Red Moon Returns

The windbreaker and top hat were hung on the hanger, and the cane was leaning against the wall.

The note board was already hanging on the wall next to the fireplace in the living room, with several newly written notes pinned on it, and a map of Rhine City hanging next to it.

I bought it on the way home, and it cost 7 pence.

Lynch found that he had made a mistake. He did not take out the five pounds of consulting fees before Natalie withdrew, so now he only had thirteen shillings on him.

Let's talk about it tomorrow, anyway, there is no rush to use it.

Fortunately, the pistol was still there, and Lynch sat on the sofa and loaded the new pistol.

It was a very ordinary small revolver, heavy in the hand. He didn't know how to use it at all, let alone disassemble it. He just loaded the bullets and inserted it into the holster, repeatedly inserting and removing it several times.

There was no feel at all, and it felt less useful than a brick.

Can I really protect myself with this thing? If only Officer Natalie was still there.

Just over an hour after leaving, Lynch began to miss the figure that always stood in front of him.

Thin but strong, like an insurmountable barrier.

Lynch sighed. Although the policewoman's voluntary withdrawal surprised him, he understood that the policewoman's decision was right.

The policewoman didn't owe him anything and had no obligation to accompany him to die.

Besides, the other party didn't know that this was related to his life and death.

Therefore, Lynch was not angry about it, but... it was not a good feeling to be alone in a strange world.

Fortunately, you have been with me all the time, thank you.

Lynch clutched the moon pendant on his chest and thought so in his mind.

The gentle female voice did not respond, and the moon outside the window did not rise completely, but Lynch seemed to have returned to the cold crimson moonlight again and saw the crimson moon that had been with him for thousands of years.

It doesn't matter, the two of us are enough, travel companion, let's find out the truth and get you back.

Shaking his head vigorously to get rid of distracting thoughts, Lynch looked at the board again.

Although today's investigation encountered obstacles everywhere, after careful sorting, it actually gained a lot.

1. City Hall (information) - Hall of Order (case files, burned) - Investigator Newspaper (?)

Although the case files in the first clue chain were burned, it means that there may be problems in them, and some of them may be supplemented from the newspaper, so it is not completely broken. Then one of the tasks tomorrow is to go to the Investigator Newspaper to see, if they are unwilling to cooperate, think of other ways.

2. The eldest daughter of the Valente family - mountain people (super strong) - purple sarcoma (suspected of delivering medicine, earthen jar).

The eldest daughter of the Valente family is also connected to the first City Hall and Hall of Order.

Under this second clue, Lynch drew a row of question marks, just like the current situation in his mind, confused.

This person's movements are very suspicious, and it is very likely that she is closely related to the case. However, she has not done anything substantial, at least she has not been discovered. It is too hasty to determine her identity now, not to mention that there is such a powerful mountain man hiding behind her. We can only understand the situation of the Valente family first.

But this is a big problem. Without the help of Officer Natalie, there is no channel for in-depth investigation. So Lynch's back in men's clothing flashed before his eyes again. This guy is still very reliable. You wait, I will find you after the crisis is over. You still owe me two conditions, and I will not let you go.

But now... Let's go to the Dark Night Cathedral tomorrow and find Trinless, and ask him to at least help find a channel or identity to facilitate the investigation. Well, this is a top priority.

3. William's holiday surprise (extremely dangerous) - Donny Nutton (dead, suspected of mysterious erosion, newspaper reporter, details unknown) - Thorn Flower (!!!).

Donny Nutton seems to be just an irrelevant person, but Lynch still wrote him up when he heard the police say he was a newspaper reporter. Although the police didn't know which newspaper he was from, it was not ruled out that he was related to the investigator's newspaper. If so, he would be included in the first clue chain.

As for the thorn flower, Lynch specially marked it with super large fonts and even larger exclamation marks.

He decided not to touch it for the time being.

It was obviously an extremely dangerous place, and he had no brains to break in. If all other clues were broken, he would consider this dangerous area.

And Lynch didn't know where this place was. He searched his memories carefully and didn't find any relevant content. He also searched on the map several times, but still found nothing. Lynch couldn't help but feel a little fortunate.

While thinking, he suddenly heard a rustling sound at the door of the living room. When he turned around, he found a golden little head sticking in from outside.

Little Martha was peeking at the door with a pot of black tea.

Looking at the girl, Lynch felt quite complicated, but still waved his hand, signaling the little guy to come in.

"Helping mom with work?"

"Yes."

The girl ran in with a tray, clacking it, and put it on the coffee table with neat movements.

"Do you often help mom bring tea upstairs?"

"Yes."

The girl nodded vigorously with a sweet smile, and skillfully placed the teacup and poured tea.

