There were no reports about the Hunters, not a single one.
He became somewhat doubtful and suspected that his speculation was fundamentally flawed.
Just when he was about to give up, his attention was suddenly attracted by a report.
There was no other reason, it was just too big, taking up more than half of the last newspaper, with seven or eight paragraphs of text piled together and framed in a bold frame, and in the middle of these words there was a black-and-white photo.
The photo shows a wild boar.
This is no ordinary wild boar, and anyone can tell that it has dozens of eyes that protrude from its forehead, looking a bit like disgusting tumors.
It also has tusks that are much larger than those of ordinary wild boars, and densely packed protruding sharp teeth can be seen where its lips meet. Obviously, this creature is no longer just an omnivore.
The wild boar in the picture should be dead. A group of people are riding on it, carrying short spears and muskets, with happy smiles on their faces.
"The evil wild boar was shot dead by the hunter."
This is the headline of the news.
The time is February 1938, 7.
Ethan calmed down and read the report carefully. He roughly understood: this was about a wild boar that had been deformed for unknown reasons and appeared nearby. A bounty was offered for the wild boar because it had injured people, and it was eventually found and killed by hunters.
The reason why this is made so much of is that the evil wild boar is very difficult to catch.
It's not a question of vigilance, but rather that it has a special ability to foresee danger from a long distance.
The report specifically noted that they had received help from a female hunter named Kate, who also used "unfathomable and incredible power" to find the wild boar.
['Kate' has a special intuition that she can always use to track her prey. She can also sense the type and state of her prey without seeing it with her naked eyes. It is this extraordinary talent that makes her an outstanding hunter.]
Ethan stared at this passage in deep thought.
Is it her?
Suppose that what Hitzfeld wanted to determine was not their apparent characteristics but their hidden characteristics that she had already guessed.
This Kate...
"It's highly likely that she is Tina Baines."
Hitzfeld walked up to him and saw where he was staring, and immediately knew that he was almost getting to the truth.
So she just said it directly.
"They came to Green Town because of this ability."
"You mean, they really think there's 'prey' in Green Town?"
Ethan still couldn't figure it out.
The townspeople said they had never seen any evil monsters.
"Could it be that they are the only ones who discovered it?"
"They were killed by the monster's fire because they discovered it?"
"Exactly."
Hitzfeld smiled.
It was a sarcastic arc.
"There really are monsters?"
Darent stared.
“I always thought it was fake!”
"Maybe it's both true and false." Hitzfeld said noncommittally.
"The reason these two people were burned to death was because they had the wrong idea."
"Is it an idea that I shouldn't have made?"
Ethan and Darent frowned at the same time.
"Yes."
Hitzfeld held his chin.
"The child."
"Jack Baines."
"If my estimate is correct."
"His last name should be Gralant."
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ps: There will be another update during the day.
ps: I didn’t get up and mixed up with the three more (crossed out
Chapter 41: Casting the Net
At lunch time, the three of them sat at the round table, waiting for Mr. Tonks to bring them their special lunch.
In fact, he has been keeping a close eye on the kitchen these two days, even watching every step from serving the dishes in the kitchen to the dining table. There is nothing wrong with them going directly to the hall to eat.
But after all... it was the first time he experienced dishes and snacks being poisoned. He still insisted on making the meals for these distinguished guests himself and personally escorting them all the way up.
The lunch was very sumptuous. The main course was a large pan-fried snow clam, and the side dish was blueberry jam bread with scallion rolls, which was extremely luxurious in Green Town.
The three of them went to the police station early in the morning. They hadn't eaten breakfast, so they all wolfed down their food.
Tonks stood aside and watched them with a smile, asking for their opinions from time to time, then writing them down in a small notebook, trying to improve them next time.
"Is Jerry eating too?" After washing his hands and wiping his mouth with a handkerchief, Hitzfeld asked the innkeeper.
"Yes." Tonks nodded. "Old Don ate with her. He insisted on doing so after hearing about her being poisoned. He also had to eat every meal that was served to her first."
"What a nice guy..." Hitzfeld sighed, and continued to ask him casually: "How long have you known Mr. Lux?"
"It's been a long time, almost half a year." Tonks recalled, "I think I met him in the early spring of this year."
"So he didn't work on this railway before? He just came here in the spring of this year?"
"No... he's been here for a long time." Tonks shook her head. "He's been working on Line 3 of Raisin for almost ten years."
"But he didn't decide to meet you until this spring."
"?" Tonks was a little puzzled. He didn't know why Hitzfeld asked such strange questions. But he nodded: "...That's what happened."
"Have you ever thought about the exact reason?"
"If you want to talk about changes... it might be because of Miss Norm." Tonks thought about it and felt that this could only be the reason. "I also talked to Boris (the conductor) and he said that Old Tang was very rigorous in his work before, but since Miss Norm joined his team, he began to behave... how should I put it, it seems that he has to tell her everything, as if he is taking care of his own daughter."
"Then his real daughter..." Hitzfeld's eyes flickered, "I remember he said that his daughter seemed..."
"Dinah Lux." Tonks nodded, a little sadness on her face. "She was eaten by an evil spirit, along with her husband, right at home... so we can all understand his feelings, and he and Miss Norm are indeed like father and daughter, they are a good match."
