"Would you like a cigarette?"

The Agent Captain pulls out a pack of cigarettes. It was a nondescript dwelling not far from Carmen's apartment, which Carmen often passed by, and which was guarded by armed guards who claimed to belong to a supply warehouse belonging to the Guards.

Carmen took a cigar out of his jacket pocket and sniffed it in front of his nostrils. The Secret Agent Captain sneered, but was not angry, and lit a cigarette to himself:

"To introduce myself, I'm Jack Smith, the Captain of Operations at the Holy City's Secret Police. ”

"Fortunately!" Carmen struggled to keep himself composed, "I don't know what I can do for Team Smith." ”

"Don't be nervous. I'm sorry to bring Mr. Gable here so late, just wanted to have an honest chat with you. ”

Captain Smith was a balding man, with a very ordinary appearance, and he looked like an ordinary citizen, one of the least conspicuous ones thrown into the crowd.

This is very different from the secret police chief Daley in Carmen's hometown, Daley is gloomy, fierce, and exudes an air of no one to approach, looking at anyone as if he is looking at a criminal.

"I'm just an ordinary journalist, well, maybe a little bit famous, but I really can't think of any common language I have in common with Mr. Captain. Carmen played dumb.

"It's true that when two strangers sit together, there is such an awkwardness, such as between you and me. Smith smiled, "It's time to find a common thread." Have a cup of tea?"

"Okay, thank you!" Carmen had been running for a day today, and it was only then that he realized that his throat was about to smoke.

"I'm sorry, I only have the most ordinary tea here, or last year's aged tea. You Genoese sell tea too expensive. Smith personally made a cup of tea for Carmen, who would have thought he was a guest at a friend's house if it weren't for being in the secret police stronghold.

"As far as I know, the wholesale price of tea plantations is not too high relative to the retail price, but now the market is in short supply, so the price is very high when it is sold to customers, basically two to three times the wholesale price. But the price has been cut in half this year, and it is expected that it may be halved next year, and I have heard that some people are hoarding Juqi, which is a completely bad idea. Carmen said.

"That's good news for me. In my line of work, I often stay up late and make a pot of tea to make me feel better. You journalists drink a lot of tea, right? Afford to pay your salary?" Smith said.

"Normally, of course, I can't afford this expense, and tea is still too expensive at the moment. But don't forget, I'm from Poitu, and I have a small tea garden at home, and this small tea garden has food and clothing for my whole family, which I can't imagine before. Carmen said.

"Haha, can I ask you to buy some tea in the future? My salary is not high, almost all bosses or industry owners always dislike their subordinates for only getting a salary and not working. Smith said half-truthfully, spreading his hands, "Look, we've got a good topic." ”

"If you interrogate a prisoner like this every time, I'm afraid you'll get a lot. Is this what is called interrogation technique?" said Carmen.

"No, no, Mr. Gable, I told you, I just wanted to talk to you. "Smith is still going around in circles.

"Mr. Captain, if you want to ask anything directly, if you still want to go around in circles, I have nothing to offer. Carmen said.

"We've noticed that you've been going in and out of various police offices and police stations for the past month," Smith said.

"As you can see, I'm investigating a series of missing children. You're in charge of the disappearance?" said Carmen.

"No, we are not the police and although we have the right to mobilize the police force, whether it is the police police, the patrol police, the marine police, or even the tax police, we seem to be one, but our responsibilities are not different, and of course they do not include the search for missing children. I'm just curious, it doesn't look like you're just reporting on the disappearances themselves, what did you find?" Smith asked, "Please understand, it's part of my job to bring you over for tea." ”

Smith took the briefcase Carmen had brought with him, pulled out a notebook, and asked, "Mind if I take a look?"

Mind how boring it was, Carmen had to nod, he didn't do anything illegal.

Carmen's investigation was carried out in detail, with the names of the missing children being sorted out, the main points of the investigation recorded, as well as some suspicious points, highlighted by triangular symbols.

"Dentist, dentist, dental department?" Smith frowned, and the notebook was not too thick, and he looked at it for two hours, and Carmen even fell asleep on his stomach.

"I don't know if this guy did it intentionally or unintentionally, but it's a huge discovery. Smith thought to himself.

He woke Carmen up. Carmen rubbed his sleeping eyes: "Ah, it's dawn?"

"Mr. Gable, you can go back. Smith said.

"So, can you give me back this notebook?" asked Carmen.

"Mr. Gable, regarding the series of missing children, it is now up to our secret police to take over. I want you to terminate the investigation immediately. Remember who you are, you're not a police officer, and if you like the profession, I can introduce you to our secret police force. ”

"Ahh

With Smith's years of experience in handling cases, he really can't tell whether Carmen is really stupid or pretending to be stupid, and of course it is better to pretend to be stupid.

