She found the dessert shop and walked straight in. From the edge of the basket, among a pile of items, she pulled out a fat clay pot and handed it to the clerk.
"Ice cold pumpkin juice, fill it up for me."
She actually doesn't like to drink this stuff, because she thinks pumpkin is a vegetable, not a fruit, and pumpkin juice is as unorthodox as carrot juice and spinach juice.
But Xia Yibing likes him very much, there is nothing she can do about it, she just treats him as having another child in the family.
"You haven't been here for a while, dear little Annie."
The clerk, Ms. Wen Lai, who was already 44 years old, took the jar with a smile.
"Is Ashley okay? I heard you were recruiting a tutor for her?"
"yes……"
After answering Ms. Wenlai casually, Hitzfeld suddenly saw a man standing outside the glass window.
He was very fat, and his stature was much more exaggerated than that of Villefort, and he was very short, which made his stature seem even more bloated.
He was wearing a dark brown felt coat, holding a cane and a black felt hat. From time to time, he changed his back to the shop door to half-side position and frequently took out his pocket watch to check it.
Hitzfeld glanced over his cane, hat, and shoes, noticing a thick layer of mud on the edges of his soles.
"He's a weirdo."
Ms. Wenlai noticed that she was staring at the man. "He has been standing there since half an hour ago. At first I thought he was waiting for the bus, but two buses have passed by and he didn't try to squeeze in..."
"He's waiting for someone," Hitzfeld said. "A local guide."
"Oh~" Ms. Wenlai covered her mouth happily, "Are you going to show off your detective skills to me again, baby Annie?"
Hitzfeld rolled his eyes.
If people are compared to food, then Ms. Wen Lai is as sweet as honey... She really can't stand this kind of enthusiasm, especially the fact that the other party wants to introduce her to someone every time they see her.
This time was no exception. Ms. Wenlai immediately began to hint at a talented young man in her neighborhood - but was rejected by Hitzfeld in a firm manner.
Are you kidding me... It took her two lifetimes of courage to be willing to try to start a relationship with Xia, so introducing a boy to her now? She couldn't accept it at all.
After dealing with the scary menopausal woman and paying the money, Hitzfeld carefully put the filled pottery jar back into the basket.
This time she was very careful when picking up the basket, fearing that pumpkin juice would splash out from the gap in the lid.
But it feels really comfortable to touch...
The girl reached out and pressed the lid that was emitting cold air a few more times, her expression showing excitement.
People are just cheap, they like to eat ice in winter and spicy food in summer. Hitzfeld is no exception.
But the house on Iris Street is still too small. The living room, which occupies the largest area, is often used to receive guests and discuss business. Excluding the living room, there are only a few bedrooms and bathrooms left, and there is no place to store ice. If you want to eat ice, you can only buy it outside.
That wasn't the case at 12 Flo Street, where she could always find a big pile of ice in the freezer.
When she went out, she glanced at the man again and found that he was still looking anxious, with a handkerchief in his hand, wiping his sweat.
Hitzfeld wasn't going to get involved.
When she got home, she went upstairs carrying the full basket and took out her key to open the door.
"Squeak——" The sound of the door panel creaking came from behind.
"Oh~ Aisuen~" Luxier-Dreyerman smelled the strong aroma of meat pie as soon as he opened the door. He tiptoed out of room 222, rubbed behind the girl, and pinched her shoulders with ill intentions.
"Well, I studied some medical books yesterday and found that there are some special places on the soles of human feet. Stimulating them has a significant effect on relieving fatigue..."
"Stop—" Hitzfeld raised his hand to stop her, then bent down to take out Lily's remaining meat pie from the basket.
"Ah!" The red-haired nurse was startled, "You gave me food as soon as you saw me. You think I'm a beggar!"
Although she said so, she took the cake very naturally and bit off one third of it in one bite.
"Have you brushed your teeth?" Hitzfeld frowned at her.
"Yes." Lu Xier nodded first, then found that she was still suspicious, so he raised his hand helplessly: "I swear on my nails--"
Hitzfeld nodded slightly.
Lu Xi'er is the medical staff member assigned by the bureau to work at No. 222 next door. After becoming neighbors, she discovered that the young nurse had a hobby of fiddling with nails. There was a cabinet in the moving decorations that was filled with bottles and jars, all of which were materials for making nail polish.
