Nodding secretly.
Next... you can go meet the suspect.
Chapter 5 Suspect 1
It was not difficult to meet the suspects because they were not accommodated in nearby hotels, but were all gathered together and "detained" in a sleeper car.
A sleeper car has 6 rooms, and each room can accommodate 1-4 people. Even if the total number of people is increased to 6, that is, including the crew members, one car can still accommodate them.
Hitzfeld also thought that there was nothing wrong with doing so. It would make it easier to watch over people, allow them to be brought in for interrogation at any time, and avoid various safety risks.
The only inconvenience is for the passengers themselves.
After all, something like this happened, and no one wants to be locked up with strangers.
Sheriff Rand found a police officer on guard and asked him to take them to the left - that is, to the road where they parked the car at the beginning, and a little further to the left of the intersection where the carriages blocked the road. All the way, he could be heard complaining that "those people are really troublesome."
"Yesterday he wanted to eat steamed meat with white taro paste, and today he wants to eat lamb chops with red wine. I have never seen such a spoiled person in my life. Everyone is almost fed up with it."
"Try to be patient." Sheriff Rand also frowned slightly. "This condition is a bit bad. It would be good if you can make up for it in other ways."
"That Mrs. Charles?" Hitzfeld asked from the side.
"It's her." The sheriff nodded, and it seemed that he was also troubled by this. "Normally I wouldn't indulge her, but this time the situation is special. I hope you can understand when we meet later."
Hitzfeld and Leon both knew what he was implying, and indeed - in an old city area surrounded by gangs, it was not excessive to ask suspects to gather in a carriage to be cared for, but it would be a different story if there were female relatives among them.
Although they were given a separate berth, it would be embarrassing to tell others about this experience. According to the folk customs of that era, it was normal for the other party to be dissatisfied.
Of course, the premise is that they are really just suspects, not criminals in disguise.
Li Ang opened his mouth to ask something, but before he could say anything, everyone heard a scream from the front.
"Hurry up!" Hitzfeld was the first to run. After a moment of hesitation, the others quickly caught up and ran to a carriage that was surrounded by five police officers. They saw a young police officer sticking to the window and explaining something.
"I'm sorry this happened, ma'am... We'll try our best to ask for you. If it's true, we'll bring him to justice!"
"What's the use even if we catch him!" A sharp voice came from the car window, "My reputation has been damaged! Can you still kill everyone who knows about this?"
"What happened?" Hitzfeld walked up quickly and asked the young police officer.
There was no greetings because both parties knew each other.
"It's you! Miss Hitzfeld!" The young police officer was worrying about how to comfort the other party. He turned around and saw the gray-haired girl walking towards him, and instinctively showed a surprised smile.
He knew this girl's abilities very well. It can be said that the reason why he was able to survive the chaos caused by Kuroki last time was directly related to the girl's several key suggestions.
"Mike." Hitzfeld called out his name and asked again, "What's going on? Why are you all gathered here?"
Officer Mike, Sheriff Rand's little henchman. Seriously speaking, he was the first policeman I met after traveling through time. It was this man who knocked on the door the night I encountered the nightmare.
"It's like this..." Mike half bent down and gestured with his hands to explain to her, "Mrs. Charles wants to take a shower, but there is no shower room in the carriage. We can only provide clean water and towels for her to clean herself simply."
"and then."
"Then maybe during this process." Mike stretched out his hand and pointed to the southeast wall. "She said she saw a window moving up there, and also said she saw a reflection in the telescope. She suspected someone was... um... defaming her."
Actually, he just meant to peek at her, but Mike didn't dare to say it directly, and his face turned red after he said it.
"What do you mean by doubt?"
With a whoosh, the window above was suddenly opened, revealing a woman's face that was also red.
"I know astronomy! How could I not know if this angle is the reflection of the sun? I told you to have curtains a long time ago but you just wouldn't listen. I really don't understand what the point of this kind of separation is? How can Bella and I sleep peacefully!"
