19 Hope Road, Cherwood.

This place is close to the Tussock River that runs through Backlund. Passersby can see the slightly turbid but unusually wide water through the gaps between the houses.

Mike Joseph, a reporter from the Daily Observer, got off the carriage and pointed at the three-story gray-blue building in front of him. He said to Klein, who was wearing a black double-breasted frock coat, a half-high silk hat, and gold-rimmed glasses, “I’m so glad to see you. I ...

"That's the Golden Rose, the best legal brothel in the Cherwood District and Backlund Bridge area. It opens at three in the afternoon every day and operates until two in the morning."

The best legal brothel in Cherwood District and Backlund Bridge? In other words, are there better but illegal brothels in these two districts? Klein muttered silently and saw a golden rose inlaid on the door of the building, but no so-called sign.

"This shouldn't be considered a street girl, right?" he responded casually.

"Of course, it's of a higher grade." Mike led Klein to the front of the building with ease and pushed the door open.

As soon as he entered, Klein smelled a slightly pungent mixed fragrance and heard a soothing but ambiguous melody.

He looked around instinctively and found that there were thugs wearing black coats and half-top hats standing on both sides of the entrance and in every corner of the hall. As a legal business, these were obviously used to deal with drunkards and reckless people.

The golden hall was surrounded by various sofas, chairs and even a piano, with a dancing area in the center.

At this time, ladies with hair colors of gold, brown, light yellow or black, and dresses of complicated, simple or gorgeous were sitting in different places. Some of them were mature and charming, some were shy and tender, some were youthful and charming, and some were quite beautiful.

These ladies were either resting their chins on their hands to enjoy the melody, or chatting and laughing with each other, or quietly reading newspapers and magazines, or dancing with the men.

Because it was only 3:30 in the afternoon, there were not many customers, only a few. At first glance, this place looked more like a formal dance party than the interior scene of a brothel.

"If you come after 8 o'clock in the evening, you can see some interesting performances. Haha, if there is a lady you like, invite her to dance and ask her price in the beautiful melody. If both parties can reach an agreement, you can go to a room on the second or third floor to spend a wonderful time. Hey, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can sleep here all night." Mike tilted his head left and right, and suddenly his previous calmness and gentlemanliness disappeared, becoming a little frivolous.

He walked into the hall with a smile and approached a young girl who was probably fifteen or sixteen years old at most.

Is this a true nature or a professional performance? Klein was quite dumbfounded and subconsciously followed behind Mike Joseph.

"The victim, Sibel, was only 16 years old. Theoretically, girls of similar age were more likely to be her friends and knew more." At this time, Mike lowered his voice and explained.

He immediately raised his slightly sparse eyebrows and resumed his normal voice:

"Which lady have you taken a fancy to?"

"I'm just your bodyguard." Klein responded according to normal logic.

Mike nodded slightly and suddenly smiled:

"I'm not used to having people watching me when I do things like that."

"I'll be guarding the door." Klein understood what Mike meant and put on a serious and professional attitude.

Mike said nothing more. He walked up to the young girl, bent down, stretched out his hand, and invited her to dance.

Becoming a prostitute at this age, Backlund is really glamorous and dirty... Hey, there is actually a middle-aged gentleman with a good temperament patronizing here, his temples are all gray... Klein lowered his hands, stood straight, and watched Mike and the young girl wandering in the middle with slow dance steps.

After a few minutes, Mike came back and said to Klein with a hint of annoyance:

“It’s too expensive.”

When the two of them got closer, he added in a low voice:

"That girl knew Sibel, but the boss here, Ms. Lopez, forbade them to communicate this matter with others, otherwise they would be severely punished. God, when the punishment was mentioned, the poor girl even trembled instinctively. I can imagine how horrible it was."

Klein sighed sympathetically but helplessly, and asked in a low voice, "So, what are you going to do?"

"I don't want to bring misfortune to those girls. I plan to go directly to Ms. Lopez." Mike patted Klein's shoulder and said, "Protect me!"

Klein turned his body and solemnly warned:

"If you encounter a dangerous situation, you must listen to me."

"Do you understand? Listen to me!"

"Okay, okay." Mike raised his hands to his shoulders and nodded repeatedly.

As he spoke, he walked towards the single sofa in the corner, where sat a charming lady wearing bright clothes and heavy makeup.

"If you don't want to give up after the dance and embarrass yourself in front of those girls, I suggest you talk to Ms. Lopez first and find out the prices of different girls." Mike raised his voice.

The lady heard the conversation between the two, turned her head and looked over, then slowly stood up and smiled:

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am Lopez. Do you have any girls you like?"

"Yes." Mike suddenly looked him up and down, chuckled and said, "I admire you."

I'm also very happy that you... acted like you were at home in a place like this... Klein's mouth twitched.

Lopez's expression froze for a second, then he smirked and said:

"I'm sorry, I'm not feeling well today. You should know that women feel uncomfortable sometimes every month."

Seeing that he couldn't get Lopez to come to the room to talk, Mike was silent for a few seconds, and suddenly became serious:

"Ms. Lopez, I'm a reporter. I want to ask you about Sibel. Here are my credentials."

