Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 18 An Unexpected Twist

At Li Wei's command, the carriage immediately stopped, and Li Wei opened the door.

"Hey? Mr. Li Wei, where are you going?"

“I’m going back to keep an eye on Mrs. Clayty; she’s sure to do something.”

Levi glanced at the street. After getting into the car, they left immediately to avoid Mrs. Clarty noticing anything amiss. Fortunately, they had only reached the street corner, and Mrs. Clarty should not be able to see them from here.

"Surveillance? I want to go too!"

"You're dressed like that?"

Li Wei glanced at the dress Katie was wearing. Although it was neat and tidy, it was clearly unsuitable for climbing or running. Katie obviously noticed this as well. She pursed her lips in dissatisfaction, stomped her foot lightly, and clenched her little fists—in the end, she chose to give up.

"Alright then, you have to tell me what you've discovered tomorrow."

"of course."

After making his promise, Li Wei got off the carriage, and then the carriage door closed again, quickly heading towards the end of the street.

Li Wei glanced at the carriage's retreating figure, then turned and walked towards the Brilliant Club.

When I arrived at the Brilliant Club again, all the surrounding buildings were dark. It was already night, and the club was closed for the night; it seemed that the other guests had already left.

However, Li Wei has his own way of confirming it.

He closed his eyes, then opened them again.

The Vision of the Soul!

In an instant, the world turned black and white again, and from Li Wei's perspective, he could clearly see a distinct humanoid spirit on the second floor of the Brilliant Club... It was obvious that it was Mrs. Clarty. And judging from her appearance, she didn't seem to be asleep yet.

Li Wei quickly dispelled his Soul Vision, and the surroundings returned to normal.

If used well, this trick could be used like a wallhack or teleportation cheat in a shooting game... but it's very time-consuming...

Li Wei muttered something under his breath, then leaped up, his hands and feet nimb and light, silently climbing up the stone bricks and the balcony. He wasn't worried about being discovered, since there was no one on the street anyway. As for whether his clothes would get dirty from climbing so high… well, he'd worry about that when he got back.

Anyway, now there are maids to take care of the laundry.

Li Wei silently climbed to the second-floor balcony, activated his Soul Vision again to confirm, and found that the person was standing in a corner of the room, unaware of his presence. So Li Wei slowly peeked out of the balcony window.

Then he saw Mrs. Clyde.

At this moment, she looked completely different from the elegantly dressed old woman she had been before. She was draped in a blood-red robe, wearing a strange black mask, holding a candlestick in her hand, and staring at a mirror in front of her.

Why do cult members always dress themselves up in such a strange and inhuman way? Can't they just be normal?

Looking at Mrs. Clarty's current state, Levi thought to himself, "In movies and games, it can be said to be for artistic purposes, but dressing like this in real life, are you trying to make everyone know you're abnormal?"
Li Wei pressed his ear against the window, listening to the faint sounds coming from inside.

"...Everything went very smoothly, my lord..."

"Yes, no problem, Doolittle's sacrifice was expected."

"The long night is coming..."

Levi didn't know who Madame Clarty was talking to, because she was alone in the room and there was no intercom. The only thing to note was that Madame Clarty was facing a mirror. Was she talking to the mirror? Was it a magic mirror?
Levi wanted to hear more, but unfortunately, Mrs. Clarty's report seemed to be coming to an end, and she hesitated only at the very last moment.

"My lord, that detective... he's come to my club, should we... no, my lord...!"

However, before Lady Clarty could finish speaking, she suddenly let out a piercing scream, which startled Levi. He quickly peered through the window. He then saw Lady Clarty hovering in the air, her iron mask fallen to the ground, revealing her face. Her expression was twisted and ferocious, her hands gripping her neck tightly, as if someone were choking her!
Then, with a "crack," Mrs. Clarty's head turned 180 degrees, and her body fell to the ground like a puppet that had lost control, and she was silent forever.

Is this dead?

Levi was completely dumbfounded as he stared at the body of Lady Clarty lying on the ground, dead beyond any doubt.

