Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 143 - 143 I

143: I.

The Second Letter 143: I.

The Second Letter Gloomy clouds covered the sky, with no sign of rain, and the air was filled with a heavy dullness.

This was only temporary, the radio broadcast was playing.

A mass of rain clouds was spreading from the sea, and it wouldn’t be long before they reached the skies over Belfast.

Whoosh—

Lu Li pulled open the drawer, and the loose change at the bottom jingled crisply.

The drawer contained many things: coins, crumpled banknotes, a book, and a few silver-plated bullets.

Lu Li scooped up the coins and a handful of banknotes, counting them one by one.

In total, there were 143 shillings—this was all the money Lu Li had left after returning the carriage and getting his rental deposit back.

It wasn’t much, even a bit scarce.

Lu Li’s gaze fell around the room, and Anna’s casual humming drifted from the bedroom.

If he remembered correctly, Anna’s family might be quite wealthy…

Whoosh—

Lu Li closed the drawer and pocketed all the money.

There was enough money for a few days’ expenses.

Before making more money, Lu Li had other issues to resolve: understanding the purpose of the stone mask.

Lu Li took down the stone mask from the bookshelf behind him and placed it flat on the desk.

This was his first time observing the mask closely and in detail.

The stone mask resembled a kind of ritualistic item or something made by an uncivilized tribe.

It was about the size of an adult’s palm, slightly smaller compared to average masks; definitely too small for an adult to wear on their face.

Even if it could be worn, it would look strange and out of place.

The material seemed like some sort of rock, chiseled into the shape of a mask with tools like chisels, which gave it a rough and primitive appearance.

This type of stone artifact could be found in abundance in the historical section of museums.

A lot of black dirt was lodged in the crevices of the mask.

Lu Li picked out a few fragments and dropped them into a cup of water.

The fragments slowly sank to the bottom, and a wisp of red mist, resembling blood, spread out from the fragments.

To be honest, except for someone with a deranged mind, no one would rashly wear such a bizarre thing on their face.

And for Lu Li, holding it simply made him carry a faint aura of the Inner World, with no other effects.

As Hades had said, unless one could fully understand the origin of the Homogeneous Item, finding others to experiment with was the best solution.

Lu Li didn’t need to do that, not out of confidence, but because he had a better approach: The stone mask was brought by Mark, the person in charge of the Haunted House.

He had no reason not to know the origin of the mask.

Knock knock knock—

The door of the Detective Agency was knocked on at this moment.

Lu Li shifted his gaze, placed the mask back on the bookshelf, and stood up to walk towards the door.

“Sir, here’s your newspaper for today.”

As the door opened, the short newspaper boy raised his head, revealing his dirty little face under the brim of his hat, his smile beaming.

Lu Li took the newspaper, and with his other hand, he placed two shillings into the palm of the newsboy.

“Thank you, sir.

I wish you a pleasant day.”

The newsboy’s smile was radiant, for the newspaper only cost one shilling.

After closing the door, Lu Li returned to his desk, sat down, and unfolded the newspaper.

An envelope without a name or stamp quietly fell from the crevices of the newspaper.

Dark eyes solidified on the surface, pausing for a while, Lu Li bent down to pick up the envelope, placed it on the table, and continued to flip through the newspaper.

[House fire on Oak Street: Three dead]

Chief Freddy confirmed that the McPherson couple, who had recently moved from Himfast, and their daughter died in the blaze.

The cause of death ruled out murder, preliminarily determined to be a fire sparked by an oil lamp in the study.

Chief Freddy reminds the citizens of Belfast City to be cautious of fires during the rainy season—

[The renowned circus “Shadow of the Clown” arrived in Belfast City yesterday, opening for a week at Simp Park]

“Shadow of the Clown” is household name on the Ailen Peninsula, much loved by children.

The troupe arriving in Belfast City includes the clown Betty as well as beast tamers, magicians, fortune tellers, acrobatic teams, and more.

Interested citizens can head to Simp Park to buy tickets.

The first ten visitors each day will also get to watch all the acts for free.

[The lawsuit against Baron Joseph has been through court review, Baron Joseph rudely responds]

Following Baron Joseph’s prosecution for charges like invasion of privacy, unlawful imprisonment, inciting to riot, beating a male, and not wearing underwear, the court formally replied to the plaintiff yesterday afternoon, agreeing to the plaintiff’s request and setting the hearing for next Monday.

Baron Joseph responded, “Those old fools on the high bench are oozing a mustiness that should belong to centuries past, not the present day.

Even the vile stench of vomit fermented for months in a tin can would be a hundred times more tolerable than their [beep] liquid.

I’d rather keep company with a seal that had feasted on excrement than be in the same room with them.” (The content above is stated by this newspaper and does not reflect the newspaper’s viewpoint)

A fire leading to deaths?

The police think it’s not that simple.

If Oliver were still here, Lu Li would have sent him to dig into the inside story, like how the Police Station is handling it, and whether the Watchmen were mobilized.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t possible, Jojo wasn’t suitable, even though she thought she was.

Folding the newspaper neatly, Lu Li hesitated for a moment, then reached for the envelope.

…

Workers bustled back and forth.

One by one, burnt pieces of furniture, charred beyond recognition, were carried out from the front door, set aside on the roadside.

“It’s been quite damp these days, and it was even raining last night, so the main structure of the house is okay.

It’s just the furniture and walls that got burned.

The former definitely can’t be used anymore, the latter can be painted over or maybe given a new refurbish, what do you say, miss?”

The supervisor tentatively inquired to the shadow in front of him.

Wearing a black suit, the silhouette of the woman was outlined as she looked up towards the smoke-stained exterior of the house, her black ponytail gently shaking; she didn’t turn around.

“Just put up wallpaper, the house is still usable even though the furniture was destroyed.”

“Alright, also, miss…” As the supervisor was about to say something, a worker ran out hurriedly, gasping for breath and said, “Boss, you better come take a look, there’s something on the wall!”

“What’s wrong with the wall?” The supervisor gave an apologetic smile to the ponytail woman and frowned as he asked.

“It’s…

there are shadows on the wall.” The worker’s scalp tingled as he briefly described the dark outline of the family of three.

Suddenly, the ponytail woman spoke up, “The kid who used to live here had a playful streak, always liked to draw things on the walls.”

“Did you hear that?

Stop making a fuss and get back to work!” The supervisor glared at the dismayed worker, turning to the ponytail woman with a face full of apology, saying, “Sorry about that.

Rest assured, we’ll take care of the painting.

If things go quickly, it can be done in three days.”

“There’s no rush, take your time.”

The supervisor nodded with a smile, extending his right hand.

The ponytail woman reached out with her hand, clad in a white glove, and they shook hands.

“Then I’ll get back to work.”

The supervisor bid farewell and turned back into the house.

The ponytail woman watched him leave, silently took off her gloves, and carelessly tossed them to the ground.

She looked up, the ponytail swaying as she continued to watch the exterior wall of the house, her red lips curling into a smile.

“Time to start anew.”