Chapter 147: Late-Night Visitor

Chapter One Hundred Forty-SevenLate-Night Visitor

Inside the private detective agency.

“Sir, your commission is complete,” Henry, the private detective with the smoke-and-liquor voice, said to the gentleman before him, who wore a black tailcoat, half-top silk hat, and dark face-covering mask. He sounded as though he had finally breathed out in relief. “This truly was not an easy task. It was not difficult, but it consumed far too much of our energy. To be frank, I regret it deeply. I regret setting the price so low at the beginning.”

No. No matter what you say, I will not pay even one penny more!

Klein emphasized inwardly, then pointed at the thick stack of documents on the tea table.

“This is the investigation report?”

“Yes.”

Henry pressed down on the report, which was at least sixty pages thick, and sighed.

“This is the most troublesome—”

Before he could finish, he saw Klein hand over four one-pound notes. All his attention immediately shifted to verifying their authenticity.

“This is the full remaining payment.”

Klein reached out and held the thick report.

Henry coughed twice and said, “You are truly an honest gentleman who honors his word. Sigh. At the beginning, I never imagined the report would use so much paper. It went entirely beyond my budget.”

At that moment, Klein picked up the very thick investigation report and rose with a whoosh.

He gave a slight bow, then immediately lifted his cane and walked toward the door.

Detective Henry’s subsequent words were thus blocked in his throat.

Heh. How could I possibly pay for the paper costs of the investigation report? That is included in the overall commission fee!

Klein touched the remaining five pounds and eight soli of private savings and muttered inwardly as he quickly reached Bessik Street.

He first observed the surroundings, confirming that no one was paying attention to him. Only then did he leave nimbly and find an opportunity to remove his mask.

Klein did not intend to return home now. He planned to find a nearby café, quickly organize the investigation report, identify the houses where tenants had changed after he divined the “red chimney,” and then use the time before dinner to check a portion of them.

There were quite a few cafés in the surrounding blocks, but almost none met Klein’s requirements. Ever since steam and machinery had become symbols of the era, more and more cafés had lowered their tone and turned into something like cheap restaurants, providing busy laborers with tea, coffee, bread, toast, and dishes such as tender peas stewed with lamb. Thus, respectable gentlemen and ladies no longer went to cafés to discuss matters, nor treated that behavior as a symbol of status. All kinds of clubs began appearing, replacing the café’s original social function.

After walking for quite some time, Klein finally found a café whose environment was decent enough.

Sitting in a secluded booth in the corner, he took a sip of Southville coffee that cost only three and a half pence, then cautiously opened the investigation report.

“…In Tingen City’s North Borough, East Borough, West Borough, South Borough, Golden Indus Borough, docks district, and university district, a total of 1,179 houses possess dark-red chimneys… In the suburbs of Tingen City, there are 546 houses possessing the sort of red chimney described by the employer… This does not include the towns and villages that belong to Tingen but are relatively far away.”

“The following lists the address of each house and the corresponding landlord and tenant information. As requested by the employer, information from the most recent three months has been gathered in greater detail.”

…

Klein scanned page after page, constantly using his fountain pen to make notes on the paper he had brought with him.

In the end, he discovered that after he had divined the “red chimney,” a total of twenty-five houses had undergone tenant changes.

“That is not too many. I will try to finish checking them…