Chapter 472

Talking to strangers to find clues is not something that can be completed in a short time, so Xia De spent two hours in the afternoon visiting and questioning different people at the Noshan Opera Troupe.

Similar to the bearded landlord's account, the people here also said that after Mr. Bundy's eyes were cured three months ago, he was very happy for a few days, but then his mood became gloomy, and he gradually became afraid of the dark and afraid of being alone.

He became neurotic, and even made some mistakes during the opera troupe's performances.

As for the situation of taking contraband drugs mentioned by the bearded landlord, the people in the opera troupe did not notice it. In their impression, Frank Bundy was a friendly and extremely self-disciplined person. Mr. Bundy did not even smoke; he only tried to get in touch with Luo De cards after his eyes were cured.

As for that suicide note, the musician spent a large portion of it writing about his life and lamenting his existence. The distribution of assets at the end was consistent with the bearded landlord's account, and at the very end, he mentioned the cemetery location he had chosen for himself and thanked his neighbors, the landlord, and his friends at the Noshan Opera Troupe for their care over the years.

The date on the suicide note was the day Mr. Bundy committed suicide. The expressions in the text were clear, and the arrangements for his assets and cemetery were very organized. It was just that the writing style was extremely manic; the letters looked like the terrible language written by a frantic madman in a state of insanity after witnessing an unknowable existence.

Because Mr. Bundy used to be blind, Xia De specifically asked the troupe director if he could write normally before, and learned that the musician could write, and his handwriting was quite good.

"Hmm, this is getting more and more wrong."

So Xia De asked for the sheet music manuscripts written by Mr. Bundy after his eyes were cured. After comparing them with the suicide note, the detective believed that the suicide note was indeed written by Frank Bundy himself. But the clear writing logic and the manic writing style made him very concerned.

The musician did not mention the reason for his madness in the suicide note, and the reason for his suicide was not written either, simply stating at the end:

【I was once trapped in darkness and never lamented my fate, but why must you let me see the light now.】

【I am too tired.】

The second to last sentence was basically consistent with what the bearded landlord said, which made Xia De increasingly suspect that it was the eye problem that led to the musician's suicide.

Frank Bundy also left behind quite a few belongings in the troupe. The director had someone open the storage room door for Xia De, letting him search the shelves himself.

So Xia De checked the musician's notebooks, personal clothing, water cup, unfinished tea bags, the knife for sharpening pencils, and other items one by one, but after looking through them, he did not see a diary in the cardboard box.

Perhaps three short months had not yet allowed him to develop the good habit of keeping a diary.

In the end, only two items caught Xia De's attention: one was a notebook containing sheet music composed by Mr. Bundy himself, and the other was a flat, round, curved small bottle with a trace of light yellow, oil-like liquid at the bottom.

The notebook was purchased by Mr. Bundy after his eye ailment was cured. Every page had a date. After regaining his sight, the musician composed at a rate of almost one piece per week. It was just that the further the dates went, the more slender, sharp, and manic the musical notes written in black ink became. By the last page, they were almost identical to the handwriting on that suicide note.

As for the liquid in the bottle, only a layer remained at the bottom. After Xia De carefully poured them onto his finger, the voice in his ear prompted that there were extremely faint traces of spirit in the liquid.

It was not the four elements, but pure spirit, because the mystical traces were truly too weak.

"The content is so weak, was it diluted, or did it just occasionally get contaminated with traces of spirit? Can this be considered a potion?"

To be cautious, after informing the opera troupe director, Xia De took away the notebook containing the sheet music and the empty bottle.

Before leaving, Xia De also learned the purpose of those liquids. Many people in the troupe had seen Mr. Bundy drip those liquids into his eyes, claiming that it was a medicine prescribed for him by an ophthalmologist.

"Things are getting more and more complicated."

Because he spent the entire afternoon investigating and questioning at the Noshan Opera Troupe, by the time Xia De left the troupe with two clues, it was already approaching evening.

Seeing that it was getting late, Xia De did not intend to visit the ophthalmologist and the client, Mr. Mandis, involved in the commission under the cover of night, nor did he intend to go to the Three Cats Inn at Chant Square to continue the investigation.

Coincidentally, the Noshan Opera Troupe's headquarters was not far from Miss Galina's manor outside the city. Xia De thought for a moment and decided to pay a visit.

It wasn't that he wanted to sponge a dinner, but he wanted to find Miss Galina and have her arrange for a musician to play the last few pieces of the sheet music Xia De had obtained. Xia De wanted to use this to judge the specific mental state of the other party during the last period of his life.

