The picture begins to distort, begins to blur, begins to disappear.

Crane broke away from the dream-like experience, and his gaze adjusted to the darkness of the bedroom.

He knew that his brother Benson used 1 pound and 10 sules, that is, a weekly salary of 30 sules, and it was quite hard to support himself and Melissa according to the standards of normal civilians.

He thought that the vast majority of workers would earn 20 soles a week.

He had heard Melissa mention that on the lower street of Iron Cross, there were families of five, seven, or even ten people living in the same room.

He learned from Benson that in the past few months, the kingdom had experienced an economic downturn due to the situation in the southern continent.

He had learned that the maid who was fed and sheltered could take 3 sules and 6 pence a week.

Klein stretched out his hand, pinched his eyebrows, and did not speak for a long time, until Sir de Ville, who was lying on the bed, spoke:

"Officer, don't you say something? The psychiatrist I hired before would talk to me and ask me questions in such an environment at this time. ”

"I did feel peaceful, though, and I was almost asleep just now, but I didn't hear any moans or crying. ”

"How did you do that?"

Crane leaned back in his rocking chair, did not answer the question, and said in a flat voice:

"Sir, do you know about lead poisoning, do you know the dangers of lead?"

"......," Deville, who was lying on the bed, was silent for a few seconds, "I didn't know it before, but then I knew, you mean, my psychological problems, or mental illness, are due to feeling guilty, and I feel guilty about those lead workers and glazing women?"

Without waiting for Klein to answer, he said to himself as if he had seized the initiative in negotiations every time:

"Yes, I did feel guilty, but I have long compensated them, and in my lead and porcelain factories each worker is paid a lot more than in the same places, and in Beckland the women of lead and glaze are paid no more than eight soles a week, and I pay them ten soles, or more. ”

"Oh, many people accuse me of making them immoral and difficult to recruit workers. If it weren't for the repeal of the Grain Act, many farmers would have gone bankrupt and moved into the city, and they would have had to follow me in raising their wages. ”

"And I also told the factory supervisor to get workers who have had headaches and blurred vision many times out of contact with lead, and to apply for assistance from my charity if they are very sick. ”

"I think I've done enough. ”

Klein's tone didn't fluctuate in the slightest:

"Sometimes, sir, you can never imagine how important a salary is to a poor person, and even if they are unemployed for a week or two, their family will be irreversibly and tragically damaged. ”

He paused, then asked:

"I'm curious, why don't you add equipment to your factory to protect against dust and lead poisoning?"

Deville looked at the ceiling and smiled bitterly:

"It's going to be unacceptably expensive for me, and I can't compete with other lead factories and porcelain factories, and I don't care too much about the benefits of this, and I'm even willing to subsidize some of the money, but what's the point of always doing this? ”

"This translates into me purely spending money to support people. I've heard that some factories, in order to save costs, are still secretly using slaves. ”

Klein clasped his hands together and was silent for a while:

"Sir, your mental problems are the result of this little accumulation of guilt, even though you thought they had faded and disappeared. It wouldn't have been too noticeable, but something spurred you on and set all the problems on fire at once, all of them. ”

"Something irritates me? I didn't know there was such a thing. DeVille said with confusion and certainty.

Klein let his body sway gently with the rocking chair, and explained in a calm tone:

"You've actually been asleep for a few minutes and told me something. ”

"Hypnotherapy?" DeVille habitually speculated, pre-decided.

Klein didn't give a positive reply, and said directly:

"You once saw in the carriage a woman who died of lead poisoning and was glazing your porcelain. ”

"......," Deville whispered, rubbing his temples uncertainly, "there seems to be such a thing...... But I don't remember it very clearly......"

The long-term insomnia made his mental condition very poor, and he vaguely seemed to have seen a similar scene.

He thought for a moment, no longer squeezing his poor brain, and instead asked:

"What's that lady's name?"

"Well, I mean, what can I do to treat my mental problems?"

Klein replied in a low and concise voice:

"Two things. ”

"First of all, the woman who died on the side of the road is called Hayley Walker, and as you told me, she is the most direct irritation, so you need to find her parents and give more compensation. ”

"Second, make the dangers of lead widely known in newspapers and magazines, get your charitable fund to help workers who are hurting, and if you can become a member of the House of Lords, push for legislation in that area. ”

Deville sat up slowly, and smiled self-deprecatingly:

"I'll do everything else, but legislation, heh, I don't think it's possible, because there are still foreign competitors, and legislation will only plunge these industries in the kingdom into a general crisis, one after the other, and a large number of workers will lose their jobs, and the workforce will not save so many people. ”

He turned over and got out of bed unquickly, straightened his neckline, looked at Klein and said:

"Hayliette Walker, right? I'll tell Karen to go to the porcelain factory at once to get her information, and get her parents, officer, please wait with me and assess my mental state at all times. ”

"Okay. Klein slowly stood up and patted off the police uniform with white on a black background.