The mastermind behind this is far too cautious. Lady Clarty was killed simply for reporting my arrival.

And it's done in a way that's almost like a curse?
He'd only ever seen this kind of magic in movies; he never imagined such remote-based killing magic actually existed in the world. Was this some kind of death trap?

However, this was not the end, because at that moment, Li Wei saw the candle that had fallen from Madame Clytie's hand suddenly burst into a bright flame, instantly igniting the entire carpet!

Is this how you're going to destroy the evidence? Seriously, buddy, aren't you even giving me a way out?
Li Wei was shocked at this moment. He did not expect that the mastermind was really so cautious. Just because Mrs. Clarty reported to him that she had come to this club, he killed Mrs. Clarty and wanted to burn the club to ashes.

What should we do? We can't let everything here be burned!
Li Wei quickly scanned his surroundings, then gritted his teeth and made a decision. He crossed his arms in front of him and charged headfirst into the house!

"Crash!!"

The glass shattered suddenly, and Li Wei rolled into the room. He didn't rush over immediately, but instead hugged the wall to the mirror, pushed it over, and made it face the floor. After all, Li Wei had seen too many supernatural movies, games, and novels; the other party might very well have the ability to manipulate this mirror. If he were reflected in it, it might discover him…

These thoughts flashed through Levi's mind instantly. He then pushed the mirror to the ground and rushed to Lady Clarty's body, carrying her on his back—thankfully, the old lady wasn't very heavy, otherwise Levi would have been crushed. He wasn't exactly good at physical labor to begin with.

By this time, the flames had spread along the carpet and almost engulfed the entire room. Levi knew that if he didn't get out soon, he would be roasted alive with Lady Clarty. So he only glanced around briefly before carrying Lady Clarty's body out of the room again. He rushed across the roof to the next room in a few quick steps. Only then did Levi put down Lady Clarty's body and let out a long sigh of relief.

Next, we should contact Inspector Lestrade!
For Levi, this was naturally not a difficult task. Upon receiving the report, Inspector Lestrade immediately arrived at the scene, directing the firefighting efforts while secretly taking Mrs. Clarty's body back to the police station along with Levi. Back at the station, Levi immediately explained everything he had witnessed to Inspector Lestrade.

“If I hadn’t gone through those strange things with you, if there hadn’t been only Mrs. Clytie’s own handprint on her neck, I would have thought you were hallucinating from drinking too much.”

Sitting behind his desk, Inspector Lestrade looked serious.

"So it seems that Dolittle's case is indeed involved in a very dangerous conspiracy."

Inspector Lestrade is a professional. If we disregard any mysterious curses or anything like that, the case boils down to this: the criminal gang realized they were being exposed, so they decisively killed their subordinate who left clues... This shows that the other party is extremely meticulous, which means they definitely have something big planned!
"What a pity, if only you knew what they were planning."

"I am a detective, not a fortune teller."

Li Wei shook his head; the system hadn't provided him with fortune-telling skills.

"Are there any clues about the things I brought back?"

"At the moment, it seems there's nothing particularly special about it."

Inspector Lestrade shook his head, then pressed the doorbell. Soon, Officer Fletcher entered carrying a metal tray filled with various odds and ends.

“These are the things we found on Mrs. Clayty’s body. See if you can find any clues.”

Levi approached the desk and looked at the items on the metal tray: a necklace, a ring, a wallet, a set of keys, and several punch cards—the latter being commonplace in this world, much like how many people carry their driver's license, passport, or ID. "Does this contain Mrs. Clarty's identification information?"

As Li Wei examined the items, he asked questions. The best thing about this world is that it has a difference machine. Almost everyone has a citizen number, and their information is recorded in the difference machine.

"of course."

Inspector Lestrade nodded and picked up a file that was lying beside him.

"Grey Durex, whose original name was Grey Carlster, later married Butler Durex and changed her name to Grey Durex... What are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing... it's just... well, this name is a bit strange."

Li Wei forcibly suppressed his smile, but the thought that there was still a Durex family in this world made him feel that he was about to burst out laughing again.

