203 Mutan (2/2)
He then took a public carriage to Howes Street and saw the messy-haired Midnight Poet—Leonard Mitchell, whose hair exuded beauty, waiting for him in at building 62.
Leonard was still in a thin white shirt despite the chilly September weather. He had paired it with beige pants. He swept his green eyes at Klein.
”This might be the building rented by Lanevus under a false name.”
”How did you figure it out?” Klein asked out of curiosity.
Leonard pointed to his head.
”Since you found a clue from Hood Eugen and suspected that Lanevus was likely connected to that member of the Aurora Order—the cloth merchant Sirius Arapis—I had to change my line of thinking after my normal investigations revealed nothing. I started investigating the Aurora Order.
”The previous report told me that Sirius had interactions with many of the residents on Howes Street, so I searched every one of them and found a problem with this one.”
”What problem?” Klein asked.
Leonard raised his brows. ”An obvious problem. The guest here appears very rarely. He claimed to be going to the Southern Continent to do business after Hanass Vincent's death and never returned. His records are very realistic, and the police didn't discover anything.”
”This could only be a coincidence.” Klein creased his brows.
”Of course, a coincidence. But when I showed the residents around here Lanevus's picture, an old man felt that he looked similar to the resident at number 62, other than his different glasses.” Leonard took out a black-and-white photograph from his pocket.
Why didn't you say so earlier… Klein lampooned inwardly. He entered 62 Howes Street with Leonard, and at Leonard's request, he started to divine if there were any hidden compartments or secret chambers.
The result was yes!
”The secret chamber or hidden compartment in this building.”
Klein wrote down another divination statement. He took a seat on the sofa and closed his eyes as he recited the statement.
Seven times later, he entered a dream. His vision was blurry.
In the blurry world, Klein saw a wooden bookshelf. He saw rows upon rows of books. He saw that one of the books had been taken away. He saw the wooden surface beside the book open, revealing a hidden compartment.
The scene quickly disappeared as Klein opened his eyes and told Leonard, ”In the study.”
Klein wound the topaz pendulum around his wrist and followed Leonard into the study. He saw the wooden bookshelf he had seen in his dream.
”Pull out that book, the place it's covering has a hidden compartment.” Klein pointed at the book nearest to the sides.
”So it's here… I couldn't find anything when I searched the place, and I had no choice but to return to Zouteland Street to request for help,” Leonard grumbled as he walked over. He pulled out the book Klein had pointed out.
After searching the area, he finally found the mechanism to open the hidden compartment.
A letter lay silently in the hidden compartment.
A letter? Lanevus hid a letter here? Klein found it extremely strange.
After he divined to see if there was anything dangerous within the letter and received a negative answer, Leonard picked up the letter and opened the unmarked envelope.
Leonard pulled out the letter within and unfolded it.
Klein leaned forward to get a look of its contents. All he saw were the first few paragraphs of the letter:
”Hahaha, congratulations. Congratulations on finally finding this letter!
”This means that you're not too stupid, nor too slow. You qualify to take part in this game of life and death that I've designed.
”Child laborers that die before their time. Factory workers who seldom live past ten years after entering the factory because of their working conditions. Female workers who risk severe illnesses for a meager salary. I see boundless resentment surrounding every factory, turning the surroundings oppressive and gloomy. This is the worst of times, and also the best of times. Our game shall take place under such a setting.
”Fools, prepare yourselves, I'm going to issue you a hint!”