In the nearly abandoned medical school building, Audrey, who was walking out of the party, suddenly became dazed and saw the familiar thick gray fog and the blurry figure standing high in the center of the fog.
“Here’s the clue.”
Accompanying Mr. Fool's deep voice is a photo-like scene, and it's a color photo!
A man who was nearly two meters tall and not very strong, wearing a black priest's robe, stood in the shadows. His light yellow hair was soft and slightly curly, his dark brown eyes were cold but ferocious, the corners of his mouth drooped slightly, and he looked as aloof as a wolf.
Clues? Clues to the East End Dharavi Street bombing and Gavin's drowning? Is this the murderer? Audrey was stunned for a moment, then she understood.
Mr. Fool now has a clue… He is really powerful, no, he is omnipotent… After secretly sighing, she turned her head and looked at Fors beside her.
As soon as Fors took off his mask and surgical cap and got into the carriage, he noticed Miss Audrey's slightly strange look and asked in confusion:
"Is there something on my face?"
"No." Audrey retracted her gaze, sat down, and removed her disguise.
Fors thought back to the previous gathering and asked curiously:
"Ms. Audrey, why didn't you ask for the formula for 'The Audience'? That way you could establish a connection with the Psychological Alchemy Society."
She remembered that the generous Miss Audrey remained silent for almost the entire time, listening most of the time, selling only some spiritual materials and purchasing other varieties accordingly.
Audrey smiled and said:
“This is my first gathering in this circle, and I think it is more important to observe and wait.”
"I am looking forward to the potion formula, and even more to the magical items, but I told myself that there is no need to rush. It is a better strategy to familiarize myself first and then take action."
This is also the "professional habit" of the "audience" channel, and there are no extraordinary materials that Mr. "World" wants, such as the Evil Pattern Black Panther Spinal Fluid and the Elf Spring Medullary Crystals... Audrey added silently.
Fors looked at the girl who was not even eighteen years old yet, and suddenly felt that she was more mature than ever before.
She suddenly laughed at herself and said:
"If I had been like you, I wouldn't have wasted this precious opportunity."
Audrey smiled reservedly, responded, and then said:
"I will go and ask some special friends tomorrow morning to see if they have any clues about the Dharavi Street bombing. You and Hugh will wait for news at the usual place."
"Okay." Fors nodded without any doubt.
…………
Klein did not return to Minsk Street at night, but slept directly in a one-bedroom apartment on Black Palm Street in the East District.
He was afraid that the man in black priest robes, who was suspected to be the murderer, had accomplices and was looking for him on the streets.
Although the probability of encountering him was not high, and he had disguised himself before, so the other party would most likely not recognize him. But since the divination results indicated that there was a certain possibility, Klein decided to be cautious and slept in the East District for one night.
At daybreak, he changed into another dark blue worker's uniform, put on a light brown cap, left the room, walked down the stairs and entered the street.
At this time, a pale yellow mist filled the air, the figures of people coming and going were blurry, and the chill of the early morning seeped into the clothes.
Klein lowered his head and hurried on his way, just like the other people around him who got up early to go to work.
As he walked, he saw in front of him a middle-aged man in his forties or fifties with gray hair on his temples, wearing a thick jacket. He was shivering and pacing on the spot, and tremblingly took out a cigarette and an empty box of matches from the inside pocket of his clothes.
As soon as he opened the matchbox, his right hand suddenly shook, and the crumpled cigarette fell to the ground and rolled in front of Klein.
Klein stopped, picked it up, and handed it to the other party.
"Thank you, thank you! This is my old cigarette, and there are only a few left." The middle-aged man thanked sincerely and took the cigarette.
His face was pale, and his beard looked like he hadn't shaved for a long time. His fatigue was revealed unreservedly from the corners of his eyebrows and eyes. He added with a sigh:
"I haven't slept for another night. I don't know how many days I can hold on. I hope God will bless me and allow me to enter the poorhouse today."
This is a homeless person who was driven away... Klein asked casually:
"Why don't the king and his ministers allow you to sleep in the park?"
"Who knows? But in this kind of weather, if you sleep outside, you may never wake up again. It's better to sleep during the day so that you can find a warmer place. Alas, then you won't have the time or energy to look for a job." The middle-aged man lit a cigarette and took a deep puff.
His energy seemed to be restored a little as a result, and he walked side by side with Klein, heading towards a place that was unknown whether it was the end of the fog or the depths of the fog.
Klein had no intention of exchanging pleasantries and was planning to get rid of him as quickly as possible, but at this moment, he suddenly saw the middle-aged man who spoke clearly and logically bend down and pick up a black object from the ground.
It looked like a cleanly gnawed apple core.
The middle-aged man swallowed his saliva, stuffed the dirty, dirt-covered fruit core in his hand into his mouth, chewed it until it was mushed, and then ate it all skillfully without leaving any residue.
Looking at Klein's surprised eyes, he wiped his mouth, shrugged his shoulders, and smiled bitterly:
"I haven't eaten in almost three days."
These words suddenly struck Klein's heart, leaving him with an indescribable feeling.
He sighed silently and smiled:
"I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself just now. I'm a reporter reporting on homeless people. Can I interview you? Let's go to the cafe in front."
The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said:
"No problem, it's a lot warmer inside than on the street."