However, this reporter almost exposed the huge case that happened under his nose, which made Smith feel very happy, thinking of this, Smith also has to thank this reporter, otherwise he would not only be derelict in his duties, but even ......

Thinking of this, Smith felt a chill down his spine, and he didn't dare to imagine it.

Therefore, he was ready to personally return Carmen to his apartment in a horse-drawn carriage.

"Now it's no longer an ordinary criminal case, it's a state secret! If you don't want to provoke a murderous disaster, stay away from it." Smith said solemnly, threateningly.

"But I took the initiative to propose this investigation to our newspaper, and I have to be worthy of the president's trust, and I only run this one thing this month. As you said, my boss doesn't want to see his employees just getting paid and not working. "Carmen cried out.

"Your president will forgive you, and I will go and see him personally. Smith's tone was tough.

Carmen waited for that.

The next day, Carmen came to the newspaper office again.

The president, Mr. Brown, took the initiative to mention the incident, and he made up a lot of ideas about the real reason why a secret police leader came to greet Carmen in person, and tried to find out what was going on in Carmen.

"Sorry, Mr. Brown, this is a state secret. And you know, it's impossible for me to refuse a request from a secret police chief. You often educate us about freedom of reporting, but when it comes to power, we can only compromise and put safety first, provided that we don't get involved in matters of principle. After all, there are only a handful of journalists killed every year. Carmen said.

Mr. Brown shrugged, "Well, I'm not going to ask you any more, it always feels like you're missing a big piece of news." It's a pity. ”

"Rest assured, I will definitely cover this big news in due course. Carmen promised.

Mr. Brown nodded: "You don't have any other interview assignment now, you can report on the ironclad ship, it just so happens that you are from Poitou, and this matter is none other than you." Write to your friends back home and ask them to gather news about Kang's Shipbuilding Company for you, I don't want to see any cookie-cutter news reports. ”

After a pause, Mr. Brown asked, "You must know the viscount well, can you do an interview, in the form of a letter, of course?" No, that's too slow......"

Mr. Brown immediately changed his mind: "You can go back to Poitu and give an interview to the Viscount in person, so that there is something new." Visiting relatives by the way, this is a good errand, killing two birds with one stone!"

Detective Carmen is back to his old ways.

As Carmen packed his bags and prepared to return to Poitou, Captain Smith was trembling to report to his superior, Colonel Joseph Frank.

Although this Frank was only a colonel, this did not prevent him from communicating with the marshal and the admirals on an equal footing.

Not because he came from a noble family, but because he had a mysterious force in his hands—even if a high-ranking officer of the marshal rank was suspected of treason, he presided over the investigation and interrogation, and even secretly executed.

As a result, Colonel Frank was "respectable".

"In 1831, a total of 312 children from the Holy City and Gyeonggi Prefecture went missing, ranging in age from 3 months to 12 years old, including children of families from other provinces who came to the Holy City and Gyeonggi Prefecture to earn a living, and 405 children disappeared last year, in 1832. The above figures do not include children trafficked to the Holy City and Gyeonggi from other provinces, and the unscrupulous factory owners prefer to use child labor. ”

Of these, at least 30 of the children who went missing in 1831 were involved in dental disease and had experience going to the dentist, and 32 of the same missing children were involved in these aspects last year. ”

"With all that said, we have a bold guess......"

"Bloodthirsty?" Frank asked, "well, your squad has done a great job and has a very good analysis. This is in line with the purpose of our secret police, which is to spare no would-be traitor!"

Smith was overjoyed and continued:

"We secretly investigated the National Council for Dental Protection and Dentistry, commonly known as the 'Dental Protection Group', and identified several key targets. These people are extremely suspicious, and they take advantage of their work as dentists and academic seminars to search for possible bloodthirsty people among the general population through dentists scattered throughout the country. ”

"Good!" said Frank, "this covert operation of theirs may have been going on for years, which may be the reason why we have not been able to get rid of the bloodthirsty completely, as they can always be replenished. ”

"So, Colonel, are we closing the net?" asked Smith.

"No, keep watching, try to find one or more secret strongholds where they sent the baby Bloodthirsty, and they will surely adopt and train these baby Bloodthirsty to become a tool in their hands. I hope to be able to catch all these shady ones. ”

"So what about a character like Marquis Walker?"

"He has failed His Majesty's trust, and if he wants to get away with it, he will have to pay some price. ”

Smith mourned in his heart for the Marquis.