The smile was gentle and well-behaved, but when Lin Qi thought about how the little bastard smiled and gave him a pottery pot so well yesterday, his back was still aching, and he felt a chill on the back of his head. She was a pretty child, but she only knew how to do bad things. Lin Qi wanted to push her to the ground and beat her up.

"Are you ready to explain your behavior yesterday? I've given you a day to think about it."

"Well, I will explain to my uncle." The girl showed an embarrassed look, "But, can I... borrow the bathroom first? I'm afraid that my mother will suspect me if I go downstairs and come back up."

A lazy kid.

Lin Qi pouted, muttered in his heart, pointed to the door of the bathroom, and the girl was even more embarrassed, and ran in with a red face.

But in less than a minute, a scream came out, and the door of the bathroom was suddenly slammed open. Little Martha was disheveled and messy, as if someone had done something to her. Her face was full of fear, and there were tears in the corners of her eyes. She rushed out of the bathroom. As soon as she came out, she covered her face and screamed even more miserably.

However, after shouting twice, the little girl found that there was no movement around her, which was not what she expected. Instead, her mother's panicked questioning voice came from the stairs outside the door, and at the same time, there was the sound of quick steps upstairs, but there were two footsteps.

Hmm?

Little Martha put down her hand covering her face and was surprised to find that Lynch, who was in the room just now, was gone. When she turned around, she saw Lynch running up from downstairs with her mother.

Before the girl could react, her mother rushed over and hugged her. Over her mother's shoulder, she could see Lynch clenching his fist and grinning.

Lynch was actually secretly thanking himself that he almost got fooled again.

At first, seeing the girl's skillful movements, he was still sighing that the little girl was a child from a poor family and was very sensible and knew how to help her mother with work.

But when he thought of the child from a poor family, he suddenly realized that the family was not rich and needed the rent income from tenants.

But when they first met, Mrs. Maggie inadvertently revealed that the last visitor was temporarily driven away by her.

She needed the rent so much and drove away the tenant temporarily. It must be that the other party touched her taboo. Mrs. Maggie was gentle, but Lynch had seen how terrible it would be once her taboo was touched.

Her taboo was naturally little Martha. The previous tenant was driven out, which must have been related to this little thing.

Thinking of this, as soon as the little girl entered the bathroom, Lynch immediately rushed out of the room and ran down the stairs as fast as he could.

No matter what conspiracy she had, she had to find an alibi first.

Mrs. Maggie was still sorting out the dishes in the kitchen. Seeing Lynch suddenly come down, she was puzzled. Before Lynch could speak, Martha's scream came from upstairs.

Sure enough, Mrs. Maggie rushed upstairs at the first time, and Lynch also followed behind in a panic, and appeared in Martha's eyes together.

"What's wrong, is it okay, what happened?" Mrs. Maggie held her daughter's face in panic and looked around.

The little girl looked at Lynch's smile, quickly came back to her senses, turned her eyes, pointed at the bathroom and cried: "Bugs, bugs..."

Hiss, this little bastard reacted quite quickly.

Lynch clenched his fists, but didn't want to complain to Mrs. Maggie, but wanted to compete with this little thing in person.

It would be even better if I could beat her up myself.

Realizing that it was a false alarm, Mrs. Maggie heaved a sigh of relief, slapped her daughter a few times, apologized to Lynch, and dragged her daughter downstairs.

Lynch sat back on the sofa, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, and looked at the black tea on the coffee table and didn't dare to drink it. But after a few minutes, the blonde and blue-eyed little thing slipped up again.

Sitting on the sofa, he picked up the tea he had just poured, gulped it down, and angrily said in a childish voice: "You win this time. Tell me, what are the conditions for not telling mom about this? Can I give you x and x?"

The smile froze on his face, Lin Qi frowned, and asked seriously: "Have you done it?"

"No, I heard from the previous resident that don't you adults like these things?"

"So you told mom and kicked him out?"

"Humph, disgusting adults are the same."

"Well done, remember that if someone says this to you again, just tell mom, well, you can tell me." Lin Qi thought for a while and said sincerely, "I'm not a policeman, and I don't maintain order like your Aunt Natalie, so what you do has nothing to do with me. But since you have offended me, and I am taken care of by Mrs. Maggie, it is necessary to think about her. So now I need an explanation for why I do these things."

"This is my first time, and he They forced me to do this..."

"You should have seen from the experience just now that I can know a lot of things that I shouldn't know in advance, such as who is their leader. So think about it before you make up a story, and I will only give you one chance to explain."

Martha bared her teeth, as if she was going to bite someone, but she secretly glanced at Lynch's eyes and whispered, "I admit that I lost to you. Yes, I am their leader, and I led them to do these things."

"What's the reason?"

