Mr. Rat of the Steam World

Chapter 9 Delegation Submission
After sending the letter, Lu Ran began packing his things. As long as Afra didn't object, he could start arranging his escape and move into the Earl's mansion. In addition, he also notified Sheriff Edwin to come and settle the case. After completing this last case, the First Detective Agency could be completely forgotten.

No, not necessarily.

It's possible they just moved to a different location.

To prevent Afra from being puzzled by his actions, he tried his best to choose a direction that the other party might be interested in as a starting point, and then subtly steered the conversation toward the gray rat. After repeatedly reading and deliberating to make sure it wasn't too abrupt, he put the letter into the jar, inserted it into a special metal tube, and turned on the switch to send it to the post office via pneumatic tube mailing technology.

I don't think they'll suspect anything.

As Lu Ran was thinking this, footsteps suddenly approached from outside the door.

"Excuse me, is anyone there?"

Outside the wall, Sheriff Edwin politely knocked on the hole.

coming.

Lu then kicked his legs and paws, flipped himself up in a somersault, and hid behind the wall, letting out a clear male voice.

"Hello, Inspector Edwin, I am Sherlock Holmes, the detective in charge of your case."

Sheriff Edwin was somewhat surprised and couldn't help but say, "Your voice sounds very young."

However, thinking of the important matter, he handed over the remaining payment first, his voice becoming more serious.

“Mr. Sherlock, I saw in your letter that the commission seems to have yielded results, which is much faster than I expected. I also hoped to get a precise lead, rather than some vague hearsay.”

As a search for a missing person or item that had no leads whatsoever, it was quite unexpected that the detective in front of him had obtained relevant clues in just a few days. As it was their first collaboration, he was worried that the other party might try to fool him with some hearsay or ambiguous information.

"Don't worry, we're professionals in this area." Lu Ran understood the other party's concerns and, without waiting for further questions, asked directly, "Did you receive the police report from the Red Rose Hotel yesterday?"

"We've received a report and are investigating. Is this case related to the balance scales and coins?"

"The deceased, Langdon Hansen, died at the Black Forest Tavern at the hands of a blonde receptionist. This woman was ruthless and decisive, and was likely a fugitive herself. As for the balance coin, it was in Langdon's possession before his death, and may have been transferred to the blonde receptionist's hands after his death. If you investigate the people around Langdon, someone should have noticed it."

Furthermore, he's been on a winning streak at the casino lately, with great luck, and his characteristics should be similar to those of your previous victims.

Now that Lu Ran knew what the balance coin was, his desire for the case file diminished, and he could naturally make many connections, including things that had not been revealed in the news.

"As for the balance coin itself, it involves some mysticism. Basically, each of the deceased should have received some unexpected wealth, or good things like promotion or love before they died. It should be similar to the effect of making a wish. It can be said that there is no fixed murderer in this balance coin case. It is just that the identities of the perpetrator and the victim are constantly changing during the transfer of the coin. If you put the things that cannot be explained in this way, it will make a lot more sense."

After returning from the front, Lu Ran collected some newspaper information again, compared it with the timeline to find the location and time of the most recent case, and then matched it with the time when gambler Langdon first turned his luck around and dominated the casino, plus Anthony's explanation of the coin's power, and easily arrived at this conclusion. "Mysticism?" Sheriff Edwin repeated, his tone somewhat surprised, but he quickly calmed down and said, "Mr. Sherlock, have you made any discoveries... I mean, if there are any additional key clues you can share, because as you know, the city has always had a dismissive attitude towards these supernatural things, and it's not something you can convince people just by saying it."

"Well, there's nothing I can do. I've already told you everything I know."

Lu Ran denied it, saying, "If you are not satisfied with the results of the commission, you can investigate according to the clues I provided. You can pay the balance after the investigation results are confirmed. After all, I am only responsible for providing clues and do not need to be responsible for the results."

Because the facts of the case involve the supernatural, to prove this, one must either hand over the coin or expose the Vatican that Anthony mentioned to the police for investigation. However, neither of these outcomes is realistic. Lu Ran doesn't even know whether the police station is friend or foe, or whether it has any connection with the church.

"No, no, Mr. Sherlock, you've misunderstood."

Sheriff Edwin quickly explained.

"It's not that I doubt it, it's just... I'm having a bit of a headache about how the investigation will proceed. Even if what I'm saying is true, it's hard to explain the result to the public. If you have any additional clues, we can buy them for an equivalent amount of gold pounds."

The attitude is off; it doesn't seem like a questioning of the case's outcome, but rather like a desire for clues related to the occult.

Lu Ran's heart stirred, and he tentatively asked, "Then this part has nothing to do with me. But I'm quite curious about things involving the occult. Doesn't the municipal government have someone specifically in charge of this?"

Judging from the other person's tone, Lu Ran felt that this guy wasn't completely ignorant. He just didn't know how much a government official of his level could know; it didn't seem to be completely common knowledge.

When Edwin saw Lu Ran asking, he was taken aback at first, then smiled embarrassedly: "Actually, I don't know about this part either. Most of the police officers in the police station don't believe in these things, but it's true that things have been a bit strange lately."

I don't want to say, or I really don't know.

Lu Ran didn't know, but he had no intention of asking any further questions. Even if the other party said there were other similar cases that seemed to involve the supernatural, he wasn't interested, remembering Anthony's warning.

"Things have been really strange lately. Could it be that fairy tales are all true?" Lu Ran chuckled. "Well then, if Sheriff Edwin has nothing else to say, this commission will end here. I look forward to our next collaboration."

Seeing that Lu Ran decisively saw the guest off, Sheriff Edwin hesitated to speak. He vaguely realized that the detective opposite him seemed to have obtained some solid clues, which was why he pointed the case to the extraordinary without hesitation. However, the other party did not seem to want to tell him about these clues.

However, I can't force them to do anything. After all, the client only asked for clues. If they were to take full responsibility for the entire case, the price would be completely different. The information they have provided so far is more than enough to cover the payment.

“Yes, Mr. Sherlock.”

Edwin reluctantly paid the remaining balance and left.

"Goodbye."

(End of this chapter)