As for Alfred, who originally lived at No. 222... Actually, Alfred did not live in this house. It was just his temporary resting place, and there was no obstacle for Lu Hill to move in.
"Aisun!"
Seeing that the girl had opened the door and was about to go in, Lu Xier called out and followed her.
"I wasn't kidding you, that foot massage was really-"
"Thank you for your consideration, but I really have no interest in this." Hitzfeld put the basket on the big table, turned around and pushed her out again.
"If you must find a lucky person, I suggest you try Lily first."
"boom!"
The door is closed.
The red-haired nurse was staring at the dark door while chewing her food. She looked down as if she had realized something and saw a Sheldon dog grinning at her.
"good boy……"
She narrowed her eyes and her gaze fell on the dog's two front paws.
"Perhaps I should remind your master in a different way what is fashionable now..."
Lily originally intended to settle the score with her for stealing the cake.
But when it saw her eyes, it couldn't help but tremble, and its fur stood up fluffy.
"Woof!!"
“Woof woof woof~~~~”
"Don't get excited..."
Lu Xier slowly pushed it into the corner and flexed his fingers.
"Just change the color of your paws..."
"Feel sorry--"
There was a hurried voice from behind.
Lu Hilton stopped, turned around, and saw two men standing at the entrance of the corridor.
One of them was tall and thin, and the other was very short and fat.
The short and fat one was still panting, wiping the sweat off his face with a handkerchief, and his eyes were full of questioning as he looked at her.
The tall and thin man continued to ask:
"Excuse me, is this the Hitzfeld Office?"
Chapter 4: Ghost Street 1
Ten minutes later, in the living room of No. 221, the two visitors sat down on the sofa, opposite the gray-haired girl who took off her apron.
Xia Yibing was busy in the kitchen with a basket, Lu Xier was lying behind the sofa where the girl was sitting, and the sound of flushing could be faintly heard from the bathroom - that was Ashley who had just got up and was cleaning and washing.
"So... Mr. Pudan-Jioli and Mr. Bill Ponson." Hitzfeld said slowly, "Are you two here for me?"
"Yes, Miss Hitzfeld!" The thin man on the left nodded vigorously. "We heard about your miraculous performance in Crystal Sea and that town, so when Bill came to me, I told him that if there is any detective in the world who can solve this bizarre case, it must be you - we all have full confidence in you!"
"But I don't think my performance in these cases deserves such exaggerated praise." Hitzfeld narrowed his eyes and ignored the other party's flattery.
She was businesslike and would not make any promises before she had listened to the other party's difficulties and explained them in as many details as possible.
The thin man was a little surprised that she was so young yet behaved so sophisticated - when he first walked in and saw Hitzfeld, he thought she was indeed just a little girl, but as soon as he came into contact with her, he realized that he was wrong and that she was much more difficult to deal with than he thought.
"Why don't you tell me why you came to me?" Hitzfeld didn't like to have a tense relationship with her clients, because to put it bluntly, she didn't open the law firm to be suspicious of these people. She would rather put her energy into the case.
"Especially..." She turned her gaze to the right, looking at the short and fat man, "especially this Mr. Ponson. We should have just met not long ago."
Yes, this Bill Ponson was the guy who had been standing outside the dessert shop and was so anxious. When she came out, he tilted his head and glanced at her. In theory, he still had an impression of her.
The short and fat man had been looking at the girl with suspicion since he entered the room. He nodded immediately after hearing this: "Yes, Miss Hitzfeld... I didn't expect it to be such a coincidence. If I had known it was you, I should have called you and come back with you, so that I wouldn't have wasted so much time..."
"Oh, I don't think so." Hitzfeld shook his head slightly, "Because you also made an appointment with Mr. Jolly there, right? If you had come back with me directly at that time, Mr. Jolly would have made a wasted trip."
"Well...that's indeed the case." The short and fat man nodded.
But he quickly realized what Hitzfeld had said, and his eyes widened in surprise: "No...wait! I never told anyone that I was waiting for Pu Dan! Why did you--"
"They're standing under the bus stop instead of waiting for the bus, looking at their watches from time to time..." Hitzfeld crossed one leg and folded his hands on his thighs. "In this case, I usually guess that they mistook the bus stop sign for a road sign and made an appointment with others to meet at the station."