"Money, everyone can share a little money every time, they have to live, and so do I. Mom has to support the family and maintain this house. Most importantly, she has to send me to school. Primary education is barely affordable now, but she still wants me to continue to study for secondary education. The school spends too much money. If I hadn't used my extra income to subsidize it, my family would have been very difficult."

Lynch nodded. Education in the Kingdom of Rand is not cheap. Primary education is similar to elementary and junior high school. The four-year course costs about eight pounds per year. Secondary education is similar to vocational high school, which is more expensive. The three-year course costs at least twenty pounds per year in tuition, which is not affordable for ordinary families.

"And if I don't lead them to do bad things, will they stop doing it? I have at least read a little book and know what can be done and when to control myself. Those fools don't know. In the past, they did more excessive things and made trouble Not only did I end up on the gallows, but I also made people outside become more and more afraid of the King District and no longer dare to come. If I quit, they would soon return to their normal lives. It’s all over.”

Instead, Lin Qi poured her a cup of tea, watched the little girl drink it all in one gulp, wiped her mouth, and said angrily:

"They don't have a good mother. The family doesn't care about them at all. The only difference between them and street children is that they can eat one bite a day and won't starve to death on the street. Thanks to the gentlemen in the city government for their kindness and not allowing factories to employ child labor. How kind they are. If they want to eat a little more, they can only steal it. "Children from the King's District" was already a slang term in the Rhineland, and the whole city knew that we were uneducated bastards."

Lin Qi sighed, and suddenly felt that compared to these low-class people, the original owner of his body was already in good condition, and now he was living an even better life.

Well, if you ignore the fact that I only have thirteen shillings in my pocket.

"It's better now. They can take home a few pennies or even a shilling or two every few days. Their parents are much better to them, and the police are much better to them. At least they won't beat them up when they see them. Adults, come to the king." I won’t be so scared anymore. Even women dare to come in by themselves. Isn’t this bad? "

Lin Qi asked, "What about me, I'm just soft-hearted, and I was beaten and robbed by you. Did I do something wrong? Do I dare to be soft-hearted again in the future?"

The girl was silent, and after a while she muttered: "You are the ones who usually steal money from the King District and discriminate against us residents. You deserve it."

After muttering a few words, the girl still lowered her head and whispered: "I also know that this is wrong, but if you want to change, you have to find other ways for them. During this time, I have found other ways to make money, and there are fewer bad things to do." More, everyone is getting better slowly, please give me a little more time.”

"Huh? Other ways?"

Lynch was a little nervous. Children's ideas are different from adults. Who knows what other dangerous methods she mentioned.

"Children from the King's District are running wild all over the city and can be seen everywhere, so no news in the city can be hidden from us." The little girl said proudly, "In the past two years, people from several newspapers have approached us to buy news, especially An older sister made many purchases and gave us a lot of money. She also said that she would find a way to find a newspaper boy job for them so that they could support their family and no longer have to run around on the street. Now this is available to everyone. Good thing, just give me some more time and don’t let mom know she’s sad.”

Children's Intelligence Team, this group of naughty kids running around have unique conditions. They are really suitable for this job, even if they become newsboys.

Although intelligence dealers are often more dangerous, providing information to newspapers is much safer.

Moreover, the information within this kind of team is common, and there is rarely information that only a certain individual knows. If you want to silence them, you have to kill all the street children. This is obviously unlikely, so the possibility of individual exposure to risk is very low.

This little bastard is really precocious, and he does have great ideas, but his behavior really deserves a beating.

Thinking of how he almost lost his reputation just now, Lin Qi felt itchy in his hands. As if he had guessed it, the little thing covered his butt and moved to the side to stay away from Lin Qi.

Lynch rolled his eyes. In fact, he no longer wanted to complain to Mrs. Maggie.

Each class has its own way of life, and it is difficult for an outsider to comment on whether a girl is right or wrong. But if she didn't lie, she really wasn't a culprit, and from a practical point of view, everything was changing for the better, but...

"But what about you?" Lynch sighed and his voice softened, "The benefit to you is the least, right? You are so smart, don't you think about yourself?"

"Me? I can't live for a few more years. What's there to think about? I just want my mother to have less hard work in the past few years. If I die early in a few years, my mother will be relieved. I have nothing to regret. ”

"Huh?" Looking at this hateful but immature face, Lin Qi couldn't help but feel sympathy and asked softly, "Why?"

"They thought I was a child and didn't understand anything, so they kept it secret from me. In fact, I already knew when something happened to my father, and it was all because of me." The girl pursed her lips, her eyes were red, and she rubbed her eyes. Rubbing his nose, he whispered, "I overheard Aunt Natalie and the others talking about my special constitution, which makes me suitable to be a container for something. Very few people like this can live long, and they will all be infected by something called a mysterious thing. Kill me. Humph, I’m not afraid of it. I’ve thought about it for a long time. As long as my mother is happy these few years, that’s fine.”

container? what is that?

