Ke-style law enforcement officers

Chapter 73 Past Events

Grace pulled out half a yellowed piece of paper from the leather seam inside Milo's tricorn hat.

It's clear that this piece of paper is quite old; it's been torn in half, with the other half missing. However, the writing is still clearly visible on the remaining half.

When Grace could clearly see what the handwriting described, her breathing became rapid, and memories that had been suppressed for many years began to flood her mind, leaving her with a mix of emotions.

"Where did you find this thing?!"

Holding up the half-page in her hand, she questioned Milo loudly, her voice trembling.

"Merlin Town, don't you remember? Although you were very young when you lived there, you shouldn't have no memory of it at all, right?"

When Milo saw that Grace was starting to lose control of her emotions, he felt somewhat relieved.

"Let me tell you a somewhat sad story. There was a commoner girl who fell in love with a nobleman. They lived in a small town in a remote mountain area and had a daughter. Later, the nobleman disappeared without saying goodbye. The girl chased after him frantically, but she could never find the father of her child. When she raised her daughter to about ten years old, she passed away. Coincidentally, the father of her daughter appeared at this time and took her back to the city... This mother who died in the town had a very beautiful name, Anna, right?... I feel like I'm doing voiceover for a short video marketing account."

Milo had to admit that he was really not cut out for storytelling.

Although he glimpsed Anna's perspective from the afterlife and truly felt the helplessness and pain of being abandoned by her lover, his expressive abilities only allowed him to tell a dry, bland story that couldn't even be considered a story...

But no matter how badly Milo spoke, everything he said was completely true.

When these memories, buried deep within Grace's heart, resurface, the emotions they evoke are anything but indifferent.

Because she was a participant.

She knew how difficult it must have been for orphans and widows to survive for ten years in remote mountainous areas.

……

But this is not enough.

Milo decided to increase the dosage.

"Do you remember that time you were seriously ill with a fever, and your mother gave away all the valuables in the house to get you the only bottle of fever reducer in town? You know, that kind of medicine is actually very cheap, and it was eliminated from the market years ago. It has no fever-reducing effect at all; it's just a product of a religious scam. But the more remote the place, the more valuable it is. All the property your mother mortgaged at the time wasn't enough to get that bottle of medicine. Do you know what she gave up?... Do you remember when you woke up in bed and heard those strange men's voices coming from the living room?"

"I kill you!!!!"

Grace snatched the gun from Jonathan's hand, pointed it at Milo's forehead, and screamed hysterically.

The cold muzzle of the gun was pressed against Milo's head, almost digging into his skin.

Grace's eyes were bloodshot and crimson, her pupils trembled, and her face twitched uncontrollably.

She didn't know how Milo knew these things, but at this moment she was no longer able to think rationally. She wanted Milo to shut up, to shut up forever.

……

Emma, ​​who hadn't uttered a single word from beginning to end, also showed a look of anxiety after seeing Grace's actions, because she could tell that the woman in front of her was about to lose control.

……

"Breaking down? I just wanted to tell you that I can write down all those men's names. If you're going to kill someone, you should kill them first... Even though many years have passed, there should still be one or two of those people who haven't died of old age, right?"

Milo could see Grace's trembling index finger right in front of him; if the trembling had been just a fraction more pronounced, it would have been enough to trigger the revolver.

Although Grace was on the verge of collapse, Milo could tell that her strongest desire for revenge was not directed at him.

The person she truly hated was Edward Sherman, her biological father who abandoned her and her daughter in the small town of Merlin for ten years without ever caring about them.

The more intense Grace's reaction, the deeper her hatred for Edward.

As Milo uttered those last words, Grace immediately released her index finger from the revolver trigger.

Because she knew she might lose control and pull the trigger, and she was afraid that Milo would really die, and then she would never know who had persecuted her mother back then.

At this point, she hadn't considered why Milo knew these old stories at all. Even if there was only a one in ten thousand chance that what Milo said was true, she was willing to believe that it all stemmed from her desire for revenge.

……

The heavy Remington revolver slipped from Grace's hands and crashed to the floor with a thud. Grace was somewhat distraught; her eyes were filled with tears, but not a single one fell.

