Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 51 Continued Investigation
Three days later, Li Wei returned to MI7 and found the old steward.

"You want to investigate the Lancaster family?"

The old butler was somewhat surprised.

"This case isn't closed yet?"

"The case is closed, but the problem is not completely solved."

Li Wei offered an explanation.

"According to my investigation, it all stems from the Lancaster family who originally lived there, so I want to investigate their situation further to see if I can find any more clues."

"Hmm... okay, wait a minute."

The old butler picked up the phone, whispered a few instructions, and then nodded to Li Wei.

"Okay, report back as soon as possible."

"no problem."

This is the difference between intelligence agencies and police departments. For the police, the most important thing is solving cases. Once a case is solved and closed, the matter is over. They don't care about what's behind the case. Besides, they simply can't manage it all. After all, cases happen all the time in the city. If every case had to be investigated thoroughly from beginning to end, no number of police officers would be enough.

But intelligence agencies are different; that's their job. If they suspect something is wrong, they're perfectly justified in investigating thoroughly.

"By the way, how do you plan to write this case?"

Li Wei asked curiously, knowing that every mysterious case he solved had the potential to be featured in the "Exploration Newspaper," so he was very suspicious of how they planned to write about this case—no, how they planned to fabricate it.

"It's already written. Here it is, take a look."

The old butler chuckled and handed over the manuscript, which Li Wei took and glanced at.

Well, the beginning is fine; it basically just connects the deaths that happened in that place, which naturally arouses the reader's interest: why did people die here?
So now it's time for our brilliant and resourceful detective to make his appearance! After investigating, he discovered that the first owner of the house loved flowers and plants, and that the garden of the house was planted with a flower from a distant country. However, this flower produces a neurotoxin when it blooms, which, over time, can cause the people in the house to experience various hallucinations and neurological disorders.

This is precisely why the residents of the house reacted in various ways, ultimately leading to a tragedy.

The detective, who had noticed this, eventually solved the case, found the remains of the mysteriously missing people, and, for safety reasons, burned the entire house and garden to ashes.

Of course, the author later urges readers to be wary of invasive species from unfamiliar regions to avoid similar tragedies…

Wow, it actually looks pretty convincing.

If Li Wei hadn't known for himself that this wasn't the case, he would have thought it was.

"Well written."

"After all, storytelling is the most important thing."

The old housekeeper made no secret of his newspaper's tendency to fabricate stories and fabricate facts—or rather, it was their job. After all, other newspapers might be required to be factual, but they absolutely could not.

Otherwise, things could get really messy.

"That's true..."

Li Wei nodded and was about to leave when the old butler hurriedly stopped him.

"By the way, although this investigation resulted in some losses, it was very effective. All departments are willing to coordinate and cooperate with us, and we may need your help a lot in the future."

"understood."

Li Wei wasn't surprised by this. At least for now, his job, like that of a police officer or firefighter, was one that would never disappear unless humanity went extinct…

"Also, regarding the procedure you mentioned before, we've already arranged it, and it will become the standard procedure from now on. However, some people are still asking if it's possible to use prisoners for the initial investigation and testing? For example, death row inmates, putting them in those environments to determine their risk level?"

"My personal advice is not to do that."

Li Wei shook his head.

"After all, this is not just a simple toxic environment. Those evil beings are very intelligent and capable of thinking. I don't think the prisoners want to die either. If they reach some kind of agreement with those evil beings and then turn around and harm us, that would be troublesome."

"That's true. We're here to solve problems, not to create them."

The old butler clearly agreed with this, and then he looked curiously at the briefcase Li Wei was carrying. It was a square, rectangular briefcase that looked quite plain, but the old butler remembered that Li Wei had never carried one before.

Why are you still carrying this with you?

"It's convenient for self-defense."

Li Wei offered a brief explanation without elaborating, and the old butler nodded in agreement.

"Indeed, in this line of work, who knows where the danger might come from? It's always better to be careful."

The two chatted for a few more minutes, then Li Wei took his leave. As he walked out of the office, an administrative officer entered.

“Mr. Levi, this is detailed information about the Lancaster family.”

"Well, thank you."

