Chapter 279: Kapin
"How is it, Great Detective? Did you find any clues?"
Lorne brought Liv and her daughter back to the dilapidated alley.
"There are too many traces here, and they are all messy. I haven't found any useful clues." Klein shook his head.
Seeing the instant look of disappointment on Liv and her daughter's faces, he spoke again: "Does Daisy have any personal belongings she frequently carries? I can borrow a police dog; it has an excellent sense of smell and can track the target based on their scent."
Reading selected Taiwanese novels is super smooth.
"—No." Liv thought carefully, but ultimately shook her head with a mournful expression.
The young girl Fraya's tears flowed uncontrollably again.
Suddenly, as if she remembered something, her eyes lit up, and she quickly said, "Yes! There is one! Daisy's wordbook!"
"Wordbook?"
"I made Fraya and Daisy attend the free night school," Liv said in a hoarse voice. "I can keep doing laundry. But they—they can't stay like this forever."
This Mother—she's quite good, knowing the importance of knowledge. Lorne sighed inwardly.
One must know that in this era, the mere skill of "literacy" was enough to set one apart from a large number of people, and the jobs available were completely different from those for the illiterate.
"Bring it out for a look; it should be useful," Klein said.
"The wordbook—it's at our house," Fraya said softly.
"We can go back with you. Of course, if you suggest it, we can also wait here," Klein said.
"We trust you two gentlemen, please follow us."
Perhaps it was to save time and quickly return to washing the mountains of clothes, or perhaps Lorne and Klein had shown enough goodwill to earn their trust. In the end, Liv chose to bring the two men to her home.
It was an apartment building that was clearly very dilapidated. As soon as he entered, Lorne immediately felt the damp air characteristic of a laundress's room rushing towards him. Additionally, various indescribable odors mixed together, forming a nauseating stench.
Klein and Lorne exchanged glances but said nothing.
Fraya quickly rushed back to the creaking bunk bed and pulled out a stack of slightly wrinkled papers from beneath a tattered pillow.
Because of the long-term exposure to the damp environment, the words copied in ink on the pages had already blurred slightly. The edges of the paper showed obvious wear, suggesting they had been flipped through constantly.
Lorne also took two pages from the stack and examined them carefully.
The handwriting was good, very delicate.
He wants these—for divination, right? Lorne glanced at Sherlock beside him out of the corner of his eye.
He didn't believe the so-called "police dog" excuse. For Beyonders of certain special Pathways, divination was far more effective than imagined.
"Then I will start taking action. The sooner we act, the higher the success rate," Klein said, flipping through the wordbook.
Amidst the sincere thanks of Liv and her daughter, Lorne and Klein left the dilapidated apartment building.
Klein glanced at the sky and said to Lorne, "It's getting late today, you should head back first."
"I will investigate myself."
That—it doesn't sound like a lie. He wants to investigate alone? Is it because he doesn't want me to see him use his Beyonder abilities—Lorne lowered his head, pondering.
A few seconds later, he raised his head, a playful smile appearing on his face: "That's true. As an amateur, I won't disturb Great Detective Moriarty while you handle the case."
"Good luck."
"Oh, right." Lorne seemed to remember something, turned around, and spoke again.
"I have a few employees whose children have also gone missing recently. If you find anything, please help them out as well." Saying this, he handed the other party a business card.
"You can find me at this address."
"Employees?" Klein took the business card with some surprise.
"Didn't I tell you that I'm actually the boss of a factory?" Lorne said, raising his voice.
When did you ever say that! And why do I feel like you're showing off—Klein complained frantically in his mind.
So, you're a rich person after all—
Logot Firearm Factory—he examined the information on the business card.
However, factories—Klein suddenly remembered something else. When the stock market completely crashes, many factories in Backlund will go bankrupt because of it.
This guy—surely not also—
"I heard that business hasn't been easy lately. Many factory owners have gone into stock speculation," he said casually.
"That's true. But I don't speculate in stocks~" Lorne shrugged. "So, if you want me to give you any advice on the stock market, I wouldn't know."
Right now, there are probably few people who know better than me when the stock market will crash—Klein muttered internally, but still felt relieved.
After the two parted ways, Klein stopped after only a few steps.
Wait! It seems like—I forgot something?
—
Right! Dinner! That guy—said he was going to treat me to dinner!
Klein quickly turned around, only to find that Lorne's figure had already vanished into the bustling street. The next day, in an inconspicuous small hotel, Lorne held a Pendulum and performed divination.
"The risk of investigating this matter is very high."
"The risk of investigating this matter is very high."
"The risk of investigating this matter is very high."
Moments later, the Pendulum swung slightly in a clockwise direction.
This means—this matter carries risk.
If it were just ordinary gangs causing trouble, the risk shouldn't be high for the current me. Even if they had a few Sequence 9 Beyonders, it would be the same. The fact that this divination result appeared means that among the kidnappers, there is at least a sequence 8 Beyonder present.
"Yott, Nowai, and Capin—"
These were the names of several gang leaders Lorne had learned from Hugh, who were suspected of being involved in the recent serial kidnapping case.
Hugh offered to help investigate, but Lorne politely refused, merely asking her to walk around his firearm factory when she had time recently, to deter any potential gang members.
After all, Hugh's Sequence wasn't even as high as his, and her personality was so righteous, or rather—a bit rigid. If she truly got involved, something bad might happen.
"Meddling—truly meddling—" Thinking of his unhealed wounds, Lorne couldn't help but mock himself. But eventually, he packed his things and prepared to go out.
"Ah!"
In a filthy back alley, a scream abruptly stopped. Lorne grabbed a gang member by the neck with one hand, pressing him firmly against the damp wall, and interrogated him with cold eyes: "Speak! Why did you kidnap those people? Who ordered it? What is the purpose?"
—
"Cough—let, let go—I, I can't breathe—" The man's face turned red and purple, and his legs thrashed wildly. He desperately clawed at Lorne's arm, trying to push it away. But Lorne's arm was like an iron clamp, completely unmoving.
Feeling the Darkness intensify before his eyes and his breathing becoming increasingly difficult, he finally spoke.
"I'll talk—I'll talk! It's money! It's money! I did it for the money!"
"As long as—as long as we kidnap someone who meets the requirements, we get a reward of 5 pounds!"
"Capin—
"
Lorne quietly repeated the final name he had tortured out of the unconscious gang member.
"Five pounds per person—that's quite a generous sum."
"Moreover, this might be the price that reaches the subordinates after layers of exploitation."
"What exactly does he want to do with so many people?"
That night, using divination and the information tortured out of the gang members' mouths, Lorne gradually locked the final target onto a detached villa located on Iris Street in Cherwood Borough.
Looking at the magnificent villa before him, which still appeared splendid in the night, Lorne's brow furrowed slightly.
His "Premonition of Disaster" activated.
But—the spirituality inside that villa was unusually chaotic, as if—some commotion was taking place.
"That's strange, why is it so lively inside?"
"Why—are they having a party inside?"