Musician Mr. Bondi was born with eye problems. He is 41 years old, unmarried, and lives alone in an apartment in downtown. Shade admires blind people who live alone. Although more than 40 years of life may have made him accustomed to groping in the dark, Shade, who has never experienced blindness, still admires the courage to survive alone.
The alley where Mr. Bundy lived was called Rotten Fish Alley. From the way it was named, we know that it was just an inconspicuous place in the city. The location of this alley could not be found on the city's travel map. Only on the map left by Detective Sparrow could it be found in an inconspicuous corner in the north of the city.
Detective Sparrow wrote small words in pencil to make notes for this alley. The notes said that loan sharks could be found around Rotten Fish Alley, and that certain codes could even lead to the discovery of people who sold illegal drugs.
Starting from Saint Teresa's Square, Shad first took a carriage to the Anthem Square in the lower town, and then continued walking north along the northern streets of the bustling Anthem Square with the children running around madly.
The weather was nice today, so Xia De didn't leave in too much of a hurry.
He chose the northwest road at the five-way intersection at the end of the street, turned into the street, and walked inward at the second alley. After carefully avoiding the feces and garbage on the ground, he covered his mouth and nose with his raised collar, crossed the alley, and came to the slum intersection centered on a large locust tree.
I continued walking westward along the slightly wider alley, passing through the old and dilapidated apartment buildings that stood there. By observing the direction of the gas pipes under the wall, I knew that I was not going the wrong way.
After passing a dark, uninhabited building that had been burned out, Shade finally saw the towers on both sides and the gray stone suspended corridor connecting the two towers.
The doorway under the long corridor is the area of Rotten Fish Alley. After entering, Xia De finally understood how this alley was named. The whole alley was filled with the smell of dead fish, which was different from the smell of fishmen and fresh live fish that Xia De had smelled in Coldwater Harbor.
He speculated that a nearby house might be used as a warehouse by aquatic product operators, otherwise there would be no reason for such a strong smell to appear here.
Xia De was very worried that Xiaomia would be sickened by the stench on his body when he returned home.
Mr. Frank Bundy, a blind musician who lived alone, lived on the first floor of No. 1 Rotten Fish Lane. Shad found the house by following the faded and rusty house numbers, and after knocking on the door, he hesitantly saw that the door was ajar.
The door wasn't locked at all.
Of course he would not barge into someone else's house rashly, so he stood at the door and shouted:
"Excuse me, is Mr. Frank Bundy home?"
If that gentleman was not at home, the only possibility would be to perform at the Noshan Opera Company.
I was worried that no one would answer, but I didn't expect that almost as soon as Xia De finished shouting, an angry man's voice came from the house:
"Bundy? He's dead."
Then footsteps were heard, and a man with a big beard, a head shorter than Shade, but slightly fat, walked out. Although his voice was irritable, he looked quite kind.
"Dead?"
Xia De, who was standing on the steps in front of the door, was a little surprised:
"Excuse me, I'm looking for Frank Bundy, the blind musician. Is he really dead? How did this gentleman die?"
he asked hurriedly.
"I am the landlord of this house, who are you?"
But the bearded man did not answer the question immediately, but frowned and asked. Shade immediately reached into his pocket and took out a one-shilling coin:
“I am this.”
"Oh, I see."
Squinting his eyes at the coin, the man took it in his hand and his tone became much softer:
"You're late. Frank committed suicide in the middle of last month. He got some illegal drugs in my house. After taking a large amount, he screamed and ran around in the house. When the upstairs tenant came downstairs to check on him, Frank was already dead. The poor man gave the suicide note to the upstairs neighbor and died on the way to the hospital... Oh, what a poor man."
The man shook his head somewhat sadly.
According to Detective Sparrow's information, Frank Bundy lived here for many years. As the landlord, the bearded man must have known the blind musician for many years, so it is normal for him to have such emotions when talking about his death.
"In the middle of last month..."
Xia De was in a dilemma. The matter of Mercury Blood was about to come to an end in the middle of last month, but he did not expect that this commission would encounter such a change at that time.
I originally just wanted to see how Frank Bundy was doing, and after the visit I would go to the client to submit the report. Now it seems that I should investigate further with caution:
"I'm sorry, were his eyes still healed before he died?"
"Yes, so we all can't understand why he has to give up hope of survival since he finally cured his eyes."
The landlord said.
"Well, have you read his suicide note? Where is it now? I want to know why that gentleman committed suicide."
As he spoke, Shad handed over another shilling coin.
There was no need to use MI6 credentials, because there was no need to do so. If credentials were used for every little thing, it would greatly increase the chances of Agent Shade being exposed.
