Chapter 28 An Unpleasant Reunion: Once you become a free man, you can no longer retreat...

The incident happened so suddenly that Lilith didn't have time to dress up. She simply changed into her coat, put on her veil, and immediately set off for the unloading dock where the incident had occurred. Because there were many people around at the dock, Heinrich and Cecilia accompanied her.

After disembarking from the gondola, Lilith headed straight for the sea. Workers and sailors were unloading crates of newly arrived cargo, and seagulls gathered to scavenge for breadcrumbs scattered on the ground. The sun rose as usual, but the dead would never awaken again.

Two law enforcement officers, clad in dark blue cloaks and wearing tall, square black hats, were investigating the scene of the incident. In Venice, law enforcement officers were almost all sons of nobles who volunteered for politics, so Lilith immediately recognized one of them as seemingly related by marriage to her cousin from a collateral branch of the Knarro family, and rushed over to pull him aside to strike up a conversation.

"Good morning, brother-in-law." Lilith couldn't remember his name, so she just made one up. "I'm Liliana from the Knarro family, daughter of Bruno Knarro, and widow of Heinrich Schmidl. You may not have attended my wedding, but you may have attended my husband's funeral."

"Oh, you're Liliana the Redhead." The law enforcement officer sized up the red-haired girl in the black dress, clearly recognizing her. "What are you doing in a place like this?"

“The deceased worked at a bank under my name. He was a very important employee of mine and had been kind to my mother.” Lilith suppressed her anxiety. “I want to know what happened.”

"Your bank???"

“Brother-in-law, that’s not the point.” Lilith frowned. “Please tell me how Mr. Sherlock died.”

"I'm sorry, I really can't tell you that. The duties of law enforcement officers are confidential."

"Brother-in-law, please help me this once. Liliana will always remember your kindness." Seeing that force was useless, Lilith immediately switched to a different attitude. Although she actually hated doing it, when she opened her eyes wide and looked at the young man with a pitiful gaze, he usually wouldn't refuse her harmless request.

“Okay, I can only reveal a little bit.” The officer looked around and told her in a low voice, “According to the forensic examination, the time of death was before dawn, the head was struck with a blunt object, and after being knocked unconscious, the body was faked and thrown into the water to make it look like drowning.”

Lilith blinked, pondering the pros and cons of this method of murder. If the victim was knocked unconscious and thrown into a body of water where few people passed by, and then retrieved after the body had decomposed, the forensic examiner might not be able to determine that the victim had been knocked unconscious before being thrown in. However, there was also the possibility that the victim had faked unconsciousness and escaped... No, right now, rather than looking to the future, we should focus more on the current case.

"Has the murderer been caught?" Lilith asked next.

"Not yet. Since it was still dark, there weren't many reliable eyewitnesses at the dock. We suspect it might have been due to a robbery..."

The officer was interrupted halfway through his speech by a sudden pat on the shoulder.

"Good morning, sir. Good morning, Mrs. Schmidl." It was Lorenzo, his chestnut hair gleaming a warm orange in the sunlight, a standard professional smile on his face. "I told you, we'd see each other again soon."

“Lo... Mr. Condalini.” Lilith’s eyes widened in surprise, a bad feeling rising in her heart.

"Just call me Lorenzo."

"May I ask what brings you here?"

“I’m here to oversee the unloading of my spices. Oh, by the way, you probably don’t know this.” Lorenzo turned to the dockworkers not far away, who were unloading and counting boxes of pepper, cloves, and galangal from the cargo hold. “Sherlock has entrusted this shipment of yours to me. Although he has tragically perished, I will still deliver the Ducat cash to LC Schmidl Bank in accordance with the contract.”

"What?!"

Lilith stared at him in disbelief; overnight, the cargo that had belonged to her had been seized by Lorenzo.

“Don’t worry. The amount in the contract is calculated according to the market price, and you will definitely not be at a disadvantage.” Lorenzo smiled and handed Lilith a roll of parchment. “Our Condalini family values ​​integrity above all else. I hope this transaction will satisfy both parties.”

Lilith incredulously unfolded the parchment contract and skimmed through it; at the end of the page was indeed Sherlock's signature and fingerprint. She passed the contract to Cecilia and Heinrich for review.

“I deeply regret the passing of your bank’s accountant. Although the Condalini family is relatively new to the banking industry, I myself have been immersed in the trade sector for a long time and have accumulated some connections.” Lorenzo suddenly led an elderly man behind him to Lilith. “This is Mr. Negro, a long-time accountant who has worked for me for many years. If you don’t mind, Madam, you can certainly send him to share your burdens.”

“Thank you for your kindness.” Lilith pretended not to see the old man, grabbed Heinrich’s sleeve and pulled him forward. “We have more than one accountant in this firm. This is the newly appointed chief financial officer, Heinrich. Come here and say hello to Mr. Condalini.”

Heinrich nodded somewhat awkwardly to Lorenzo. Although the sudden promotion was good news, Lilith's tone, which was clearly like that of someone treating a cat or dog, left him unsure how to respond.

“Oh? This gentleman looks German,” Lorenzo commented casually. “Madame Schmidl is quite the opportunist; she has both foreigners and Jews under her command, but she refuses to trust our native Venetian Christian partners.”

“They are all very good employees under my command.” Lilith was very displeased. “It seems that what kind of people I hire has nothing to do with Mr. Condalini. I have other business to attend to, please excuse me.”

"It was my rudeness," Lorenzo said, pursing his lips. "Then I won't bother you any longer."

This wasn't the first time Lilith had stormed into the bank in a huff. She hadn't uttered a single word the entire way, and Heinrich had remained silent as well. It was Cecilia who spoke first.

"Madam, what do you intend to do?"