With Jonathan's help, Grace slowly retreated to her chair and sat down, staring blankly at the half-yellowed piece of paper in her hand.

The paper contained half of a cuckoo totem emblem, with clear handwriting concisely stating and confirming the marriage of the two lovers, and below that was half of Anna's name...

……

At this moment, Emma, ​​who was watching from a distance, glanced at the revolver on the ground and gave Milo an inquiring look.

Milo subtly shook his head, signaling her not to do anything rash.

“Give me back my clothes, or I’ll freeze to death and you still won’t get those people’s names.”

……

After Milo's "strong protests," he finally managed to get himself a pair of pants.

The reason was that only the trousers were still "surviving." At first, Grace suspected that Milo might have hidden the will in some secret compartment of his clothes, so she removed all the stitching from his shirt, vest, and jacket...

Following Grace's orders, Jonathan removed all of Milo's shackles.

Looking at the mangled clothes the maid brought back, Milo sighed helplessly:
"You had time to mess up my clothes like this, but didn't you even think about pulling down my hat?"

“You law enforcement officers like to put a hat on J’s head, and I’m not too keen on touching it.” Grace, having completely calmed down, regained her original elegant demeanor. She sat calmly in her seat, as if nothing had happened, and answered Milo’s question in a lighthearted manner.

Milo scoffed, "Don't you realize how strange your logic is? You're the biggest prostitute leader in Nanwei City, sister."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Milo sensed an inquiring gaze coming from Emma's direction.

He immediately turned around: "Don't rush, I wasn't talking about you."

Milo pulled up a chair and sat down opposite Grace, the two facing off across the table.

His appearance was rather odd; he was only wearing trousers, barefoot and torso. The Sherman family's servants had even cut open his belt, so they had to constantly prevent his trousers from falling down.

Of course, everyone present was already very familiar with every part of his body, so whether his pants were down or not was no longer important. The hand that Milo was holding onto his pants waistband was simply clinging to a non-existent obsession.

“The manor has the best tailors in Nanwei City. They can restore your clothes to their original condition in the time it takes to have an afternoon tea. Of course, if you need, they can also make you a brand new set,” Grace said to Milo.

She placed her hands, fingers interlaced, on the table. From this simple series of body language, it was clear that Grace had temporarily set aside her murderous intent towards Milo and was now facing him in a conversational manner.

"Forget about brand new ones, just sew these disassembled seams back together and you're done." Milo rummaged through the clothes on the table, turned to Grace, and said solemnly:
"Five names in exchange for the lives of four members of my family, is that alright?"

"I don't know the authenticity of these names. Whether to change them or not, I can only make a decision after I send someone to Merlin Town to confirm." Grace's answer was somewhat ambiguous.

Milo rolled his eyes:
"You're so stubborn, aren't you? Do you know that the moment that old man behind you untied my shackles, your lives and deaths were already in my hands?"

“I know you’re strong. The assassins I sent out to find you all came back saying you collapsed because of your own mistakes; they were no match for you… But I also know you definitely won’t lay a hand on me, because in your eyes, my life and Joe’s combined aren’t worth as much as that girl standing behind you, right? If you kill us, neither of you will leave this manor alive.” Grace stared calmly at Milo, as if trying to see right through him.

"I've already put my life on the same scale as both of yours to make a deal. I hope you'll be decisive and stop being so wishy-washy."

“Write this down.” Milo glanced at Jonathan, then quickly read out the names of five men, even adding their nicknames and some distinctive physical features.

From the perspective of the dead, Anna hates these names to the core; the more vivid her humiliation and hatred are, the clearer her memories will be.

After Milo finished reading all the information, Grace looked at him with increasing confusion.

She herself had lived in the town of Merlin for ten years and still couldn't remember so many details. How could Milo, a mere twenty-something-year-old, possibly know all of this, especially since these things happened before he was even born?

Did he anticipate this situation from the beginning and therefore conduct an investigation into the town of Merlin beforehand?
But how did he manage to investigate the past so clearly?

……

She stared at Milo, somewhat lost in thought.

"What else do you know?"

(End of this chapter)