Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 326: Incident? Case?
When Li Wei first met Joan at the Golden Mead Club, he thought that if he ever crossed paths with her, it would definitely be because of the case.

It seems that Li Wei guessed correctly again.

This is understandable, since, apart from East being a horse jockey, the other three members—an actor, a writer, and a painter—are all from the cultural circle.

Within the cultural sphere, the entertainment industry has the most scandals.

With modern legal systems in place and surveillance equipment everywhere, the entertainment industry is still rife with all sorts of scandals. So, in an era with imperfect legal systems and little surveillance equipment, the entertainment industry would only be in a worse state.

To be honest, this was all a bit unexpected for Li Wei. He had thought he was going to a murder scene.

Oh, right, if that guy hadn't dodged, it would have really turned into a murder scene.

The Eyes of the Goddess Theater was quite famous in Chongqing, comparable to Broadway in Li Wei's time—though Li Wei didn't care about that. After all, he didn't watch many stage plays, musicals, or anything like that; he wasn't particularly interested.

In Li Wei's view, Western stage plays and Eastern Peking Opera are pretty much the same; to put it bluntly, they're all about singing without proper dialogue—one is "ah ah ah ah," the other is "ee ee ya ya," all accompanied by background music to tell a story. For Li Wei, who is used to watching movies and TV dramas, this is truly hard to accept.

Of course, there are also musical films, where in the middle of a fight, the opposing sides suddenly hold hands, sing, and dance...

Ultimately, however, this kind of art is too far removed from the lives of ordinary people, and many people have no understanding of its content at all.

If you were to release something like "The Trial of Galileo," "Edison's Clever Capture of the Lotus Lantern," or "Napoleon's Birth and Defense of the Nation," you would definitely attract a lot of interested people.

According to Joan, the Eyes of the Goddess Theatre Company is a long-established company, and the members all live in the theater, so they get along quite well. Of course, Joan also mentioned that there are indeed some conflicts and disagreements, but as a long-established company, most of the members are still very professional.

Li Wei's comment on this was, "I'm afraid you're too professional."

As a long-established theater troupe, the Eyes of the Goddess is incredibly powerful. The fact that they were able to build the Eyes of the Goddess Theater in Fog City speaks volumes about their prestige. This theater is the largest in the empire, occupying an area almost the size of an academy. Besides the performance space, it also houses residences for the actors and staff, and even their own hospital and school!
It has to be said that this reminded Li Wei of the state-owned enterprises in his world, like a steel mill with kindergartens, nurseries, schools, hospitals, and even a bunch of tertiary industry companies producing soda, fabrics, etc. It was like an independent little kingdom, mainly focused on internal circulation.

In such companies, employees' children are taken care of by the company, and even their food, clothing, and accommodation are provided by the company. Workers only need to focus on their work and don't have to worry about anything else.

This is why so many people were desperate to get into state-owned enterprises back then, even those who only had ten thousand yuan wouldn't trade it for a job. After all, no matter how much a ten-thousand-yuan household earned, they were still spending their own money, but those people were spending the country's money... Hmm, if those working-class people knew that their ancestors had such good days, they'd probably be so envious they'd shed tears.

It's fair to say that actors could live very well in such a small kingdom without ever having to leave their homes.

When Li Wei arrived at the theater, he did not go in immediately. Instead, Joan went in first to report. A moment later, a thin but energetic old man came out.

"Sir Levi, hello, I am Bliss Turner, director of the Eyes of the Goddess Theatre Company. I never expected you to come to our theater… truly…"

"Hello, Mr. Turner."

Li Wei also shook hands with the old regimental commander.

"I think Miss Joan has already told you why I came?"

"Yes, to be honest, we were indeed a little worried... but we were afraid things would escalate, so we were reluctant to call the police. We didn't expect Joan to invite you..."

"So you're planning to investigate this matter?"

Li Wei smiled and looked at the old commander, asking him a question. The latter gave a wry smile.

