It seems that he has Balam bloodline... The university lecturer... is indeed Mr. Azik, not someone with the same name... With the information provided by Old Kohler, Klein basically confirmed that the person on the bounty is Azik, who is suspected to be the descendant of the God of Death.
"Then the question is, who or which organization is looking for Mr. Azik?
"A spiritual cult whose ultimate goal is to resurrect the God of Death? Ince Zangwill who likes to be the mastermind?
"It's not like the latter. Ince Zangwill has Sealed Artifact 0-08, which can make the target act according to his own description and achieve his goal through a series of coincidences. He doesn't need to rely on gang members and bounty hunters to find Mr. Azik...
"Wait, what if this was arranged by the Sealed Artifact 0-08? Ince Zangwill found himself being targeted by Mr. Azik, but he was not sure he could win the battle, so he used 0-08 to create a conflict between Mr. Azik and a certain force, hoping to eliminate the enemy by indirect means, and this bounty was issued by that force... It's very likely!
"But we can't rule out the Spiritual Cult. Mr. Azik may have had some contact with them for revenge, but the two sides had major disagreements on matters such as the resurrection of the God of Death, which eventually led to a split..."
Klein instantly thought of two possibilities and corresponding reasons.
He took a sip of coffee, then said to Old Kohler:
"Please help me find out who posted this bounty mission and the specific price. If it's suitable, maybe I'll pay attention to it."
"No problem." Old Kohler didn't think there was anything wrong with Klein's request.
In a sense, there is no essential difference between private detectives and bounty hunters. The only difference lies in their forms of expression. The former can do even small things like catching someone cheating, finding their cat, or walking their dog, and they prefer reasoning to violence.
After Old Kohler finished telling his other stories, Klein followed the Nighthawk's tutorial and briefly taught him some tricks for making conversation, as well as emergency response plans for certain scenarios.
"I have to go to the dock. Thank you, Detective Moriarty, for giving me a wonderful life again!" Old Kohler picked up the tattered soft hat on the table and thanked him sincerely.
In his opinion, Mr. Detective not only provided him with a well-paid job, but also taught him many useful things. Even if the other party no longer needed informants in the future, these skills would be enough for him to survive in the East District, especially as he got older and could no longer do heavy work.
A good life? In my opinion, what you have now is the most basic life for a person... After watching Old Kohler walk out of the cheap cafe, Klein sat there in a daze.
This was the first time he heard his friend's name from someone else since he came to Backlund, and it was also the first time he had a chance to grasp Ince Zangwill's whereabouts!
In the past three months, especially after killing Lanevus, Klein's main goal had been to digest the potion and improve himself.
Because he knew very well that there was an unbridgeable gap between him and Ince Zangwill, who was most likely already a High-Sequence Warrior. He should not be impatient for revenge, especially since the Sealed Artifact 0-08 was so frightening just thinking about it, and he didn't even want to get close to it or investigate.
The scenes that took place in the Blackthorn Security Company in Tingen City reappeared in Klein's mind, and the pair of shiny leather shoes appeared clearly in front of him.
He tilted his head back, exhaled slowly, picked up his scarf and hat, and walked out of the cheap cafe.
…………
Outside a somewhat old house in the Hillston area.
Klein got off the carriage, clicked his hat, and headed straight for the gate.
This is the home of Isengard Stanton.
The great detective wrote to Crane a few days ago, inviting him to come over to discuss a murder case.
Klein was busy with the financing of the bicycle project, so he politely replied that he was busy recently, expressing his refusal. However, Eisinger Stanton did not care, saying that the case had reached a dead end and there would be no breakthrough in the short term. He was very happy to wait for Detective Sherlock Moriarty's visit and was looking forward to an exchange that would spark sparks of wisdom.
Klein had no choice but to divine a suitable date to visit the other party. He chose the one closest to the negotiation, which was this afternoon, and wrote back to finalize the matter with the other party.
Jingle bells, jingle bells.
Klein rang the doorbell twice, stepped back and waited.
After more than ten seconds, the door creaked open, and Detective Isengard's assistant smiled and said:
"Good afternoon, Detective Moriarty. Mr. Stanton is waiting for you in the living room. Would you like coffee or tea?"
The assistant was thin and wore gold-rimmed glasses. He looked both gentle and professional.
Klein looked up at him and said:
"Black tea, with a little lemon slice."
“No problem.” The assistant led Klein into the living room and pointed to the doorway. “Sorry, our servants are temporary. They happen to be on break today. I’ll have to trouble you to go there by yourself.”
Klein nodded slightly and walked outside the living room on the first floor.
