2,000 pounds? That was enough to drive all the bounty hunters and private detectives in Backlund crazy! This was not like "Vice Admiral Hurricane" Qilingos, who had been floating on the sea for a long time and had a lot of subordinates who could be reached with a hand...

Well, a great pirate with combat power comparable to that of a Sequence 5 is worth 10,000 gold pounds, so a Sequence 6 murderer would have to be priced at at least 3,000 to 4,000 pounds to be reasonable... Could it be that the Nighthawks' Punishers judged that the murderer to be a Sequence 7 "serial killer" rather than a semi-powerful warrior who was about to be promoted to Sequence 5? Therefore, 2,000 pounds is a big premium...

It is very likely that the ritual that "Sun" said is quite ancient. Perhaps after the Cataclysm, it rarely appeared again. Several major churches and the military do not have similar information... There is a problem here. The Goddess Church, the Church of the God of Steam and Machinery, and the royal Augustus family can be said to have risen in the Cataclysm. Without knowing the past, the Storm Church has always insisted that it is one of the oldest... Could it be that their oldest is still after the demons retreated into the abyss?

After hearing what Isengard Stanton said, the first thing that flashed through Klein's mind was his assessment of the bounty amount. Then his thoughts expanded and he thought of many things.

"What is your opinion?" Isengard asked when he saw that Sherlock Moriarty seemed to be distracted.

My opinion? Klein was a little embarrassed.

A normal private detective would definitely agree, because of the generous reward and the fact that the person on the other side is a well-known detective - establishing friendship with Isengard would bring great benefits in the circle.

But the problem is that Klein is not a normal private detective. He is worried that when he is investigating the clues, he will run into the Night Watchman in charge of the matter.

Although I have grown a beard, wear glasses, and changed my hairstyle, the Nighthawks who have only met me a few times will definitely not recognize me, but what if I meet Ms. Daly? It would be wrong to refuse, as it would seem very strange and suspicious... Besides, I also hope to catch the demon as soon as possible, otherwise I don’t know how many innocent girls will be killed... Klein pondered for a few seconds, smiled slightly and said:

"I just took over a very troublesome case recently, I'm afraid I don't have much spare time."

Without waiting for Isengard Stanton to speak, he added:

"I can participate in discussions, help look through materials, and analyze clues, but I probably won't be involved in specific investigations."

I'll do some divination later. If there's indeed a problem, I'll save my words during the discussion and just be a pure spectator... As he spoke, Klein quickly formed an idea.

Isengard, holding the black cane, pondered for a moment and said:

"No problem."

"I have assembled more than a dozen detectives this time, and we have enough manpower to conduct the investigation. What I admire most about you is your excellent reasoning and analytical ability. Without as many resources as I do, you actually went to the East Balam Dockyard and the dock workers' union."

"If I can catch the criminal and get the bounty, I will distribute the rewards reasonably according to everyone's contribution. Believe me, I still have some credibility in this line of work."

"Okay, happy cooperation." Klein took the initiative to extend his right hand and shook hands with the other party, and felt the dryness and warmth of Isengard's palm.

For a middle-aged gentleman in his forties or fifties, it was not easy to maintain a similar feeling in the late autumn of Backlund. Klein therefore suspected even more that Isengard was a Beyonder.

"It's a pleasure to work with you." Isengard smiled and nodded.

At this moment, Klein realized that he was being a little rude, and hurriedly put on a smile and said:

"Sorry, I forgot to invite you in. Can we have a good chat over coffee or tea?"

"You're welcome. I've asked the detectives to come to my house at nine in the morning to discuss the case. My assistant is waiting for them there." Isengard took out a silver pocket watch with intricate carvings and a great mechanical beauty, opened it and took a look, and said, "We have to go over and meet them. Is that ok?"

“No problem. I’ll go to the bathroom, change my clothes and leave.” At this moment, Klein suddenly regained the feeling of fighting crime, maintaining order, and protecting the people when he was a Night Watchman.

In the bathroom, Klein went above the gray fog and used divination to get an answer he could bear. He then quickly returned to the real world, put on his coat, hat, and cane, and followed Isengard into a rented carriage, sitting on his left and right.

Isengard glanced at him and asked as if he was thinking:

"I'm curious, how did you find out that Sibel's murder case was related to the East Balam Dockyard and the Longshoremen's Association?"

I didn't realize... it was a misunderstanding... Klein seriously thought about how to weave a lie.

He smiled and answered vaguely:

"The main thing is to first determine that Sibel's death was caused by a copycat crime. Thanks to the help of reporter Mike Joseph, I was able to confirm this. Then, based on the route Sibel took when returning to the Golden Rose, as well as some other clues, I had a corresponding guess, so I pretended to be a reporter to investigate."

Eisinger nodded slightly, not wasting any more time on this topic, and turned to a detailed introduction to the serial murder cases, which was more detailed than the description in the newspaper, especially the latest one.