............

Eleven a.m., the living room on the first floor of the Deville house.

Crane, who hadn't spoken much, sat on the single sofa and watched in silence as a man and a woman were ushered in by the butler Karen.

The two guests had rough skin and wrinkled faces, the man's back was slightly rickety, and the woman's eyelid had a black mole.

They were almost identical to what Crane had seen through Hayliet, but they were older and haggard, so thin that you could almost see bones, and their clothes were old and tattered, and it was said that they could barely live down Iron Cross Street.

Woo......

In Klein's inspiration, the cold wind began to whirl.

He pinched his eyebrows, turned his gaze to Sir de Ville, and saw a pale white, transparent, and distorted figure appear behind him.

"Morning, good morning, respect, honorable lord. Hayliet's parents saluted unusually solemnly.

Deville rubbed his forehead and asked:

"You're Hayley Walker's parents, don't she have a brother, a two-year-old sister?"

Hayliet's mother replied in fear: "She, her brother broke his leg at the dock some time ago, and we left him at home to take care of his sister. ”

De Ville was silent for a few seconds, sighed and said:

"I have deep sympathy for Hayliet's misfortune. ”

Hearing this, Helye's father and mother suddenly had red eyes, and each spoke, and said in a mess:

"Thank you, thank you for your kindness. ”

"The police told us, told us that Hayliet died of lead poisoning, that is the word? Oh, my poor child, she was only seventeen years old, and she had been quiet and stubborn. ”

"You sent to see her, you financed her burial, and she was buried in Raphael's cemetery. ”

DeVille glanced at Klein, changed his sitting position, leaned forward, and said in a heavy tone:

"This was actually our negligence, and I need to apologize. ”

"I've thought about it, I'll have to compensate you, I have to compensate Hayliet, she's paid 10 suckers a week, right? 540 suckers a year, well, 27 pounds, let's say she'll have to work for at least 10 years. ”

"Karen, you give 300 pounds to Hayliet's parents. ”

"3,300 pounds?" Hayliet's father and mother were stunned.

When they were at their most rich, they didn't have more than £1 in their savings!

Not only them, but the bodyguards and servants in the living room were all shocked and envious, and even Sheriff Getter couldn't help but let his breathing become heavier - his weekly salary was only two pounds, and the police officer with only one "V" under his command was only one pound.

In an indescribable silence, Cullen, the butler, came out of the study, carrying a bulging cloth bag in his hand.

He threw the sack over, revealing stacks and stacks of bills inside, one pound, five pounds, but more one and five sul.

It can be seen that Deville asked people to exchange "change" from the bank in advance.

"That's what Jazz wants. Cullen, who had the master's approval, handed the bag to Hayliet's parents.

Hayliet's father and mother took it, rubbed their eyes, and looked at it over and over again.

"No, this, it's too generous, we shouldn't take it. They clutched the cloth bag tightly.

Deville said in a deep voice:

"This is what Hayliet should have. ”

"You, what a noble, benevolent knight!" said Hayliet's parents bowed excitedly.

A smile appeared on their faces, a smile that could not be contained.

They praised Sir de Ville over and over again, they repeated the few adjectives they had, and they repeatedly said that Hayliet would be grateful to each other in Heaven.

"Karen, send someone to send them back, well, to the bank first. Deville breathed a sigh of relief and instructed the butler.

Helier's father and mother hugged the cloth bag tightly and walked quickly to the door.

Klein saw that the white, transparent figure behind Sir Deville tried to reach out to them, trying to follow them away, but they were smiling so brightly that they didn't look back.

The figure grew fainter and fainter, and soon disappeared completely.

And in Klein's induction, the coldness of the living room was normal.

He just watched quietly from beginning to end, without expressing any opinion.

"Officer, I'm feeling better, can you tell me now why my butlers, servants, and bodyguards can hear the crying and moaning as well?

Inspector Toller, who knew the inside story, suddenly became nervous.

Klein replied expressionlessly:

"In psychology, we call this phenomenon mass hysteria. ”

PS: Several of the female worker characters in the previous chapter are based on Jack London, "The Abyss Dwellers - East End Stories"