Mystery: A Spark

"By the way, were the serial murders committed by this demon previously entrusted to detectives in Backlund?" Horamik asked Max.

"Yes, the great detective Isengard Stanton is our informant, and he is also a Sequence 7 detective, so we entrusted this case to him."

"Then he gathered some famous detectives from Backlund to conduct a joint investigation, pooling their wisdom and giving us a lot of ideas."

“Not long ago, one of the detectives suggested that the killer might be an animal,” Max replied in detail.

"Well, this demon hound was originally captured by His Highness Bonova, so the bounty should rightfully belong to His Highness Bonova."

“But His Highness refused. He meant that the reward should be given to the police officers and detectives who contributed to the case,” Horamik said gently.

“I understand, Your Excellency Archbishop, I will take charge of this matter,” Max replied.

Chapter 156 Fors' Performance

Afternoon, at the Krag Club.

Klein arrived here in the morning, intending to practice his extraordinary abilities while practicing his shooting, as usual.

However, Klein encountered two rather strange things here today.

The first thing was that an acquaintance he had met here before, riding instructor Talim Dumont, asked him two strange questions.

Talim said he had a friend who had fallen in love with the wrong person and wanted to ask Klein for advice on how to handle the situation.

Klein's first reaction was to ask if Talim's friend was actually himself.

But after careful observation, Klein ultimately dismissed the idea, feeling that Talim's emotions did not seem like those of someone who had personally experienced the events.

Even so, Klein couldn't offer Talim any advice, after all, he himself was just a 24k pure gold bachelor.

Love is still too far away for Klein.

After Talim's first question about love was brushed off, Klein was quite surprised by Talim's second question.

Because Talim asked:

"Mr. Moriarty, do you know whose house has a dog?"

Upon hearing this question, an image of a blond young man with a small white dog instantly flashed through Klein's mind.

Was Talim asking about Arthur? Klein wondered to himself.

However, upon further reflection, he felt that something was amiss.

Because in Backlund, there were actually quite a few people who kept dogs, and many noble families kept many hunting dogs or pet dogs.

Even among extraordinary dogs, Klein only knows about Miss Justice and Arthur, and there are probably many more he doesn't know.

Besides, Klein couldn't possibly discuss anything related to the extraordinary with Talim.

So, Klein ultimately gave Talim's second question a simple evasion.

After that, Talim didn't dwell on it anymore, as if he had forgotten what he had just said.

Klein didn't think much of it, assuming that Talim had just asked these strange questions on a whim.

During lunch, Klein ran into another friend, surgeon Alan Chris.

This surgeon has been having a lot of bad luck lately, encountering a lot of misfortunes, and even falling down the stairs and fracturing his bone.

This greatly troubled Dr. Allen, who poured out his grievances to Klein during lunch, feeling that he might have encountered some supernatural event.

After listening to Dr. Allen's account of his experience, Klein also sensed something was wrong. After careful questioning, he suspected that the problem lay with a child named "Will Onsetin".

However, Klein did not intend to handle the matter himself, because he was afraid of exposing himself.

Ultimately, he suggested that Dr. Allen inform a high-ranking bishop of the Church of the Night in order to seek their help.

After a short lunch break, Klein left the club.

He took a public carriage to the Les Circus in the Joewood district, near the Tasok River.

After passing through the tents used for circus performances, Klein walked along the edge of the circus area and found a small theater. A blackboard at the entrance read that there were four shows a day, each lasting one hour, on weekdays.

The first session in the afternoon was at 2 PM, and it had just started.

After buying the ticket, Klein entered the theater and heard cheers.

At this moment, an animal trainer is performing on the stage.

He held a whip and ordered a black bear to perform a comical act, while a tiger with yellow and black stripes lay beside it, and a baboon with dark, curly fur sat on it.

Snapped!

With the tamer's whip, the black bear clumsily somersaulted.

"Hey, this guy was about to slap you!" someone shouted from the very front of the row of seats, which immediately drew laughter from the few spectators in the audience.

They thought this was a new way for circuses to amuse themselves.

But Klein didn't think so, because he noticed that the tamer's emotional color leaned towards anger and annoyance.

He smiled, walked to the first row and sat down to enjoy the performance on stage, so as not to feel guilty about the ticket price.

Just then, the person who had spoken earlier shouted again:

"That tiger wants to bite your neck off, and that curly-haired baboon wants to drag you under its butt and use you as a cushion!"

Amidst the audience's laughter, the animal trainer's movements visibly stiffened for a moment.

This… Although those words sounded like they were trying to cause trouble, why did I hear the hint of a warning in them… Klein turned his head to look at the speaker in the same row and found that he was a round-faced man in his thirties.

This tone, this manner... it feels familiar... Klein muttered silently.