"We didn't read the suicide note. Frank asked us to send it to the Noshan Opera Company. He left all the furniture he bought to me and gave his other property to the opera company. Sir, if you want to read the suicide note, you can go to the opera company to read it."
Xia De bit his lip. He didn't expect that the simple commission would become complicated. After thinking for a while, he asked again:
"So did the gentleman say anything or behave in any strange way before he died?"
The bearded landlord stood at the door and hesitated, as if wondering whether he should speak out. Xia De immediately reached into his pocket again, but the man waved his hand and refused:
"I was just wondering if I should tell anyone about the poor man's condition after he died. Sir, I think you are a respectable man and you won't spread what I am going to say."
"Yes."
Xia De nodded immediately.
"Well, Frank had some mental problems some time before his death."
The bearded landlord pointed to his head and made a helpless expression:
"He seemed to be afraid of something. He was blind before, but now he was very afraid of the dark and sudden noises. This mental problem became more serious before his death. So we were just surprised by his suicide, but not very confused..."
The bearded man sighed and lowered his voice:
"We suspect that he had been taking those illegal drugs before, which is why he gradually became mentally ill."
Shad was skeptical about this. It sounded like the blind musician Frank Bundy's mental problems occurred only after his eyes were cured.
"If you want to know more about his life before his death, you can go to the 'Noshan Opera Company' and the 'Three Cats Inn' in Anthem Square, where he often went to kill time. In addition, he left a last word before his death - I was once in the dark but never lamented my fate, but why do you let me see the light now?"
Xia De frowned:
"Did Mr. Bundy's eye condition worsen? Did he commit suicide because he couldn't accept going blind again?"
“We don’t know about that.”
The landlord shook his head and gave Shad the information about the Noshan Opera Troupe's location. Next, Shad could go to the opera troupe and the Three Cats Inn to get information, but because he wanted to see the suicide note first, Shad planned to go to the Noshan Opera Troupe to check the situation.
Large-scale opera companies usually have their own residences to facilitate daily rehearsals and administrative work. Unfortunately, as a relatively well-known local opera company, the Noshan Opera Company is not located in the lower town in the north of the city, but near the "Tobysk Grand Opera House" in the south of Tobysk.
The city of Tobysk is generally divided into the noble south (higher terrain, mostly residence of nobles), the poor north (lower city of Tobysk, lower terrain, more slums), the rich east (more wealthy people and wealthy businessmen), the dirty west (relatively more textile factories, steam machinery factories and foreign businessmen) and the central power (Yordel Palace, the kingdom's administrative departments, the city hall, embassies and consulates). The university district is located between the core city, the south city and the east city, so the famous opera houses in the city are mostly distributed in the south and east of the city.
So, seeing that it was getting late, Xia De first took a carriage back to Saint Teresa Square and had lunch with the cat. After lunch, he stayed at home for an hour to read books to avoid the lunch break, and then set off again in the carriage.
Although the daily life of a professional detective is very leisurely, once he gets busy, time is really tight.
There was no trouble in finding the Noshan Opera Company. The opera company was based in an office building with yellowed walls. The opera company's sign was hung on the roof, but perhaps because it was very old, most of the letters made up of gas pipes were missing some horizontal or vertical lines.
When Xia De came downstairs, the old gentleman who was guarding the door mistook him for an opera fanatic who came to visit the actors, and he would not let him in until he took out his business card.
The building was also very lively. Not only were there civil servants walking around with documents in their arms, but Xia De even met a group of young girls with heavy makeup on their faces and patched coarse cloth skirts at the corner of the stairs, who were walking down the stairs laughing.
One of them even whistled at Shad, which made everyone laugh.
In short, after a lot of twists and turns, Xia De finally met the director of the Nuoshan Opera Company. The two met in the slightly narrow office with yellow wallpaper covered with performance photos. After Xia De explained his purpose, the tall middle-aged man wearing a monocle looked at Xia De's business card in surprise:
"Hamilton of Ryjad?"
"Do you know me?"
"How could someone in Tobesk not recognize you... ...Do you need me to change your tea to a better one?"
"No, that's not necessary. I'm working on a commission and want to inquire about Frank Bundy's situation. May I take a look at his suicide note? Also, did this gentleman show any abnormal behavior after his eyes were healed?"
The title of knight saved Shad from a lot of trouble, and the director of the opera troupe was very happy to help Shad.
Not only did he pull Mr. Bundy's suicide note out of the filing cabinet, he even showed Shade some of Mr. Bundy's belongings from the troupe.
As for the blind musician's performance in the last period of his life, the director allowed Shade to talk to anyone in the opera company and visit those who were familiar with Mr. Bondi. (To be continued)