Professor Martin was a thin middle-aged man wearing glasses, but with thick black hair, who looked to be in his forties. After confirming Shade's identity and shaking hands with him, he began to tell his story.
The professor's Delarion language was very standard. Among the people Shad knew, only Miss Pavo could compare with him:
"This time, Toluisa found you because of my troublesome son."
The professor reluctantly handed the photo frame on the table to Xia De. The photo was a photo of Professor Martin and a young man who didn't look very happy. The facial features of the two were very similar.
"My wife died of illness more than ten years ago. I did not marry another woman, but raised Herbert alone. I must admit that children from single-parent families usually have some defects in their personalities when they grow up... In short, the 17-year-old boy ran away from home for a woman. Yes, that happened last weekend. I thought he would come back soon, but he never came home."
"You want to ask me to find Mr. Herbert Martin?"
Shade asked, and Professor Martin nodded, looking very sad:
"I'm sure he won't leave Tobesk. He's not brave enough. Please find him and persuade him to go home... You can use any method that doesn't cause permanent damage. Also, please don't tell anyone else about this commission. But if Louisa wants to publish it, she can use a pseudonym."
"No problem. If it is still in this city, I think this kind of commission to find someone will not be a problem for me. May I ask, what is the identity of the other protagonist of the story, the lady that your son has taken a fancy to? I think I can use her as a starting point."
As Shade spoke, he took out a notebook to take notes. Little Mia was pressed under the notebook as a cushion, but the cat had no objection to this.
The professor touched his nose and took a long time to utter the following sentence:
"... Good at socializing, no proper job, often hangs out at clubs and parties... That's about it."
Xia De expressed great sympathy for this gentleman.
Actually, Xia De didn't often do the work of finding people. On the contrary, he was better at finding lost pet cats. But since he was sure that Mr. Martin was still in the local area, Xia De thought it shouldn't be a problem to find him in a day or two.
So, after saying goodbye to Professor Martin, he and Mia started today's action. The professor provided the "workplace" of the lady his son was obsessed with. Although it was daytime and the other party was probably not at work, Shad still decided to try his luck.
The seventeen-year-old lady that Mr. Herbert Martin is obsessed with calls herself "Miss Norma". She is not a street prostitute in the traditional sense, but plays a special role in the city's high-end clubs.
The Good Gentlemen Club is located in the west of Tobysk. It is nominally a club for antique collectors. When Shade got off the carriage and saw the club on this winter morning, the three-story building stood on the left side of the sparsely populated cobblestone street. On the left side of the club was a high-end tobacco shop with a lacquered wooden sign that read "Tobacco Monopoly License"; on the right side was a high-end fur shop where ladies lingered.
This kind of high-end club is not open to everyone. In order to enter, you need to pay a membership fee and also need an introduction from someone you know. But fortunately, the reputation of "Ray Jed's Hamilton" is still very useful in this city, especially after the "big case" some time ago.
Shortly after explaining his identity, Shad was invited into the club and met Mr. Chelsea, the club's duty manager today.
This is a tall middle-aged man with sparse hair. He warmly welcomed Xia De, and after a little hesitation, he happily expressed his willingness to cooperate when he heard that Xia De wanted to investigate the "staff" of the club.
So Shade successfully got the address of Miss Norma, and learned that the lady had not appeared for several days. But most of these professionals were like this, so it was not surprising.
"By the way, is Mr. Herbert Martin a regular at your club?"
Xia De did not forget to ask this, and Mr. Chelsea nodded after recalling it:
"He comes here once or twice a week, but Mr. Martin doesn't know anything about antiques. He just comes here to have fun with his friends. He is quite familiar with Miss Norma. Yes, it's probably the kind of relationship you think. However, he is not the only man who has a friendly relationship with Miss Norma. They know each other and have never had any conflicts."
Xia De nodded:
"So, has there been anything unusual with Miss Norma and Mr. Martin recently?"
Mr. Chelsea recalled:
"There is nothing unusual about Miss Norma, at least I didn't observe it. However, I did hear that Mr. Herbert Martin and his companions talked about the topic of 'resurrection from the dead'. Oh, you don't have to think too much. Miss Norma has always been alive, at least until the last time the two of them appeared."
Shad frowned slightly, he hadn't heard of any relatives or friends of Mr. Martin Jr. who had passed away recently.
