Chapter 136

"What?" Charlie couldn't believe his ears.

Lu Mian was equally surprised and cast a sympathetic look at Charlie.

He felt that Charlie had no motive to murder Mrs. Alice; after all, as long as she was alive, Charlie could receive 500 verl d'or every month for the next half year, and according to some magazines and newspapers, this was close to the monthly salary of doctors, lawyers, mid-level civil servants (section chief level), high school teachers, senior engineers, and deputy police inspectors. For someone who had almost starved to death before and could now only work as an apprentice waiter, this was a very considerable fortune.

Seeing his two companions walking upstairs, the officer who handcuffed Charlie explained simply:

"This morning, Mrs. Alice was found dead in her room at the White Swan Hotel, and according to many witnesses, you slept there last night and didn't leave until close to midnight."

Charlie was both fearful and confused:

"How could it be, how could she die..."

Muttering to himself, he suddenly looked at the officer and said urgently:

"She was still alive when I left, really! I swear to Saint Viev! "

The officer said in a deep voice:

"According to the preliminary autopsy report, Mrs. Alice's time of death was between 11:00 last night and 1:00 this morning, and apart from you and Mrs. Alice, there were no traces left by anyone else there."

Maybe the others weren't human? Lu Mian couldn't help but mutter to himself, associating it with the Monsuri Ghost.

If he didn't lack sufficient disguise now and wasn't unwilling to attract the attention of the detectives, he would definitely have said it out loud.

"Impossible, damn it, this is impossible!" Charlie's eyes widened, and he shouted loudly.

Just at this moment, one of the policemen who had quietly left earlier came down from the fifth floor, holding a diamond necklace that shimmered with brilliance in his white-gloved left palm.

"I found this!" he said to the leading officer.

The officer nodded, stopped explaining to Charlie, looked at him, and said seriously:

"Charlie Corrent, you will be arrested for a murder case; you have the right to remain silent, but everything you say will become evidence in court."

"I didn't! Do you hear me? I didn't!" Charlie shouted shrilly, struggling with all his might.

This had no effect; he was carried away from the "Golden Rooster Hotel" by two policemen.

At this time, several tenants had already come to the stairwell upon hearing the noise and saw this scene.

This included Gabriel, who seemed to have just finished an all-nighter of writing.

"Do you think Charlie did it?" Lu Mian looked at the corridor where there was no longer anyone and asked the playwright standing beside him thoughtfully.

Gabriel had come out early and roughly understood what had happened to Charlie.

He shook his head and said:

"I don't believe Charlie did it; he's not a good person, but he's not a bad person either."

"Why do you say that?" Lu Mian turned his head to ask.

Gabriel pushed up the black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose:

"He was cheated of his money before and almost starved to death, but he never thought about stealing items from us neighbors.

"This shows that he either has his own principles and bottom line, or he is very afraid of the law, and regardless of which possibility, it is enough to prove that he wouldn't go and murder that lady."

Lu Mian nodded first, then laughed softly:

"But people can be impulsive, and people can change."

After speaking, he went up the stairs floor by floor until he reached the fifth floor.

This was the top floor of the "Golden Rooster Hotel," and the ceiling above had large patches of traces where it had been wet by water and dried, seemingly leaking water whenever there was heavy rain.

Lu Mian walked to the door of Room 504 where Charlie lived, took out a small piece of wire he carried with him, and opened the wooden door.

Charlie's suitcase, bed, and wooden table had been rummaged through by the two policemen earlier, and various items were placed in a messy way, but their quantity was quite limited.

—When chatting with Charlie in the basement bar earlier, Lu Mian had heard him mention that during his unemployment, he had pawned his only suit and mortgaged quite a few things, and until now, he hadn't had the ability to redeem them.

As he stepped inside, his gaze moving slowly, Lu Mian suddenly saw a portrait.

It was pasted on the wall opposite the bed, depicting a woman wearing a green long dress.

The woman looked to be twenty-seven or twenty-eight, with reddish-brown hair, emerald eyes, red lips, exquisite features, and an elegant temperament.

Lu Mian stared for a moment, feeling that the woman in the painting was very familiar.

He knew that this should be the famous prostitute Suzanne Mathis, whom Charlie had mistaken for Saint Viev.

But he had never seen this woman before, so there was no reason he would find her face familiar.

After pondering for a while, Lu Mian suddenly remembered something.

When he was dancing the Dance of Derivation in Room 207 some time ago, he had attracted a semi-transparent figure that was obviously stronger than other creatures.

That figure was also female and very similar to Suzanne Mathis in the portrait, only one had cyan-green hair and the other reddish-brown, one long enough to wrap around her naked body and the other only able to be coiled into a normal bun.

Also, that figure was more bewitching, as if it could directly trigger the hidden desires in everyone's heart, while Suzanne Mathis's portrait didn't make Lu Mian feel excited.

"Did random praying bring about problems?" Lu Mian nodded imperceptibly.