"That's right!" Mr. Pang Sen clapped his hands vigorously, with a look of surprise on his face: "You are really as the rumors say... Oh, I'm sorry, miss, I'm so rude..."
"It's okay." Hitzfeld raised an eyebrow. "You've been traveling a long way and have to ask distant relatives for help. I guess you must have encountered some troubles..."
She didn't say anything because the two people opposite her opened their eyes wide and stared at her with a look of horror.
"Oh my God!" Jiao Li said in surprise, "How did you know Bill was from out of town?"
"There are distant relatives!" Pang Sen kept shaking his head, "We probably don't know you... Could it be that you have ever..."
"I don't like to pry into other people's privacy, and I won't investigate anyone's family relationships before they come to me."
Realizing that the two people were questioning her, Hitzfeld frowned slightly and had to explain to them: "Mr. Ponson, your clothes and face are covered with a light layer of mud..."
"Oh, I know you'll say you wiped it all off, of course - but I was watching while you did it, and I could see how much stain there was on that handkerchief."
"And Wayne hasn't had any wind recently. On the contrary, it just rained two days ago. If the locals hadn't come from other places, they obviously wouldn't have been covered in so much mud."
"But what if I'm the one doing the hard labor?" Pang Sen was a little unconvinced.
"You don't look like someone who would do hard labor." Hitzfeld said with a sarcastic smile.
Pang Sen glanced down and saw that indeed, his coat, shirt, trousers and leather shoes were all good quality items. It was impossible for a farmer with a weak foot to have such an outfit.
"Then how do you know that Pu Dan and I are distant relatives..."
"Because of your leather shoes." Hitzfeld looked at the two people's feet.
"The 'Knight's Medal' is a limited edition, and each person can only buy one pair at a time. I think the probability that you all happen to have a pair is very small, so I remembered that they launched an event some time ago, where locals can buy an extra pair for their relatives from other places with a 20% discount. All they need to do is provide the official seal of the administrative department of the place where they live."
Knight's Medal is a famous men's clothing brand that just opened this year. With the guarantee of an old noble, the business is booming. However, they just opened the store not long ago and have not had time to settle down and open up the foreign market. Using this method can not only promote sales and clear inventory, but also be equivalent to free advertising.
"Your observation skills are amazing!" Bill Ponson's attitude changed completely. He leaned forward, with only a tiny part of his buttocks touching the cushion. "I now completely believe what Pu Dan said... Please save me! I am willing to pay a high price for your help!"
"I'm used to understanding the situation first." Hitzfeld still didn't agree immediately.
To be honest, these two people gave her a very bad impression.
The short and fat man said that if he had known it was her, he would have come along. He didn't even consider his companions who had agreed to meet at the station, which showed that he had no sense of contract at all.
This kind of person usually tells lies all the time, and she didn't believe the high price he promised.
The thin man, his companion, Jiao Li, was not a good person either. He started by boasting about himself in an attempt to trick her into giving him a verbal promise, and considering his harsh attitude, she guessed that he was selling insurance or was a lawyer.
"Then I'll just say it straight away!" Pang Sen nodded, "I...I've been having strange nightmares lately."
Nightmare?
Hitzfeld's brow twitched.
"I don't know if you've seen any relevant reports... Yes, I remember that this incident was reported in many newspapers. Those bastards treated us as a joke. They had no idea how serious the situation was..."
"Wait." Hitzfeld raised his hand to stop him, stood up, went to the kitchen to find the Wayne Morning Post, and turned to the third page.
"Is this it?"
She was referring to the report, The Ghost of Farrington.
"Yes! Yes! That's it!"
Pang Sen was very excited and very angry after reading the newspaper.
"You've seen the attitude of these people... Miss, they are laughing at us... I should have sued them at the time!"
"Don't be in a hurry." Hitzfeld slowly sat back on the sofa and crossed his legs again.
"Let's first find out what happened. The reason you came to Wayne and contacted Mr. Jiaoli to help find me was because of what was mentioned in this report... this ghost?"
"Yes!"
"So there really is a ghost? I mean, it actually appears in reality?"
“The report didn’t make that clear.”
