After determining the number of rhode cards to draw, people urged the old antique shop owner to deal.
He excitedly dealt six rhode cards to Mrs. Sangmei first. Mrs. Sangmei opened the rhode cards without hesitation. Although the first rhode card immediately caused cheers, it was the special rhode card 【Piano Piece: Summer Night】 of Moon 3. However, it did not trigger its special rule, which required “this rhode card is not the first rhode card, and all rhode cards in hand have the same suit.”
“It could also be a King or Queen.”
The female shop owner said with a slight lack of confidence, and in the eager gazes of the people, she turned over the remaining five rhode cards.
Each time a rhode card was turned over, someone would quietly shout “King” or “Queen,” but the final sum of the numbers was 27 points, a direct bust.
“It seems I win.”
Xia De breathed a slight sigh of relief, but the old antique shop owner still dealt him six rhode cards.
In this situation, Xia De could actually choose not to open the rhode cards; he would win regardless of whether he busted or not. But people were very expectant, and Xia De also wanted to win with some grace, so he gathered the six rhode cards in front of him.
He reached out to turn over a rhode card, but then put his hand down, turned his head, and said to the black-haired girl at the table:
“Tifa, you help me open the rhode cards.”
He directly called her by her name, and Miss Servite did not object; instead, she smiled.
She walked to Xia De's side:
“Detective, what do you think the result will be?”
“Whatever the result, I can accept it.”
The fair hands turned over the rhode cards one by one.
The first rhode card was sun 1.
The second rhode card was Moon 1.
The third rhode card was star 1.
People's low whispers drifted into their ears from all around. No one wanted to disturb this scene, and Xia De was equally surprised by the result:
“Mrs. Sangmei, you checked both the dealing and shuffling. Don't say we cheated.”
“Don't worry, I can afford to lose, and these rhode cards won't affect the outcome anymore. Let your friend continue to open the rhode cards; her luck is really good.”
Standing Tifa looked down at Xia De, and after Xia De nodded, she reached out and turned over the remaining three rhode cards.
sun 2, Moon 2, star 2.
Since Xia De had already obtained the 1 and 2 of the flower suit in the second round, the six rhode cards Tifa turned over represented theoretically the smallest possible point total.
The low whispers finally evolved into loud cheers and discussions. The probability of such a hand appearing was even smaller than the probability of drawing a special rhode card.
Mrs. Sangmei sighed, covering her forehead, but there was still a smile on her lips:
“Detective, your female assistant isn't from a casino, is she?”
“Of course not, but she is indeed my lucky lady.”
Xia De joked, and after smiling at Miss Servite, he gathered his rhode cards. The female shop owner then tossed over the 【King's Secret Agent: Imposter】 rhode card.
When Xia De stood up, the black-haired girl handed him his coat:
“This round was very enjoyable, so can you give me the information I need?”
“Of course, but when it comes to the official Great City Player competition, I won't let you win so easily.”
Although it was a rhode cards gamble, Xia De ultimately paid a 20-pound information fee. He claimed to be a gentleman and wouldn't let a woman doing business in the Lower City lose too much money for nothing. However, he actually knew that the victory of this game had a lot to do with Tifa's dice-rolling technique.
And after the gamble ended, Mrs. Sangmei also provided the address of the technical woman who was familiar with the blind musician, as agreed.
Most of the women who conducted business at the Three Cats Inn at night slept or handled personal affairs at their residences during the day. The Three Cats Inn provided a venue and protection for their business, preventing them from being harassed by nearby gangs or murdered by ill-intentioned guests.
Mrs. Sangmei would collect a certain amount of protection fees but would not provide them with accommodation or meals. After all, Mrs. Sangmei considered herself a legitimate businesswoman, not a low-class madam.
No one knew the real name of the woman who was familiar with the deceased blind musician; her common name was Mary. According to statistics, this was one of the most commonly used female names of that era.
Mary lived in a rented apartment in the Lower City of northern Tobesk, but it wasn't the kind of rented apartment where each person had a room, or even a floor. Instead, it was an apartment in a slum where one room was divided into several areas.
If it were just himself, it wouldn't matter, but Xia De didn't want to take Tifa to such a place. So he asked Miss Servite to wait at the alley entrance. After Xia De found Miss Mary in the dilapidated apartment building where the paint was peeling, strange odors permeated the air, the hallways were narrow and damp and piled high with daily necessities, and there was hardly any space to stand in the rooms, he brought her out to the alley and spoke in a street-side restaurant.
It happened to be noon, so it counted as treating her to lunch. Tifa still wanted to serve Xia De while he ate, in the manner of a maid, but Xia De insisted she sit beside him.
“Mary” appeared to be a woman in her late thirties, approaching forty. Her figure was slightly thin, her skin somewhat rough, her eye bags were heavy, and the blue veins on her wrists were clearer than anyone else's. She wore a red dress characteristic of a technical worker, and her face was covered with some low-quality cosmetics. The scent of perfume, bought from who knows where, was so strong that Xia De couldn't help but want to cough.
