"What's the meaning?"
The Duchess tapped the armrest of the sofa with her slender index finger, which probably showed her inner anxiety:
"I cannot tell you a word about a great prophecy. It concerns the future of this world. You can think of it as some kind of ritual or the beginning of an epic poem in a knight's novel. I returned to Tobesk for this reason. The church, the academy, the parliament, and many ancient organizations are all working hard for this, but ordinary ring sorcerers know nothing about it..."
Shade looked at her without saying a word. He would not tell anyone about Miss Beas. Miss Carina interpreted Shade's expression as doubt:
"There's news from the parliament that there's a new direction for the interpretation of the prophecy. The first one... is about to appear... Do you understand?"
She asked hesitantly.
"Not at all."
Miss Carina covered her forehead:
"Oh, I knew you wouldn't understand. But I can't easily involve you in this kind of thing. It's okay if you don't understand. Anyway, if you find a female sorceress with strange powers from the Orthodox Church recently, remember to tell me."
She looked at Xia De with some annoyance:
"In fact, I don't really understand what the prophecy means. Maybe it's the end of the world, maybe it's the beginning of a new era, or maybe it's the return of the gods. No one knows, but it will happen... The parliament hopes to find them. If they are women, they can be won over to the parliament. I think other organizations that know the prophecy think the same, so everyone is looking for them."
"What is bound to happen?"
Xia De asked knowingly, and Miss Carina hesitated:
"I'm sorry, Detective, I really can't tell you that. But... it's bound to happen. A grand epic is about to begin, but no one understands what it means. Everyone wants to find them, no one is exempt."
There was a knock on the door, and it was the maid with the jewelry box coming back. Miss Carina shook her head at Shade, signaling him not to talk about it anymore, and then let the maid Tifa in.
Next, Miss Carina told Shade about the plans for Thursday night. Her plan was indeed more detailed than Shade and the other two's, but the more complicated the plan, the more likely it was to go wrong.
In comparison, Xia De thought that the operation of breaking into the ruins the day after tomorrow night would be less likely to go wrong.
It was already eight o'clock in the evening when the carriage took him back home. Miss Carina invited Shade to dinner at the manor, and if he hadn't missed the cat, she would have even let him stay overnight.
Thus, Tuesday passed peacefully. The clerical-level relic Podor's Candle and the precious sage-level relic Witch's Gold Necklace once again added weight to the success of Thursday's operation.
The planned date was getting closer, so Shad woke up on Wednesday and planned to stay at home all day to review the entire plan for Thursday night, and then wait for Miss Annat and Miss Beas to come.
Unexpectedly, at seven o'clock in the morning, when I was having breakfast with the well-behaved cat, the bell downstairs rang.
At that time, Mia the cat was obediently licking the goat milk soaked in cat food, while Shade was holding a piece of bread and reading the newspaper. There were many good articles published in the Steam Bird Daily, and after last week's academic report, Shade was thinking about whether he could make a fortune by investing in steam machinery, so he paid special attention to the Steam Bird Daily.
Mia drinks goat milk in the morning, while Shad drinks water in the morning. A few weeks ago, he did have two bottles of milk every morning, but since he felt that the milk had a strange taste and just needed to pay the monthly fee, Shad stopped spending money in the morning.
After all, this body is past the point of growing taller, so there is no need to bother with calcium supplements.
When the bell rang, the cat and Shade looked downstairs in surprise. When Shade got up and went downstairs to check the situation, Mia lowered her head and quickly licked the last of the goat milk, then followed Shade downstairs.
He first asked the person outside the door who he was looking for, and only after confirming that it was Detective Shad Hamilton did Shad open the door.
There were two people standing outside the door. An elderly woman with a hunched back and a cane was standing in the front. Xia De noticed the gold ring on her hand that was leaning on the cane.
The man behind him was a little younger, and standing there looked a bit like Captain Rades.
"The man is a guard?"
Xia De guessed, and then greeted the visitor:
"Hello, my name is Detective Shad Hamilton. May I ask who you are?"
"Lavender introduced me."
The old woman said in a hoarse voice. Tobesk's accent was so strong that Shad almost didn't understand Baron Lavender's name.
But when she handed over the business card he had given out and Baron Lavender's business card, he knew it was an introduction from an acquaintance, so he let the two of them in first. When they passed by each other, he confirmed that the two were ordinary people.
