The flowerpot was very delicate, like a custom-made ceramic work of art. After Shade's inquiry, he confirmed that the flowerpot was given to Mr. Franco Jr. by a certain lady, and Shade also found inscriptions of cursive letters on the bottom of the flowerpot, which were almost exactly the same as those found in Miss Norma's home:
I will be buried in the mountains and among the earth.
"No... don't touch that flower..."
A faint voice came from behind. Xia De put down the flowerpot and looked behind him. Mr. Franco finally had the strength to speak.
This was good news, so under the care of the servants and old Mr. Franco, Shad sat by the bed and had a brief conversation with the weak man.
The winter sun shone on the profile of the weak man leaning against the head of the bed. His sunken eye sockets and pale lips looked so terrifying in the sun.
"May I ask what is your relationship with Miss Norma?"
"I love her deeply."
The young man tried hard to utter a word from his mouth. Even though he was weak at the moment, his eyes were still so firm when he said this. Mr. Franco's expression became obviously more sad. Xia De did not comment on this feeling:
"Why do you love her? Because she's beautiful? Because she's eloquent? Because she has a good personality?"
"It's all about hugging her, just like... being hugged by your mother when you were a child."
Xia De pursed his lips, and old Mr. Franco became even more sad. The servants all looked aside, as if they didn't hear what he said.
"I'm Shad Hamilton, a detective in this city... Oh, judging by your expression, you've heard of my name. So, do you know what's wrong with Miss Norma?"
Mr. Franco shook his head hard:
"She is fine, everything is fine, she loves life, loves the earth, loves... me."
Xia De tried hard not to make a strange expression:
"Miss Norma is missing. If you want to help her, please tell me the truth. In the name of Hamilton of Rejad, your words will not be spread to others."
He looked up at old Mr. Franco, who nodded and asked the servants to leave temporarily, so there were only three people and a cat left. The sleepy cat hid in the deep pocket inside Shad's coat and was very well behaved.
"Norma...maybe she has some self-destructive tendencies."
After hesitating for a long time, the weak little Mr. Franco finally spoke:
"Sometimes, I really feel that she is like a fragile vase. So beautiful, yet so fragile... When we were alone together, she told me countless times that she would eventually return to the earth. The earth nourished her, and she would return everything she had to the earth... I once peeked... peeked at her diary..."
It seems that it’s not that Miss Norma has no habit of writing a diary, but that the diary was also taken away.
"She had planned to return herself to the earth when she was at her most beautiful... She even made a plan... I originally thought that it was just a lonely woman's monologue..."
"Oh~"
Mr. Franco groaned, unable to believe that his son actually knew such a person. In the teachings of the Five Gods Church, suicide is a huge sin. Moreover, this sounds like a so-called cult sacrifice.
Xia De frowned slightly:
"What's the plan?"
"She wrote very briefly, just excitedly saying that the time was almost up... I don't know what it meant specifically."
"You really don't know anything?"
Xia De lowered his voice slightly, and Mr. Franco turned his head with difficulty to look at him. For a moment, the dazed young man showed a horrified expression for some reason. He swallowed hard and nodded with certainty this time:
"Yes, I really don't know. But maybe someone else knows. My relationship with Norma is not the best. I know she has other men she knows... Sir, maybe you think I'm crazy like my father, but my love is not as crazy as those others... They are willing to do anything for her."
By this time, almost all of Mr. Franco's clues had been obtained by Xia De. Mr. Franco exclaimed softly:
"She is a very special person, very special. The real world is so boring, she is like the only green sprout in the desert. Even though I know she can't exist for long, I am still willing to devote my life to her..."
His voice became weaker and weaker, and old Mr. Franco immediately called the doctor in, and then went outside to talk with Shad.
"Mr. Hamilton, I'm so sorry that you had to see what happened just now... Next, you will look for Miss Norma while looking for Mr. Martin, right?"
The old man asked with concern. After Shade nodded, he took out the checkbook from his pocket and filled in a number for him:
"If you can find Miss Norma, please try to bring her here. I want to have a good talk with that lady. No matter what method I use, I will persuade her to leave my son."
Xia De took the check and looked at the number, then raised his eyebrows slightly. 30 pounds, but just to bring a woman. You know, workers in ordinary steam factories or textile factories in Tobesk can't earn this much in a year:
"I can accept your commission. But judging from the current clues, it is possible, of course, only possible, that the lady has met with misfortune."
