The man was about the same height as Shad, but his figure was thin under the clothes. He lowered his head slightly so that the hat could cover his face, and Xia De couldn't see his face at all from the angle.

"Is there any trace of the elements?"

【No. 】

"Is it a Ring Warlock?"

[You need to get closer. 】

Xia De put down the newspaper in his hand and made a gesture of looking across the road. He took a look at the pocket watch that had been damaged by soaking in the water in Lengshuigang from his pocket, then shook his head and sighed, as if complaining about the unpunctuality of the waiting people. Only then did he fold up the newspaper in his hand, and then walked to the other side of the street.

He passed by the Ms. Swan in the red blouse. The other party was only attracted by Shad's appearance, but he took a look and did not stop.

Xia De went straight to the antique shop on the side of the alley, and the voice in his head gave the answer:

[None of them are ring warlocks. 】

Ms. Swan had left the peeping range at the entrance of the alley, and when Shade turned into the alley from the antique shop, the peepers had disappeared.

He took two quick steps to catch up. The alley with the "Black Corner Alley" signboard was a rather narrow straight road, and there were no obstacles in the alley. Xia De was only a few seconds behind, and there was no one in the alley.

Since the opponent is not a ring warlock, the only possibility is that the opponent is hiding somewhere else in the alley.

On both sides of Noire Alley are three-story apartment buildings with the same style. There are moss everywhere under the mottled walls, and the original color of the walls has long been lost. The wall near the entrance of the alley is covered by wanted warrants and various leaflets. . A clothesline was drawn between the facing buildings, and half-dried clothes were swaying in the mist like dusty banners.

"I was only a few seconds behind and the other party disappeared, indicating that the other party entered a building near the entrance of the alley."

Xia De stood still and thought:

"Also, when Miss Swann appeared, I kept paying attention to the entrance of the alley, but I didn't see the door of the house closest to the entrance of the alley open, which means that the possible buildings are the two houses next to the entrance of the alley."

Xia De looked at the houses on both sides:

"He can appear every time when Miss Swan just appears, which means that the building where this person is located can directly see the distance of the street..."

The two buildings near the second alley have no windows on the street, but the attics of these houses are higher than the nearby buildings, and Shade noticed that the attic of the house on the left has windows, while the one on the right The attic windows were completely boarded up.

"This room."

Xia De smiled, turned and walked up the steps in front of the house on the left. The stone steps are uneven, and the door in front of it looks like it has been splashed with excrement.

His outstretched hand, which was about to knock on the door, stopped. After thinking for a moment, he raised his foot and kicked the door very impolitely.

It took a long time to hear footsteps coming from behind the door, and the man's voice asked nervously:

"Who is it?"

"Sir, I'll check the gas meter."

The mechanical gas and steam meters in Place Saint-Terraine are outside the house, and the gas company checks them every month and sends the bills directly to the residents. And most of the gas meters in this old-fashioned building are in the house, Xia De has observed in advance that there is no meter box outside the door.

"Okay, why did you come so early this time? This is only the beginning of the month."

The door was opened with a gap, and Xia De immediately inserted his hand into it to prevent it from closing, and then pulled the door all the way open.

Behind the door was that strange man dressed in black. It's just that he is not wearing a hat now, so his face is exposed.

Xia De was also startled when he saw that face, the other's face was swollen, red and white, and the upper and lower eye sockets were swollen, almost covering the eyes.

In addition to his face, his hands were also seen by Xia De. Similar to the skin on the face, that horrible look too. This should be the mark left by a scald or burn. The man in front of him must have suffered a terrible accident.

"What are you going to do? Oh, you're not checking the gas meter!"

Seeing Xia De's attire, the man panicked immediately.

"Of course not, I have other things, but definitely not a bad guy."

Xia De held the door frame with his left hand to prevent the people inside from closing it, and stretched out his right hand in a gesture of shaking hands:

"Good afternoon, sir."

Although the other person's face and skin looked terrible, it was not an infectious disease, nor was it dirty, so Xia De didn't mind shaking his hand.

The movement of Xia De reaching out his hand made the people inside the door feel a little better. He awkwardly stretched out his hand and shook it with Xia De, and then retracted it immediately, but the moment of touching was enough for Xia De to draw a conclusion.

[It is indeed an ordinary person. 】

"I'm here for Miss Swan's business."

Xia pulled the door frame, intending to stand at the door and say something, but the man asked suspiciously:

"Sorry, Miss Swann is... oh, her last name is Swann! That's a very good name."