As long as it feels familiar, there is no problem for a diviner not to remember. Klein pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses, leaned back slightly, and whispered a few words almost silently.

Immediately afterwards, he pretended to rest and closed his eyes for a dozen seconds, but in reality, he quickly fell asleep through meditation and received a dream prompt.

It was a rather dim room, with only a single candle flickering dimly on the coffee table. The people sitting around were all wearing long black hooded robes and iron masks that only covered the upper half of their faces.

Klein deliberately rubbed his temples, opened his eyes, and continued watching the animal training performance.

He has deciphered the revelation and understood the source of the familiarity:

The scene in the dream was the gathering of extraordinary people convened by the old man known as the "Eye of Wisdom".

There was a pharmacist in the show who also had a chubby face and liked to remind others in a sarcastic way. He was clearly a kind-hearted guy, but he always gave people the feeling of being punchable.

Could it be that apothecary? But when did he learn how to tame beasts... No, no, I sold the marrow crystal from the Elf Spring to this fat apothecary before Benson became an Extraordinary. Could it be that the next step for the apothecary is related to beast taming...? Klein carefully observed the young man in front of him and felt that he looked more and more like the fat apothecary at the Extraordinary Gathering.

Moreover, in his spiritual vision, the emotional colors of the black bear, tiger, and curly-haired baboon were indeed quite unstable.

If there is any further stimulation, it is very likely to erupt on the spot, which indirectly confirms that the chubby man who spoke earlier was not causing trouble. He seems to be able to read the thoughts of the three animals and understand their impulses.

Despite the man's increased anger and darkening of his face, the animal trainer instinctively softened his movements and became more cautious after the man's reminder, and the performance ended smoothly.

If he really is that fat pharmacist, then the next step in the pharmacist's career path is likely related to animal taming. Could he be an animal tamer? ...Tsk tsk, Benson might even have to raise animals, like curly-haired baboons... Klein watched what had just happened and thought to himself with a sense of relief.

Klein was quite concerned about the extraordinary path Benson was about to embark on.

Of course, as one of the two extraordinary pathways controlled by the Church of the Earth Mother, the Pharmacist pathway is not like the Demon pathway, which would produce a sequence that affects people's minds.

So Klein was just curious, not particularly worried.

Moreover, he has already made up his mind to find an opportunity to meet with his brother and sister in the next two weeks.

Of course, we must do some scouting beforehand to avoid running into the night watchman.

After the animal trainer's performance ended, the next program began.

To Klein's surprise, he recognized both of the figures who came on stage.

A languid young girl, and an adorable little white dog.

Arthas and the Magician? What are they doing here...? Klein sat up straight, feeling somewhat surprised.

On stage, Fors wore a tall top hat and a black tailcoat, with a small white dog perched on her shoulder; her appearance looked somewhat strange.

She first bowed slightly to the audience, then took off her hat and held it in her hand, waving to Arthas on her shoulder.

Arthas obligingly jumped onto Fors's hand, his small body squeezing into the large top hat.

Then, Fors turned the tall top hat upside down, patted it, and nothing happened.

A look of surprise crossed her face. She patted her hat again, but nothing happened.

Fors showed the audience the bottom of her hat, only to find it was empty, as if the little white dog that had jumped in earlier was just an illusion, which caused a gasp from the audience.

Fors looked at the empty hat in her hand with a puzzled expression, as if she didn't quite understand where the little white dog had gone.

Somewhat skeptical, she reached into the hat and pulled out an apple instead of a dog.

Fors put the apple in his pocket, a look of interest on his face, as if he had discovered something magical.

She reached into her hat again, and this time a rose came out.

Fors looked at the rose in her hand, seemingly not understanding its purpose, then bit it with her mouth and continued rummaging inside the top hat.

Next, she took out a tarot deck, a pocket watch, a monocle, and a scarf from her hat.

But there was no little white dog.

Fors stood there, holding the odds and ends she had just taken out of her hat, seemingly confused as to where her little dog had gone.

She reached into her hat, intending to continue rummaging through it.

However, the next second, she actually pulled a pigeon out of her hat.

"what!!!"

Fors was startled, seemingly not expecting to pull out a living creature, and quickly let go, releasing the pigeon.

Upon seeing this, many audience members gasped in surprise.

Fors seemed a little anxious; she continued to rummage inside the hat, but found nothing.

She looked around again, trying to find the puppy she had brought, but couldn't find it anywhere.

Fors's expression gradually turned sad. She looked at the top hat in her hand and dejectedly put it on her head.

Then, she looked around again, but still couldn't find the little white dog from before.

The audience members below the stage began to whisper among themselves, worried that something might have gone wrong during the performance.

But just then, Fors’s top hat moved.