Chapter 2394: Feringa

The information about the appearance of the altar was very important. Mr. Bernhardt continued to add:

"After all, they are not core members of the 【Dragon Feast Cult】, so they don't know much about the function of the altar itself. But at least it can be confirmed that the descent of that god is definitely not a matter of an instant. Even if the ritual begins, the time required exceeds twenty minutes."

This is very reasonable. The more powerful the god, the more difficult it is to descend into the material world, so the summoning rituals of the True God Churches are very complicated every time.

"Also, they mentioned that during the god's descent ritual, the 【Dragon Feast Cult】 will create large-scale chaos in the entire Moon Bay area. They don't know the specific method, but they said that this time 【Blood Spirit School】, 【Truth Society】, 【Tyranny Club】, 【Light-Seeking Seminar】, and some illegal Ringed Shushi groups from overseas will all participate."

"It's really a big move."

Xia De sighed:

"Was there any mention of evil objects?"

Mr. Bernhardt and Mr. Albert both shook their heads, the former said:

"They only know this much. However, they know some strongholds of the 【Dragon Feast Cult】 in and outside the city. I plan to inform the Church through the black market, and I will also take people to clear them up myself. Before the final decisive battle, I should always do something."

So Mr. Bernhardt left soon. I'm afraid he won't be free all Saturday. However, before leaving, he stuffed a piece of paper to Xia De. Xia De guessed that it should be the materials he had prepared to assist that blood-sucking Duke's "God Summoning Ritual."

The morgue was left with only Xia De and the coroner. The two looked at each other, waiting for the other to speak first.

Xia De did want to ask some questions, but finally he just said:

"We are going to look for cards in a while, it shouldn't take too long, right?"

"At most one morning."

Ptolemy Albert guaranteed. Seeing that Xia De didn't ask other questions, he pointed to the door:

"Mr. Watson, let's go."

This time the two acted together not only to find cards, but the real purpose was to help Mr. Albert solve a tricky matter. Xia De didn't know what specific matter it was, but when the two left the morgue, Mr. Albert roughly described some of the causes of the matter:

"I have many good friends locally, especially in the Lower City. When these friends encounter difficulties, sometimes they will ask me to solve them. Probably at the beginning of this year, one of my friends welcomed her nephew and her nephew's fiancée who came to rely on her. Of course, the two are now married.

That friend is Mrs. Fox who lives in Silver Spoon Alley in the Lower City. Her husband passed away long ago, and now she lives alone. Her nephew and his wife can live with her, and she is also very happy."

"That sounds pretty good."

"Yes, but probably a week ago, Mrs. Fox's nephew and his wife disappeared. She found me and my friends through channels, but after a preliminary investigation, we only knew that the young couple was involved in the three precious Luo De cards event that stirred up the city. Although Ringed Shushis have different special abilities, my friends and I are not particularly good at investigation and search. Armand said you are a very good detective, so I came to you for help."

Mr. Albert, wearing a brown cowl, said, but although searching for missing persons is urgent, he dragged Xia De to find someone at such a time before the decisive battle, and there must be other purposes.

"Are there any clues at present?"

Xia De temporarily treated this as looking for someone, and he was indeed good at this.

"Go to Mrs. Fox's house and take a look first, maybe you can find things we didn't notice."

"Okay, oh, speaking of which, the names of the missing persons are..."

"You can ask Mrs. Fox directly in a while. I only know that the couple came from the North, and the surname is 'Feringa'. They have a large amount of savings. Now Mr. Feringa is a maintenance worker in a local steam factory, and Mrs. Feringa is a family tutor for nobles. Not the kind that lives in, and she teaches more than one person." 【2394-

"You can ask old Mrs. Fox directly in a moment. I only know that the couple came from the North, and their surname is 'Feringa'. They had a large amount of savings; currently, Mr. Feringa is a mechanic at a local steam factory, and Mrs. Feringa is a private tutor for the nobility. Not the live-in kind, and she teaches more than one person."

Xia De nodded:

"Feringa, a very familiar Northern surname."

Silver Spoon Alley is not far from Spider Alley, so the two walked through the fog to get there. Old Mrs. Fox lived in that three-story building at the entrance of the alley; she lived on the first floor herself, rented the second floor to her nephew and his wife at a low price, and used the attic-style third floor to store miscellaneous items.

Mr. Albert climbed the steps and knocked on the door, and then a middle-aged woman opened it. Seeing it was Mr. Albert, the slightly plump woman even smiled and said:

"Mr. Albert, you're here? Mrs. Fox and I just finished breakfast, and we were just talking about when you and the detective you found would come."

After speaking, she looked at Xia De, the smile on her face becoming even more obvious:

"Look at this handsome young man, Mr. Albert, is he married? I have a niece who is currently studying painting at the Moon Bay Art Academy, and the painting she did, 'Charles Danwin's Nightmare', even won an award this year."

