“How many packs have you seen most people buy?”
"Forty bags... The purchaser was Newlenso School, and they specifically specified that they would be given to students as prizes at the end of the semester."
"So the only weird thing he has shown so far is that he doesn't talk." Hitzfeld narrowed his eyes slightly. "Is that why you are impressed by him?"
"No, miss, it's more than that." Barless shook his head desperately.
"…Because he came here more than once."
When he said this, his voice trembled a little.
"He comes every half a month, or half a year at most."
"Come to buy candy?"
"Buy candy."
"Or two packs at a time?"
"No... In fact, that was the most he bought at one time. Every time he came after that, he only bought loose candy. The least he bought was just one piece."
So when he was asked at first who bought a large amount of sugar, he didn't react, because this person really didn't buy a lot of sugar.
Hitzfeld nodded inwardly.
"He always comes over at closing time at night."
"Yes."
"What time do you usually close?"
"Seven-thirty in the evening."
"Is it always like this?"
“It hasn’t changed in more than a decade.”
"Have you seen his face?"
“Not once.”
"He never spoke once."
"……Correct."
"Do you have a general idea of his size and shape?"
"There should be."
"How much taller than him and I?"
"About twenty centimeters tall."
"Compared to him?" (referring to Darent)
"…slightly shorter than him."
"What size shoes does he wear?"
“I don’t remember that…”
"Do you think that hat is too big for the average person?"
"I have to think..."
After asking Barless maybe a hundred questions, Hitzfeld finally nodded in satisfaction.
"That's basically it. Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Barrès."
"You're so kind miss...it's my honor to be of any help."
Ethan put away his notebook and pen.
Darent stamped his feet twice to stretch his muscles.
They looked like they were about to leave, and Jones, the store manager, could no longer sit still.
He first sent four store clerks to do some work, then came over to Hitzfeld and asked if there was anything else he could do to help.
"I thought you should know that we're not local detectives."
Hitzfeld stared at Jones.
"Yeah..." Jones laughed along, sweat on his temples.
"So the reason you avoided me at first and the reason you came here now are the same... Do you want to open your own store? Or do you want to leave Fellington and develop in Wayne?"
"...Oh my God!" Jones opened his mouth wide and took a long time to let out a sigh.
He received a letter from the head office three days ago, in which the company's top management appreciated his hard work and performance over the past ten years. They said there was an opportunity for him to be promoted to Wayne Port and asked if he was willing.
He had been thinking about this matter for the past few days. In essence, it was a good thing, but because he had no acquaintances in Wayne, he was reluctant to move.
But these detectives gave him a clue - the little notebook that the man showed at the beginning was completely different from that of the local police. He guessed that they were black-clad police officers from Wayne.
This was an opportunity he wanted to seize.
But he didn't expect it to be exposed so easily... He couldn't help but stare at the girl with a ghostly look, suspecting that she was an evil spirit who could read minds.
Chapter 31: Residents of Enling Road
"Don't be surprised." Hitzfeld looked at him strangely, his tone sounding very calm, "Since you have already guessed who we are, it's not surprising that we have this ability, right?"
"Not strange! Not strange!" Jones quickly agreed, and the panic began to turn into relief.
Indeed, as long as they are law-abiding residents of Sara, who would despise the powerful skills of those men in black?
The more powerful those guys are, the more likely it is that Sarah can maintain stability, and the more peacefully the residents can live and work.
So he should be happy...but he should not be so rebellious as to think that the other party is the incarnation of some evil spirit.
...Although she is really too beautiful and does not look like an ordinary human being.
"Let me think about it, you want to help--" Hitzfeld didn't care what he thought, she began to think about what else she needed to ask.
"Do you know about the New Lunso District?" After thinking about it, she decided to start with the basics.
"I know!" Jones puffed out his chest. "You've asked the right person, Officer! I live in the north district of the city!"
"Then you must know about Newlenso Cathedral and Grace Road."
"Ah... uh... you could say that."
He was still timid. Although he was ready to take a risk, he showed obvious fear when he heard the word "Enling Road".
Apparently, he had heard about Enling Road, at least knowing that a seven-year-old boy had died tragically there.
"We are also investigating that case." Hitzfeld nodded to him, "You seem to know a lot... But I remember that area has been blocked off, even newspaper reporters can't get in..."
"I-I actually live on Enling Road!" Jones explained hurriedly: "My home is at No. 3 Enling Road! But I basically don't go back to live there! I rented a house in Mengshuixian, and my whole family lives nearby!"
After his explanation, they finally understood his information channel.
No. 3 Enling Road is now an empty house, and the Jones family lives outside. But they still keep in touch with their former neighbor through letters. The neighbor just moved away from Enling Road at the beginning of this year, and happened to hear about the tragedy at the end of the street. In the letter, he advised Jones to move away as well.
So Jones didn't just want to seek career advancement when accepting the transfer order to Wayne, he also wanted to seek safety.