As he raised his hand to knock on the door, he suddenly felt something was wrong:
I had planned to visit Mr. Stanton a few days in advance, so how come all the temporary servants happened to be on break?
Klein narrowed his eyes and reached out to take out a copper penny.
At this moment, the door of the living room opened due to the knocking, leaving a gap of moderate size.
In an instant, it seemed as if some seal was lifted, and a strong smell of blood came out and entered Klein's nose.
Within his sight, the armchair in the living room was overturned on the floor, stained with a lot of dark red blood, and a book fell beside it with the cover facing up.
With just a glance, Klein felt as if he was seeing a murder scene.
The name of the book then appeared in his pupils:
The Devil's Tale of Sivellas
Demon... Klein was about to make a move when a strong wind suddenly blew in the living room, pulling the door back quickly.
Bang!
Klein saw the entire scene inside the living room:
The charcoal in the fireplace had long since burned out, leaving no trace of red;
Coffee tables, sofas, chairs, cabinets and other items were toppled over and broken into pieces, as if they had witnessed a fierce battle;
There were a lot of bloodstains on the carpet and walls, along with a lot of scorch marks, but no body was found at the scene, not even any body parts.
Something happened to Detective Stanton? Klein took a step back, intending to get out of here first.
But almost at the same time, he felt that someone was targeting him.
There was a person hiding somewhere who was staring at him coldly and mercilessly!
If he makes a mistake in his response, he will immediately face a fatal attack!
How could this be considered a proper visit to Isengard Stanton? Was there something wrong with my interpretation of the revelation? Klein did not dare to act rashly.
But he was not too nervous or panicked. Having experienced many battles and "performances", he knew that the most important thing at this time was to remain calm.
Ta-da-da! Isengard Stanton's assistant came over with a tray.
On the tray was a pewter teapot and two white-glazed porcelain cups.
When the assistant saw the scene in the living room, he froze in place.
He looked at Klein, his expression suddenly filled with fear, and he spoke word by word:
"You, killed, Stanton, sir..."
With every word he uttered, a piece of flesh on his face fell off, and blood was dripping.
When he finished speaking, he tore into pieces and turned into pieces, as if he had always been like this and had just been stitched together.
Dang! Crack! The tin pot and the white-glazed porcelain cup fell to the ground at the same time, rolling or splashing, and the black tea quickly soaked the surrounding area.
Klein didn't move. He just watched everything happen because he felt that he was still being watched.
The guy who caused all this seemed to be waiting for him to make a move, then pounce on him from behind and bite his neck.
An unknown amount of time had passed, but in the silent and strange stalemate, Klein saw the door of Isengard Stanton's house opened, and a group of policemen in black and white checkered uniforms rushed in.
They found the disgusting and horrifying body parts on the ground and immediately pulled out their revolvers, pointing them at Klein who was standing at the door of the living room.
Facing the black muzzles of guns, Klein relaxed.
That wordless gaze, as if pointing a gun to the back of his head, disappeared in that instant!
Klein raised his hands and smiled helplessly:
"I'm not going to say anything until I see my lawyer."
…………
Backlund Police Department Hisak Bureau.
Klein, who was handcuffed to the water pipe, saw lawyer Jurgen again.
"I will accompany you for interrogation." There was nothing unusual in Jurgen's expression, as if Detective Moriarty should be here.
Klein sighed and said:
"It's such a tragedy, I should be thinking about what to eat at night instead of chatting with a straight-faced police officer."
The thing he was most thankful for today was that, due to the pursuit of the Aurora Society and the attention of the high-sequence experts of the Rose School, he did not carry any extraordinary items with him, and the only revolver he had was easily hidden from the body search with a "magic" performance.
After entering the interrogation room, without waiting for the police officer to ask questions, he recounted the details of how he received a letter from Eisinger Stanton and how he came to discuss a case.
"We will go to your house with Attorney Jurgen later to pick up these letters. I hope they are still there." The police officer in charge of the interrogation asked, "How did you know Detective Eisinger Stanton?"
Klein answered without hesitation:
"Because of the previous serial murder case..."
Having said this, he was suddenly stunned.
He remembered one thing. He had always suspected that there was a master behind the demon dog, and he once snorted coldly at the scene where the demon dog was killed.
By the way, the book that Detective Stanton was reading before he was attacked was "Demon Legends in the Sivelas Region"... Could it be that the owner of the demon dog took revenge after lying dormant for a while? And Detective Stanton was the person who provided the main clue or idea in the police records and received the reward! Klein quickly came up with a guess.