Li Wei took the documents and began to read them. According to the intelligence, this family had largely remained hidden for most of the time. In other words, the Lancaster family's most glorious moment was during the War of Unification, when they followed King Arthur and received titles and lands as rewards in the post-war empire for their service. After that, the Lancaster family had been on a downward spiral, and by this generation, they had essentially squandered everything.

Even during the reign of Emperor Arthur, the Lancaster family did not hold a very high position, ultimately only reaching an upper-middle level with little political influence. Perhaps this is why they were able to survive one political upheaval after another—well, another reason is that the Lancaster family's fiefdoms were located around the City of Fog.

The saying goes, "You can run away from the monk, but you can't run away from the temple."

Of course, that refers to the past. In the early days of the Empire, the Lancaster family's fiefdom belonged to the surrounding area. However, with the passage of so many years and the repeated expansion of Fog City, the fiefdom that originally belonged to the Lancaster family has changed from "the neighboring province" to "the outskirts of Fog City".

That haunted house was actually where the Lancaster family rested before entering the foggy city. In the past, the Lancaster family would rest here for one night before entering the city the next day.

As a result, this house has now been designated as part of the Wudu Residential Area—within the Seventh Ring Road.

Levi had no interest in the gossip surrounding the Lancaster family; what he wanted to find was the Lancaster mansion. After all, according to the story, Levi's ring was found in a secret room within the Lancaster mansion, so to figure out what the ring was, it would obviously be more effective to conduct an on-site investigation.

Older records were harder to find, but fortunately, the Lancaster family had only really disappeared in the last few decades, so Levi spent some time finding the Lancaster family mansion.

However……………

Looking at the record on the paper, Li Wei raised an eyebrow slightly.

Lancaster Manor: A murder has occurred; status: abandoned.

The second sheet of paper contained a detailed record of the murder case.

[The Lancaster Estate Murders: Victims: Mr. Roger Brando, Mrs. Martha Brando]

[Case Type: Robbery and Murder]

[Criminal: Koster Klopp – Apprehended on the spot]

Verdict: Death penalty

According to the case records, this man named Coster appears to be a servant of the Brando family. One rainy night, he murdered the Brando couple, stole their property, and fled before being arrested by the police. The whole process seems straightforward. Levi also remembers Elizabeth saying that Lancaster's wife recalled him selling the ancestral home because he couldn't pay his gambling debts—meaning the buyers were this couple?

They were really unlucky.

That's all the information on paper; the difference engine isn't a computer, after all, and it doesn't have a hard drive with that much storage capacity. Fortunately, Li Wei has been in this world for a while now and isn't without connections.

So he quickly went to the police station and found Inspector Lestrade.

"The robbery and murder at Lancaster Manor?"

Upon hearing Li Wei explain his purpose, Inspector Lestrade was taken aback, but then immediately became excited.

"Hey, you've come to the right person!"

"So, you, Inspector Lestrade, were handling this case?"

"Of course... no, I was just a greenhorn back then, only responsible for maintaining order and stuff... The case was handled by another officer, um... speaking of which, I have a pretty deep memory of this case, after all, it was the first murder case I handled after joining the force."

Inspector Lestrade, pipe in hand, looked as if he were reminiscing about the good old days.

Was there anything strange at the time?

"Strange place?"

Inspector Lestrade scratched his head.

"It seems not. According to the police, after receiving the report, they went to Lancaster Manor, and upon entering the gate, they saw the murderer standing in the hall with a blood-stained knife, next to the couple's bodies. The surroundings were in disarray, and they caught him red-handed, so they quickly arrested him on the spot."

"Report a crime? Who reported it?"

"I remember it was a postman. He was driving his carriage back when he heard screams coming from the manor. So he went to the nearby police station to report it. But then again..."

Inspector Lestrade frowned as he spoke, recalling the events.

"To be honest, there are some strange things about it."

"Ok?"

"That manor is actually quite large, but when we arrived, the entire manor was in complete disarray, as if it had been ransacked by a large group of robbers. However, based on the footprints, fingerprints, and remaining traces, it seems that only the murderer was present at the scene. This is quite strange, after all, where would he have gotten the energy to search the entire manor by himself?"

Do you know the exact location of that manor?

"You want to go?"

"I'm planning to go and take a look."

"That's just right."

Upon hearing Levi's words, Inspector Lestrade also stood up excitedly.

"I'll go with you! Let's treat it as a trip!"

(End of this chapter)