"Thank you Sheriff, but my situation is rather special and I will not see any doctor outside the system."
Sheriff Rand tapped him a few times, smiled bitterly, shook his head, and muttered something silently.
Hitzfeld stared at the co-pilot thoughtfully.
The trip to the beach and this goodbye allowed the data sample to be established. She browsed through the sample and found that Li Ang never coughed when eating.
It almost looked like he was coughing because he was hungry.
This is really strange, as the stomach and trachea have no connection.
But she didn't dwell on it too much. She put away the spread-out photos and talked about the case with Sheriff Rand while eating meat pie.
She didn't eat much at noon because she was busy persuading Ashley, which meant she only tasted a bite of every dish in the kitchen.
"Have all eighteen suspects been interrogated?" she asked.
"It's not that exaggerated." The sheriff shook his head. "The eighteen people include the crew members of all the carriages. There are only five actual passengers."
"Are you considered the car captain?"
"No, the front carriage is not even counted because it is too far away. If they want to do something to the deceased, they have to abandon their work and cross several carriages. It is impossible that no one saw them along the way."
"There are five real passengers. Is this including the dead?"
"Not counting the dead, there are six people in total, including Mr. Temple."
"Did they know each other before?"
"I definitely don't know them." The sheriff said firmly, "They are Mrs. Charles, Miss Charles, Mr. Yoderal, Mr. Bilis and Mr. Papaconi."
"Mrs. Charles and Miss Charles are a family. According to this lady, she had a conflict with her husband, and this time she secretly took her daughter out to relax."
"Mr. Yoderal and Mr. Bliss are both tobacco merchants, but Mr. Yoderal operates in Sicinna and Mr. Bliss operates in Wayne. The two men did not know each other beforehand."
"Wait." Hitzfeld stopped him from continuing. "These two people run a place in the west and the east respectively. How come they can get together and take a car to the south together?"
"They also said this." The sheriff nodded, "It's for better quality Goli tobacco."
"Mr. Bilis, there's no need to ask. His territory is in the capital, and it's normal for him to travel back and forth between Wayne and the south."
"Mr. Yoderal originally went to Wayne to find connections to get more goods. He actually said so. Then he heard that Wayne's supply of goods was tight recently, so he decided to go directly to Nanxinze, where Sara's largest cargo trading port is located."
"I was skeptical about this statement before I met you."
The sheriff tilted his head.
"But after seeing you guys...his thoughts are normal."
They both knew what he meant.
The core lies in the news revealed by Li Ang - Goli may be finished.
If Goli were to be destroyed, Goli's tobacco, tea, and various spices would not only be extinct, but it would also be extremely difficult to transport them back, and the prices would definitely not be the same as before.
But the Goliaths also have to sign contracts to do business. After landing, they must sign an agreement with the Sara officials to ensure that they will not sell the goods at a price much higher than the market price.
The standards are different every year, or rather every week, and are related to the harvest, changes in the situation and even the weather at sea.
Mr. Yodelal was most likely trying to take advantage of this loophole - if he could time the collection of the last few batches of contracted goods, then once the news spread, the value of the goods could potentially increase tenfold.
After quickly going through the information, Hitzfeld asked, "Where is the final suspect?"
"Actually we should call him Mr. Larson."
Speaking of this, Sheriff Rand sighed.
"His name is Papaconi-Larson. I learned a little bit about him... He is a very famous zoologist and botanist in the industry. This time he went to Nansingze to study a tropical insect."
"But he doesn't seem to like people calling him Mr. Larson. From the information I found, people around him, including his assistant, just call him Papaconi."
"Papaconi..." Leon smacked his lips, then suddenly trembled and covered his lips.
"Ahem - that doesn't sound like a Sarah name..."
"Male names with double syllables are more common in the southwest. Don't deprive them of their nationality."
Hitzfeld scolded him.
Although it is rare, it still exists.
But she was also curious about why an extremely famous zoologist and botanist would want to take this new route to the south.
Normally, shouldn't such people join various academic societies and knightly orders, and then use their achievements and connections to get a decent and high-end job, thus joining a new class?
"How old is he?"
"I am 47 years old this year."
"Then he is not young anymore." The girl sighed, "This is indeed rare."
It’s not like there aren’t scholars out there.
Those zoologists, botanists, archaeologists, oceanographers...these people's professions determine that they have to run, otherwise they can only talk about it on paper.
But that was when I was young and strong. At 47, my body function has seriously declined, and running too much may lead to sudden death.
This man gives up his wealth and glory and works hard for the things he loves. Although Hitzfeld has not met this man yet, he already has respect for him.
We chatted all the way and arrived at our destination.
The sheriff found a place to park, and Hitzfeld got out to look around and discovered that this was an old town street.
The street was very narrow, and Sheriff Rand's parking position would definitely be illegal in future generations, because the car almost blocked half of the road.
There are no prominent shops on both sides. On the left is just a row of vertical walls, and the storefronts on the right are almost all hotels.
These stores all look pretty shabby... they can't even afford signboards, and aside from the crooked license plates, the only thing that identifies them is the different-colored light bulbs that have been managed to hang in various locations.
Hitzfeld guessed that this was to provide directions to shop owners at night.
But the effect is good.
She looked up and made sure there were no street lights on this street.
It's hard to say how effective it is...
