This is the first time that Hodge has walked generously on the streets of Blackstone, and there are no pedestrians on either side, which is no wonder, after all, Blackstone is a mining town, and the largest number of slaves should be working in the dark mines at this time, and the rest of the criminals are either sleeping in the sewers or a bar is constantly ordering low-quality beer to numb their nerves.

The occasional townsfolk all set their eyes on Hera, knowing that her appearance was too special, with long gray hair draped over her shoulders, eyebrows of the same color, and gray-white eyes that made her look so unreal, like a frost-fabricated dummy.

Sensing the gaze of others, Hera quietly leaned over Hodge's side, holding a hand that increased its strength.

"Take it easy, these people have no ill will towards you. Hodge relieved Hera a and turned to look at the heavily armed knight on the side, "How far are we from the crime scene?"

"It's almost over, cross this street and turn two more corners, and that's the street where the accident happened. The knight's voice was low and deliberate, as if he didn't want Hodge to hear his original voice.

Is...... Embarrassed.

Layton cursed in his heart.

Pollit agreed to Hodge's request, which somewhat disrupted Rhodes' plans, and in order to make sure that the young man with the witch would not do anything out of the ordinary in the town, he quickly added that during the time of Hodge's investigation, he must be accompanied by soldiers from the patrol guard, and considering the destructive nature that a witch can cause, he of course chose the most capable person in the hall.

In the face of witches, do you expect me to be a knight to fight against them?

Layton thought indignantly, not to mention not wanting Hodge to recognize his identity, and the company along the way made him feel constrained and awkward.

"Uh-huh......" Hodge thought about his words for a moment, then turned to him and said, "Aren't you tired?"

"What?" Layton apparently hadn't reacted yet.

Hodge chuckled, "I mean, aren't you really tired like this? ”

"I don't understand what you're talking about. ”

"Maybe you forgot the experience of coming to my store and going to the small room?"

“......” Layton paused for a long time before he unfastened his helmet, showed his whole face, and looked at Hodge: "How long did you recognize it as mine." ”

"It's in the council chamber, and your voice isn't too hard to read. ”

Leiden was a little helpless, it turned out that he hadn't hidden his identity from the shop owner from the beginning, so why didn't he have wronged himself so much along the way, he was about to suffocate, no wonder he asked himself if he was not tired.

"You're making me feel dangerous, boss. Layton shifted his gaze to Hera, "Especially since you still have this lady with you, shouldn't you be here and stay in the store in peace?"

"Your Excellency, you must first understand that I have only been invited to come, and that your accusations seem vexatious to me in this respect. ”

"But your conditions indicate your purpose. ”

"Yes. Hodge said bluntly and looked at him seriously, "If it were you, would you like to stay in the dark underground pipes for the rest of your life?"

Hodge's straightforward and honest words made him not know how to respond, and even though Hodge's statement made sense, he still didn't think so, it was a intuitive judgment, and he trusted his own intuition even more than reason.

"That's not right. He whispered.

"There's nothing wrong with that. Hodge looked ahead, "It's a fair deal. ”

......

"This is it. ”

The usher of the Fran Chamber of Commerce pointed to the narrow path not far away, and said to Layton: "This is the place where Lord Virginia was killed, according to your request, our men did not carry his body, and now he is still lying in the alley, huh...... Maybe it's starting to stink. ”

"Thank you for your cooperation. Layton expertly handed over a silver coin and led Hodge and Hera down the path.

The moment he lowered his body and burrowed into the dark alleyway, sure enough, a strong stench came from inside.

"Do you need the White Ding Pill?" Layton shoved two small white pills into his nose and took out the other four and handed them to Hodge behind him.

Hodge only took two, turned around and carefully stuffed the pill for Hera that had a faint fragrance and would not affect his breathing, and said to Layton with his back to him: "Before I came here, I worked as a herbalist for many years, and I probably saw more dead people than you, and the smell of corpses is nothing to me. ”

Layton shrugged, his hands against the cramped gray walls on either side, groping his way ahead, the path was too narrow, and the high places were stacked with debris planks so that there was little light to enter, and it was a difficult thing to walk in it.

Layton suddenly stopped, and quietly looked at his feet by the faint light, this is a wide area of the alley, this small area can squeeze about four adult men, he leaned as far outside as he could, leaving enough space for Hodge and Hera, and said, "Look, this is Virginia's corpse." ”

Hodge squeezed over and touched Hera's head, trying to get her to turn away from the scene, but was unexpectedly met with her silent refusal.

Stunned, he thought of what Devany had said to herself.

She won't be small forever.

Not only that, maybe now he can't treat Hera as a little girl, she has grown up, has her own thoughts, has her own opinions, and all this, no need for Hodge to make decisions for her.

Maybe in Hera's eyes, her so-called thinking about her is superfluous that is incompatible with her heart.

He chuckled, "Okay. ”

Leaning down, the dim light was just enough to illuminate the outline of Virginia's corpse, and the attack was completely black.

"I can't see clearly, is there a fire fold?"

With a click, Layton ignited the fire, the red glow of the flame allowing Hodge to see the corpse more fully.

Virginia's cause of death was a sharp weapon used as a chest puncture in the lungs, allowing blood to rush into the lungs until he could not breathe, this is a very cruel way to die, the murderer did not directly pierce his heart, obviously did not want him to die so easily.

"The murderer wanted to torture this man. He reached out and touched Virginia's palms at his side, each with a diagonal wound, and groped for a while on the ground nearby, until he found two small cuts in the wall, about the size of his palms.

"The murderer first pierced his lungs, but it was not over, in order to make him struggle more violently, he also pierced the man's hands against the wall with a knife or something, the man felt suffocated, and could not relieve the pain with his hands, all the struggles were so painful, and the murderer did not leave until he was completely dead, and it seemed to the murderer to witness his painful death. ”

"Why did the murderer take such a big risk not to leave, but to see his death with his own eyes?"

"How could this merchant come to such a remote alley, in terms of his status, he didn't even bring an attendant, what is the purpose of coming here alone?"

"It's not an assassination, the murderer should have been talking to the merchant at that time, and suddenly, the merchant was killed by the murderer, which was unexpected by the merchant, so what is the identity of the murderer, and how can the merchant be defenseless?"

"Why......" Hodge looked down in thought, and suddenly saw a blood stain on Virginia's chest, and in the inner lining of the valgus, a large blood stain covered the chest, but there was only one corner, but there was a small and clean corner.

This shape—

"A book, or a booklet?" he looked at carefully, "and after he died, the murderer took a booklet out of his clothes?"