After asking some more interesting questions about how she met Old Don, Tonks took the empty plate away.
Hitzfeld followed him out and paused in his own room next door. He suddenly opened the door and went in. He saw Jelly eating vegetables under Tang Meng's supervision.
Because her family was well off, like many children who had not grown up, Jie Li did not like to eat vegetables. She felt that any vegetable had a bitter taste, so even when she was once in poverty after leaving home, she only ate foods such as potatoes and sweet potatoes.
"Eat more." Tang Meng stared at her sternly, "It's good for you."
Jerry was forced to suck a small piece of vegetable leaf into her mouth and chew it with difficulty as if she were eating a piece of rag.
Seeing Hitzfeld push the door open, she immediately showed a look of help to the girl.
"Ms. Hitzfeld." Donmont Lux stood up quickly and took off his hat. "It's an honor... I wonder how the case is going? Has the person who poisoned her been caught?"
"Not yet." Hitzfeld raised his eyebrows, "But it will be soon. We have already got some important clues."
"Can you tell me about it?" Tang Meng widened his eyes and looked at Jie Li, who was also full of curiosity.
"Of course." Hitzfeld nodded, walked to his bed, opened the bedside table, took out a notebook from it, and said as he flipped through it, "Sheriff Lister came to me this morning and said that the police station's archives room had been vandalized."
"I've heard this from Jerry."
"After analysis, we believe that the other party is trying to destroy some historical records about the Glarant family."
"The records of the Gralant family..." Tang Meng frowned, "Why would they destroy this?"
Jerry blinked in confusion. This target didn't sound like it had anything to do with the two cases in Green Town—no, three if you count Eugenie's disappearance—or the three cases.
“I don’t know.” The girl’s voice rose at the end. “If I knew, I could immediately determine the intention.”
"Aren't all the files destroyed? How did you determine that the target was Gralant?"
"Because..." Hitzfeld's mouth curled up slightly, "Sheriff Lister later told me that only one piece of information in the archives was encrypted. He only told me this, and the other information seemed insignificant in comparison."
"Ah!" Jie Li covered her mouth in surprise. "So... the murderer didn't know about this, so in order to cover up his true purpose, he also destroyed other information!"
"That's exactly what happened." Hitzfeld closed the notebook. "And they actually have a backup of that information in the police station across the lake. I've asked the sheriff to get it, and if nothing goes wrong, we'll have it tomorrow morning."
"Tomorrow morning." Tang Meng's face was serious. "Does that mean you can find the murderer tomorrow morning?"
"We can only be sure of their goal in committing a series of crimes," Hitzfeld confirmed. "But that's about it... As long as we know they want to conceal it, it's easy to infer the whole truth based on this point."
"I hope so." Tang Meng lowered his head and sighed, then asked, "I heard from Boris that Agent Darent went to the car this morning and took back almost all the old newspapers in the car?"
"Ah, yes."
"You asked him to do that?"
"Yes."
"What on earth are you planning to do? If this happens, when the railway is repaired, won't the returning passengers have no means of entertaining themselves?"
"Of course, it's because there are important clues hidden in it." Hitzfeld shook his head while packing his things. "Don't worry, Mr. Lux. We naturally have our reasons for doing this."
"Are you leaving, Hitzfeld?" Jerry asked in surprise.
She saw Hitzfeld packing his things, taking a lot of books, notebooks, and even some bullet boxes into the suitcase.
"I'm worried about the sheriff." The girl nodded, "So we plan to go to the other side of the lake this afternoon. It would be best if we can escort him to bring his things back."
……
He carried the box downstairs, found Mr. Tonks, gave him some special instructions, and when he went out, Hitzfeld saw three horses and two partners waiting.
There were several police officers in disguise, and one of them came up and whispered, "Everything is ready, Miss Hitzfeld... Everything will be carried out as you say."
"Have you informed them?"
"Everyone has been notified."
"What did they say?"
"I was a little hesitant, but after reading your letter I agreed."
"Are you sure it's okay to do this..." Darent hesitated, "What if I'm wrong..."
"The chain matches, I trust her." Ethan interrupted him.
"Okay, stop talking and let's go."
The three men rode away, came out of the alley and arrived at the dock, where they boarded a boat to the other side.
The fog over Lake Evans had not yet dissipated, until the shore was completely invisible. Ethan confirmed that they could not be seen from the shore either. He immediately ordered the boatman to turn around and drive the boat to the westernmost side of the lake. The three of them went ashore in an area with lush aquatic plants.
"Wait...what are you going to do?" The boat owner saw a group of gray-clad policemen standing on the shore and immediately realized that something was wrong.
"I swear I had nothing to do with those cases! It wasn't me! It really wasn't me!"
"Don't get excited." Hitzfeld comforted him, "We're just asking you to stay here for a while... They won't do anything to you."
After pacifying the ship owner, they rode on the horses that the police had brought and had prepared for them, passed through the jungle trails, jumped onto the main road, and headed straight for the tall city wall ahead.
Chapter 42 Closing the Net
At night, the sky was pitch black.
Old Bal came back from the town with a team of knights, about sixty or seventy people. After entering the city gate, he asked the servant for a water bag and drank it all in one gulp.
