"Police station?"
"It's even more impossible... His whereabouts are normal, just like before, just going shopping, going home, and visiting Dr. Bram from time to time."
"Doctor Bram?"
Hitzfeld's one eye widened.
"Sir, are you sure?"
"I swear on my faith in the Goddess of the Sun."
Old Bud was a little annoyed: "I saw him walk into the doctor's house with my own eyes...You are insulting my morality!"
"Okay, okay."
Hitzfeld exhaled, put on the pen cap, put away the notebook and stood up.
"That's what happened... That's really interesting..."
"What's interesting?"
"Nothing, I have gained a lot. Thank you, Mr. Bud, this silver coin is your reward."
"One more thing to ask of you. Please keep the conversation that just happened a secret from others."
Coming out of the house and finding Mickey, the young man asked her what she had gained.
"He doesn't know anything."
The girl rubbed her hair in distress.
"If we can't figure out what the Blood-Patterned Gold Curse is about within this week, I plan to go back with my assistant."
Chapter 20 Bram's Quirk
Hitzfeld didn't let Mickey go back with him.
When she was about to pass by the Ram Hotel, the most glamorous and tallest building in the town, she took out a small notebook on the street and wrote something.
"Swish..." Then he tore off the paper, folded it in half and handed it to Mickey, saying, "Please take this to Ms. Fister."
"You want to go back alone?"
"Well, it's been about three hours now. I plan to take everyone in the house to a safe area to see if the curse will spread."
Mickey promised her that he would deliver the note, and from the looks of it, there was no way he would open the note and read its contents.
But Hitzfeld didn't care.
This conversation with the lamplighter gave her a lot of inspiration. If she looked at this case as if it were a fog before meeting old Bud, then when she came out, she had already roughly outlined its context in her mind.
But there is a premise, that is, she guessed correctly.
“There is still a lack of evidence.”
Watching Mickey's figure disappear in the hotel, Hitzfeld frowned slightly.
The most important thing is that even if everything goes as she wishes, if the root cause of the curse is not solved, "gap people" will continue to appear.
After returning, Hitzfeld took a special walk around the Gebrina house.
This building is not small.
Although it only has two floors, the interior space is very spacious. There are more than eight separate rooms on the second floor.
During the day, at noon, it was a rare day with bright sunshine.
Some dazzling light pierced through the clouds and shone on the girl. She could only squint her eyes and try her best to measure the data with her sight.
It really doesn't match.
She pursed her lips.
The living room on the first floor is about 3 meters high, and judging from the house she lives in, the second floor will not be more than meters high.
But the overall height of the house is much greater than the sum of all the data, and it shouldn't be like this even if the wall panel spacing is taken into account.
She guessed the house also had a attic, or storage room.
And, most likely, it's right above her room.
"Um..." A shrill voice came from behind.
Turning around, Hitzfeld saw a girl with dark brown hair.
Helen Gebrina, one of Mickey's two sisters.
"Is there something wrong?" Hitzfeld asked directly.
"I...I want to remind you."
"Ok?"
"That's it..." The girl finally mustered up her courage and said all her thoughts in one breath: "Dr. Bram is a truly good man, please don't doubt him anymore!"
"Oh." Hitzfeld half frowned, "That's what you came to me to talk about."
"Yes."
"You're Mickey's sister."
"Yes?"
"You like doctors?"
“Yes… Ouch!?”
Not realizing that she had fallen into the other party's trap, Helen covered her face with her hands, her cheeks like ripe apples.
"No... I didn't... I just didn't react... Please don't take what I just said seriously..."
"Don't be afraid." Hitzfeld walked over and gently put his arm around her shoulders.
"There is no one else here, and I am an outsider."
"I have to leave after I solve your problems, don't I? No one else knows you, and you don't have to worry about me spreading the news..."
With her comfort, Helen gradually calmed down.
And there was admiration in her eyes as she looked at Hitzfeld.
Really, that's amazing... Miss Hitzfeld.
He looks about the same age as me, or even shorter than me.
