Chapter 31: Mr. X

Chapter 31: Mr. X

At 160 Böklund Street, inside the second-floor dining room.

Klein had just taken a bite of toast spread with butter by a servant when he saw his butler enter.

Walter bowed and said, “Sir, last night, someone of unknown origin rang our doorbell.

“As it was already very late, I did not wake you. I merely had the servants take up the double-barreled hunting rifles and stand watch in shifts through the night.

“If you permit it, I will visit the nearby police station today and ask them to strengthen the night patrols around this block.”

Aside from being expensive, hiring a butler like this really has no other drawbacks… Klein nodded lightly and took a sip of the fresh milk that had just been served.

“Very good.”

…

At 39 Böklund Street, Councilman Macht’s residence.

Hazel entered the second-floor sitting room and saw her mother, Liana, chatting casually with the housekeeper.

“Did something happen?” she asked, tucking a strand of dark-green hair behind her ear.

Liana chuckled.

“Someone rang the doorbell at the Dantes residence in the middle of the night.”

“A prank?” Hazel found a seat and sat down.

“No one knows. In any case, Mr. Dantes’s butler made a special trip to the police station this morning.” Liana repeated the news she had heard from the servants.

Hazel gave the smallest of nods.

“Letting the police intervene is the best method.”

“But that is completely useless, because no one knows who rang the bell. There was reportedly no one at the scene at all.” Liana shook her head with a laugh.

Hazel froze for a moment and blurted out, “There was no one at the scene?”

“Yes. Mr. Dantes’s butler seems only to have asked the police station to increase nighttime patrols in this area. That is a good thing.” As the wife of a member of the House of Commons and the daughter of a senior barrister, Liana enjoyed excellent connections within the police department.

“No one…” Hazel repeated softly and fell silent.

After some time, she left the sitting room and returned toward the third floor.

On the way, she could not help clenching her fist and swinging it forward a few times, as though testing something. Her brows and eyes clearly carried confusion.

…

Inside the master bedroom, Klein looked at the large heap of gold coins piled before him. His eyes were full of glittering light.

Altogether, this was the equivalent of 4,000 pounds in gold coins!

After an entire week of gathering funds, Admiral of Stars Cattleya had finally completed the transaction for the Lucky Balance. Aside from these gold coins, she had also paid 6,500 pounds in cash.

To be honest, such a massive pile of gold coins had far more visual impact than an equal volume of banknotes… Klein sighed inwardly while taking the thirteen Loen gold coins he had obtained from Admiral of Blood Senor out of his pocket and throwing them among their own kind.

Only after finishing this did he take out the adventurer’s harmonica, bring it to his lips, and blow once.

Soundlessly, Reinette Tinekerr appeared diagonally ahead, carrying four blond, red-eyed heads.

“Madam, this is the first payment. The total value is 4,013 pounds.” Klein withdrew his gaze from the pile of gold and looked toward Miss Messenger.

He had to admit, he was somewhat curious how Miss Messenger would move away such a large pile of gold coins. He remembered that when she received letters, she always bit them with her teeth.

“Very…” “Good…” “Still…” “Owed…” “Five…” “Thousand…” “Nine…” “Hundred…” “Eighty…” “Seven…” Reinette Tinekerr’s heads spoke one after another.

No need to remind me… Klein squeezed out a smile.

“I will gather the rest as soon as possible.”

Reinette Tinekerr said nothing more. One of her heads struggled to open its mouth.

All of a sudden, the space before her became dark and profound. Every gold coin seemed to turn into flowing water, drawn by a whirlpool as they rushed eagerly toward it.

In only a few seconds, the entire mound of gold coins…