The notebook of the Antigonus family was in the room opposite the kidnappers!
Although it was a coincidence, Klein was convinced that his feeling was not wrong.
He immediately rolled out of bed and quickly took off the old clothes he wore to sleep.
He picked up the white shirt beside him and put it on, quickly buttoning it from top to bottom.
One, two, three... He suddenly noticed that a button was "missing", and the two sides didn't seem symmetrical.
Looking closely, Klein realized that he had buttoned the wrong ones from the beginning, making the shirt distorted.
He shook his head helplessly, took a deep breath, and slowly exhaled, using some meditation techniques to regain some composure.
After putting on the white shirt and black trousers, he managed to put on the shoulder strap under his armpit and took out the revolver hidden under the soft pillow, placing it inside.
Not bothering to tie a tie, he put on his formal suit, holding a hat in one hand and a cane in the other, and walked to the door.
Putting on the half-high silk top hat, Klein gently turned the handle and opened the door, entering the corridor.
Carefully closing the bedroom door, he descended the stairs almost soundlessly like a thief, leaving two lines of words on the living room's pen and paper, indicating that he had forgotten to mention company business last night and needed to arrive early today.
Stepping out of the door, Klein immediately felt a refreshing cool breeze, and his entire body calmed down.
The street in front of him was dim and quiet, with no pedestrians, only the light of the gas lamps shining quietly.
Klein took out his pocket watch from his inner pocket, snapped it open, and found that it was just six o'clock. The crimson moonlight had not yet completely faded, but there was already a hint of brightness on the horizon.
He was about to look for an expensive hired carriage when he suddenly saw a double-horse, four-wheeled, trackless public carriage coming.
"So early and there's already a public carriage?" Klein was slightly surprised and walked up to it, waving to stop it.
"Good morning, sir." The driver skillfully stopped the horses.
The person beside him responsible for charging the fare covered his mouth and yawned.
"To Zoltran Street." Klein said as he took out two 1-penny coins and four half-penny coins from his trouser pocket.
"4 pence." The person responsible for charging the fare answered without hesitation.
Handing over the fare, Klein got into the carriage and saw that it was empty, with no other passengers, giving off a distinct sense of desolation in the dimness.
"You're the first one." The driver smiled and said.
The two brown horses started walking, moving relatively briskly.
"Frankly speaking, I didn't expect there to be a public carriage so early." Klein sat near the driver and casually replied to divert attention and relieve the tension in his heart.
The driver self-mockingly said:
"From six in the morning to nine in the evening. But my weekly salary is only 1 pound."
"No rest time?" Klein asked in surprise.
"We take turns to rest one day a week." The driver's tone became heavy.
The person beside him responsible for charging the fare added:
"We work from six in the morning to eleven in the morning, then go for lunch and a break. After dinner, at six o'clock, we replace our colleagues... Even if we don't need to rest, the two horses do."
"It wasn't like this before. Since some drivers got too tired and made an unexpected mistake, causing the horses to lose control and the carriage to overturn, this rotation system was implemented... How could those vampires suddenly become kind!" The driver scoffed.
Under the illumination of the dawn, the public carriage headed towards Zoltran Street, picking up only seven or eight passengers along the way.
After slightly easing the tension, Klein stopped talking and closed his eyes, replaying yesterday's experiences frame by frame to see if there was anything he had missed.
When the sun rose completely and the sky became truly bright, the public carriage arrived at Zoltran Street.