Time passed quickly during the discussion and communication, and the carriage arrived at a slightly old building in the Hillston area.

The lighting in this house was not very good. Even though there was not much fog in Backlund today, it still looked quite dark. Isengard Stanton led Klein through the fairly spacious living room and into the living room where the fireplace had already been lit.

Klein looked around and saw fifteen or sixteen detectives, who filled every available seat in the living room.

"Sherlock?" A surprised voice sounded, and it seemed that Klein was very familiar with him.

Who? Klein looked over in surprise and found that Detective Stuart, who had just left yesterday, was here.

He looked again carefully and recognized Detective Kaslana, who was previously responsible for protecting Atreus, and her assistant Lydia.

“What a coincidence.” Klein raised the corners of his mouth and approached Stuart with a smile.

Stuart squeezed to the side, leaving half of his seat empty, and patted his seat, saying:

"Maybe it's not a coincidence. I saw a magazine mentioning that there is a phenomenon called synchronicity in psychology. It will happen as soon as you think about it. Haha, just kidding."

At this time, Isengard introduced to the detectives present:

"This is Mr. Sherlock Moriarty, an excellent detective."

With his endorsement, Kaslana and the others looked at Klein with more trust, believing that he was indeed an excellent private detective.

Klein nodded in response, sat next to Stuart, and asked casually:

"Is your commission over?"

"Yes, Atlus' condition has improved, and those bad friends seem to have had problems too, and they can no longer threaten him, so we are out of work." Stuart laughed, "I wanted to take a few days off, but then Mr. Stanton called me over, so I came to take a look. Actually, this is a good thing. I don't like cases that are a bit weird or scary, um, I mean the scary ones like ghost stories. Comparatively speaking, I prefer to take over homicide cases!"

After the assistant poured everyone a cup of coffee or tea and distributed the information, Isengard sat down in the armchair, took out his pipe, and slowly stroked it:

"I think you are all familiar with the recent serial murders. Do you have any thoughts? Let's discuss it."

Stuart, who had a thin face and a light beard, raised his hand and spoke first:

"I just looked through the information and found that the police did not even start their investigation from the identity of the deceased."

"I don't think it's possible for the criminal to recognize that the victim was a streetwalker just by looking at her. He must have had contact with them. This is a very important direction, and the police missed it! God, this is incredible!"

The criminal most likely recognized it by his eyes... Klein muttered to himself.

Most of the private detectives echoed Stuart's questioning, but Kaslana, Isengard and two or three others remained silent.

"This is a very important direction, Stuart. Find some friends to help you investigate it carefully." After the discussion died down, Isengard gave a steady comment.

In the following hours, the detectives expressed their opinions, sometimes arguing, sometimes arguing loudly, and sometimes standing up and pacing to organize their thoughts. Klein listened quietly the whole time without expressing any opinions.

When the exchange was coming to an end, he suddenly raised his hand and said:

"I want the data on all the unsolved serial murder cases in Backlund and even the entire kingdom in the past twenty years."

The room suddenly fell silent for a few seconds, and most of the private detectives were unable to understand Klein's intentions and thoughts.

Isengard put the pipe to his nose, took a sip, and said carefully:

"You think the murderer is not a first-time offender?"

"You suspect he has committed similar crimes before, even if the modus operandi is different?"

It’s not a doubt, it’s almost certain… Klein answered in his mind.

This is his reasoning based on the information provided by "The Sun":

Since the murderer was "working hard" to advance from Sequence 6 to Sequence 5, then what did he do during his Sequence 7 "serial killer" stage?

If he had not committed similar crimes, it would be difficult for him to digest the potion. Even with the accumulation of time, there was a high probability that Sequence 7 would go out of control when upgraded to Sequence 6, and Beyonders of the Abyss Path were high-risk patients in this regard.

Therefore, Klein judged that regardless of whether the other party understood the "acting method" or not, he should have committed serial murders for various reasons during the Sequence 7 stage.

In this way, it would only take a few years for the opponent to digest a Sequence 7 potion. Even with Sequence 6, twenty years is a reasonable limit. If the opponent is too old, regardless of whether the potion has been digested or not, it will be very dangerous to advance. As the ritual progresses, the opponent will become more and more crazy and leave obvious clues.

At this stage, the murderer was calm in his crime and had the ability to interfere with divination and tracking, leaving almost no loopholes, but this might not be the case when he was "green" in his early days!

He probably wasn't that cautious when he first completed a serial murder case!

This is the best clue to follow!

Many thoughts flashed through his mind, and Klein nodded and responded:

"The criminal's modus operandi doesn't seem like a rookie."

"I have reason to believe he has done something similar before!"

“By combining the past and the present, we are more likely to grasp the key to the problem.”

After hearing his answer, the detectives began to talk among themselves. After a brief silence, Isengard exclaimed with sincere admiration:

“Great idea!”