Could the mysterious filth on her ring have something to do with it?

Lin Qi was not sure, so he thought for a while and reassured: "Although my uncle doesn't agree with your explanation, he has no position to condemn you for doing something wrong. So, I will keep it a secret for you and your mother for the time being. But you must be good, Don’t use those tricks on your uncle anymore, and try to tell the truth to him.”

The girl pouted and hesitated for a while, then finally nodded.

"Very good." Lynch high-fived the girl and agreed, "Now tell uncle who else has touched your ring recently."

"Ring? No one touched it."

"Did it touch anything?"

"Oh, I remember, the day before yesterday, a reporter asked me to help deliver a small bag of photos to one of her colleagues. I was afraid that the bag would be lost, so I hung it around my neck and sent it." The little girl said in confusion, "So the ring should have only touched that bag."

Hiss... Another reporter? And is it related to the mystery?

Lin Qi hesitated for a moment, pointed to the name on the hanging board and asked: "Her colleague, it can't be this Donny Naton."

"I don't know him, I don't know his name." The girl looked up at the hanging board, "Huh?"

"What's wrong?"

"Uncle, do you know that place too?" The girl pointed to the largest word "thorn flower", right next to the name Donny.

Hmm?

Lynch felt that every pore on his body tightened, and his breathing paused for a moment. He asked nervously, "Do you know this place?"

"Yes, Aunt Natalie took me and my mother there two years ago. It seems to be related to Dad's matter."

"Oh, no wonder you know. Wait, what did you say?" Lynch suddenly reacted and stared at the little girl, staring at her and leaning back. "Natalie also knows? Or did she take you there?"

"Well..." The girl shrank into the sofa in fear and nodded.

Huh, it turns out that the police officer knew where this was from the time Mrs. Bessie mentioned this name, but she didn't say it until she left.

She deliberately concealed it. But why, why did she conceal it.

No, not only this, her behavior in the end was all wrong.

Realizing the problem and recalling it, Lynch immediately found something unusual.

The scene of parting appeared in front of him again, and the police officer whispered goodbye.

"Nice to meet you, Lynch."

The tone was unprecedentedly gentle, it didn't seem like a farewell, it was basically a farewell.

Lynch suddenly slapped himself in the face.

"Damn, I'm such an idiot, why didn't I think of it."

He always thought it was strange that the other party was scared away suddenly, but he didn't think much about it because it just happened to be what he wanted.

However, now thinking back, her behavior has always been abnormal.

She would run around all night to save Lynch's life without complaint, willing to face hundreds of monsters to protect his memories of going deep into strange things, and considerately try every means to help him gain benefits in the Watcher, because with just one sentence, she and he could give up the clues they had already obtained and escape from the scene.

Such a person would suddenly change his attitude and retreat in the face of danger?

It could only be a pretense.

But why?

Lynch hammered his head in annoyance, without even thinking about it, the answer was already obvious.

She believed in Mrs. Bessie's judgment more than I did, and was more aware of the dangers that the truth might contain. When I was thinking about how to trick her into leaving safely, she could certainly have the same idea, and she could implement it earlier than me.

It's ridiculous that I thought I was smarter than this simple-minded stupid woman, but I didn't notice it at all. I was deceived by her and really believed that she wanted to quit.

She didn't intend to retreat at all. Whether she guessed the importance of the case to me or to maintain order, she didn't intend to retreat. Even if she knew that she might die, she would continue to investigate. She just didn't want me, an ordinary civilian, to take risks with her, so she tricked me to stay.

She also specifically told me to wait for news at home. After a day or two, either the matter has been resolved, or her death has made the situation more serious. With the attention of many parties, I will no longer be in danger.

Damn, this stupid woman, am I so stupid, am I so obedient?

Lin Qi stared at the sky outside that had already darkened, and felt that his brain had never turned so fast.

She left in a hurry in the end because she was afraid that I would find out the problem. In order to avoid me going to the club to find her tomorrow, she also specifically told me not to be a consultant anymore. With this mentality, for the sake of safety, she is likely to act tonight instead of tomorrow to explore the "thorn flower" alone.

Given this woman's personality, she will definitely not take others on an adventure. She is probably alone there now. It's not me who is isolated and helpless, but she.

This is my business. Why are you more anxious than me? You still owe me two requests. I won't watch you take risks for me. Don't think about running away. If you want to take risks, we will go together.

"Martha." Lynch stared at the trembling little girl seriously, "Tell me where the thorn flower is, right now."

A small patch was made in the previous chapter. Mrs. Bessie's description of danger was too straightforward before, and it didn't have that kind of looming oppression and style. So I changed a few words slightly, that's all.