Lopez's face suddenly turned gloomy, and he replied impatiently:

"I've told the police everything I know, you should go find them!"

"Xibel was a wandering orphan who was adopted by me. That night, she accepted a guest's invitation and stayed overnight at the guest's home. She died on her way back in the early morning."

"Well, please leave now! Or go and ask the lady to dance."

As he spoke, Lopez waved for the two thugs next to him to come over.

Klein took a step forward and stood in front of Mike Joseph, protecting him as he returned to the hall. The two thugs saw this and did not rush to drive them away.

After walking a few steps, Klein lowered his voice and said:

"She's lying."

"Huh?" Mike tilted his head in surprise.

"When she spoke, her eyes wandered. She didn't dare look you in the eye, but she would secretly look at you. This shows that she was lying and observing your reaction. In addition, her posture was very defensive and she seemed very anxious." Klein gave his analysis calmly.

Mike opened his mouth and sighed after a few seconds:

"You are indeed a great detective. Only with keen observation and outstanding reasoning ability can you discover these useful details."

This is just because I used my clairvoyance and noticed that Lopez's emotions were not right... The rest are excuses I made up afterwards... Klein smiled and said:

"Thank you for the compliment. We should be leaving now."

Mike Joseph looked back at Lopez and found that she was walking towards the side door of the hall, as if she was going to her own lounge. That side door was in a corner and it was very deserted nearby. What was happening there could not be seen from many positions in the hall. There were also two thugs guarding outside it.

"Perhaps, we should follow Ms. Lopez and observe her reaction afterwards. Perhaps her anxiety just now will make her do something..." Mike suddenly turned his head to look at Klein and said, "Can you deal with those two thugs quickly?"

“Sir, I am only responsible for protecting you, and this is illegal.” Klein responded with a smile.

"I'll increase the money! It'll be 5 pounds in total, assuming there's a fight! If there's still a fight when we escape, it'll be 10 pounds!" Mike Joseph gritted his teeth.

"Deal!" Klein took the initiative to extend his hand and shook hands with the other party.

Then, the two of them made a circle, avoiding the two thugs, and quietly came to the side door.

“Sir, please stop and leave.” One of the thugs stepped forward and stopped Klein and Mike Joseph.

“I’m sorry, we will…” Klein bowed politely and apologized.

At this moment, his right fist suddenly punched out, hitting the abdomen of the thug in front of him hard.

The thug instinctively covered his abdomen and bent his body into a bow shape. Klein stood up again and raised his left palm, chopping the opponent's head.

Bang!

The thug fell to the ground and fainted, while his companions obviously did not expect such a situation to happen. They just stared at it blankly and did not have time to make an effective reaction.

Klein immediately slid over, covered his mouth with his right palm, and punched his abdomen with his left fist.

Bang!

The thug suddenly bent over and vomited out the undigested food, but Klein pulled back his right hand in time and chopped down with his palm.

At the same time, he supported the other person with his left hand, allowing the thug to fall slowly to the ground without making a thud.

After they looked at each other, Klein turned the handle, pushed open the side door, and slipped in. Mike Joseph ducked and followed quickly.

Why are you so skilled... You're just a reporter! Klein complained in his heart as he walked lightly but quickly along the paved corridor.

Suddenly, they heard Lopez's voice:

"Tell Kapin not to send anyone over here recently!"

Capin? Giving it away? Klein looked at Mike beside him and found that he was also confused.

At this time, they heard Lopez's footsteps coming towards the corridor again.

"Let's go!" Klein pulled Mike and ran towards the entrance without looking back, then ran out.

During this process, he closed the side door and broke the lock, preventing the people inside from getting out for a while.

Then, the two of them pretended nothing had happened and walked quickly across the hall, approaching the exit, and walked away amid faint angry voices.

Coming out onto the street, Mike breathed a sigh of relief and exclaimed sincerely:

"I've been through a lot of similar situations, but never as simple and easy as today."

"Thank you. I have to go back and find out who Kapin is."

As he spoke, he took out his wallet, took out a five-pound note, and muttered:

"But frankly, your price is really high. It's equivalent to half of my weekly salary."

"But you can get it reimbursed, right?" Klein responded with a smile on his face, and then asked worriedly, "Aren't you afraid that Lopez will find your newspaper based on your ID and call the police to arrest you?"

"That's a fake ID." Mike Joseph spread his hands familiarly.

“…” Klein could only express his deep admiration.

After watching Mike get on the car and leave, he walked diagonally to wait for the public carriage, and kept a close eye on whether anyone was chasing after him.

Just then, a hired carriage drove slowly over and stopped in front of him.

A middle-aged man in a black coat walked out of the carriage and nodded to Klein.

He had blue eyes, a thin face, and gray hair at the temples. He was exactly the old gentleman that Klein saw in the Golden Rose.

He is not a customer of the Golden Rose... like us... Klein suddenly had a flash of enlightenment.

"Hello, I'm Detective Eisinger Stanton, who is assisting the police department in handling this case. Can we have a chat?" The middle-aged man pointed at the carriage road.

PS: Will update in advance at midnight