Chapter 476: Technical Worker

After determining the number of cards to draw, people urged the old antique shop owner to deal the cards.

He excitedly dealt six cards to Mrs. Madame Sangmei first. Mrs. Madame Sangmei didn't hesitate and opened the cards directly. Although the first card caused cheers from the people—it was the special card 【Piano Piece · Summer Night】 of the Moon 3 suit—it didn't trigger the special rule that required "this card is not the first card, and all hand cards are of the same suit."

"There is still a possibility of a King or Wang Hou."

The female owner said somewhat unconfidently, and under the expectant gaze of people with widened eyes, she revealed the remaining five cards.

Every time she revealed a card, someone would whisper "King" or "Wang Hou," but the final total was 27 points, directly busting.

"It seems I won."

Xia De breathed a sigh of relief, but the old antique shop owner still dealt six cards for him.

In this situation, Xia De could actually choose not to reveal the cards; regardless of whether he busted or not, he would win. But people were expectant, and Xia De also wanted to win with some grace, so he gathered the six cards in front of him.

He reached out wanting to reveal the cards, but put his hand down again, turning his head to say to the black-haired young lady at the table:

"Tifa, you come and reveal the cards for me."

He called her by her name directly, and the maid didn't object, but instead laughed.

She walked to Xia De's side:

"Detective, what do you think the result will be?"

"Regardless of the result, I can accept it."

The fair hands revealed the cards one by one.

The first card, Sun 1.

The second card, Moon 1.

The third card, Star 1.

People's low discussions entered his ears from all around. No one wanted to disturb this scene, and Xia De was also surprised by such a result:

"Mrs. Madame Sangmei, you checked the dealing and shuffling yourself, so don't say we cheated."

"Rest assured, I can afford to lose, and these cards don't affect the result anymore. Let your friend continue to reveal the cards; her luck is truly excellent."

Tifa, who was standing, looked down at Xia De. After Xia De nodded, she reached out and revealed the remaining three cards.

Sun 2, Moon 2, Star 2.

Because the 1 and 2 of the Flower suit had already been obtained by Xia De in the second round, the six cards revealed by Tifa were theoretically the smallest possible situation.

The low discussions finally evolved into loud cheers and arguments. The probability of this card face appearing was even smaller than the probability of drawing a special card.

Mrs. Madame Sangmei sighed while covering her forehead, but there was still a smile at the corner of her mouth:

"Detective, your female assistant wouldn't be from a casino, would she?"

"Of course not, but she is indeed my lucky lady."

Xia De joked, and after smiling at Miss Servit, he gathered his cards, while the female owner threw the 【King's Secret Order · Substitute】 over.

When Xia De stood up, the black-haired young lady handed him his coat:

"This round was played very happily, so can the news I want be given to me?"

"Of course, but when the Big City Player officially starts next month, I won't let you win so easily."

Although it was a Rod Card gamble, Xia De still gave 20 pounds as an information fee in the end. He claimed he was a gentleman and wouldn't let a woman doing business in the Lower City lose too much money for nothing, but in reality, it was because he knew that the victory of this matchup had a lot to do with Tifa's dice-shaking technique.

And after the gamble ended, Mrs. Madame Sangmei also gave the address of the technical woman who was familiar with the blind musician according to the agreement.

Those women who engaged in flesh business at the Three Cats Inn during the night mostly slept or handled personal affairs in their own residences during the day. The Three Cats Inn provided venues and protection for their business, so they wouldn't be harassed by local gangs, nor would they be murdered by guests with ulterior motives.

Mrs. Madame Sangmei would extract a certain amount of protection money, but wouldn't provide them with accommodation or meals. After all, Mrs. Madame Sangmei considered herself a legitimate businesswoman, not a low-class procuress.

What the real name of the woman who was familiar with the deceased blind musician was, no one knew; the commonly used name was Mary. According to statistics, this was one of the most commonly used female names in this era.

Mary lived in a rental apartment in the Lower City of northern Tobesk, but it wasn't the kind of rental apartment with one room per person, or even one floor per person, but a rental apartment in a slum where one room was divided into several areas.

If it were just herself, it wouldn't matter, but Xia De didn't want to take Tifa to that kind of place. So he let the maid wait at the alley entrance, and Xia De found Miss Mary in the dilapidated apartment building where the wall skin was peeling, strange odors were everywhere, the corridors were piled with daily necessities, and there was almost no place to stand in the room, and brought her to the outside of the alley to talk on the street-side restaurant.

It just happened to be noon, so it could be considered treating her to lunch. Tifa still wanted to serve Xia De's meal in the maid's way, but was forced by Xia De to sit beside him.

"Mary" looked like a woman in her 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 with a distinctive technical worker's style, and her face was smeared with some inferior cosmetics. The smell of perfume, bought from who knows where, choked Xia De so much that he couldn't help but want to cough.

