Klein met Jurgen Cooper in an office at the Rice Police Station. The young senior attorney was still dressed very formally, as if he was ready to attend a high society dinner.

The double-breasted black frock coat, the white shirt with a stiff collar, the huge bow tie, and the shiny leather boots made the policemen very polite to him.

Jurgen held up a half-high silk hat and looked at Klein with his blue eyes.

"All the formalities have been completed. You can leave after paying the 10-pound bail."

"Thank you." Klein said nothing more. He followed the good-looking but old-fashioned lawyer Jurgen to the finance office of the police station next door, took out his wallet, and pulled out two 5-pound bills.

At this moment, he was particularly glad that he had brought all the cash, £95, with him, otherwise he might have to borrow from his good neighbor Jurgen.

Of course, the most serious thing is that if the cash is kept at home, after the police search the scene, how much will be left? Klein is really not confident, but he can't put it above the gray fog, because in the end he might have to rely on bribery to get away.

Many newspapers and magazines have been slandering the police, believing that they lack supervision, act rudely, are corrupt, often extort, and are cruel and vicious. Klein doesn't dare to believe it all, but he doesn't dare to believe it all either. After all, the money on Meursault's body may have benefited the people in this police station.

After paying the bail, Klein followed Jurgen out of the police station and shivered at the damp and cold wind blowing in his face.

"Once the case is closed, your bail will be returned to you. Of course, you can't expect them to notify you on their own initiative. Well, after a week, if no one comes to take you to the police station, you can come here to ask for the bail. In theory, you can also get corresponding compensation in the end, from the other party's estate, if there is any." Jurgen walked towards a carriage parked nearby.

The continuous rain during the day finally stopped at night, but the red moon was still covered by dark clouds, and only the light of gas street lamps was visible on the streets.

“Okay.” Klein almost thought that he would not be able to get the 10 pounds.

He couldn't help but calculate Ian's commission. The reward was 5 pounds, but many furniture and tea sets in the room were broken, and he had to buy them and find someone to repair them. Add to that the materials, the carriage expenses, and the subsequent clothing repair expenses, and it seemed that he might lose money.

If I can't get the 10 pounds bail, I'll suffer a huge loss! Well, the extraordinary characteristics left by Meursault are worth a lot of money. Klein got on the carriage and frowned slightly.

He had always thought that a private detective using his own residence as an office would not suffer any losses if he did not receive any commissions.

Klein turned his head to look at Attorney Jurgen who was sitting upright, and said sincerely:

"Thank you, thank you for taking the initiative to bail me out. How much should I pay you for this?"

Jurgen nodded formally.

“This one is free.”

"I heard what Sheriff Farthing said about you. I believe we will have many opportunities to cooperate in the future."

There will be many opportunities for cooperation in the future. Klein laughed.

"Lawyer Jurgen, I feel like you are cursing me."

Jurgen shook his head solemnly and said:

"No, it's not what you think. It's normal for a private investigator to have a fixed cooperating lawyer."

Sir, you really have no sense of humor. Although you look very young, Klein muttered to himself and smiled.

"It just so happens that I want to find a lawyer to help me draft an investment contract."

"Investment contract?" Jurgen asked in a slightly surprised tone.

"I know this isn't the amateur part of being a private investigator, but I just happened to come across a good investment opportunity." Klein explained briefly, "Lawyer Jurgen, according to your fee schedule, how much would such a contract cost?"

"It's usually determined based on the total contract amount and the degree of difficulty," Jurgen answered rigorously.

"The total amount is 100 pounds, and the required terms are as follows..." Klein described his needs in detail, including priority subscription, right of veto, etc.

Jurgen thought carefully for a few minutes and said:

"Two pounds. I'll give it to you on Monday morning."

"Okay." Klein didn't say any more about the matter, and instead asked about the news Jurgen had heard about tonight's case.

All the way to Minsk Street, Klein took the initiative to pay 3 soli for the carriage rental, said goodbye to the young but serious lawyer, and walked towards his own house.

When he opened the door and saw the messy scene, Klein felt exhausted.

His start as a private investigator turned out to be a loss.

Just as Klein took off his coat and buried himself in cleaning up the mess, the doorbell suddenly rang.

He opened the door in confusion and saw Julian, the maid from next door, wearing a black and white dress.

"Hello, Mr. Moriarty, Mr. and Mrs. Summer would like to invite you over to talk about what happened before." Julian said with a little fear.

The question of compensation came up. Klein smiled and said:

"OK."

He changed into a clean coat and followed the maid next door, where Luke Summer and his wife Starlin Summer were sitting in the sofa area of ​​the living room waiting.

Luke, who was a burly man with a beautiful mustache, stood up and held out his hand, laughing softly:

"Good evening, Mr. Moriarty. I just found out that you are a private detective. As a neighbor, you are really unqualified."