After entering the second floor, only Xia De and the old woman walked into the living room, while the middle-aged man with a serious expression stood at the door of Room No. 1 on the second floor with his hands behind his back, facing the stairs.
The old woman sat down slowly, and Xia De went to prepare tea.
He waited until he had put down the teapot and filled the cups before sitting down to talk. But before the client spoke, Xia De made a statement:
"I'm sorry, I'm busy with another commission recently, and I won't be able to conduct any new investigations until at least Sunday. So, if you want to do a detective commission with me, please think carefully before you say anything."
I was busy with the Silver Eyes' affairs before Thursday, and I had to accompany Mrs. Lemaire to receive the inheritance on Friday. I had a meeting on Saturday afternoon and Miss Louisa's class in the evening, so I did not have any free time until Sunday.
"It's okay, it's okay. My commission is very simple."
The old woman held the teacup with her trembling hands that had obvious age spots on them, and Xia De thought for a moment that the cup would fall to the ground.
He took a sip of tea as if in slow motion, then placed the cup shakily on the coffee table, then took out his business card and handed it to Xia De.
While the old woman was doing this, Shad and the cat standing on the sofa back behind her head were both staring at the old woman's movements. The former was worried about the safety of the teacup he used to entertain guests, and the latter was curious about what the stranger who broke into the house was doing.
The old lady's name was Greta Watson, a widow of a large factory owner living in the southern part of Tobesk. She and Baron Lavender had known each other for many years. Mrs. Watson did not say much about how they met, but it was probably related to Baron Lavender's side business of reselling antiques and perfumes.
In short, the elderly and frail Mrs. Watson needed someone to do something recently, so she talked to her friend Mr. Lavender when she met him. After hearing the whole story, the latter introduced her to the detective of St. Teresa's Square.
"To be specific, about half a month ago, when the servant was cleaning the basement, he accidentally knocked the wall and found a big hole behind the basement wall."
Xia De's expression remained unchanged:
"Treasure? Cave? Or bones?"
The old woman looked at him in surprise:
"You really have some skills as a detective. You are a skeleton."
There was no expression on her face and she spoke very slowly, as if speaking faster would be harmful to her health.
"So we called the police? Even if it was someone who died hundreds of years ago, we should let Redwich take a look, right?"
Xia De suggested that he had not actually received any commission related to murder cases.
“No need to call the police.”
Mrs. Watson said.
"Why?"
"The police have been here. They and I both know who this skeleton belongs to and why he died."
The old woman's mouth was wrinkled with age, and her mouth barely moved when she spoke.
"So who is this, please?"
Xia De was slightly alert and glanced at the middle-aged man standing at the door.
"Judging from the clothes and some other miscellaneous items found at the same time, that should be my husband who went missing at the age of thirty-two."
The expression on his face was still neither sad nor happy. Shad thought that he was involved in trouble, but Baron Lavender had no reason to let him get involved in such things.
"I see..."
"As for the murderer, it should be my disappointing brother. When they were young, he had conflicts with my husband. It just so happened that both of them liked to drink, and after drinking... After my husband disappeared, I first suspected him. He also admitted it and even took the initiative to surrender to the police at Redwich. After serving a few years in prison, he behaved much better, but he just refused to tell us where he hid the body. For this reason, we almost never met again in our lives... Calculating the time, he has been dead for almost ten years."
She sighed slowly, looked at the teacup on the table with drooping eyelids, and added:
"These things can be checked at the Redwich Field, so you don't have to worry that I'm lying to you."
"You will never lie to me."
Xia De said something he didn't believe, and asked again:
"So the commission I want is..."
"When I was young, I thought that I would be able to find him one day and bury him properly, so that I could be buried next to him after I die. Therefore, the tomb was bought decades ago and has been kept all these years. Now that the body has been found, I have also notified the Redwich Court and the case is over. I have notified my husband's family and they want to hold a funeral. Although he did not have a title during his lifetime, he was from an earl's family. I want to bury him, and the Watson family insisted that the nobles be present to read the eulogy, otherwise they will not be there."
"Why do you, the Watson family, make such a request?"
"His death made the Watson family very unhappy. They thought that my brother and I conspired to kill him for the shares of the factory."
Judging from the results thirty years after the incident, this view is actually correct. Because from the information on the business card, it can be inferred that the controller of the factory is indeed the old woman in front of us. After Mr. Watson's death, everything belonged to this poor widow.