Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 547 - 547 66

547: 66.

Richard Driven to Desperation 547: 66.

Richard Driven to Desperation “Ah, why won’t you just be a good child who listens to mom, and patiently wait for my plan to be completed?”

“Look at what you’ve done…

Poor Old Rodney, his two sons had just left him, and now you, devil, are also trying to take his life!”

“As a brave and just citizen of Belfast City, it is everyone’s duty to fight against evil.

I’ve already called the police, and they should be taking you, the murderer, to the Police Station to face justice soon.”

The street behind suddenly became noisy as people, panicked by the Mist of Strangeness, screamed and ran in all directions, Lu Li’s eyes shifted from the paper.

A boy dressed as a newsboy was grabbed by an unseen force off the ground, flailing his limbs in terror and drifting toward the carriage.

He was not Richard.

“I am an Exorcist and want to ask some questions,” Lu Li scrutinized the boy brought before him, holding up the letter, “Who asked you to deliver this letter?”

His fingers were stained with ink, and the ink on the letter was still wet; it had not been long since the letter was written.

After all, it had been only a few minutes since Lu Li left the cemetery.

“Monster, put me down!”

The boy seemed terrified, struggling and shouting with his eyes closed, not hearing Lu Li’s calm words.

“Let him calm down,” Lu Li said.

Anna was already on it.

Just as she dealt with those who turned into Human Pus when infected, Anna immobilized the boy’s limbs so he couldn’t do anything but breathe.

The boy, seized by fear, finally opened his eyes to see Lu Li’s calm presence and was struck dumb.

In the brief silence, Lu Li began, “I am the Exorcist—”

His words were interrupted by a noisy rush of footsteps, Lu Li looked ahead where, dozens of meters away through the fog, police officers headed in this direction, their ranks interspersed with night watchmen in black uniforms.

Richard had indeed done it.

Lu Li lowered his gaze, eyes falling on the unfinished portion of the letter.

“This is what you deserve!”

“Only I can save everyone, and you, you’re just a pathetic clown who failed to steal the fruits and now sits counting your remaining days in a cold, damp dungeon!”

“Put him down,” he said.

Folding the letter, Lu Li addressed Anna, taking out his investigator badge and addressing the approaching officers and watchmen, “Senior Investigator Lu Li, I am tracking a fugitive who recently framed me.”

“I know you,”

a police officer suddenly stepped forward, with a look of surprise towards Lu Li, “I saw you last night at the port.”

With his colleague’s testimony, Lu Li was quickly absolved of suspicion.

A watchman looked around Lu Li carefully, seemingly sensing Anna’s presence, “Just as you said, the Police Station received a call about ten minutes ago, claiming the perpetrator had killed an old man in the cemetery and was coming this way.”

After a brief silence, Lu Li responded, “It was me who killed him, he had been infected by the Strangeness.”

The watchman didn’t doubt Lu Li’s words—the Exorcists never doubted each other’s integrity, especially that of a Senior Investigator.

Richard’s conspiracy was futile, barely stalling Lu Li for a few minutes.

Perhaps Richard was aware of this, but his unstable mind prevented him from devising a more meticulous and perfect plan.

Either way, Richard was forced into a corner.

The watchman and the police officers returned to the Police Station, and Lu Li followed in the carriage.

Now, he had some suspicions he needed to verify.

The boy was quickly allowed to leave by Lu Li.

He was just a newsboy who, a few minutes earlier, had been approached by Richard, given two Shillings, and instructed to deliver a letter warning Lu Li of the danger before immediately running away.

A few minutes later, Lu Li followed the police officers back to the Police Station, asking them to trace the address of the emergency call.

The result appeared quickly; the number came from a public phone booth in the Marseille District.

It did not coincide with the suspicions.

Lu Li then asked about the results of the search at Richard’s hiding place, and after briefly waiting for the police station that handled the case to connect, the results emerged.

After listening silently to the number from the receiver, Lu Li hung up the phone and walked out of the police station.

The Mist of Strangeness that had enveloped the city finally showed signs of dispersing, and the view could barely make out half the length of the street.

“Marcus is Richard,” Lu Li said, seated in the carriage.

The air beside him was somewhat disturbed, carrying Anna’s voice, “He has been by our side all along, and he knows our purpose.”

“Hmm.”

Everything seemed to match up.

Marcus had claimed he was arrested by the police, and that period was right after Lu Li had reported Richard’s affair to the investigator headquarters.

“It’s a pity we found out too late,” Anna said.

Richard’s phone was left at the hiding place and ended up in the hands of the police station, making it hard for Lu Li to contact him again—unless he showed up on his own.

There was a certain possibility, for no one knew what the deranged Richard might do, after all, he was still using such childish tactics to threaten Lu Li with letters, and…

“Richard is running out of money,” Lu Li said.

Richard had only given the paperboy a meager two shillings, barely enough to make the boy run an errand.

Based on Lu Li’s superficial understanding of Richard, he was not the type to save intentionally unless he was struggling to survive.

“So we just go back to the Detective Agency and wait?

Wait for him to show up on his own, or to contact us using Marcus’s identity?”

Thinking about the latter, it indeed sounded like something Richard would do.

“Hmm.”

Now, Lu Li was left with nothing but waiting.

Waiting for Richard to make a move on his own, or to come find him using a false identity.

Nearing the Detective Agency, Lu Li returned the carriage.

Passing through the market, he spent hundreds of shillings on enough vegetables and meat for two meals.

The prices of food had all increased, with only black bread being barely kept within an affordable range for commoners by the government.

But if the situation continued to deteriorate, soon even black bread would inevitably increase in price, becoming a pressure more despairing than the oddness.

And deterioration was already like the flow of time, firmly moving downstream, and the outcome was obvious.

Pacing through the ash-covered streets, where passersby wore no smiles, Lu Li, holding a leather paper bag, returned to the Detective Agency.

The appearance of Anna, carrying the ingredients into the kitchen, followed soon by the sound of fire starting.

Lu Li stood beside the bed, gazing at the grey clouds, waiting for something.

As time passed, the sound of boiling water bubbling and the aroma of meat gradually came from the kitchen, with Anna becoming more proficient in cooking after learning seasoning from Aunt Mary.

The black cat had awakened, crawling out of the bedroom and jumping onto the sofa, gently rubbing against Lu Li’s legs standing in front of the sofa, then leaping onto the desk to lick its paws.

Every so often, Lu Li would step out of the Long House, stand in the middle of the street to look around in all directions, and return to the Detective Agency without finding anything.

Half an hour later, the food was ready, and Anna, carrying the boiling pot, came into the living room.

Mary sat at the dining table, while Anna gently ladled food into wooden bowls.

Everything was just as before, as if nothing had changed.