The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 305: A Misunderstanding

The payment from the man was due to arrive shortly, and it couldn't be too long.

He needed to have everything settled before falling asleep again.

Two crates of Deep Sea Stone sat in a corner of the detective agency. Lu Li had to decide what to do with them. With his circumstances having changed, the idea of lining his bedroom walls with the stones was no longer the only option.

The location for the shelter had been chosen, and Anna had already moved in. Lu Li planned to leave the city soon himself. In this situation, lining his bedroom with Deep Sea Stone had become pointless—he would just have to tear it all down again shortly.

Now, Lu Li was focused on setting up the shelter. His old home was no longer suitable, neither in location nor in size.

Lu Li decided to rent a house on Elm Street to use as a temporary warehouse for moving supplies to the cliffside shelter.

He couldn't afford to buy a house, but renting was well within his means.

"So, we're moving?" Anna asked sadly after listening to Lu Li's plans.

"We would have had to do it sooner or later, anyway."

Lu Li opened his desk drawer and took out a to-do list.After a glance at what was written, he crumpled the now-useless paper and tossed it into the bin.

Investigating the world or investigating the door no longer mattered. Right now, he needed to prepare for the coming trouble.

The former was a chronic illness, the latter a gathering storm.

Taking a fresh sheet of paper, Lu Li wrote down his current tasks: moving to the shelter and renting a house on Elm Street.

The first would take time. Lu Li needed to find workers to expand the cave. The second was simpler. Although the story of the "Man-Eating House" hadn't been widely publicized, the residents of Elm Street knew what had happened in their neighborhood and were desperate to leave the area.

Lu Li could easily rent a suitable house there.

He entrusted both tasks to JoJo, who had gotten back in touch with him. She was a professional when it came to such matters. Lu Li had more important things to do—like wait at the detective agency.

The man didn't keep him waiting long. Less than an hour later, an elderly coachman arrived at the detective agency, introduced himself as the man's neighbor, and delivered the promised payment.

Besides seven hundred shillings in cash and a handwritten letter from the man, there was another part of the "payment" that the coachman had brought on a wagon parked outside.

Lu Li went out with the coachman to inspect the cargo. The wagon was mostly filled with furniture and tools. The man had practically moved his entire house to him.

Just as Lu Li had advised, he had decided to focus on his life in his dreams. As for reality...?

"Perhaps this unchanging reality is my real dream," the man had written in his letter. Lu Li stared at the words in silence.

Perhaps this world was the same for him?

He didn't know.

The furniture could be sold for two or three hundred shillings. Just as with the flowers, Lu Li asked the coachman to sell everything, promising him a tenth of the proceeds.

The coachman happily agreed and drove off with the wagon full of belongings.

Lu Li returned to the detective agency and placed the letter, which consisted of only a single sentence, in his desk drawer.

In the back of the drawer, quite a few envelopes had already accumulated—both ordinary ones and those only he could see.

Lu Li took out a stack of ordinary letters, set aside a few envelopes fragrant with perfume, and began to read the rest.

Most of them were from Remi and Jimmy.

The next letter, which looked as if it had been torn from a diary, reminded Lu Li of its sender.

[The Mother of the Swamp has taken notice of you]

[Find the Andreis brothers' repair shop in the Snow Quarter. Show them my item, and they will remove the mark from you]

[Hurry, don't let the mark become a brand]

[Remember, do not return to Tenebrae until the mark is removed. Something is wrong here. If I haven't retrieved my item within a week of you receiving this letter, tell the workshop about it. They will handle it]

[There is a cellar in my house. Give everything in it to them. The rest is yours]

An address was written below.

This letter was from the figure in the bird-beak mask. It read like a last will and testament.

However, upon receiving it, Lu Li had gone to sea for the investigator exam, and he had forgotten about the letter after his return.

More than two weeks had already passed.

Since then, Lu Li had received no more letters or any other messages from the Masked Figure.

Perhaps she had perished somewhere near the Shadow Swamp.

Just in case, Lu Li called Tesla and, learning that the Masked Figure had not returned, he looked at the address again.

Belfast, Warm Street, number 16, apartment 103.

It was in a rather prestigious district, located closer to the top of the hill.

Putting the letter away, Lu Li read the few remaining letters and placed them back in the drawer.

Over the next hour, JoJo called him twice. First, she reported that many homeowners on Elm Street were looking to rent out their properties and gave Lu Li two phone numbers: one for a house on the edge of the district bordering Elm Street, and the second for a house in the center of the district at the most favorable price.

The second time, she informed him that she had found workers willing to go to the Elm Forest. Just like last time, she gave Lu Li two numbers: one for workers who could start on the cliff immediately, but at a higher price, and the other for those who were willing to start when the weather improved, for an average price.

Lu Li wrote down the numbers but didn't make any calls. Instead, he grabbed an umbrella and a cloak, and left the detective agency with Anna.

Needing money, Lu Li decided to claim the "inheritance" from the Masked Figure.

He hoped to find something interesting in the cellar.

...

The names of Belfast's districts and streets usually had no particular connection to them, with a few exceptions. For example, Sailor Street was mostly inhabited by sailors, Snake Street was home to the "Snakes" gang, and the Rom Quarter was full of bars...

Warm Street, number 16.

It was a tall stone building with several apartments. Like his own old building, many people lived here, but the space and conditions were completely different.

Lu Li stood before the door to apartment 103. It was locked.

There was no key in the Masked Figure's letter, but that didn't stop Lu Li. After failing to find a key under the doormat, Anna simply passed through the door and opened it from the inside.

Click.

Lu Li entered the apartment and pulled the door closed behind him.

There was no musty smell of mold or damp patches on the walls. The dry air, new furniture, and relatively good lighting created a pleasant atmosphere.

It was hard to imagine that the reclusive Masked Figure lived in such a place.

Together with Anna, Lu Li searched several bedrooms and a study, but found nothing.

There was no cellar here, the one mentioned in the letter.

What was even more confusing was that the apartment was very clean, as if someone had tidied up recently.

Lu Li suddenly understood something. At that very moment, the closed door flew open, and an enraged middle-aged man appeared in the doorway.

"What are you doing in my house?!"