"No, it's my own problem. I don't know if I'm suitable for this industry. Maybe I'll find another job someday." Klein shook hands with the host and said, "I'm sorry about what happened tonight. I will make compensation."

"It was just an accident," Luke consoled.

The beautiful blond, blue-eyed Stellin asked curiously:

"Did you really kill an intruder? Oh, I know you want black tea, right?"

Klein nodded:

"Maybe just a thief."

He did not say that the matter originated from the commission he accepted, so as to avoid any resentment on the part of the Summers.

Since the police didn't tell them, there's no need for me to do anything unnecessary, Klein added silently.

Luke Summer laughed:

"You must have excellent fighting skills. As a neighbor, I feel very safe. Maybe we will entrust you with something in the future."

Klein half-jokingly said to himself:

"In fact, I was almost killed."

"No matter what, you are the final winner," Luke said.

After chatting about this topic for a few sentences, Starling picked up the white porcelain gold-inlaid teacup, took a sip and said:

"I'm curious, how many commissions can a private detective get in a week, and how much is the profit?"

Klein did not hide anything and laughed:

"It depends on the situation, just like when there are good harvests and bad harvests in the fields, I earned 5 pounds and 5 soli last week, but after what happened last night, maybe I will lose money."

Starling didn't seem to hear the second half of his sentence, and continued:

"If you can maintain this income, 5 pounds a week can allow you to have a pretty good life in the Cherwood district of Backlund. You don't need to share a room, you can hire a maid to do odd jobs, go to a concert every other week, or watch a play or opera, play tennis or squash once a week, attend a reading salon, and go to a nice restaurant. Of course, if you are already preparing for marriage, you need to save a little. A weekly salary of 5 pounds is still a little far from being truly decent."

"So how much weekly salary is needed to be truly respectable?" Klein asked.

"7 pounds, at least 7 pounds." Starling raised her chin slightly.

Klein turned to look at Luke and said casually:

"I heard from your wife that you work for Coim Company. I wonder what your main business is?"

"Anthracite and charcoal." Luke replied with a smile.

No wonder you can become a member of the Soot Emission Reduction Association. Klein pondered for a moment and said, "How much does a manager earn in Backlund? I rarely see this mentioned in newspapers and magazines."

“Haha, it depends on the industry, company, and specific position. The first manager of Backlund Bank earns 5,000 pounds a year, and including my bonus, it’s only between 430 and 440 pounds,” Luke said casually.

That's about 8 pounds a week. No wonder Starling Summer complained before Klein could even open his mouth:

"In fact, we can live in the suburbs. Then I will have a garden and a lawn, and Luke will get a stable and buy the brand new carriage and two young horses he has wanted for a long time. However, this will waste too much time on his commute to get off work, which is more valuable."

A new carriage and horse cost about 100 pounds. Eight pounds a week is indeed remarkable, but it was a pity that my salary increased not long after that. Klein could only smile.

After a few more pleasantries, he said goodbye and left, secretly sighing in his heart:

Mr. and Mrs. Summer are basically good people. If they were a meaner landlord, they would have deducted my money and asked me to leave after what happened tonight.

When he got home, Klein started working. He was not in a hurry to go above the gray fog to examine the warmth on the back of his hand, nor was he in a hurry to do divination because he was worried that the special military department was still secretly watching him.

He decided to go to the bar Ian described the next night to buy a gun in case someone might take the risk of an attack.

Klein even planned to use this opportunity to find a channel to hire bodyguards, extraordinary bodyguards, and powerful extraordinary bodyguards. One reason was that he could take the opportunity to contact the extraordinary circle without exposing himself. The other was that he was afraid that the subsequent attackers hired by the ambassador would be able to hide from the special military department.

Although it was a little funny that a Sequence 8 Beyonder, a secret "vengeful evil spirit", needed a bodyguard, safety was the most important thing for Klein.

If the price is too high, I will blow the copper whistle and find Mr. Azik. Of course, this may be more dangerous. I don’t know enough about Sealed Artifact “008”. While tidying up the room, Klein muttered silently.

After the purification ceremony, the man wearing the white hard shell mask said to Xio and Fors:

"Whatever evil spirit it was, I have already exorcised it. Haha, if it had reached the level of an evil spirit and I couldn't exorcise it, it would have reacted just now, but it didn't."

As he spoke, he poured the water droplets condensed on the sun badge into a small metal bottle and handed it to Xio.

"Go and sprinkle it around the room to remove any residue."

"Thank you." Xio paid the money with a sad heart, but also felt relieved.

As soon as she and Fors arrived in the living room, the waiter brought a note:

"Miss 'Arbitrator', who purchased the 'Sheriff' formula, would you like to come to the room and have a chat? I may have what you need."

ps: Two updates today, no more in the evening.