Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 349 Afternoon Investigation (Day Two)

For Li Wei, the investigation did not begin with "what is abnormal about this matter?"

First, he needs to figure out whether this actually happened.

In reality, police often encounter similar situations. Sometimes, during interrogation, criminals suddenly confess to other crimes to lessen their sentences. They speak in great detail, providing specific times, places, and people involved, leaving the police completely bewildered and convinced that such a case truly exists. However, upon investigation, it turns out there's no such thing at all!
Therefore, when solving a case, no matter what the other party says, do not assume that the event has already happened. Instead, you should first consider whether the event itself is true or false.

As Isaac said, there is an inexplicable contradiction in this matter itself.

So why didn't the postman take his parcel with him, but instead left it behind?
It's like a student going to school and telling the teacher that their summer homework was stolen on the bus. The teacher might ask, "Why didn't they steal someone else's? Why did they specifically steal yours?"

The student's innocence can only be proven if the thief is caught and the police deliver the summer homework to the school.

Of course, if there's not a single word written on it, that's a different story.

The same applies to this matter. Although Isaac spoke with great grievance and self-righteousness, as if to say, "Don't tarnish my innocence."

But Li Wei still couldn't be sure that he wasn't lying.

Unless there is evidence to prove that what Isaac said is indeed true.

The fact that the postman came here doesn't prove that, and that someone saw Isaac handing something to the postman only proves one thing, unless a third party can give a detailed account of what happened—well, then we also have to consider the possibility of collusion.

However, in any case, when Isaac explained what happened, he did mention a piece of circumstantial evidence—he claimed that the servants were carrying banquet supplies to the cellar at the time, so Livy then went to find the servants who were carrying the supplies to ask them if they remembered this.

The old steward quickly found the three servants who had helped move the supplies. They were all strong and looked like they were used to heavy physical labor.

But looking at the three men before him, Li Wei frowned. All three men were ramrod straight, hands behind their backs, legs slightly apart. This was clearly an unconscious posture they'd been in for a long time, but generally, servants wouldn't do this…

"Weren't they servants before?"

Li Wei looked at the old butler, who nodded.

“That’s right, Sir Levy, they are soldiers. I think you know our family history. Some soldiers can’t find work after they’re discharged, or for various reasons, so we hire them to work for us. They are trained, loyal, brave, and trustworthy.”

Are there many servants like this?

"Of course not, Sir Levi."

The old butler gave a wry smile.

"We only offer this job to good young men who are in some difficulty. There are only fifteen servants in the entire Crescent House, including eight male servants and seven female servants. The male servants all came in this way. But we only hire female servants from nearby towns. After all, we know that hiring too many soldiers is not a good thing."

It seems the Earl is still quite clear-headed.

Hearing this, Li Wei nodded, then glanced at Bianca, who was beaming with joy beside him.

"Then, Miss Bianca, I'll leave the record-keeping to you."

“Yes, no problem, please leave it to me, Sir Levi.”

As she spoke, Bianca opened her notebook and picked up her pen. Levi walked up to the three servants and nodded to them.

"Hello, I'm Li Wei. I have some questions for you. I heard that you were responsible for transporting the banquet supplies we ordered earlier?"

"Yes, my lord."

The head servant stood straight, heels together, and answered.

"Could you tell me about what happened?"

“I think…yes, sir.”

The head servant thought for a moment, then spoke.

“I remember it was after lunch, maybe a little later, when the delivery wagon from the shop arrived. After we finalized the list of goods, we started unloading.”

"Did you know that there were goods to be delivered that day?"

"Of course, my lord."

"Go on, explain in more detail."

"Yes, when unloading, the wagons parked at the gate, and then I... my name is Rhodes, and Poker and I were responsible for unloading the goods from the wagons, and then Charlie carried the goods into the cellar."

As he spoke, the head servant glanced at his two companions.

"That's it."

"Is there no one at the shop to help unload the goods?"

"The shop only sent one old driver. People around here know our situation and that we can do this kind of work."

That's true. It's just physical labor, and it's not a problem for trained soldiers.

Why was it arranged this way?

"Because it's getting late, and we're far from the nearby towns, and the driver is old and wants to get back as soon as possible, we plan to unload all the goods so the driver can leave. But we can't pile all the goods up at the gate, lest they block other people's way, so we asked Charlie to move the ones that are in the way first."

"Please continue."

"Yes, we unloaded the goods, then the old driver drove away, and then we moved the rest of the goods into the cellar, that's how it was."

"Hey?"