If it were the old him, he wouldn't think there was any problem with what Charlie did at the time—if he could really avoid the fate of starving to death, let alone thinking it was the patron angel of Trier, even if he knew it was a prostitute, he would pray devoutly.

And now, having gained a certain understanding of the entry-level sequences of the twenty-two divine pathways, sacrificial taboos, and related mysticism knowledge through Aurora's witchcraft notes, Lu Mian knew that sometimes, random praying was a very dangerous thing.

After checking for a while, he left Room 504, took the carbide lamp, went to Market Avenue, and took a public carriage to the Observatory District.

On the way underground to the area where Osta Trul usually haunted, Lu Mian occasionally looked at the patches of darkness behind the stone pillars.

Regarding this, he mocked himself with a laugh:

"Won't I run into the Monsuri Ghost again, will I?"

If that were really the case, he would have to consider whether there was a special connection between the Monsuri Ghost and something on him, or if the corruption of that person, although sealed, had indirectly changed his "constellation," making his luck extremely bad.

Fortunately, Lu Mian's worry didn't become reality; he successfully saw the bonfire and saw Osta Trul sitting below the stone pillar.

This man wearing a hood and a black robe revealed a heartfelt smile after spotting Lu Mian:

"Mr. K has allowed you to participate in our mysticism gathering, every other Wednesday at nine o'clock in the evening."

Osta's eyes were exceptionally sincere, as if he were saying it was time to pay up.

Nine o'clock the night after tomorrow... Lu Mian nodded with a smile:

"Where is the location of the gathering?"

"Come find me at the place I'm staying an hour early, and I'll take you there." Osta replied without hesitation.

Lu Mian said "Mm":

"I'll pay you the balance then."

"Alright." Although Osta was a bit disappointed, he could still accept it.

Lu Mian turned to ask:

"Is there anything I need to pay attention to when participating in that gathering?"

"Cover your face and hide your identity well." Osta said with rich experience, "You don't want other participants to sell you out after being caught by the official authorities, right? Except for Mr. K who can grasp everything, no one else can."

Lu Mian laughed:

"You've already seen my face and know my identity; after the first gathering, should I consider burying you in some corner of Underground Trier?"

Osta shuddered instinctively and forced a smile:

"You're really humorous.

"But I don't know who you are, nor do I know where you live or what you do, and your current appearance probably isn't your most real state either."

After scaring the other party and reaping the pleasure, Lu Mian found a rock and sat down, enjoying the warmth brought by the bonfire while chatting casually:

"Have you heard of Suzanne Mathis?"

"I know." Osta replied with some excitement, "For a period of time, she was my dream lover; I bought quite a few posters and postcards with her photos. In the past few years, she was the most famous prostitute in Trier, the kind who could attend high-society banquets, and had scandals with many councilors, high officials, and wealthy people; it's said she could earn hundreds of thousands of verl d'or every year, but in the last two or three years, she hasn't appeared much, having her status as Trier's famous socialite snatched away by 'Nana.' Sigh, she probably became someone's fixed mistress."

Hundreds of thousands of verl d'or? Lu Mian was somewhat shocked:

"A high-class socialite earns more than the vast majority of bestselling authors?"

"Isn't this very normal?" Osta had an expression of 'what's so strange about this,' "High-class socialites can sleep in the beds of councilors, bankers, and high officials, but bestselling authors can't."

Lu Mian said with a mix of amusement and self-mockery:

"That's true; the poet Bolaire once said that writers and prostitutes are no different, the only difference being that one sells thoughts and the other sells their body." (Note 1)

"I prefer the body." Osta was quite honest.

Lu Mian asked again:

"Then have you heard of a legend about a female ghost? Her hair is cyan-green, long enough to wrap around her body, her features are very exquisite, and she can bewitch the vast majority of men, triggering their desires."

"No." Osta shook his head.

He then said with a yearning expression:

"If there really were such a female ghost, I would really like to encounter her once."

Lu Mian stood up and laughed softly:

"Then prepare yourself to come dozens of times in one night and eventually die of sudden death."

"..." Osta's expression froze on his face instantly.

3:00 PM, No. 27 Market Avenue, Honest Man Market District Police Headquarters.

Lu Mian, who had spent nearly 300 verl d'or to purchase three sets of clothes of different grades, affordable cosmetics, and other disguise props, appeared in the exceptionally noisy lobby where people came and went.

Some were brought in, some left luckily, some were arguing loudly, splashing curses, some were pounding tables and knocking on stools...

Lu Mian, with his blond hair neatly combed back, black-rimmed glasses on his nose, two mustaches pasted on his mouth, and a noticeably pale face, wore a black suit and carried a brown briefcase as he walked toward a male police officer responsible for reception.

He stopped in front of the other party, lifted his head slightly, and said very confidently:

"I am Charlie Corrent's pro bono lawyer; I want to see my client."

Note 1: I remember it was Bolaire who said it, but I couldn't find the source for a moment; it's also possible someone else said it.

(End of chapter)