"Then, if you use 10 points to evaluate Mr. Martin's 'love' for Miss Norma, how many points can you give?"
Mr. Chelsea gave the answer without hesitation this time:
"10 points. That young man loves that lady deeply. However, he is only 17 or 18 years old after all, so this is normal. Maybe when he is a few years older, he will understand what love is."
Shad was thoughtful, and hoped that Mr. Martin's conversation with his friends about "coming back from the dead" had nothing to do with his disappearance.
The western part of Tobysk is a gathering place for the nobility, but there are also some cheap rental apartments. Miss Norma lives at No. 6 Honey Lane, two blocks away from the Good Gentleman Club.
It was Friday morning, and most people living nearby were out at work, so Shad knocked on the door and waited for a long time but no one came to open the door. Considering Miss Norma's rich nightlife, if she was at home, she was probably sleeping soundly and therefore did not hear the knock on the door.
Do you want to come again in the evening
she asked with a chuckle.
"If I come back in the evening, she might be out. I don't have the patience to spend the whole afternoon watching her... At least I'm sure that lady is not at home."
He glanced around to the left and right. Although there were people on the street, most of them seemed to be in a hurry. So Xia De stretched out his finger and tapped on the door lock.
Click!
"It's so careless that the tenants here actually forgot to lock the door before going out."
He muttered something under his breath, opened the door a crack, then leaned sideways and crawled in, and the door was closed again.
The interior area of Honey Lane Apartments is not very large, and once you enter, you can feel the crowding and crampedness. Walking up the creaking stairs, you will reach the third floor where Miss Norma lives. There is a name tag with her surname on it hanging on the wooden door, and a note is glued under the name tag:
"If you don't clean up your stinking perfume in the public bathroom, I will ban you from using the bathroom ever again."
This was probably put up by the landlord.
Xia De did not rush in directly, but knocked on the door a few more times. After waiting for a while and making sure that no one answered, he opened the door and walked in.
The small living room of the cramped apartment was about the same size as the bathroom in Xia De's house. There were three doors on the front, back, left and right, leading to the dining room, kitchen, bedroom and a sunny balcony.
After Xia De walked in, he glanced around, then looked down at the pile of letters on the door mat that had been stuffed in through the door delivery slot:
"The oldest letter was sent three days ago. Could it be that Miss Norma really eloped with Mr. Martin?"
He took a quick look at the envelopes of the letters. Judging from the crazy words written on the envelopes, most of them were from Miss Norma's admirers, a lady who seemed very resourceful and charming.
The cat on his shoulder made a somewhat unhappy sound at this time, because the fragrance in the room was too strong, and it was the smell of low-quality incense. This smell had no source, like the smell of incense that had accumulated over the years, and had permeated the house.
Since the letter from three days ago had not been checked, Miss Norma was naturally not at home. Considering that this matter needed to be reported to the client, Xia De did not immediately look through other people's things privately, but stood there and apologized quietly before taking action.
"However, we must first determine whether this is a homicide case - Echo of Blood."
There were no large areas of fresh bloodstains in the living room. Xia De put on shoe covers and went to the bedroom. He then saw fresh bloodstains on the bedside table and the picture frames hanging on the bedside. The bloodstains seemed to have accumulated over the years, as if both places were often stained with blood.
"A clue appeared?"
The bedside table contained Miss Norma's personal belongings, but Shade did not touch them. He stood by the bed and looked at the painting. This was not a cheap decorative oil painting. From Shade's point of view, the painting was of a very high level.
The picture shows a landscape of rolling mountains, but this is not a landscape painting. Instead, it depicts the dim sky in an almost malicious way, the strange figures in the shadows of the mountains, and the strange shapes of the mountains.
There are indeed people who like this style of painting, but in Xia De's opinion, there may be some problems with it.
He stepped on tiptoe to take down the painting, and then saw a locked secret compartment on the wall. As for the back of the painting, a sentence was written in very exaggerated cursive letters at an angle:
May the earth be with you and me.
After Shad noticed the words written in dark blue letters, the dark blue turned into blood red, and then the blood flowed down the back of the frame.
"It seems like something troublesome has happened."
Xia De sighed slightly. At this time, the cold wind blew through the closed doors and windows in the room. After a muffled bang, the bedroom door was closed by the wind. The light from the curtains was greatly weakened. With a creaking sound from under the floor, the evil spirit's palm stretched out from under the floor and grabbed Xia De's ankle.