Chapter Sixty-Nine: This Is the Eastern District

In the teaching building of the medical school, which was about to be abandoned, Audrey, who had finished the party and was leaving in a circle, suddenly fell into a trance and saw the familiar thick gray fog and the vague figure in the center of the gray fog.

"Here's the clue. ”

Mr. Fool's deep voice is accompanied by a photographic scene, and it is a photographic photograph!

A man close to two meters tall and not strong in a black priest's uniform stood in the shadows, his pale yellow hair was soft and slightly curly, his dark brown eyes were indifferent and fierce, and the corners of his mouth drooped slightly, as withdrawn as a wolf.

Clues: Clues to the Dharavi Street Bombing in the East Side and Gavin's Drowning Incident? Is This the Murderer? Audrey was stunned, and then realized.

Mr. "Fool", this has a clue...... He's amazing, no, he can do anything...... After a sigh of relief, she turned her head to look at Furth beside her.

As soon as Furth took off his mask, took off his surgical cap, and sat in the carriage, he noticed Miss Audrey's slightly strange gaze, and immediately asked suspiciously:

"Is there anything on my face?"

"Nope. Audrey withdrew her gaze and sat down, removing her disguise.

Firth thought back to the previous meeting and asked with some curiosity:

"Miss Audrey, why didn't you buy the recipe for 'Audience', so that you might be able to establish a connection with the Psychological Alchemy Society. ”

She remembered that the generous Miss Audrey remained silent almost the entire time, listening most of the time, selling only a few spiritual materials and buying another variety accordingly.

Audrey smiled lightly:

"This is my first gathering in this circle, and I think it's more important to watch and wait. ”

"I was looking forward to the recipe for the potion, and even more to the magical item, but I told myself that there was no need to rush it, and that it was better to familiarize myself with it before I acted. ”

This is also the "professional habit" of the "audience" approach, and there are no extraordinary materials such as the spinal fluid of the black panther and the medullary crystals of the elven spring...... Audrey silently added.

Firth looked at the girl who was not yet eighteen years old, and suddenly felt that the other party was more mature than ever.

She suddenly laughed at herself and said:

"If I had been like you, I wouldn't have wasted this precious opportunity. ”

Audrey smiled reservedly, responded, and said:

"I'm going to ask some special friends tomorrow morning to see if they have any clues about the Dharavi Street bombing, and you and Hugh are waiting for news at the old place. ”

"Okay. Furth nodded without suspicion.

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

Crane didn't return to Minsk Street overnight and slept directly in a one-bedroom apartment on Black Palm Street in the East End.

He was afraid that the man in the black priest's uniform who was suspected of being the murderer and his accomplices were looking for him all over the street.

Although the probability of encountering it is not high, and he has also disguised it before, most of the other party will not recognize it, but since the results of the divination indicate that there is a certain possibility, then Klein is cautious and makes do with sleeping in the East End.

As soon as it was dawn, he changed into another dark blue worker's uniform, put on a light brown cap, left the room, and walked down the stairs into the street.

At this time, a pale white and yellowish mist filled the surroundings, the figures of people coming and going were blurred, and the cold of the early morning soaked into the clothes.

Crane buried his head and hurried away, exactly like the pedestrians around him who got up early to work.

As he walked, he saw a middle-aged and elderly man in his forties and fifties, with gray temples and a thick jacket, trembling and shuddering out a cigarette and an empty box of matches from the inside pocket of his clothes.

As soon as he opened the matchbox, his right hand shook suddenly, and the crumpled cigarette fell to the ground and rolled in front of Klein.

Klein stopped his steps, picked it up, and handed it to the other party.

"Thank you, thank you! This is my old fellow, there are not a few left. The middle-aged and elderly man thanked him sincerely and took the cigarette.

His face was pale, his beard seemed to have not been shaved for a long time, and the meaning of exhaustion was unreservedly displayed from the corners of his eyebrows and eyes, and he lamented and added:

"I haven't slept for another night, I don't know how many more days I can last, and I hope the Lord will bless me and get me into the workhouse today. ”

This is the homeless man who was driven away...... Klein casually asked:

"Why don't the king and his ministers allow you to sleep in the park?"

"Who knows? But in this kind of weather, if you sleep outside, you probably won't be able to wake up again, or it's better to find a warmer place during the day, hey, so you don't have time or energy to look for work." The middle-aged man lit a cigarette and took a puff.

His energy seemed to regain a little as a result, and he walked side by side with Crane, walking towards the end of the fog or the depths of the mist.

Crane didn't have the idea of greeting him, and planned to speed up to get rid of him, but at this moment, he suddenly saw the middle-aged and elderly man who spoke in a coherent manner bend down and pick up a black thing from the ground.

This seems to be a very clean apple core.

The middle-aged man swallowed his saliva, stuffed the dirty pit in his hand into his mouth, snapped and bit it to a thin scale, and then expertly ate it all without leaving the slightest residue.

Looking at Klein's surprised gaze, he wiped his mouth, shrugged his shoulders, and said with a bitter smile:

"I haven't eaten for almost three days. ”

This sentence hit Klein's heart and touched him indescribably.

He sighed silently and smiled:

"I'm sorry, I didn't introduce myself, I'm a journalist, I'm doing a report on homeless people, can I interview you? Let's go to the café in front. ”

The middle-aged and elderly man was stunned for a moment, and then smiled:

"No problem, much warmer inside than on the street. ”

"It would be better if you could finish the interview and stay a little longer so that I could sleep in it for half an hour, no, a quarter of an hour. ”

Klein opened his mouth, not knowing how to answer, and simply led the "interviewee" into the cheap café at the corner of the street in silence.