Aside from her eyes being somewhat charming, this woman had nothing to do with Xia De's aesthetic of “pretty.” Although it was impolite, in Xia De's view, the other person was like a wild flower about to rot and disappear into a swamp. The slums of Tobesk were this swamp, and it would swallow many people, not only their lives but also their livelihoods.
Hearing that Xia De was treating her to a meal, the woman happily followed Xia De out of the alley. As she walked out of the alley, she even tried to hook Xia De's arm to take advantage.
But when she saw the black-haired girl in the blue dress at the alley entrance, Miss Mary immediately became well-behaved, presumably realizing she had no advantage.
Since Xia De was paying, she ordered a lot of food without formality. Xia De didn't mind this; the restaurants on the street next to the slums weren't expensive anyway. As long as he could get even a tiny bit of information, the trip would be worth it.
“I want to know about Mr. Frank Bondi.”
Xia De only spoke after the woman had finished ordering.
“Old Bondi? Are you his creditor? No, I don't know where he went.”
Mary's accent was quite characteristic of Tobesk; she had probably lived there for many years.
And people in the Lower City seemed to like to define someone who hadn't appeared for a long time as having run away to avoid debts.
“No, he's dead.”
As he said this, Xia De observed the woman's expression, but she showed no emotion, merely looking up, her eyes, heavily made up with exaggerated eyeshadow, widened as she asked curiously:
“How did he die?”
“Suicide?”
The woman paused, and with her slightly protruding lower lip, she said:
“Oh, God, suicide is a great sin... But it's not surprising. The last few times I saw him, he was already having some mental problems. You know? He was jumpy, like he was afraid of something. When he was in bed, he used to be... but now he likes... and he would bury his... in my...”
“Enough, I don't want to hear these details.”
Xia De interrupted with a frown. Miss Servite was silently taking notes beside him, so the thirty-something woman curved her lips into a smile:
“Then what do you want to know?”
“Did Mr. Bondi say anything strange? I went to the Nuo Shan Opera Troupe where he worked, but Mr. Bondi never mentioned anything to his friends. I think you're probably the only one he said anything to.”
“Yes, but...”
She twirled her fingers.
Xia De handed out another shilling, and the woman took it with a smile:
“He complained to me that he shouldn't have gone to the doctor to treat his eyes. After his eyes were cured, he always saw blurry shadows at night, and then those shadows became clearer and clearer. He didn't say what he saw, but poor old Bondi was actually scared by himself. I've heard similar things; it seems his eyes weren't completely cured. Old Bondi had never seen anything before, which is why he was scared by such a small thing.”
“Strange things...”
Xia De glanced at Miss Servite, who nodded slightly. Their guesses from yesterday seemed to be correct.
“So, do you know that he always used a bright yellow oily liquid to drip into his eyes?”
“Of course, I know. It was a medicine prescribed by the doctor. He had to continuously use that strange medicine, otherwise his vision would worsen until he became blind again.”
“Since there's a way to make himself blind and thus avoid the strange things in the dark of night, why didn't he stop taking the medicine?”
Xia De asked again. The woman put her right index finger to her mouth, gnawed at her nail with her teeth, and showed a mocking smile:
“Sir, he has already seen the light. Do you want him to give it up?”
Xia De immediately thought of Mr. Bondi's words in his will—
“I was once deeply immersed in darkness but never lamented my fate, yet why must I now be shown the light?”
“So that's how it is. Unwilling to lose his sight and return to the dark world of the past, yet constantly enduring fear, until he went mad and gave up fighting fate, ending his own life.”
Xia De sighed, signaling Miss Servite to carefully record this part.
“A weak man.”
Miss Mary said, leaning against the back of the chair. She reached into her pocket and actually took out a thin, low-quality cigarette, but seeing Xia De's gaze, she put the tobacco back.
“Did Mr. Bondi leave any relics with you?”
Xia De asked again.
“No.”
The woman answered very quickly.
“Lies.”
Miss Servite suddenly spoke, and Xia De was not surprised by this outcome.
“It's okay, I have special persuasion techniques.”
Xia De said softly. He looked around, and seeing that no one was paying attention to them, he took out a one-shilling silver coin from his left pocket and a revolver from his right hand, placing both on the table.
He looked at the woman sitting across from him:
“Which one do you want as payment?”
So he successfully found Mr. Bondi's belongings in Miss Mary's cramped apartment.
A patched men's coat, a pair of black rain boots, an old rhode cards deck, two mismatched socks, an empty wine bottle, a few scribbled musical scores, a fountain pen with a slightly rusted cap, and a flat, arc-shaped bottle.
The bottle contained a bright yellow, oil-like medicine, filling half of its volume, which was exactly what Xia De had found at the Nuo Shan Opera Troupe.
So, he took the bottle and the musical scores, leaving the rest for Miss Mary to keep.
At this point, the investigation of the Three Cats Inn clue was complete.
