Mr. Bondi, the musician, was born with his eye condition.
He is forty-one years old this year, unmarried, and lives alone in an apartment in the Lower City.
Xia De greatly admired such a blind person living alone.
Although forty years of life might have accustomed him to fumbling in the dark, having the courage to live alone still made Xia De, who had never experienced blindness, feel immense admiration.
The alley where Mr. Bondi lived was called Rotten Fish Alley, and its name alone indicated it was an inconspicuous part of the City.
The City's travel map did not show the location of this alley; only on the map left by Sparrow Detective could it be found in an inconspicuous corner of the City's north.
Sparrow Detective had penned small notes, annotating the alley, stating that loan-sharking gangs could be found around Rotten Fish Alley, and with certain secret signals, one could even find people selling illicit drugs...
Xia De set off from Saint Delan Square, first taking a carriage to St. Anthem Square in the Lower City, then walking north along the bustling northern streets of St. Anthem Square, alongside children running wild.
The weather was quite good today, and Xia De was not in too much of a hurry.
At the five-way intersection at the end of the street, he chose the northwest direction, and after turning into the street, he walked into the second alley.
Carefully avoiding the feces and garbage piles on the ground, he covered his mouth and nose with his raised collar, passed through the alley, and arrived at the entrance of a slum centered around a large locust tree.
Continuing west along the slightly wider alley, he navigated between the old, dilapidated apartment buildings towering there, knowing he was on the right direction by observing the direction of the gas pipes along the walls.
After passing a charred, uninhabited empty building that had been burned by fire, Xia De finally saw the two side towers and the gray stone suspended corridor connecting the two towers.
Crossing the archway under the long corridor was the area of Rotten Fish Alley, and upon entering, Xia De understood the naming convention of this alley.
The entire alley was filled with the smell of dead fish, a smell different from the scent of mermen Xia De had smelled in Coldwater Port, and also different from the smell of fresh live fish.
He guessed that a nearby house might have been used as a warehouse by a seafood dealer, otherwise such a strong smell would have no reason to be there.
Xia De was worried that Mia would be overwhelmed by the stench on him when he returned home.
The blind musician Frank Bondi, who lived alone, resided on the first floor of apartment 13, Rotten Fish Alley.
Xia De found the house by following the faded and rusted doorplates, and after knocking, he hesitantly saw the door open a crack.
The door was not locked at all.
Of course, he would not intrude into someone else's home without permission, so he stood at the doorway and called out:
“Is Mr. Frank Bondi at home?”
If that gentleman was not at home, then he could only be performing with the Nuo Shan Opera Troupe.
He was initially worried that no one would answer, but unexpectedly, almost as soon as Xia De finished calling, a grumpy male voice came from inside the house:
“Bondi? He’s dead.”
Then footsteps appeared, and a bearded man, a head shorter than Xia De but slightly plump, walked out.
Although his voice was irritable, he looked quite kind.
“Dead?”
Xia De on the doorstep was a little surprised:
“Excuse me, I am looking for the blind musician Frank Bondi, is he really dead?
How did this gentleman die?”
He asked urgently.
“I am the landlord of this house, who are you?”
But the bearded man did not answer the question immediately, but asked with a frown.
Xia De immediately put his hand into his pocket, then pulled out a one-shilling coin:
“I am this.”
“Oh, I see.”
Squinting at the coin and taking it into his hand, the man's tone became much softer:
“You’re too late, Frank committed suicide in the middle of last month.
Right here in my house, he got some illicit drugs, and after taking a large amount, he screamed frantically and crashed around the house.
When the upstairs tenant came down to check, Frank was already beyond help.
That poor man gave his suicide note to the upstairs neighbor, and he passed away on the way to the hospital… oh, what a poor man.”
The man shook his head with some sadness.
From Sparrow Detective's information, Frank Bondi had lived here for many years.
As the landlord, the bearded man must have known the blind musician for many years, so it was normal for him to feel such emotions when talking about his death.
“Middle of last month.”
Xia De was a bit troubled; the matter of Mercury Blood was nearing its end in the middle of last month, and he did not expect such a change to occur in this commission at that time.
He had only intended to check on Frank Bondi's recent situation and then go to the client to submit a report after the visit.
Now it seemed, it was still prudent to investigate further:
“Excuse me, before he died, were his eyes still cured?”
“Yes, so we all couldn't understand why he would give up hope of living after finally curing his eyes.”
The landlord said.
“Then, may I ask if you read his suicide note?
Where is the suicide note now?
I want to know the reason for that gentleman's suicide.”
Saying that, Xia De again offered a one-shilling coin.
He did not use his MI6 identification because there was absolutely no need; if he used his identification for every small matter, it would greatly increase the chance of Xia De's agent identity being exposed.
“We did not read the suicide note; Frank asked us to send it to the Nuo Shan Opera Troupe.