Hitzfeld looked up at her and thought that she was indeed good-looking.
The woman was very angry, but she kept her expression under control and didn't let her face distort. But even so, traces of nasolabial folds could be seen, which showed that she was indeed not young.
And she was different from most of the noble ladies, unlike them, she was not a little fat. So if she didn't have a red face due to anger and didn't say these harsh words, she was actually a very beautiful and charming middle-aged woman.
"Mom - don't do this!" Then Hitzfeld heard a somewhat childish voice coming from inside.
"You always talk to others like this... Can you please stop? Dad said it's very uncultured..."
This must be Miss Charles, the girl thought.
Mrs. Charles had called her Bella before?
That's Bella Charles, and the voice sounds like she's only about ten years old...
She felt that there was no better opportunity than this, and immediately said, "Your mother is protecting you anyway. You can be considerate of her in words, but don't hurt her more."
“You are...?” The woman wanted to lower her head and scold, but when she heard this, she couldn’t help but tilt her head and stare at the girl below.
"Esun Hitzfeld." The girl nodded at her sternly, "Detective, Sheriff Rand asked me to look at this case."
"They should find some experts to take a look..."
Maybe it was because the girl's words touched her heart, or maybe it was because she let down her guard when facing the same sex, in any case, Mrs. Charles did not speak harshly to her like she did to other people.
But she...
She stared at the girl's fair face, doubting whether she was an expert.
"Miss Hitzfeld is a well-known detective in this area." Sheriff Rand came over quickly to help recite.
He couldn't say more.
The subordinates are all here, and directly saying "she will definitely gain something from coming here" is no less than implying that he and others are useless.
"I don't care how you judge, you'd better end this farce as soon as possible."
Mrs. Charles tapped her chin and pulled the window down again.
Sheriff Rand breathed a sigh of relief, then his face darkened: "Mike——"
"I..." Mike was at a loss for words, "I didn't expect this to happen... Sorry, Sheriff, this is my problem."
"Which window?"
"The one in the middle of the fifth row from the top." Mike pointed him out again. "He should be a tenant of the Soaring Bird Hotel - if that's the case."
"Troubles come one after another..."
Sheriff Rand cursed under his breath, then looked at Hitzfeld helplessly.
"Just take care of that." Hitzfeld nodded quickly, "Let Mike help us find the person... Oh, and the interrogation transcript."
"The transcript is in the next car." Mike rubbed his hands excitedly beside him. "Will you come with me, Miss Hitzfeld?"
Of course I won't refuse that.
The police officer who was approaching was ordered by Sheriff Rand to catch the Peeping Tom. Hitzfeld went to the next car to get the transcript, and then, accompanied by Mike, entered car No. 9 where the suspect was detained and officially knocked on the first door.
"Come in." someone said from inside.
Mike helped to open the door so that the girl and the "man in black" that the sheriff had told could enter.
The moment she entered the door, Hitzfeld frowned deeply - her face was covered with the smell of smoke, and the feeling of second-hand smoke was not pleasant.
"Feel sorry……"
Only two blurry figures could be seen in the smoke. One of them quickly stood up and went to the side to open the window, saying, "I didn't expect there would be a lady... Sorry."
After standing at the door and waiting for a while, letting the draft carry away the smoke, they finally saw the two people's faces clearly.
There were three iron beds in the room, each with two layers of bunk beds, and the two men were sitting face to face across the aisle.
The man standing up on the right has brown curly hair that looks like meat floss... His face is straight and broad, and he is wearing a dark brown suit. His rough skin shows that he often walks outside.
The man on the left is more refined, with black hair neatly combed back, wearing a white shirt and a grey vest, sitting on the bed with his legs spread wide, and shiny leather shoes on his feet.
He was still smoking, and from the time they knocked on the door to the time they came in, and then to the time they waited for the smoke to dissipate, he didn't show any reaction.
Although his companion also smoked, and they were the ones who created the bad situation in the room, the black-haired man was a bit arrogant and rude compared to the red-haired man who took the initiative to open the window and apologize.
