he hid in a nearby house, he saw shadowy figures outside. The large-scale Kingdom of Night drama had begun.

And until now, more than ten hours later, the red moon was still hanging in the sky, and the sky was clear without a single cloud.

TBC
----

Night: Just stay in the room and don’t go out.

(End of this chapter)