On some scary faces, one can vaguely see the appearance of sudden enlightenment.

The corner of Xia De's mouth trembled. He already understood that this matter had nothing to do with Chaofan, and it was really impossible to encounter relics continuously. But now that things are figured out, he doesn't mind wasting a few minutes to wrap things up:

"Sir, you have been spying on her at the alley at noon every day for the past few weeks. Miss Swan was very worried, so she asked the security company for help, and then the security company hired me as a detective. Excuse me, what do you want to do?" What?"

The man blushed, of course, because of the skin, it was hard to tell.

He stammered and said:

"Hello, Detective. I just...wanted to see her. You know, I can't...just want to see...I No bad thing, I just..."

His voice gradually lowered, and Xia De waited for a while before saying:

"I'm just here to investigate this matter, and the conversation between me and you will be known by the client. She may change jobs..."

"No! I won't peek at her anymore, please don't disturb her life."

The man suddenly became excited:

"Don't affect her life because of me!"

"Sorry, I don't have the right to make decisions for others. This is an entrustment. I must honestly hand over the results of the investigation to the client."

Shad shrugged.

He didn't know whether the man in front of him would be peeking quietly from the sidelines, or would suddenly want to do something one day. Therefore, of course, Xia De will not pretend that he has not found out anything just because he believes in love or something like that.

Fortunately, he doesn't have to judge whether the man in front of him is good or bad, because he just wanted to investigate this matter clearly:

"Sir, the decisions each of us make will irreversibly affect the people around us. Since you decided to see her at the alley at noon every day, the impact on her has already appeared. I will not judge whether you did it out of nowhere. For what purpose, I just hope you can understand."

Xia De paused for a moment, considering what he wanted to say:

"Don't be swallowed by the darkness in your heart. When you poke your head out of the shadows, you may think it's love, but when the love is further fermented, what will be the result in the end?"

To put it bluntly, Xia De was warning the other party to be more honest. But he doesn't know whether the other party is good or bad, so he doesn't want to hurt others' self-esteem, so he expresses it in a very euphemistic way.

"You should be more aware of the darkness of the human heart than I am. Even if you believe that you are a good person, can you be sure that when a certain idea takes shape, will a tiny seed of darkness swallow your heart in the future?"

Xia De shook his head, and decided to add some more powerful means of persuasion in addition to the persuasion of words.

So he lifted his clothes so that the man inside the door could see the gun in his waist, and the latter took a small step back in horror:

"what are you up to?"

"Don't worry, I just wanted you to see if my revolver is very nice. Oh, sir, if you have a crush on that lady, you can actually find an opportunity to deliver a letter to her, but never use this method to express your love meaning."

"But she will reject me, the way I am..."

The man whispered, he is a native of Tobesk, with a strong accent:

"...she will..."

"If she rejects you, then please stay away from her. Isn't this a normal thing?"

Xia De said, let go of the door and prepared to leave, he waved:

"I already know your identity. If you try to do something to Miss Swan, the police will come here to visit you as soon as possible."

"No, I won't, I won't bother her..."

The man lowered his head and said in a low voice.

Xia De nodded, sighed, turned and left Blackhorn Alley. Not sighing for this matter, but sighing for myself, the second matter is really a waste of time.

[But at least it's interesting enough. 】

"You think so?"

Did not get a reply from the voice in his ear, UU Reading www.uukanshu.com Xia De thought for a while:

"It's really interesting."

Outsiders like to witness different stories, even if they are just stories of ordinary people.

Back on Lewis Avenue, Xia De first found a restaurant to settle his lunch, and then decided to take a carriage to the tax office in the North District of Tobesk to deal with his taxes. The jurisdiction of the North District Taxation Bureau includes Saint Teresa Square, and the Swan Castle Street where the office is located is also where the Blackstone Security Company is located. Xia De wants to tell Iluna what happened just now, and ask the Blackstone Security Company to notify the client. Miss Wang.

If there are other consequences because of Xia De's actions today, he will feel guilty.

"Only death and tax filing are inevitable." In this complicated steam age, death is governed by the gods and the laws of nature, and tax filing is naturally governed by the tax department of the city hall.

There are a total of three tax bureaus in Tobesk, distributed in three directions of the city, and the three tax bureaus are jointly responsible to the financial department of the city hall. Tax evasion is almost impossible. Even if this world is backward compared to Shad's hometown, a detective agency operating in business must have a license. With a license, someone will go to check taxes.

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