Except for her eyes being somewhat charming, this woman had nothing to do with "beautiful" in Xia De's aesthetics. Although it was very impolite, in Xia De's view, the other party was like a wildflower about to rot and disappear in a swamp. The slums of Tobesk were this swamp, which would swallow many people, not only their lives, but also their lives.

Hearing that Xia De was treating her to a meal, the woman followed Xia De out of the alley very happily. When walking out of the alley, she even wanted to hug Xia De's arm to take advantage.

But after seeing the black-haired young lady wearing a blue dress at the alley entrance, Miss Mary immediately became honest again, thinking she understood she had no advantage.

Because Xia De was treating, she didn't stand on ceremony and ordered a lot of food. Xia De didn't mind this; the restaurant on the street next to the slum wasn't expensive itself, and as long as he could get even a tiny bit of information, this trip would be worth it.

"I want to know about Mr. Frank Bondi."

After the woman finished ordering, Xia De said.

"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 here for many years.

And the people in the Lower City seemed to like using running away from debt to define a person who hadn't appeared for a long time.

"No, he died."

When saying this, Xia De also observed the woman's expression, but the latter didn't show any emotion, just raised her head, opened her eyes smeared with exaggerated eyeshadow, and asked curiously:

"How did he die?"

"Suicide?"

The woman was stunned for a moment, and said with a mouth slightly protruding with her lower lip:

"Oh, God, suicide is a great sin... But it's not strange. When I saw him during the last few times, his mental state was already problematic. Do you understand? Nervous, as if fearing something. When in bed, before it was always ****, but now he likes ******, and even buried his *** in my..."

"Enough, I don't want to hear these details."

Xia De frowned and interrupted, Miss Servit recorded without saying a word on the side, so this woman in her thirties hooked the corner of her mouth and smiled:

"Then what do you want to know?"

"Mr. Bondi, did he say anything strange? I went to the Noshan Opera Troupe where Bondi worked, but Mr. Bondi didn't mention it to his friends. I think you are probably the only person he said anything to."

"Yes, but..."

She twisted her fingers.

Xia De handed out another one-shilling coin, and the woman smiled and accepted it:

"He complained to me that he shouldn't have gone to the doctor to treat his eyes. After his eyes were healed, he always saw some blurry shadows at night, and later those shadows became clearer. He didn't say what he saw. Poor old Bondi was actually scared by himself. I've heard of similar things; it seems his eyes weren't treated thoroughly. Old Bondi had never seen things before, so he was scared by such small things."

"Strange things..."

Xia De glanced at Miss Servit, who nodded slightly. The speculation of the two yesterday seemed to be correct.

"Then, do you know that he always used a bright yellow oil to drip into his eyes?"

"Of course I know, that's the medicine the doctor prescribed for him. He must continue to use that kind of strange medicine, otherwise his vision would deteriorate until he became the blind man he was before."

"Since there is a way to make himself unable to see, so as to avoid the strange things in the dark night, why not stop using the medicine?"

Xia De asked again. The woman put her right index finger in front of her mouth and ground her fingernail with her teeth, showing a mocking smile:

"Sir, he has already seen the light, are you going to let him give it up?"

Xia De immediately thought of the words in Mr. Bondi's suicide note—

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

"So that's how it is. Not willing to lose his vision and return to the dark world before, yet constantly enduring fear, until he frantically gave up fighting against fate and ended his own life."

Xia De sighed and signaled Miss Servit to record this paragraph carefully.

"Cowardly man."

Miss Mary said, leaning against the back of the seat. She reached into her pocket and actually took out a thin, inferior cigarette, but seeing Xia De's gaze, she put the tobacco back.

"Did Mr. Bondi leave any belongings with you?"

Xia De asked again.

"No."

The woman answered very quickly.

"Lie."

Miss Servit suddenly spoke. Xia De wasn't surprised by this result.

"It doesn't matter, I have special persuasion techniques."

Xia De said softly, looked around, and seeing no one paying attention here, he took a one-shilling silver coin from his pocket with his left hand and took out his revolver with his right, placing them together on the table.

He looked at the woman sitting opposite him:

"Which one do you want as a reward?"

Thus, he successfully saw the items left by Mr. Bondi in the narrow apartment where Miss Mary lived.

A patched men's coat, a pair of black rain boots, a deck of old Rod Cards, two mismatched socks, an empty wine bottle, a few scribbled sheet music, a fountain pen with a somewhat rusty cap, and a flat arc-shaped bottle.

Inside the bottle was a bright yellow medicine like oil, and it filled half the volume of the bottle. This was exactly what Xia De found in the Noshan Opera Troupe.

Thus, he took away the bottle and the sheet music, and let Miss Mary keep the rest.

At this point, the investigation of the clues at the Three Cats Inn was completed. ===== CHAPTER 477 =====