"To be honest, I really wouldn't be willing to do this with anyone else, but if it's you, whatever the conclusion, you'll definitely convince everyone..."

"I'd like to go check out the site now, is that alright?"

"Of course, please come with me."

The two exchanged a few words, and then the old troupe leader led Li Wei into the theater.

The entire theater was quiet at the moment because of what had happened. Everyone was in a state of panic, so the old director decisively ordered the rehearsals to stop and everyone to go back and rest.

"Commander, do you also believe that this was done intentionally?"

Li Wei walked beside the old commander, staring at him as he asked, "The old commander's words earlier were quite interesting. They sounded like he was flattering Li Wei, but in fact, they showed that the old commander himself was well aware that this possibility existed."

"Hehe, this kind of thing actually happens quite often in theater troupes."

The old regimental commander chuckled.

"Speaking of which, actors are quite pitiful. At least a small percentage can play leading roles, while most can only play supporting roles. But besides acting, they don't know anything else, and they're unwilling to just play supporting roles. Therefore, it's common for leading actors to be envied. Besides, many times, it's hard to tell who's better on stage. Some people feel that they're no worse than the other person, so they feel it's unfair and want revenge... and..."

As he spoke, the old regimental commander glanced at Qiong.

"That child's reputation in the theater troupe is indeed quite bad."

"Oh?"

"Arrogant and domineering, although he was a newcomer, he was very popular with the audience because of his high talent and outstanding appearance, so he quickly rose to a position in the troupe."

The old commander chuckled as he finished speaking.

"There's no way around it; ultimately, the troupe's success depends on the performance. Aside from the performance, that kid is just a nasty jerk. But once he's on stage, he's the most dazzling one; no audience member can take their eyes off him..."

As he spoke, the old regimental commander looked at Li Wei.

"Sir Levi, forgive my rudeness, but if you were to participate in the performance, you would definitely be more talented than that kid..."

"Hehe, thank you for the compliment..."

Li Wei chuckled but didn't respond. He was joking; he didn't want to have too many side jobs. He'd rather focus on being a detective.

After all, it's quite interesting to watch the drama unfold like this.

The Meishen Theater was also very wealthy, with not only a first stage, but also a second and third stage. The first stage hall was specially used for performing major plays, similar to the screen hall of a movie theater, while the second and third stages were used for lesser-known actors, similar to small screen halls that could only seat one or two hundred people.

Of course, ticket prices vary. However, actors who perform exceptionally well on the second or third stage and are appreciated by the audience will have the opportunity to perform on the main stage!

This is why the Goddess Theatre Company has been able to persevere to this day, because they not only give opportunities to established actors, but also provide a stage for young actors.

The incident occurred at the third stage, which is used as a rehearsal room when there are no performances.

Compared to the first stage, the third stage is obviously the smallest, and the natural environment is just average. Although it is clean and tidy, it is not very grand or magnificent. Li Wei felt that it was more suitable for telling crosstalk than for performing stage plays.

But that's not important; what matters is the situation.

According to Joan, the victim was injured by a set of props on the stage. The stage had lights and canvases that resembled the sun, moon, clouds, and stars, which were suspended in the air to serve as a background.

This drawing board may look light, but it's actually very heavy. Because it's made entirely of wooden planks, suspended in the air, and has a large surface area, a fall from it would almost certainly result in death or serious injury.

The wooden planks on the ground had been removed, but bloodstains and marks were still clearly visible on the floor. Li Wei walked onto the stage, squinted, circled the stage, and then looked at Joan. "Miss Joan, you said you witnessed the whole thing?"

"It's not exactly the whole process..."

Upon hearing Li Wei's question, Joan paused for a moment before speaking.

"I was standing offstage with the other actors, waiting for Mobis to finish his part so we could go up and rehearse. I remember I was chatting with him when suddenly there was a 'thump,' and when I turned around, I found Mobis trapped underneath..."

"You mean your leg was pinned down?"

"Yes, we were all terrified and rushed over to help. We saw that cloud-shaped plank was pressing on Mobis's calf, and he was yelling in pain..."