Klein pressed his hat with his left hand and jumped off the carriage. He strode into No. 36 Zootland Street and climbed the stairs to the outside of the Black Thorn Security Company. At this moment, the door was closed and had not yet been opened. Klein took out the key ring from his waist, found the brass-colored one, inserted it into the hole, and turned it with a "click". He pushed the door forward, allowing it to slowly open, and saw Leonard Mitchell, with black hair and green eyes, lightly sniffing the latest popular cigarettes. "In fact, I prefer cigars... You look very eager?" The poet-like night watchman asked casually. "Where's the captain?" Klein asked in return without answering. Leonard pointed to the partition: "His office. As a 'Sleepless' promoted to the extraordinary, he only needs to rest for two hours during the day. I think those factory owners and bankers must love this potion the most." Klein nodded and quickly passed through the partition, seeing that Dunn Smith had already opened the office door and was standing at the entrance. "What's the matter?" He was wearing a black windbreaker and carrying a gold-inlaid cane, his expression calm and serious. "I had that 'seems to have seen somewhere before' feeling. It should be that notebook, the Antigonus family's notebook." Klein tried his best to control himself, making his answer clear and orderly. "Where?" Dunn Smith's face didn't change much. But Klein's inspiration told him that there seemed to be a subtle, intangible fluctuation in the other person, which might be the flash of a spirit or a change in emotion. "It was at the place where Leonard and I rescued the hostage yesterday, opposite the kidnapper's room. I didn't notice it at the time, but I got an inspiration in a dream." Klein made no concealment. "It seems I missed a very big credit yesterday." Leonard, who had walked to the partition position at some point, chuckled. Dunn nodded slightly and solemnly ordered: "Let Cohen Li replace Old Neil to guard the armory. Let Old Neil, Fry, and us go over there." Leonard no longer acted frivolous and immediately informed Cohen Li and Fry in the night watchman's entertainment room. One was a "Sleepless" and the other was a "Grave Digger". Leonard wore a felt hat, a shirt, and a waistcoat, temporarily acting as a coachman, occasionally flicking an imaginary whip in the air to make a crisp sound. Inside the carriage, Klein and Old Neil sat on the same side, opposite Dunn Smith and Fry. This "Grave Digger" had skin so pale that it seemed he hadn't been exposed to the sun for a long time or was severely anemic. He was about thirty years old, with black hair and blue eyes, a high nose bridge, and thin lips. His temperament was cold and dark, as if there was a faint smell left from constantly touching corpses. "Tell me the details again," Dunn adjusted the collar of his black windbreaker. Klein rubbed the yellow crystal pendant hidden under his sleeve, starting from accepting the commission and going all the way to the dream. Old Neil beside him chuckled: "It seems you and that Antigonus family notebook have some kind of fated connection. You could run into it like this." Yes, this is too coincidental! If it weren't for Leonard mentioning earlier that the preliminary investigation results of the kidnapping of Elliot showed that there was no hidden force or mysterious power involved, but just a simple case of taking risks for money, I would suspect that someone deliberately arranged it... Klein was also quite puzzled by this. Too coincidental! Dunn didn't express an opinion, as if lost in thought. The "Grave Digger" Fry, also dressed in a black windbreaker, remained silent as before. It wasn't until the carriage stopped and the building Klein mentioned appeared outside the window that this solemnity was broken. "Let's go up, Klein. You and Old Neil walk at the back. Be careful, you must be careful." Dunn got off the carriage and took out a strange left-handed revolver with a noticeably longer and thicker barrel from his pocket, putting it in his right pocket. "Okay." Klein wouldn't dare to rush to the front. After Leonard found someone to watch over the carriage, the two of them entered the staircase in an orderly manner, walking very lightly to the third floor. "Is it here?" Leonard pointed at the room opposite the kidnapper. Klein tapped his forehead twice and activated his spiritual vision. .
In this state, his inspiration rose again. He felt that the door was familiar, as if he had entered it before.
"Right." He nodded affirmatively.
Old Neil also activated his spiritual vision and observed carefully before saying, "There's no one inside, nor any magical aura."
"Undertaker" Fry added hoarsely, "No evil spirits either."
He didn't need to activate his spiritual vision to see many spirits, including evil spirits and vengeful ghosts.
Leonard stepped forward, just like yesterday, and punched the door lock.
This time, not only did the surrounding wooden boards shatter, but the lock also flew off with a snap and clattered to the ground.
Klein felt an intangible seal vanish instantly, and immediately, he smelled a strong stench.
"Decomposed corpses," "Undertaker" Fry stated coldly.
He showed no sign of nausea.
Dunn stretched out his right hand wearing black gloves and slowly pushed open the door. The first thing that caught everyone's eyes was a fireplace. In the middle of July, there was an abnormal heat emanating from it.
In front of the fireplace was a rocking chair, and an old woman in a black and white dress sat on it with her head lowered.
Her entire body had abnormally swollen, her skin black and green, shining and bulging as if it would burst at any moment, releasing a stench of decay. And worms or parasites crawled in and out of the flesh and rotten liquid, among the clothes and folds - in his spiritual vision, they were like clusters of light points surrounding a "dark" that had gone out.
Pop, pop.
The old woman's two eyeballs fell out and rolled on the ground, leaving a few yellow-brown marks.
Klein felt nauseous and couldn't hold back the stench any longer. He bent over and vomited.