The tables and chairs in the café are quite greasy, and there are many customers inside due to the walls and windows, and the average temperature is indeed much higher than on the street.

The middle-aged man scratched his throat to hide his squirming Adam's apple.

Crane motioned for him to sit down, and went to the place where he ordered, and asked for two large cups of tea, a plate of lamb stewed with tender peas, two loaves of bread, two pieces of toast, a portion of inferior butter, and a portion of artificial cream, for a total of 17.5 pence.

"Eat, eat enough to interview. When the food was ready, Crane brought them back to his table.

"For me?" the middle-aged man asked, expectant and surprised.

"Except for a piece of toast and a cup of tea, everything else is yours. Klein responded with a smile.

The middle-aged and elderly man wiped his eyes and said with a slight choked voice:

“...... You, you're such a good Samaritan. ”

"If you've been hungry for a long time, don't eat too quickly. Klein admonished.

"I know, I had an old fellow who died like this. The middle-aged man tried to slow down his eating, occasionally picking up his tea and taking a big sip.

Klein simply settled the toast and watched quietly like that, waiting for the other to finish.

"Whew, I've had three months, no, I haven't eaten so much in half a year, and in the workhouse, the food is just enough. After a while, the middle-aged man put down his spoon and saw an empty plate in front of him.

Klein pretended to be a reporter and casually asked:

"How did you become a homeless man?"

"It was an unlucky thing, I used to be a decent worker, I had a wife, two lovely children, a boy and a girl, but a few years ago, a contagious disease took them away, I also lived in the hospital for a long time, I lost my job, I lost my wealth, I lost my family, and since then, I have often been unable to find a job, no money to rent, no money to eat, I can only wander in different streets and certain parks, which makes me very weak and it is more difficult to find a job......" The middle-aged and elderly man said numbly, with a little aftertaste and sadness.

He took a sip of tea, sighed, and spoke again:

"I can only wait for the opportunity to get into the workhouse, but you know, each workhouse has a limit on the number, and with luck, the queue is in time, and I can have a good few days, recover a little bit of strength, and then find a temporary job, well, temporary, soon, I will be unemployed again, repeat the previous process again, I don't know how long I can last like this. ”

"I was supposed to be a good worker. ”

Klein thought for a moment and said, "How many cigarettes do you still have?"

"There aren't a few left. The middle-aged and elderly man smiled bitterly, "This is my last possessions, the only things I had left when I was evicted by the landlord, heh, I can't take them with me when I go to the workhouse, I will secretly hide them in the cracks of my clothes." Only in the hardest time, I took it out and sucked one, so that I could have hope, I don't know how long I can last, let me tell you, I was a good worker. ”

Klein wasn't a professional journalist and didn't know what to ask.

He turned his head to look out the window and saw faces with obvious hunger colors.

Some are quite sober, these are residents of the East End, and some are numb and tired not like humans, these are vagabonds.

There is no obvious separation between the two, and the former can easily become the latter, such as the gentleman in front of me...... Crane looked back, only to find that the middle-aged and elderly man was asleep, curled up in a chair and asleep.

After a few minutes of silence, Klein went over to wake up the other party and gave him a handful of copper pennies:

"It's the cost of the interview. ”

"Okay, okay, thank you, thank you!" the middle-aged and elderly man didn't come back to his senses for a while, and when Klein walked to the door, he raised his voice and said, "I'll go to a cheap hotel to take a shower, get a good night's sleep, and then look for a job." ”

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

At noon, Klein attended a banquet at Summer's house, with a total of ten guests.

There is apple juice with steak, grilled chicken, fried fish, sausages, creamy soup, many delicacies and two bottles of champagne and a bottle of red wine.

On his way back from the bathroom, he met Mrs. Starlene Summer, and thanked him sincerely:

"A great lunch, thank you for your hospitality. ”

"It cost 4 pounds 8 soles in total, and the most expensive were the three bottles, but these were all Luke's collection, and he had a wine cabinet. Mrs. Starling, who was still quite delicate, replied with a smile.

Without waiting for Klein to speak, she turned to say, "You have earned ten pounds for Mary's case alone, and if you can maintain this good fortune, you will soon be able to hold a similar feast, and invite friends and be invited by friends once a month for those of our class." ”

Klein had long been accustomed to the other party's style, and politely complimented:

"Well, but I won't be like you until I have a steady income of £400 a year. ”

Starlene lifted her chin slightly, trying to make her smile appear light:

"430 pounds, 430 pounds. ”

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

Docklands, East Bailang Dockyard, Union of Workers Tavern.

Hugh wore much higher boots and a thick beard to make himself look like a short man.

She recalls the portrait she had seen from Miss Audrey, trying to imprint the image of the man suspected of being the murderer in her mind.

If Gavin had been killed by him, it would have been likely that he had been a frequent haunt of the tavern...... Hugh asked for a rye beer and a lunch, huddled in the corner, and ate slowly, occasionally looking around covertly for a target.

After a while, the door to the tavern was pushed open again, and Hugh looked over reflexively.

At this glance, her pupils contracted like the tip of a needle, and her whole person almost turned into a stone statue.

The customer who came in was nearly two meters tall!