"Make sure to comfort Sherlock's family. Prepare a proper funeral for me; I will personally visit his wife and children tomorrow to pay my respects."

"Yes, ma'am."

“And investigate further,” Lilith said fiercely. “We absolutely cannot let him die like this, without knowing why. I don’t believe it was an accident. Heinrich, you’re in charge of this.”

“But weren’t similar intelligence work always handled by Tata before?” Cecilia was somewhat surprised by the decision. “Sherlock is dead, and Heinrich has to take over the financial work that Sherlock used to oversee. Won’t he be too busy?”

“Just let Tata handle his business intelligence investigations. Heinrich was in charge of the Mauro matter last time, he has his own methods.” Lilith gave Heinrich a cold glance. “As for the financial work… we can count all the transactions we’ve made since we officially opened on two hands. I can keep such simple accounts myself, so there’s no rush. It’s just that there are only four of us in the business right now… if we want to expand our business… we definitely need to hire more people.”

How do you plan to recruit people?

"Let's go to the usual place. Have Tata send a message over there. You and Heinrich will come with me tonight." Lilith touched the ruby ​​ring on her left ring finger, the facet reflecting a blood-red hue in the sunlight.

Before nightfall, the Ducat gold coins that Lorenzo had promised to pay were finally delivered to the bank. Cecilia, who was in charge of the cashier, was too busy counting the money and confirming receipts to spare any time, so Heinrich, who was currently enjoying the freedom of having no transactions, had to accompany Lilith to that so-called "old place" alone.

Even though he knew perfectly well that his destination would be a filthy and disgusting place, Heinrich still changed into a decent set of clothes before leaving home, especially the shirt that Lilith had personally tailored for her fiancé, and the family crest ring that symbolized Lilith's trust in him, as if to show that he was no longer a commodity in a transaction—but a consumer standing on the other side of the iron fence, from the exploited to someone who had the right to exploit others.

The kerosene lamp hanging from the bow illuminated the dark sea in the night, and the gondolier skillfully steered the small boat away from the main island, heading towards that sinful place in the southwest corner. This sea area, like the main island of Venice, is surrounded by several smaller islands, including Lido. The winds and waves from the Adriatic Sea are kept out of the harbor, so even at night it is very calm. The gondola only bobs slightly with the sea breeze, no different from sailing on a lagoon.

Lilith had traveled this route countless times. After a long day of work, she was exhausted, so she leaned against the ship's railing, gazing at the endless sea and lost in thought. Suddenly, a churning groan interrupted her rest, and she noticed that Heinrich, sitting opposite her, was vomiting into the sea.

"What's wrong?" Lilith pulled a handkerchief from her waist pocket and handed it to him.

“I’m fine.” Heinrich didn’t take the handkerchief she offered, but instead took out his own handkerchief from his pouch and wiped his mouth clean. “It’s just that the thought of going back to that place makes me feel nauseous and brings back some unpleasant memories.”

"..."

Lilith suddenly felt a pang of guilt. Aside from Sherlock, every one of her subordinates had been bought from this slave island, yet she had never considered Cecilia and the others' feelings each time they accompanied her. They were women, and before being bought, they had perhaps suffered even worse treatment than Heinrich had endured. It seemed that as their boss and mistress, she not only had to be shrewd in her business dealings but also pay more attention to the mental well-being of her employees.

“I’m sorry,” Lilith said softly to him. “I can’t imagine what you’ve been through… I know it must have been terrible and painful. But it’s all in the past now. You’re a free man now, and you’re one of my men. No one can belittle you. You’ll never have to go through those terrible things again.”

“Now that you’re a free person, you can’t return or get a refund, right?” Heinrich deliberately put on a pitiful expression.

“The return period has long passed.” Lilith smiled and ruffled Heinrich’s hair, messing up his neatly combed blond hair. “You’re quite well-behaved. It’s just that we will face more and more challenges and risks in the future, so we have to keep up the good work.”

"I will definitely not let you down."

“You’ve seen it as you’ve been with me for a while now. My relationship with the Knarro family isn’t good. Apart from Aunt Elena, I don’t have anyone I can trust in that family. That’s why I don’t dare hire anyone connected to them, not even the Venetians. Who knows if they’re related to the Knarro family?” Lilith said with a helpless bitter smile. “Before I was seven, before my father brought my mother and me home, my mother rented an apartment under Sherlock’s name. At that time, he was an accountant for the casino and also ran an underground lending business. He watched me grow up and cared about me even more than my father did.”

Please accept my condolences.

“It’s my fault. I shouldn’t have assigned him, an old man, to such a dangerous job alone.” Lilith bent over in self-reproach, rubbing her forehead with her hands. “If it weren’t for his help, I would never have been able to open this bank. Venetians always have prejudices against Jews, smearing their carefulness, meticulousness, and sensitivity to profits, prices, and numbers as stinginess and pettiness. But these are the most important qualities for a banker. Would you really entrust your money to a bunch of carefree, generous fools?”

"Obviously not."

“Exactly,” Lilith said through gritted teeth. “To be honest, I don’t trust you to be fully capable of taking over Sherlock’s job. But there’s no other way. Rather than hiring someone I don’t trust at all, I’d rather find a blank slate like you and teach you from scratch, even though it’s very time-consuming…”

Lilith and Heinrich chatted idly for a while, and soon the ship docked. Lilith took out two exquisitely crafted black masks from her bag, put one on herself, and handed the other to Heinrich.

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Author's Note: Lilith didn't wear a mask the first time she went there because she was still running an underground loan shark business and was a lawless outlaw... Now that the bank has joined the business and will officially open, the bank manager will need to be more compliant and keep a low profile (really?).

More updates tomorrow~