He left all the furniture he had purchased to me, and gave his other possessions to the Opera House.
Sir, if you want to see the suicide note, you can go to the Opera House to see it.”
Xia De bit his lip, not expecting a seemingly simple commission to become complicated.
After thinking for a moment, he asked again:
“Then, before that gentleman died, did he say anything, or show any strange behavior?”
The bearded landlord stood at the door, hesitating, seemingly pondering whether he should speak.
Xia De immediately reached for his pocket again, but the man waved his hand, refusing:
“I was just wondering whether I should tell others about his condition after that poor man died.
Sir, I see you are also a respectable person, and you should not spread what I am about to say.”
“Yes.”
Xia De nodded immediately.
“Alright then, for a period before Frank died, he had some mental problems.”
The bearded landlord pointed to his own head, making a helpless expression:
“He seemed to be afraid of something.
He used to be blind, but now he was very afraid of darkness and sudden noises.
This mental problem became even stronger before his death.
So, regarding his suicide, we were only surprised, but not very confused.”
The bearded man sighed, lowering his voice:
“We suspect he had been taking those illicit drugs before, which is why he gradually became mentally deranged.”
Xia De, however, expressed doubt about this.
It sounded like the blind musician Frank Bondi's mental problems occurred after his eyes were cured.
“If you want to know more about his condition before he died, you can go to the ‘Nuo Shan Opera Troupe’ and the ‘Three Cats Inn’ in St. Anthem Square; he often went there to pass the time.
Also, he left a last message before he died: ‘I was once deeply in darkness but never lamented my fate, but why must I now be shown the light?’”
Xia De frowned:
“Did Mr. Bondi’s eye condition worsen again?
Did he commit suicide because he couldn't accept becoming blind again?”
“We don't know about that.”
The landlord shook his head, then gave Xia De information about the Nuo Shan Opera Troupe's location.
Next, Xia De could go to the Opera House and the Three Cats Inn to inquire about news, but because he wanted to see the suicide note first, Xia De decided to go to the Nuo Shan Opera Troupe to check the situation first.
Established opera troupes generally have their own permanent bases for daily rehearsals and administrative work.
But unfortunately, as a locally well-known opera troupe, the Nuo Shan Opera Troupe's base was not in the Lower City in the north of the City, but near the Tobesk Grand Opera House in the south of Tobesk.
Within Tobesk City, there is generally a distribution of Southern Nobility (higher elevation, mostly noble residences), Northern Poverty (Tobesk Lower City, lower elevation, more slums), Eastern Wealth (more wealthy individuals and rich merchants), Western Grime (relatively more textile factories, steam machinery factories, and foreign merchants), and Central Authority (Yodel Palace, Kingdom administrative departments, City Hall, embassies and consulates).
The University District is located between the core City, the Southern City, and the Eastern City, so most famous Opera Houses in the City are distributed in the southern and eastern parts of the City.
Therefore, seeing that it was getting late, Xia De first took a carriage back to Saint Delan Square, and had lunch with Mia.
After lunch, he stayed at home for an hour, flipping through books, avoiding the midday rest period, and then set off again by carriage.
Although the daily life of a Detective is very leisurely, once he gets busy, time is truly very tight.
Finding the Nuo Shan Opera Troupe did not cause any trouble.
The Opera House's base was in an office building with yellowing walls, and the Opera House's sign hung on the top of the building, but probably due to its age, most of the letters made of gas pipes were missing some horizontal or vertical lines.
When Xia De arrived downstairs, the old gatekeeper mistook him for an opera enthusiast visiting an actor, and only allowed him to enter after he took out his business card.
The inside of the building was also very lively; not only were there clerical staff walking around with documents, but Xia De even encountered a group of young girls with heavy makeup and wearing patched coarse linen dresses, laughing as they came down the stairs at the corner of the staircase.
One of them even whistled at Xia De, which made everyone laugh.
In short, after some effort, Xia De finally met the director of the Nuo Shan Opera Troupe.
The two met in the slightly narrow office with yellow wallpaper covered in performance photos.
After Xia De explained his purpose, the tall, monocle-wearing middle-aged man looked at Xia De's business card in surprise:
“Hamilton of Thunder Jeed?”
“You know me?”
“How could anyone in Tobesk not know you?
Do you need me to change to better black tea for you?”
“No, that's not necessary.
I am on a commission and would like to inquire about Frank Bondi's situation.
May I see his suicide note?
Also, did this gentleman show any abnormal behavior after his eyes were cured?”
The knight's title saved Xia De a lot of trouble, and the director of the Opera House was very willing to help Xia De.
He not only retrieved Mr. Bondi's suicide note from the filing cabinet but also showed Xia De Mr. Bondi's belongings from the troupe.
As for the blind musician's behavior during the last period of his life, the director allowed Xia De to talk to anyone in the Opera House and inquire about those who were familiar with Mr. Bondi.