Upon hearing this, Bianca instinctively cried out. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but the next moment, Levi's finger was pressed against her lips. This instantly turned Bianca's fair face bright red. The servants glanced at her curiously, while she obediently lowered her head, remaining silent.

Li Wei withdrew his finger, looked at the servant, and smiled.

"please continue."

"Uh...that's all."

How many times did you move the goods?

"Twice, I think. We ordered a lot of food and supplies because we heard there was going to be a banquet, and we were the ones who carried almost all of them. The others were either too old or not in good health, so they weren't suitable for this kind of work."

"So, when you were moving the supplies, did you see anything? Anything is fine."

Li Wei paused for a moment as he spoke, his gaze sweeping over the three faces before he smiled slightly.

"I know that loyalty is a good quality for soldiers, and I believe that a qualified soldier should know to whom he is loyal."

As he spoke, Li Wei observed the expressions of the three men. The head servant had a serious expression and remained silent. The middle servant seemed somewhat nervous, while the third servant appeared a little puzzled.

"Sorry for wasting your time, you can leave now."

Li Wei nodded to the three men, who remained silent and turned to leave with their two companions.

Only then did Bianca look at Levi again.

"Sir Levy, they are lying!"

"Oh? Why do you see it?"

“Because Mr. Isaac said that these people were unloading goods right next to him when he gave the letter to the postman!” “There is no evidence to prove that Mr. Isaac is telling the truth, Miss Bianca.”

Li Wei shrugged.

"So far, we only know Mr. Isaac's claim, while these three have denied it."

"So Mr. Isaac is lying? Is he afraid that people will find out that he made a mistake, so he has to lie?"

"You mean like when you forget to do your summer homework and when you're caught, you lie and say it was chewed up by a dog?"

"Hey? Mr. Li Wei, have you done this before?"

Upon hearing Li Wei's words, Bianca immediately became excited.

"of course."

"Then what's the result?"

"I got a beating from the teacher."

"Uh...why? Because you lied?"

"No, the teacher said that I can't even protect my summer homework, which means I don't care about my homework."

Li Wei sighed as he spoke.

"When a teacher wants to discipline you, there's always a reason."

"That's true..."

Bianca clearly shares this sentiment.

"In short, at the moment, we have not been able to find any useful clues."

Li Wei withdrew his gaze and looked at the mailbag Bianca was carrying.

"Let's continue examining this package; perhaps it will provide us with some useful information."

"this?"

Bianca adjusted the mailbag she was carrying.

What can it bring?

“There are many useful things, Miss Bianca. People can lie, but things can’t.”

Li Wei withdrew his gaze.

"I need a quiet place. Where do you think would be suitable?"

How's the library?

"That's really good."

Upon hearing Bianca's suggestion, Levi nodded.

"Let's go to the library."

Footsteps echoed down the corridor as three servants walked along, their expressions grave.

"What does Lord Li Wei mean by that?"

Soon, Poker asked.

"Have we done something wrong?"

"bad thing?"

The head servant, Rhodes, glanced at Poker.

What bad things have we done?

"Um... for example, did we accidentally damage something during unloading? Like some kind of wine?"

"I don't think this would warrant an imperial count personally getting involved."

"But he's a famous detective, isn't he? And what if this famous detective really enjoys drinking?"

"If you read more news, you'll know that this famous detective doesn't drink alcohol at all."

Rhodes sighed.

"The newspaper said he likes to drink tea and never drinks alcohol."

"Never drinks? He's got real willpower! I can't imagine how he could live without alcohol... What's wrong with you, Charlie?"

At this moment, Poker noticed that Charlie hadn't said a word, so he nudged him with his shoulder.

"Have you thought of something?"

“I…I’m not sure. Lord Li Wei wants us to tell you what happened during the unloading, right?”

"Yes, have you noticed anything? Rhodes and I haven't seen anything strange."

"Hmm... I don't think I have any, but..."

"but?"

"When I delivered the goods to the cellar, I seemed to have seen something... something I hadn't remembered before, but when Lord Li Wei asked me, I thought I remembered something..."

"what exactly is it?"

"I only remember it being someone... who was it again?"

Charlie scratched his head.

"Sorry, I really can't remember."

"You still have a terrible memory, as always."

Upon hearing Charlie's answer, Poker sighed helplessly.

"Ahaha, sorry... I'll try my best to remember... but it shouldn't be a big deal, right? Should I really tell Lord Li Wei?"

"Have you forgotten how we were trained? What we're supposed to do is obey orders, and leave the situation assessment to our superiors."

“That makes sense, I’ll think about it some more…”

The three servants talked as they walked away, eventually disappearing at the end of the corridor.

(End of this chapter)