"Here, Hitzfeld." Sheriff Rand pulled his cap tight and waved over there, "I'll take you there... we still have to go a little further."
Hitzfeld hurried after them, scanning each store with his eyes, examining the various interior scenes in turn.
Probably because business is bad, 80% of the stores are empty.
The occasional people who came were mostly young women. Their clothes were not warm enough for the season, and their faces were covered with heavy makeup, so one could tell at a glance what they did.
Hitzfeld was a little annoyed.
She thought of Dailin and Bricher... She began to wonder why these women chose this path, and when the little snowball she had been pushing in secret would grow bigger and crush all these rotten things.
I'm really crazy...
Then she herself felt that she was too sensitive.
Such scenes were not uncommon even in previous lives, and they cannot be eradicated by reasoning or deliberately changing anything.
Or, I should do my part first...
The three of them had walked less than twenty steps forward when Hitzfeld knew they had arrived.
Because there was a small slanted turn ahead, although it would take another twenty steps to reach the intersection after the turn, the cordons, the police officers stationed nearby, and most importantly - the freight car blocking the intersection, had already indicated that this road was blocked.
"and many more."
Calling the two people who were about to move forward, Hitzfeld paused and turned to look at the alley on the right.
The old city is full of old buildings. Of course there are gaps between them, and this dark alley is one of them.
"Hitzfeld?"
Sheriff Rand tilted his head slightly.
He couldn't understand what the girl was struggling with.
Under his gaze, Hitzfeld first looked at the carriage from a distance, then turned around and squeezed into the alley.
"Hitzfeld!"
This scared Sheriff Rand.
You know, the police have always had poor control in the old city.
People with a little money are afraid of them, but those with nothing are another matter. Unfortunately, there are a lot of poor people like them in the old city, and most of them have joined local gangs, living a life of drunkenness and debauchery every day, not caring about what tomorrow will bring.
This kind of person is capable of doing anything, so he quickly squeezed in, fearing that something might happen to the girl.
"interesting."
Li Ang stood there and touched his chin. He also imitated the girl, looking at the carriage and then at the alley. It was unknown whether he realized something or not, but the corners of his mouth began to slightly curl up.
Then he followed, and the three of them moved sideways inside.
This tastes terrible.
The alley was so narrow that only Hitzfeld could walk straight ahead without rubbing against the wall.
Hitzfeld wouldn't do that because the wall was too dirty and she didn't want to ruin her dress.
The alley was full of sewage, and to say that it stank was an understatement. Fortunately, the sections of the road with sewage were paved with bricks, and Hitzfeld walked over them like a deer, without getting stained by any filth.
"The presence of these things means that there are people walking around here often?"
After walking this distance, the girl turned back and asked Sheriff Rand.
"That's it..."
Sheriff Rand had already taken out his handkerchief and covered his mouth and nose.
"A lot of gangs roam these alleys, so be careful, they might have guns."
Hitzfeld nodded and didn't stop.
She first went straight, stopped at the next intersection, and began to observe the situation in the distance through the gap.
"Go ahead and you'll reach Beagle Street," Sheriff Rand introduced her. "There's the largest vegetable market in the Red Leaf District. Once you pass through it, it'll be bustling."
"The right side is the road we drove on before. The left side... you just saw the carriage in front. The left side leads to the railway line. Generally speaking, no one will run that way."
"So this railway passes through the Red Leaf District?" Li Ang caught up and asked casually.
"Correct."
"If this place is so dangerous, why did Reising Company build the route here?"
"The existence of gangs is not all bad," said the sheriff. "At least their leaders know what they can and cannot touch. They still don't dare to do anything bad with the railroad tracks... because they get a share of the money every year from the railroad tracks being built here."
"Anyone who dares to cause trouble like this will be besieged by others."
Li Ang nodded to show that he understood.
"There's another reason," Hitzfeld said. "The red leaf area is too big. It's not cost-effective to bypass it, and it would overlap with other routes."
The older the city area, the more difficult it is to renovate, let alone build a railway line on it.
She suddenly went into the alley on the left and insisted on getting through here despite Sheriff Rand's calls.
After measuring the length of the road with his steps, Hitzfeld had an idea in his mind - about twenty steps, not much different from walking from outside to the front of the carriage.
When I walked out of the alley, the sunshine I had expected did not come.
Hitzfeld glanced at the ground beneath her feet. She was standing on a very cramped spot, which was more like the outer edge of a building base than a platform. There was almost no foothold, and she had to be very careful if she wanted to walk along this edge.
Below was a slope made of large stones and cement. Below the slope was a ditch, and the water in it smelled just like the solidified black oil, giving off a terrible smell.
Ahead of the ditch was a small gravel road with railroad tracks on it. A huge snake was lying on it, and police officers on duty could be seen not far away.
This should be the Line 4 train that had the accident.
Hitzfeld thought to himself.
This route was specially opened up and it passes through the middle of residential houses, resulting in the railway itself being not much wider than the alley.
Looking up, Hitzfeld looked at the walls on both sides.
There are very few windows, and they are opened in irregular patterns, which should be the work of the owner himself.
Water was seeping through the dark wall, reflecting the little sunlight that came from the sky. Hitzfeld looked up along the light and saw a thin white line above him.
The atmosphere is still quite good.
