Chapter 6: Old Jack the Brewer
Martin walked carefully in the Rotten Crow Alley, stepping cautiously for fear of stepping on the dirty water flowing in the alley.
The alley was filled with the smell of rotting wine lees and the musty odor of old wooden barrels. A dirty homeless man huddled at the entrance of the alley, occasionally casting greedy and numb glances at passers-by.
Martin avoided the harassment of several homeless people and found Old Jack's residence with a frown.
It was precisely because he had worked with Old Jack for a period of time before and was familiar with his residence that the unfortunate task of checking on Old Jack's condition fell on him.
Forget it, just bear with it. At least I can have a day off tomorrow and I can get my salary.
"Hey, old Jack, are you home?"
He raised his hand and knocked on the door. The wooden door shook slightly, but there was no response from inside the house.
Martin sniffed and found a strong smell of alcohol inside and outside the room, mixed with a strange sour smell. He couldn't help but mutter, "Could this old guy get drunk again and fall to the ground unconscious?"
He put his ear against the door, expecting to hear old Jack's usual thunderous snoring, but this time, the room was so quiet that it made him feel uneasy.
Martin's heart sank and he felt a little uneasy.
After knocking on the door a few more times without success, he gritted his teeth, took a step back, and slammed the door open.
"Bang——" The door hit the wall, making a dull sound.
The room was dark and the wine bottle rolled to the ground with a clanging sound.
Old Jack was leaning against the wine barrel, his eyes were round and bloodshot, his face was pale as paper, with dark brown stains at the corners of his mouth, and he was staring at the table lifelessly.
Martin gasped and staggered back a few steps, knocking over the wine barrel next to him, causing the liquid to spill all over the floor, but he didn't notice it at all.
“Dead, dead?!”
His legs went weak and he almost fell to his knees. He forced himself to stumble out the door, his voice trembling with fear:
"Someone come! Go call the security team! Someone's dead!"
His voice echoed in the narrow alley. Several tightly closed windows were pushed open a crack, and a few prying eyes peeked out.
In the distance, the patrolling security team seemed to have heard the noise here, and a series of hurried footsteps quickly approached the alley...
*
Zhu Yu sat on the edge of the bed, folded his arms, and fixed his eyes on 996 who was standing nearby and fiddling with the bookshelf as if nothing had happened:
"Tell me, how did you help me block the witchcraft detection of the Inquisition just now?"
996 replied innocently:
"Host, I don't understand what you are talking about. I am just an ordinary—"
"Don't try that." Zhu Yu didn't wait for him to finish and kicked him lightly: "Don't play dumb. I knew you were capable of this in the last instance."
Zhu Yu took a step closer and lowered his voice: "In the last instance, you were able to deal with Mingwei and her brother silently, and this time you were able to block the witchcraft detection of the Tribunal... Your ability is related to mental strength, right?"
Seeing her speak out, 996 was silent for a moment, and finally nodded and admitted:
"Well, I guess so. But..." He sighed softly: "Large-scale shielding like the one just now consumes a lot of system energy."
"So amazing?" Zhu Yu suddenly became interested. He selectively ignored the second half of his sentence and looked up at him. "Then let's do a little test."
She stood up and closed her eyes:
"Come on, try to block my perception and see if I can detect your presence."
Looking at the host who was eager to try, 996 smiled helplessly and reminded:
"Let's begin, Zhu Yu."
At first, Zhu Yu could still keenly detect the location of 996, but after a few minutes, that sense of existence gradually became blurred, as if shrouded by an invisible mist, until she could no longer perceive his existence, and the whole person seemed to be in an empty room.
Zhu Yu frowned slightly and strengthened his mental power to perceive, but the next moment he realized that a faint breath was approaching him.
She suddenly opened her eyes and found that 996 was standing quietly only an inch away from her, his deep blue eyes staring at her quietly, his warm breath close at hand.
Zhu Yu was startled and subconsciously took a step back.
996 winked at her and said, "How is it, host? Are you satisfied with my ability?"
Zhu Yu was about to speak——
"Miss!"
The door was suddenly pushed open and Maggie rushed in hurriedly.
Her eyes widened instantly at the sight before her.
At this moment, Zhu Yu and 996 were so close that they were almost sticking to each other.
When Zhu Yu stepped back just now, 996 subconsciously held her waist to stabilize her balance, while Zhu Yu's hand was still suspended in mid-air, as if she wanted to push him away but was hesitant.
Seeing Maggie come in, they both froze and turned to look at her.
Maggie immediately covered her eyes reflexively, leaving a slit, and said carefully:
"Yes, I'm sorry, miss, I didn't see anything... But the person I sent out just now came back and reported that -"
She cleared her throat and spoke a little louder, "Old Jack, he's dead."
Zhu Yu: “…”
996: “…”
Zhu Yu and 996 looked at each other, and the original joking atmosphere suddenly subsided.
Old Jack actually died at such a critical moment?
Her face darkened slightly, and she turned to look at Maggie:
"When did it happen?"
Maggie: "Just now, I heard that the situation at the scene is... very bad."
Zhu Yu pushed 996 away and said to Maggie:
"Let's go, and talk while we go downstairs."
Maggie followed Zhu Yu and continued to report:
"Mrs. Gwen has sent Lambert to the Sheriff's Office to find out about the situation."
Zhu Yu nodded.