After all, Farrington is a small place, and the people who live here don't have much pursuit. They are satisfied as long as they can have enough food and watch opera. This certainly makes evil phenomena in Farrington relatively rare - because not many people have nightmares - but once an evil case occurs, it is almost impossible for the local police station to solve it on their own.
If we can't even solve it, then prevention is naturally impossible. Every time there is news of evil spirits, it is without exception a murder case, a tragic incident where people have already died.
Jones didn't want to make enough money and then encounter something weird and lose his life. Wayne's Eternal Night was said to be the safest, which prompted him to make up his mind to move.
"So you are familiar with the situation there?" Hitzfeld was a little surprised. He didn't expect that this trip would bring him unexpected gains.
"Big... probably familiar." Jones began to sweat again. He was still not used to making such a definite promise.
"Let's talk about the residents of that street first." This time Hitzfeld took out a notebook and pen himself, "Let's start with number 1."
Jones is a lazy donkey. Although he is capable, he needs to be whipped by others before he will move forward.
Under Hitzfeld's "questioning", he explained in detail the specific situation of the residents of Enling Road, and the result surprised Hitzfeld and others.
"You mean, there aren't many original residents living on that street? Many people have moved away?"
"Either moved out or sublet." Jones nodded.
"Why? Is there anything bad there?"
"It's not bad." Jones looked a little embarrassed. "No...it's just too good, so some people can't live here."
Hitzfeld was stunned for a moment before he realized what he was saying.
It’s actually a question of sense of distance.
The fact that the Order chose to locate the New Lunso Cathedral in a wealthy area does not really count as a kowtow to wealth.
They are more trying to help Fellington develop. Fellington cannot rely solely on opera culture, it still needs to develop business, so they deliberately provide convenience to business people.
The merchants were naturally happy about this. They were glad to be valued by the parish, but at the same time they were somewhat afraid of the knights who frequently patrolled nearby.
There is almost no businessman who is not afraid of having his property searched. There are always some traces left in their history of success and in their extravagant life after their rise. Once exposed, they may end up in jail.
Of course, the favor of the church parish will not change easily. Since they have decided to support the local economic development, they will naturally turn a blind eye to some things and not interfere.
But this doesn’t mean that we can just ignore it and feel at ease.
It's like a person you're not very familiar with sleeping at the door with a knife in his hand every day and saying that he won't hurt you. You know that what he says is true and he really doesn't intend to hurt you, but you will still be afraid.
Enling Road used to be a wealthy street, but because of this psychological change, many of the original residents left one after another.
They didn't dare to sell the property in order to maintain their relationship with the parish, so they sublet the house, and the tenants have changed several times in the past ten years.
"trouble."
Darent sighed.
They also asked Sheriff Daisy for general information about nearby neighbors.
The information hasn't been delivered yet, but they do have expectations for it. However, according to Jones, the residents of Enling Road are very mobile, which will greatly increase the difficulty of their investigation.
"Where are the Ponsons?" Hitzfeld asked again, "Do you have any impression of this family?"
"Yes." Jones nodded, and then added: "That family... is a little strange."
“What’s so strange about that?”
"them--"
Jones paused, frowned and gestured: "It's just... they don't seem to worry about those things at all. They have lived there for a long time."
"how long?"
"I don't know. I think it's been at least seven or eight years. They should be the only original owners. The others have moved away."
"Huh?" Ethan was stunned when he heard this, "What do you mean, what about No. 14? Aren't the Xinlai family the original owners?"
"No~" Jones sneered, "Who are they... That family rented the house just to get a bargain. The original owner of No. 14 died of illness, and the property was originally going to be donated to the church. It just so happened that they applied to settle in the north of the city, so the church rented the house to them at an extremely low price."
Hitzfeld half-closed his eyes and held his chin in thought.
"Is this strange?" Darent took over the task of questioning. "Your thoughts are really strange... It's obvious that you have something to hide, so why don't you allow them to do nothing wrong? Aren't you afraid of being searched?"
"This... this is not a question of bad things!"
Jones's face flushed.
"We didn't break any laws! Few people have the guts to do that!"
"Then what are you afraid of?"
"This - but there are always things that need to be dealt with!" Jones changed his personality and began to argue with him, "Those gifts, money, gifts given to each other in order to expand sales channels and build relationships...even...bribes!"
"There are always some, sir! It's unavoidable! We can't bring it up! But you can't blame us for it, who can live alone?"
"He's roughly right."
Hitzfeld suddenly spoke up.
"This kind of thing is difficult to manage. I believe Mr. Ponson has done it before. Maybe he just trusts the church more."
"But I have to correct you on one point, Mr. Jones. Bribery is illegal because the demands behind bribery usually rely on breaking the law to achieve their goals."
"This, Miss Officer..."
"Okay, let's not talk about this anymore." The girl raised her hand to interrupt him.