"It would be even better if you could stay a little longer after the interview so that I can sleep in there for half an hour, no, a quarter of an hour."
Klein opened his mouth, but didn't know how to answer. He simply led the "interviewee" in silence into the cheap coffee shop at the corner of the street.
The tables and chairs in the cafe were quite greasy, and because there were walls and windows inside and there were many customers, the average temperature was indeed much higher than on the street.
The middle-aged man scratched his throat to hide his Adam's apple that was moving because of the fragrance.
Klein motioned for him to sit down, and went to the ordering area, where he ordered two large cups of tea, a plate of lamb stewed with tender peas, two loaves of bread, two pieces of toast, a portion of low-quality butter, and a portion of margarine, totaling 175 pence.
“Eat. You can only interview after you are full.” After all the food was served, Klein brought them back to his table.
"For me?" the middle-aged man asked with expectation and surprise.
“Except for a piece of toast and a cup of tea, everything else is yours.” Klein responded with a smile.
The middle-aged man wiped his eyes and said with a slight sob:
"...You, you are such a kind person."
“Don’t eat too quickly if you’ve been hungry for a long time,” Klein warned.
"I know. An old friend of mine died like this." The middle-aged man tried to eat slower, picking up the tea and taking a big gulp from time to time.
Klein simply finished his toast and watched quietly, waiting for the other person to finish eating.
"Huh, I haven't eaten so full in three months, no, half a year. In the poorhouse, the food is just enough." After a while, the middle-aged man put down his spoon, and there was an empty plate in front of him.
Klein pretended to be a reporter and asked casually:
"How did you become a homeless person?"
"This is an unlucky thing. I used to be a pretty good worker with a wife and two lovely children, a boy and a girl. But a few years ago, an infectious disease took them away, and I was hospitalized for a long time. I lost my job, my wealth, and my family. Since then, I often couldn't find a job, had no money to rent a house, and no money to eat. I could only wander around different streets and certain parks. This made me very weak, and it was even more difficult for me to find a job..." The middle-aged man said numbly with a little aftertaste and sadness.
He took a sip of tea, sighed and spoke again:
"I can only wait for the opportunity to enter the workhouse, but you know, each workhouse has a limited number of people. If I'm lucky and queue up in time, I can have a good few days, recover a little, and then find a temporary job. Well, temporary. Soon, I will be unemployed again and repeat the previous process. I don't know how long I can hold on like this."
“I should have been a good worker.”
Klein thought for a moment and said, "How many cigarettes do you have left?"
"Not many left." The middle-aged man smiled bitterly, "This is my last property, the only thing left when I was kicked out by the landlord. Ha, I can't take them into the poorhouse, I will secretly hide them in the crevices of my clothes. Only when the most difficult times come, I will take them out and smoke one, so that I can have hope. I don't know how long I can hold on. Let me tell you, I was a good worker in the past."
Klein was not a professional reporter, and he didn't know what to ask.
He turned his head to look out the window and saw faces with obvious signs of hunger.
Some are still sober, they are residents of the East District, some are numb and tired, they don't look like human beings, they are homeless people.
There is no obvious gap between the two, and the former can easily become the latter, such as the gentleman in front of me... Klein turned around and found that the middle-aged man had fallen asleep, curled up in a chair.
After a few minutes of silence, Klein went over to wake him up and gave him a handful of copper pennies:
“This is the interview fee.”
“Okay, okay, thank you, thank you!” The middle-aged man was stunned for a moment. When Klein walked to the door, he raised his voice and said, “I will go to a cheap hotel to take a shower, have a good sleep, and then look for a job.”
…………
At noon, Klein attended a banquet at Summer's house. There were ten guests in total.
There was cider with steak, roast chicken, fried fish, sausages, cream soup, many delicacies, two bottles of champagne and a bottle of red wine.
On his way back from the bathroom, he met Mrs. Starling Summer and thanked her sincerely:
“It was a great lunch, thank you for the treat.”
"The total cost was 4 pounds 8 soli. The most expensive item was the three bottles of wine. But these are all Luke's collection. He has a wine cabinet." Mrs. Starling, who was still pretty, responded with a smile.
Without waiting for Klein to speak, she said, "You earned 10 pounds just from Mary's incident. If you can maintain this good fortune, you will be able to hold similar banquets soon. For people of our class, we have to invite friends and be invited by friends once a month."
Klein had long been accustomed to the other party's style and complimented him politely:
"Yes, but I have to wait until I have a stable annual income of 400 pounds before I can be like you."
Starling raised her chin slightly, trying to make her smile look faint:
"430 pounds. It must be 430 pounds."
…………
Docklands, East Balam Dockyard, Workers' Union Tavern.
Hugh wore boots that were padded up a lot higher and put on a thick beard to make himself look like a short man.
She recalled the portrait she had seen from Miss Audrey, trying to imprint the appearance of the man suspected of being the murderer firmly in her mind.
If he also killed Gavin, then he might often frequent this pub...Xiu ordered a glass of rye beer and a lunch, huddled in a corner, eating slowly, and occasionally looking around secretly, looking for a target.
After a while, the door of the tavern was pushed open again, and Xio looked over reflexively.
Upon seeing this, her pupils shrank to the size of needles and she almost turned into a stone statue.
The customer who came in was nearly two meters tall!