Recently, under the pretext of plague prevention and control, she had been studying up on some of the mansion's and tavern's personnel information. She learned that Lambert helped manage the tavern, and his brother happened to work at the Sheriff's Office where the security team was located.
After all, Old Jack had worked in the tavern for many years. Now that something had happened, it was only natural for her to send someone to check out the situation. Lambert had connections in the Sheriff's Department and was the most suitable candidate. Mrs. Gwen's arrangement was appropriate.
Zhu Yu: "Has Old Jack been anywhere recently, or has he come into contact with anyone?"
Maggie: "After he was fired, he has been staying at home and drinking. The few times he went out, it was just to buy some alcohol. I heard from the neighbors that apart from being drunk at home, there was nothing unusual about him. The only abnormality was that his house was particularly quiet today."
Zhu Yu raised his eyebrows and said, "It seems that his death time... is most likely today."
Maggie hesitated for a moment and said, "Miss, do you think that the people from the Inquisition were behind all this?"
Zhu Yu glanced at her and asked, "What do you mean?"
Maggie: "Didn't you suspect before that the person who stabbed you near the winery a month ago might be related to the Inquisition? Then could they deliberately find someone to report you and set a trap so that they can break into the mansion and search it openly?"
Zhu Yu: "Your guess does make sense...but there is a logic here that doesn't make sense."
She paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and said, "If the Inquisition really thinks something is wrong with the winery, wouldn't it be easier for them to just let Old Jack report the winery and then search it? There's no need to go through so much trouble. Besides, judging from Captain Rhine's expression at the time, they seemed quite surprised by the report."
Having said this, Zhu Yu suddenly stopped and his fingers involuntarily tightened around the armrest.
Maggie noticed that her expression suddenly became serious, and couldn't help but asked with concern:
"Miss, what's wrong with you?"
Zhu Yu came back to his senses, shook his head, and said calmly:
"Nothing, I just suddenly figured out something."
She took a deep breath, calmed herself down, and said slowly:
"Let's wait for Lambert to come back. There's no point in just guessing now."
Because this accident involved a noble, the Public Security Bureau was surprisingly efficient.
Before Zhu Yu had to wait long, Lambert returned to the mansion.
He looked to be in his forties, with a thick, neatly trimmed beard.
When he walked into the hall, his steps were a little hurried, obviously he had been running all the way back.
"Miss," he bowed to Zhu Yu and reported, "The results of the investigation by the Public Security Bureau have come out."
Zhu Yu motioned for him to continue.
Lambert: "The preliminary conclusion of the Sheriff's Department is that old Jack died in an accident. He choked on food while eating after drinking too much, resulting in suffocation. Death occurred very soon, just this afternoon."
"Are they sure it was an accident?" Maggie asked suspiciously.
"Yes." Lambert nodded. "My brother personally examined the body and indeed did not find any external injuries. The cause of death was consistent with asphyxiation caused by choking."
"But there is one place that is rather suspicious."
Having said this, he paused, then took out an ordinary-looking purse from his pocket and placed it on the table.
Zhu Yu's eyes immediately fell on the purse.
Lambert shook it gently, and a few gold coins fell out with a clinking sound.
"Gold coins?" Zhu Yu narrowed his eyes and vaguely sensed something strange.
"Yes, miss," Lambert said. "It's not surprising that Old Jack has saved money since he worked in the tavern for many years, but this money bag was found by the security team under the table in his house. The alley where Old Jack lives is not well-security. If this is really his savings accumulated over the years, he should have hidden it properly instead of throwing it in a conspicuous place."
Zhu Yu: "So, you suspect that he has recently received a considerable amount of money?"
Lambert nodded. "The security team found a lot of expensive wine in his house. Apparently he's been squandering a lot recently. We guess that this bag was originally full of gold coins, but he used them all to buy wine."
Zhu Yu: "It seems that he was bribed to report... But his death, although it was an accident, was too coincidental."
Just as she was lost in thought, Mrs. Gwen, who was standing beside her, suddenly shook her head gently at her with a meaningful look in her eyes.
Zhu Yu's heart skipped a beat and he waved his hand to let Lambert leave first.
After everyone left, she couldn't help but ask:
"Mrs. Gwen, have you discovered anything?"
Mrs. Gwen hesitated, then lowered her voice:
"Miss, Old Jack didn't die in an accident... He was most likely poisoned." "Poisoned?!"
Maggie on the side exclaimed.
Zhu Yu also showed appropriate shock on his face:
"How do you know that?"
"I've heard of a poison called 'Tears of Silence'," Mrs. Gwen explained. "Once taken, its toxicity will spread rapidly in the human body, paralyzing the throat quickly and causing the victim's throat muscles to spasm, making it impossible to swallow. Eventually, the victim will choke to death on his own saliva or food. On the surface, it looks like a simple accidental suffocation, but in fact it is caused by human poisoning."
Maggie immediately said, "Then let's go to the pharmacy in town and ask if anyone has purchased this poison recently."
Mrs. Gwen shook her head. "This poison is extremely rare and hardly available on the market. Generally, only nobles can obtain it. I only learned about it when I was young, when I overheard some nobles talking about it in private."
Zhu Yu's mood became heavy.
She finally understood why Mrs. Gwen had waited until Lambert left before telling her about this.
In the entire town of Arce, she is the only noble.
If she is excluded, the only possibility left is——
The Draka family attacked her again.
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