"Really? I don't find the name strange at all."

Inspector Lestrade clearly couldn't understand Levi's joke and continued talking.

She had two sons, her husband died of illness, one son died in an accident, and the other died in the war. She had no criminal record and was a devout Catholic.

"Did she have any relatives? Or, now that she's dead, are there any heirs to her estate?"

"That depends on whether she left a will... A lawyer will contact us, but based on the information in the files so far, she has no other relatives."

What were the findings of the autopsy?

"Nothing was found."

Officer Fletcher shook his head.

"The forensic autopsy results have not yet been officially released, but based on the doctor's preliminary test results, there should be nothing unusual."

"No tattoos or strange scars?"

Li Wei asked about the movies and games he had watched, since cultists in those games often engaged in such strange practices.

"This... I'll ask about it in more detail later."

Fletcher hadn't clearly thought that far ahead, and hesitated for a moment before giving his answer. At this point, Levi, however, had a sudden inspiration and looked at Inspector Lestrade.

"What will happen to Mrs. Clarty's body after that?"

“Well, normally we would preserve it until her family comes to collect the body and then hold a funeral. But to prevent the mastermind from finding out that you took Mrs. Clayty’s body out of the fire, we would secretly cremate it and then give the ashes to the recipient.”

That's good.

A smile appeared on Li Wei's face.

"I have a heartfelt request."

"what?"

"After Lady Clayty is cremated, please give me some of her ashes."

"???"

Both Inspector Lestrade and Officer Fletcher were somewhat surprised to hear this.

"What do you want this for?"

"Perhaps I can find the murderer of Mrs. Clyde through this."

As he spoke, a glint of light flashed in Li Wei's eyes. He had only just remembered that the reason he was able to find Lady Clarty was because he used his Soul Vision to pinpoint someone connected to Dr. Dolittle's death. And Lady Clarty was clearly killed by the mastermind behind it all, so on a soul level, that mastermind was obviously connected to Lady Clarty.

And it is very likely that I can find the mastermind behind it all through the vision of the soul!
However, there's no rush.

Because of this incident, it was already dawn when Li Wei returned home.

"Ding dong."

The elevator reached the top floor and opened, allowing Levi to enter the room. There, he saw Eileen, dressed in a maid's outfit, sitting on the sofa, her head bobbing slightly, a lamp beside her. She only snapped out of her daze and stood up when the elevator doors opened.

"Ah, sir, you're back...!"

"Okay, you don't need to wait for me this late in the future."

Li Wei yawned and then took off his coat. Eileen hurriedly took the coat from him, looked at the dirt on it, and was somewhat surprised.

"Sir, what happened to you?"

"For detectives, hard work and struggles are inevitable."

Li Wei waved his hand.

"Go to sleep. We can deal with the rest tomorrow."

"Ok."

Since Li Wei said so, Eileen didn't bother him any longer. She nodded, went to the elevator, closed the elevator gate, and then went back to her room downstairs via the adjacent staircase. Li Wei stretched, then returned to his bed and let out a long sigh.

"Phew... This is so troublesome."

Li Wei closed his eyes and began to think and recall. Although he hadn't heard everything Mrs. Clarty said, it was clear that she intended to get rid of him. This was understandable; after all, she had discovered that he might come looking for her because of Dr. Dolittle, so her first instinct was naturally to deal with him immediately.

But it was clear that her boss didn't think so. He didn't even bother to test the waters and simply abandoned Mrs. Clarty, trying to completely cut off this lead.

Of course, it's also possible that Mrs. Clarty is no longer as useful to the mastermind, and besides, he's now a well-known detective; killing him would likely attract more attention and investigation. Compared to that, killing Mrs. Clarty directly seems more cost-effective…

Li Wei recalled the old woman again; she seemed sincere and not like a bad person. But who knows? Bad people don't have their badness written on their foreheads.

Never mind, we'll talk about the rest tomorrow. Anyway, let's go to sleep first.

With that thought, Li Wei closed his eyes and entered a deep dream.

(End of this chapter)