As Qiong spoke, there was a hint of disdain in her tone, clearly indicating that she had no liking for men who would cry and whine when they were hurt.

"My calves..."

Li Wei stared at the pool of blood on the ground again, remaining silent for a moment.

"Miss Joan, do you know which part he performed back then?"

"Yes, I know. It was the part where Noan revealed his scheming to Anna."

"Could you please come up here and act it out? Just imitate Mr. Mobis's actions back then? Perform the scene when he had the accident."

"Well... okay."

Although she didn't know what Levi was going to do, Joan quickly went up on stage, while Levi stepped aside. Then he saw Joan stand in the same spot as before, raise her head, look ahead, and stretch out her hands.

“Anna… Under this bright moonlight, even the flowers on the ground are blessing us.”

As she spoke, Joan lowered her head as if looking at the flowers on the ground. Then she reached out and made a gesture of picking a flower from the ground, before kneeling down and raising the flower.

"Look, how well these flowers suit you..."

"Um……………"

Upon seeing this, Li Wei suddenly spoke.

"Is this part of what Mobis rehearsed back then?"

"Yes, that's the part. Then he'll stand up, put the flower on Anna's head, and tell her that this flower is worthy of her..."

As she spoke, Joan quickly went through the rest of the text.

"Finally, as dawn was approaching, the two parted with great reluctance. However, Sir Levi, you said that this was the part you rehearsed before the accident."

"let me try."

Li Wei approached Qiong's position, then lowered his head, squatted down, raised his head, and stretched out his hand.

That's about it?

"Yes………"

"That would be interesting."

Li Wei stood up, a thoughtful smile on his face.

"Interesting? Is there a problem?"

At this moment, the old regimental commander also came over. Upon hearing Li Wei's words, he hurriedly inquired.

"Yes."

Li Wei nodded.

"At least I'm certain that Mr. Mobis knows something."

"Hey?"

It must be said that both Qiong and the old regimental commander were taken aback upon hearing this.

“I just looked at the footprints and noticed something.”

Li Wei pointed to the floor.

“You might not be able to tell, but this footprint clearly shows a forceful movement, meaning someone was jumping aside. I initially thought it might be part of your stage performance, but after seeing Joan’s performance… there wasn’t any action in this scene at all, was there?”

"No."

Joan shook her head.

"And I imitated Mr. Mobis's movements. He stood in this position, looking down at the ground, then looking up at the front. Then, according to Miss Joan's description, he kept his head down the whole time. In other words, Mr. Mobis didn't look up during rehearsals, which is very interesting."

As he spoke, Li Wei snapped his fingers.

"Let me recount the situation for you both. At that time, Mr. Mobis was rehearsing the part where he squats on the ground to pick flowers. Suddenly, the plank broke and fell towards Mr. Mobis. Mr. Mobis quickly dodged to the side, but it was too late. Although he wasn't killed, he was hit on the leg. Here's the problem: from the angle I just imitated, it's impossible for Mr. Mobis to react when the plank fell, unless he was already worried and on guard!"

"Hey?"

It must be said that both of them were taken aback by Li Wei's analysis, and Joan frowned thoughtfully.

"Now that you mention it, Mr. Mobis was indeed acting strangely today. He usually prefers to practice alone on the first or second stage and never comes to the third stage. But today he came to the third stage, and when I greeted him earlier, he seemed a bit uneasy... However, since Mr. Mobis has a rather irritable temper, I just assumed he was in a bad mood..."

Are there usually people on the third stage?

"Well, it's either for rehearsals or performances. Many actors on the second stage will come to the third stage to rehearse before going on stage. We also sometimes borrow the third stage."

"In other words, there are often people here. He probably chose this place to avoid being attacked in the shadows. After all, no one should be able to do anything in broad daylight."

Li Wei spoke, pondered for a moment, and then looked at the old regimental commander.

"Could I see Mr. Mobis's things and room? I think I might be able to find some clues."

“Of course, Sir Levi.”

(End of this chapter)