But no matter what happens, he is always so calm and has his own opinions.
I wish I had half the courage that Miss Hitzfeld has.
Helen didn't know that Hitzfeld was also nervous.
During the month she was left there, she read all the manuscript notes left by her ladyship.
Not only did it enrich her knowledge, it also allowed her to become an apprentice in perfume making, allowing her to simply make some solid spices with special effects... such as the calming incense she had taken out before.
But the most crucial thing, which she thought was the most useful, was the manuscript that recorded her experience in solving the case.
She learned many of her techniques from there.
This type of method is no exception when it comes to comforting girls like we are doing now.
It was the first time that Hitzfeld used this method on a young girl, and he was a little nervous.
"You can tell me your sorrow."
She preached to Helen.
"My client is Gebrina. You are a member of this family. I have an obligation to keep your secret."
"I……"
Helen was just a genuine country girl who had never seen the world, and she confessed it directly.
"Well, well... I can tell you that I do like Dr. Bram."
"But Dr. Bram doesn't like you."
“Yes… and no.” Helen kept shaking her head. “He looked at me with burning eyes. Many times, I swear I was right. But whenever I tried to get closer to him or find a chance to be alone with him, he would always walk away, as if I were some kind of monster.”
"And there's another very strange thing... This burning sensation doesn't always occur. When he's doing serious work... like diagnosing or performing surgery, the way he looks at me feels incredibly strange, as if he's not looking at me, but a warm corpse..."
"Is there such a thing?"
Hitzfeld rubbed his chin.
The latter statement could be explained by occupational disease, but the former... She remembered Bram's panic at the time.
It sounds like his affair with Helen has been noticed by many people and has even turned into a rumor.
If Helen's feeling was correct and he really did have feelings for her, then why would he deny it?
This isn't something shameful, is it?
He was already an adult, and Helen had already turned 18. The Gebrina family was considered relatively wealthy in the town, so a marriage between the two families should be a good thing.
"Can you tell me what he likes to do?"
"Usually? He usually just does the usual things...diagnosis, prescribing medicine, surgery...and going to Middle-earth City to buy medicine and equipment."
“Oh yeah, he also loves fishing!”
Helen's eyes lit up.
“He goes fishing every Saturday!”
"Saturday?"
Hitzfeld frowned, "Isn't he afraid of something happening outside?"
“We have expressed similar concerns.”
Helen's spirits dropped.
"But he is very skilled. The ordinary thugs are no match for him. And he is also a great shooter. He once exploded six bottles in one go at a shooting festival held at the Horseshoe Bar."
"He said he would be fine, and that he would always come back before the eternal night. As time went by, we just stopped caring about him."
"Will this be very hard?" Hitzfeld asked, "Fishing gear and the like..."
“He doesn’t carry any fishing gear.”
"……Um?"
"I mean, he only brought fishing gear with him, but he didn't bring any back. Because those things were indeed a bit complicated, including a fishing net... He always went to set up these things on Saturday, sat there for most of the day, and then came back before the eternal night. On Monday, he went to look for them again and brought them back to town together with the fish he caught."
"…Is there nothing else?"
"Nothing."
Hitzfeld calculated that today was Wednesday.
"Go and wake them all up."
She waved to Helen.
"Once we have determined the geographic extent of the curse, we will have to perform an autopsy. It would be best if we could complete this today."
Chapter 21: Faceless
At Hitzfeld's urging, the people in the house gradually woke up.
After staying up late and sleeping for only 3 hours, most people felt very tired, but Darent was the only exception.
The thin man was full of energy, his eyes as bright as a night owl who had just woken up at 1 .
Sheriff Macan broke his promise and did not come at the agreed time. Hitzfeld and Darent agreed that he was still sleeping.
"Then leave him alone."
Darent clapped his hands, "Let's do it ourselves!"
He and Hitzfeld worked together to begin relocating other families within the curse range.
Because they had been called at the door last night accompanied by police officers, the other five families were relatively cooperative. They were moved to the center of the town along with the Gebrina family - in theory, they would not be affected by the curse here.