And he didn't let the professional musicians in the opera troupe play it because Xia De was worried that problems would arise and affect ordinary people; such things should be handled with caution.

Although Miss Galina's manor was outside the city, because the surrounding area was full of noble manors, timber yards, and high-end horse farms, the carriage drivers in the city were also willing to go there. In the carriage, Xia De thought it would be inappropriate to visit empty-handed, but picking a bunch of wildflowers after getting off the carriage seemed even more inappropriate.

So in the end, he could only get off the carriage in front of the manor gate empty-handed. After paying the fare, the manor housekeeper, who knew Xia De, had already ordered someone to open the manor gate to welcome Xia De.

"Is Miss Galina in? This visit was not scheduled. If she has gone into the city, could you find a carriage to take me into the city?"

That way he could save the return fare.

"The young lady is in the manor, but she is meeting with an important guest."

The middle-aged housekeeper said very carefully and arranged for Xia De to wait in the lounge for a while. Xia De also happened to have time to look more carefully at the notebook containing the sheet music, but for an outsider like him who knew nothing about the music of this world, this sheet music was even more obscure and difficult to understand than ancient documents.

Because at least he could understand ancient documents.

Xia De did not wait long in the reception room on the second floor of the manor before the manor's maids brought him tea and snacks, and even asked Xia De if he wanted to have dinner at the manor.

But Xia De was still thinking about going home to eat with Mia, so he shook his head and refused.

And when he finally finished flipping through the sheet music again, Miss Galina's personal maid, Miss Tifa Servit, pushed the door and walked in. She seemed to always wear this set of maid's clothes; since Xia De had known this lady, he had never seen her wear anything else.

"Mr. Hamilton, the young lady is having a dinner party with an important guest today, so she doesn't have time to meet with you tonight. She asked me to ask if you have anything important; if it is not urgent, I can handle it for you."

Miss Galina is a powerful duchess of the Delarion Kingdom, so of course, she wouldn't be as leisurely as Xia De every day. So, Xia De didn't expect the other party to drop important matters to meet with him.

He stood up from the sofa:

"It's nothing important, I just got a piece of sheet music that might be strange, and I wanted someone to help play it."

Briefly describing the commission regarding the ophthalmologist, Xia De handed the notebook to Miss Tifa Servit.

She flipped through it from front to back, and when she saw the last page, she indeed frowned. She is a Ringed Sorcerer, and in all likelihood, she could understand this sheet music, so the problems she could see were even greater:

"It was a very correct idea of yours not to let the ordinary people at the Noshan Opera Troupe play it. Mr. Hamilton, please follow me, I will play it for you."

As she spoke, she beckoned Xia De to go to the soundproof music room on the second floor of the manor mansion, which was the room where Miss Galina practiced the violin.

"Miss Servit, what instruments are you proficient in?"

Xia De asked curiously, walking out the door with her.

"I know a little bit of both piano and violin."

She said very modestly.

To prevent the sheet music left by the blind musician before his death from affecting ordinary people, after arriving at the music room, the maid asked the other servants in the manor to wait outside the music room, leaving only her and Xia De in the room.

This was Xia De's first time in this room. Compared to the so-called professional music rooms he had seen in his hometown, the decoration style here was more... expensive. The floor was covered with a red carpet, the uneven sound-absorbing walls were pale yellow, the instruments he could see were mostly gold, the oil paintings on the walls were probably antiques, and each of the instruments in those white wooden cabinets and glass display cases should be worth more than Little Mia.

But at least the piano was black. After opening the lid, the black and white keys reflected the light of the gas lamps in the room, and the neat and cold appearance made Xia De like it very much.

Although the world was different, the types of instruments were very similar, but for an outsider, there was actually no difference, because he knew nothing about instruments from any world.

Letting Xia De have some mental preparation, the black-haired girl carefully held the fabric of her long skirt behind her body and then sat in front of the piano. She flipped the notebook to the last piece of sheet music and stood it up. Those hands, which Xia De saw pouring tea almost every time he appeared, flicked flexibly a few times, ten slender, fair fingers moved up and down, and then landed on the keys.

Xia De sat on a high stool with a cushion on the side. When the first musical note rang out abruptly, he was still guessing the possible price of this instrument in his heart, and again tried to measure it using "Mia" as a unit of measurement.

And when the musical notes connected into a string and rushed into his ears, he initially felt that it was actually nothing, but then he became increasingly irritable in his heart, and his brows couldn't help but frown.

Miss Tifa Servit's piano technique was quite good, and her fingers danced on the keys. The manic music made Xia De feel more and more uncomfortable. Although he didn't understand music, he agreed that brilliant sheet music and performers could express their emotions through the melody.