The Bizarre Detective Agency

Chapter 311: Expansion and the Radio

Oblivious to the nuances of human relationships, Lu Li naturally had no concept of politeness. Since the figure in the bird-beak mask had said that everything was his, it meant he could take it all.

And so, Lu Li did.

He didn't bother with it himself; three or four hundred shillings wasn't worth his time. He called JoJo and asked her to handle the sale of the furniture.

Just in case, Lu Li warned JoJo not to go down into the basement, even though the anomaly had already been removed. He left everything else to her—ideally, she would sell the house itself as well.

He only kept the bulky radio receiver and a photograph that appeared to be of the woman in the bird-beak mask.

He planned to take the radio to the detective agency to keep up with the latest news. The photograph, he kept for the masked figure.

If she hadn't perished and were to suddenly appear before him again, she would have something to remind her of the past.

While JoJo was on her way, Lu Li and Anna inspected every room in the house, making sure there was nothing else strange left behind. Then they handed the property over to JoJo and went to see the workers.

People called them the "Jones brothers."

In truth, they weren't brothers, nor were they even related. It was just that about ten years ago, four young men had banded together to survive, and the name had stuck ever since.After a decade of living and supporting one another, they had become as close as blood brothers.

They were some of the workers JoJo had recommended to Lu Li.

They were surprised by Lu Li's visit. When JoJo had contacted them, they had asked to postpone the job until the rain subsided, thinking the client wouldn't agree.

However, the wait wouldn't be long. Today's newspaper forecast light rain for the next two days, so they could begin work tomorrow.

Lu Li explained the situation at the cliff and what needed to be done, showing them a sketch he had drawn the previous evening.

The drawing detailed Lu Li's requirements for the cave's expansion: it needed to be deepened by two meters, with a height of three meters and a width of six, and the walls had to be smooth. He also wanted a cellar dug two meters deep with a volume of ten cubic meters. All of this had to be completed as quickly as possible.

The resulting space would be rather flat, like a long corridor at the very back of the cave. Lu Li designed it this way because he had less than three cubic meters of Deep Sea Stone, which was only enough to cover the walls, floor, and ceiling of a space that size.

However, if he acquired more stone, Lu Li could expand the cave at any time. The six-meter width was intentional, allowing for a one-meter-thick layer of Deep Sea Stone on the walls, which meant Lu Li would only need to dig deeper.

Of course, that was assuming Lu Li could afford to buy more Deep Sea Stone.

The eldest of the Jones brothers looked as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he suppressed his curiosity about the client's demands. After a moment's thought, he stated their price, "The work will take two to four days. The pay is 160 shillings a day for the four of us."

Perhaps thinking the price was too high and that Lu Li might refuse, he added, "You know how dangerous the forest is... We’re taking a big risk going out there. A lot of workers would turn down the job."

"Too slow," Lu Li said.

The good weather would only hold for a couple of days. The rainy season would soon begin in earnest, bringing downpours that would make the current drizzle seem like nothing.

There would be thunderstorms, gale-force winds, and creatures that lurked in the darkness.

The eldest brother explained helplessly to Lu Li, "Digging out the cave won't take much time; we have enough manpower for that. It’s just that the cellar is too small. Only one person can work in there at a time."

"I need everything ready in two days. The cellar doesn't have to be finished."

"Then there’s no problem," the eldest brother said with relief. "But to save time, you’d better hire a wagon to take us and our tools."

"Alright."

Lu Li didn't object. A wagon would save at least two or three hours of travel time each day.

The cliff was only two or three miles from the city as the crow flies, but the winding mountain path stretched the distance to five or six miles.

After arranging for Lu Li to pick them up in a wagon at dawn tomorrow, he left the Jones brothers' house and returned to the detective agency.

It was still quite early; the hands of the clock were approaching nine.

The sculpture stirred again, pointing its intact hand toward the telephone, indicating that someone had called while Lu Li was out.

He had been receiving a lot of calls lately when he was away from the agency.

It was also worth noting that the long-dormant sculpture had started showing signs of activity again, which seemed to have begun after the strange rain.

Perhaps the rain had affected it, or maybe it was just a coincidence.

Lu Li called the telephone exchange to find out who had called and was surprised to learn that it wasn't JoJo, but Tesla.

Anna was trying to turn on the radio as Lu Li dialed Tesla's number.

Smack! Smack!

The sounds of Anna striking the radio receiver reached Lu Li. He glanced at her and said, "There's a crank on the back. You have to wind it all the way."

This was precisely why Lu Li had taken the radio—if it had needed to be plugged in, he would have sold it along with the rest of the furniture.

"Oh!" Anna nodded and turned to the back of the radio, searching for the hand-crank.

At that moment, the call was answered.

Lu Li asked about the reason for the call, and Tesla informed him that Thomas's funeral would be held tomorrow at ten in the morning at the cemetery in the St. Father's Quarter. He asked if Lu Li would be attending.

Lu Li was about to reply when a strange sound, like the whisper of many voices, filled the detective agency.

"Are you investigating an anomaly?" Tesla asked, surprised.

"It's a mass on the radio," Lu Li replied, looking at Anna, who was the source of the sounds. He then asked, "Do I need to wear a mourning suit?"

"No, your usual attire is formal enough," Tesla said, commenting on Lu Li's style of dress. With that, he concluded the conversation and hung up.

At the table, Anna had nearly figured out the radio and was now tuning the frequency, searching for other stations. The hissing static drowned out the sound of the rain outside.

Amid the noise, snippets of someone's voice would occasionally break through, but Anna couldn't lock onto a clear signal, and her movements grew increasingly frantic.

"Let me," Lu Li said, calming Anna's inexplicable agitation. She obediently moved aside, watching as Lu Li adjusted the radio. She asked, "Aren't we supposed to go to the cliff tomorrow?"

"The funeral is at ten in the morning; we'll have time," Lu Li answered calmly, slowly turning the tuning knob. "You'll stay at the cliff, watch over the workers, and keep Enni company."

"I want to go with you!" Anna protested.

"...The shop owner has been detained for questioning, the police have already... sound of rain... The victim's family... distortion... Daily News... sound of rain... more details..."

It was the Daily News radio station. Lu Li adjusted the tuning a little more to make the sound as clear as possible, then removed his hand.

He said to Anna, "There will be many exorcists at the funeral. You shouldn't be there."

Anna understood and reluctantly agreed to Lu Li's plan.