Mr. Albert smiled gently:

"Good morning, Mrs. Fogman. I'm truly sorry, this detective has a fiancée."

"That is truly a pity."

The plump lady introduced herself to Xia De again:

"I am here temporarily to take care of Mrs. Fox. After her nephew went missing, she lived alone, and we were very worried, so we take turns coming to look after her."

As she spoke, she led the two inside, and Xia De asked Mr. Albert in a low voice:

"Are they neighbors?"

"No, they are friends from the 【Eternal Light】 mutual aid group. The people in the group are organized by the priest and volunteer to help Mrs. Fox."

Mr. Albert replied, and Xia De nodded in understanding.

Old Mrs. Fox was an elderly woman who looked to be in her sixties or seventies, but her spirit was still quite good. She had almost no clues about the disappearance of her nephew and his wife, only saying that last Wednesday, a week ago, the Feringa couple went out and never returned.

The old lady's hearing was not very good, so she could not explain whether she had heard strange noises or the like before.

After receiving permission, Xia De and Mr. Albert used the key to open the second-floor door to conduct a search. Mr. Albert had actually been here once before; the good news was that at least no corpses were found in the house.

"Very strange."

After looking around a little, Xia De said:

"Why are there no photos of that newlywed couple here?"

Seeing the coroner raise an eyebrow, Xia De explained further:

"The couple moved in at the beginning of the year, and now it is already August, the Month of Blooming Flowers; summer is almost over. After such a long time, in the entire second-floor bedroom and study, there isn't a single photo of them? Also, does the Moon Bay region not have a tradition of taking wedding photos?"

Mr. Albert nodded very seriously:

"There is a wedding photo tradition. Yes, it is indeed not right, so, is there a problem with the couple?"

"Did you search this place carefully last time?"

Xia De asked again, and Mr. Albert shook his head:

"Last time I just came to take a look, and the others didn't feel comfortable rummaging through someone else's house, so we just confirmed there were no bloodstains or suspicious odors and left. Oh, and there were no traces of supernatural power either."

"So this place still maintains the appearance it had before the Feringa couple disappeared?"

"Yes."

The two were currently in the study. The decoration of the study in such a dilapidated house was actually not very good, but fortunately, the Feringa couple seemed to be the type of people who were very good at tidying up a house. The walls were clean and tidy, the floor was not spotless but very clean, decorative landscape oil paintings hung on the walls, and the beige curtains, which looked like they had been installed recently, were more avant-garde than the dilapidated furniture inside.

"Very warm, very much a home feeling."

Xia De said softly, his eyes looking at the stack of newspapers on the desk; the side of the newspaper facing up happened to reveal a photo of Margaret. This was the 'Tatton River Morning News', the third-largest regional newspaper in the Moon Bay area.

Xia De flipped through a few more, and Mr. Albert asked:

"Is there a problem with these newspapers?"

"The dates are not consecutive, but almost every issue has news about Princess Margaret."

"It is normal for local newspapers to continuously report on that Highness when the princess visits Moon Bay."

"Yes, normal... Let's go to the bedroom."

The bedroom was larger than the study. Xia De did not rummage through the tables and nightstands inside, but went straight to open the wardrobe.

Mr. Albert wanted to stop him, but Xia De had already started rummaging:

"It's not here... The washroom."

He hurried to the washroom, and seeing the towels stacked on the washbasin rack, Xia De's eyes lit up. He bent down and carefully unfolded the neatly stacked towels, already having a guess in his heart:

"There's such a thing?"

"I've read the 'Hamilton Detective Stories', and although the autopsy parts in them aren't particularly realistic, at least the stories are very interesting. Mr. Watson, do you also like to speak in riddles like the detective in them?"

The coroner with messy black hair asked again, and Xia De shook his head while holding the towel:

"The towel isn't important, but the way this towel is folded is very strange. I just went to check the wardrobe, and the way the clothes inside are folded is very normal; I thought I had guessed wrong. But she changed her old habit of folding clothes, and in the end, she still ignored the towel issue."

Xia De draped the towel on the rack:

"Only a noble's maid would fold towels like this, because one has to consider the convenience of taking them for the next use, as well as the preservation of those expensive towels. Based on my... based on my understanding of the maid industry, the mistress of this house was probably a maid for a high noble in the past. Most people probably wouldn't notice such details, and even elite agents might not necessarily know the training manual for royal maids."

"Royal?"

Mr. Albert hesitated:

"This matter is more complicated than I thought. I asked you for help, just wanting you to know that we are actually... we won't be dragged into big trouble, will we?"

"Probably not, I think I might have run into acquaintances."