Xia De expressed his judgment as tactfully as possible, but unexpectedly, Mr. Franco looked calm:
"Detective Hamilton, if you can bring me news of her death, I'm willing to pay double, no, triple the reward... Yes, as long as it's news of her death... You know what I mean."
Xia De pretended not to hear the implied meaning in his words.
The clues did not stop there. On the contrary, due to this brief conversation, Shad learned more. He did not take the problematic potted plant away rashly. Instead, after having lunch with Mia, he spent another afternoon visiting other gentlemen who were familiar with Miss Norma according to the addresses he had obtained.
This lady had a wide range of friends, and those gentlemen lived in every corner of the city. But what was very interesting was that two of them had disappeared just like Mr. Martin that Shad wanted to find, and most of the others, as long as they had potted plants given by Miss Norma at home, showed extremely unhealthy conditions.
Of course, Mr. Franco Jr. was the one with the most serious situation.
This investigation allowed Shade to learn more about Miss Norma. This lady had no father since she was a child. Her mother worked in the manor of a local noble when she was young, and young Miss Norma grew up with her mother in the manor.
Later, the nobles were punished by the kingdom for committing crimes, and the manor was abandoned. Miss Norma's mother died of a cold a few years later. Miss Norma relied on her beauty to linger among men until the beginning of 1854, when Shade began this investigation. Although Shade pieced together her life trajectory from the descriptions of those men, many people had seen Miss Norma's previous photos, so these words were basically true.
However, the only doubt at present is that she has never left Tobesk in her simple life and seems to have never come into contact with any abnormal groups.
So this Thursday night, while Mia stayed at home to look after the house, Shad once again went to the home of Mr. Franco, who was recuperating from a serious illness.
Around ten o'clock, he used his magic to sneak into Mr. Franco's bedroom. There was no gas light in the room, only the moonlight illuminated a small area of the window.
In the corner of the shadow, Xia De covered his face with his hands, turned into a petrified angel, standing there quietly.
Although the wait was a bit long, it was definitely worth it. At around 11:30, as the cold wind blew through the tightly closed doors and windows of the room, a transparent woman's hand stretched out from the dark soil of the potted plant on the windowsill.
It was a rather strange scene. The mouth of the potted plant illuminated by the moonlight was only the size of two palms, but the terrifying evil spirit that Shad encountered at Miss Norma's house during the day "squeezed" out of it.
With its appearance, the interior scenery quickly became decayed as if it had been destroyed by hundreds of years of time. Of course, this was just an illusion caused by the appearance of a powerful evil spirit.
Little Mr. Franco, who was originally sleeping, was still in a sleeping state, but a look of fear appeared on his face, and his eyeballs were spinning rapidly under his eyelids.
The strange undead spirit kept approaching the bed, but before it reached the bed, five glowing moonlight rings had already flown towards it.
"Imprisoning Aura!"
The evil spirit moves very fast, and its actions are even faster. It moves and dodges like a light sheet of paper, and its aiming aura follows closely.
"Ragarai's Leap!"
Shade took a step forward and appeared behind it. He wanted to learn the truth through the spirit, so he held the arm of the evil spirit with his left hand and tried to capture it, and then used the magic of "guiding death" to spy on the soul. But as soon as his left hand touched the spirit, he shivered as if he was pricked by countless thorns.
The soul is tainted by some power that has petrifying and cursed properties. Don't worry, it won't work on you.
The confinement halo had already flown over. And this obviously abnormal soul, just like in the morning, disappeared in front of Xia De's eyes after a muffled bang.
Of course, Shade would not make the mistake twice. Even though the evil spirit disappeared, the confinement halo still hit the spirit's left hand, so that after the evil spirit escaped, the spirit's blackened broken arm was still in Shade's hand.
Generally speaking, unless a special method is used, it is impossible for the soul to be split like this. At this time, it is obvious that the confinement aura has played a role, which is also the function of this magic.
“Although it’s not particularly strong, it runs really fast.”
Shade frowned slightly, then turned to look at the potted plant in the window. Under the bright moonlight, clear cracks appeared on the surface of the small ceramic flowerpot. Presumably, that weird soul would never visit Mr. Franco again. Shade was worthy of the 30 pounds given by Mr. Franco.
"Having part of the soul is enough."