Hitzfeld stared at his face and noticed that his eye sockets were very deep.
Very deep...and the line of the nose bridge is like a square ruler, which easily leaves a deep impression on people at first sight.
"I remember I told you guys not to smoke too much in here."
Mike didn't look very happy.
"You guys bought this, didn't you? How is anyone going to clean it up if the smoke seeps into the bedding?"
"According to this police officer, if we buy the carriage we can draw as many quizzes as we want?" the black-haired man said quietly.
"I wonder if this casually means letting us go?"
"Mr. Bilis..." Mike's brows deepened.
"Sorry, I'm not trying to embarrass you." The black-haired man smiled and raised his cigarette.
"Because of this incident, you detained me here, which will cause me to lose at least 50,000 Sera. I think this amount of money may have exceeded the local police station's expenditure for five years..."
"Here is 60,000 Sera."
Without waiting for others to react, Li Ang suddenly stepped forward, took out a checkbook and pen from his pocket, and quickly wrote down a line of numbers.
"As long as you can prove that you had nothing to do with this case—that Yankee Temple's going outside to smoke had nothing to do with your preference for smoking indoors—the money is yours now."
Is he so rich?
You are so rich, yet you still come to me for free food and drinks?
When Hitzfeld reacted, he was first shocked and then angry.
She suddenly realized that Li Ang didn't just come to play with her casually, and there might be other hidden stories behind this.
Looking at the pretending to be elegant "Mr. Bilis", he was stunned by Leon and stood there forgetting to speak.
I originally wanted to pretend and put pressure on this side, but I didn't expect that one of the people who came was richer than me.
Moreover, he really didn't dare to make that promise. Billis himself was not sure why the unlucky dead guy went out.
In addition, he was unsure of Li Ang's identity, which completely destroyed his momentum. After he came to his senses, he put out the cigarette obediently and sat up straight without saying a word.
"Well... I think we can talk about whatever we want..."
The red-haired man spoke at this time.
"I wonder if this lady is...?"
"This is Miss Hitzfeld, she's a detective," Mike introduced.
"Detective?" The black-haired Bilis frowned, "Has the police station in Blackwood City reached this point...?"
"Ms. Hitzfeld has helped the police before, but it's not what you think!"
Mike could hardly contain his anger.
This dog businessman is really despicable.
If he wasn't wearing this outfit, he would have wanted to go up and punch him twice.
"This is Mr. Bilis, so you must be Mr. Yoderal."
Hitzfeld changed the subject, walked to the innermost bunk, sat down, and stared at both sides.
"Sheriff Rand asked me for help. I can't guarantee anything, but I am good at checking the transcripts and filling in the gaps in the details."
"So please excuse me. I need to go through the interrogation process again."
The red-haired man, that is, Yoderal, quickly said that it was no problem. Bilis had a lot of opinions about this, but when he saw Leon standing next to the girl like a guard, he thought about it and swallowed his words.
So the trial proceeded normally.
Hitzfeld repeated several questions in the transcript to make sure their answers matched this time and confirmed that they were tobacco merchants from the two places.
"Then let's ask something different." She took out a pen, uncapped it and began to write at the end of the transcript.
"What is your impression of Mr. Temple?"
"He's not sociable," Bilis was the first to answer. "I offered him a cigarette but he refused it and didn't even bother to speak during the process."
He made no secret of his resentment about this.
"He really seldom spoke." Yoderal recalled, "I got on the train before him... I was the first person to get on the train, and his carriage was at the back. He saw him dragging his suitcase all the way back, and then I never saw him again."
"Wait." The girl interrupted him, "Then how do you know for sure that he doesn't like to talk?"
"That's what Miss Mary said." Yoderal glared and spread his hands. "I heard them talking about him being a quiet man, but giving tips very neatly."
"Ms. Mary is the flight attendant," Mike explained. "She is very capable and has done a lot of work for us."
