Lord of the Mysteries

Old Kohler seemed to be a slightly afraid of her ferocity as he subconsciously took a step back.

“Liv, this is a detective, and he w-wishes to help you find Daisy.”

Liv’s wrinkled, peeling face turned to Klein and said coldly, “We’ve already made a police report.”

Although she was perhaps in her thirties, she looked to be in her fifties.

Klein looked around the room where many wet clothes hung. He vaguely remembered the last time he was here. There had been a thirteen or fourteen-year-old girl, carefully holding a crude homemade iron to iron the clothes which had wrinkled from being hung to dry. Her hands had been covered with burns.

She’s the “missing” Daisy… Klein looked back at the laundry maid, Liv, and said in a neutral tone, “Do you believe that the East Borough police will really be looking for Daisy?

“Are you sure the people who caused Daisy to go ‘missing’ wouldn’t cast their sights on your family?

“Do you wish to lose another daughter after losing one?”

When the cruel yet heart-wrenching words reached Liv’s ears, the indifferent expression on her face slowly crumbled. She turned agape, but she couldn’t say anything. The corners of her eyes gradually turned red.

She abruptly lowered her head and muttered to herself in pain and despair, “I don’t have any money…”

The room suddenly became silent. Even the sobbing girl didn’t make another sound.

Klein pursed his lips and let out a silent sigh.

“I occasionally do volunteer work, simply to help others. Heh heh, I haven’t done so in a long time, so please give me a chance.”

“Volunteer work?” Liv lifted her head and ruminated over the phrase.

Klein nodded slightly and answered, “The job will be done pro bono. No, it is not completely free either. Kindness will bring me great satisfaction.

“Since you have no other solutions, why not give it a try?”

Liv was silent for a moment. She raised her hand, which had wrinkled from being soaked in water for an extended period of time, wiped her eyes, and said in a low voice, “Mr. Detective, you… you really are a kind and good gentleman…”

Her voice suddenly became choked with sobs.

“… This was what happened—at midday before yesterday, at noon, Daisy delivered a load of washed laundry under Freja’s lead. It was just outside East Borough, and they needed to cross several streets.

“In order to rush back for lunch, Freja had chosen a secluded alley, but a momentary distraction left her realizing that Daisy, who had been following her, was gone.

“She retraced her route but never found Daisy, and Daisy hasn’t come back yet.

“Where did this happen, Freja?”

named Freja had already stood

sobbed and said, “Right here, right here in Broken Axe Lane,

without

anything that Daisy often carries? I can borrow a police dog. It has an excellent sense of smell and can be used to find a person based on the

moment

if the situation had turned

blinked and

“Daisy’s vocabulary book!”

book?” Old

Daisy attend the free school at night.

good

provide stationery and a certain amount of paper. It was an education that was need-blind, and it

to be teachers in the free school, a unique teaching method was established. Teachers would arrive early, gather the few students who had the best academic progress, imbue them with the content for that day’s class, and then put them in charge of teaching the different classes. The teachers would supervise, correcting any mistakes. It was

technical workers’ workshop, which were truly accessible to the poor, and one of the few outlets to escape

it was difficult for them to play a substantial

vocabulary words she had copied and hugged them in her bed every day. She would wake up early and go out into the street to recite them under the light of dawn. She’s

back to the bunk bed and took out a stack of crumpled paper from under

for extended periods of time, the words that were

though they had been turned over and over by someone

the so-called vocabulary book, which had no binding

Klein answered very

wasn’t trying to comfort Freja. Although it wasn’t the kind of items Daisy carried around all the time, it was something that had accompanied her all this while. Moreover, it had been projected with Daisy’s strong

the vocabulary book and said, “Then I’ll start taking action.

were unable to find words to describe their feelings. All they could do was watch as Klein and Old Kohler leave, repeating the words “thank you,” “thank you, Mr. Detective,” and “thank you, good

pay attention to those female textile workers who lost their jobs, especially those who have neither found new jobs nor become street girls, and pay more attention to those who

Ask less and listen more. If you

Old Kohler nodded

bid farewell. After hesitating for a moment, he asked with a tone full of expectation,

that I will do

sighed and smiled

I’m very unwilling to see this sort of thing

waved his hand and walked towards another

book” around the head of the cane and, without attracting any attention, completed a

any interference or misdirection… He looked down at the direction in which the cane was going to fall

the revelation, Klein went all the way out of East Borough and hired a rental

changed directions, stopped at Iris Street, near Cherwood Borough and West Borough. It stopped in front of a house with a vast lawn, a wide garden, a small fountain square, and a marble

this moment, Klein’s cane had fallen down inside the carriage and was aimed straight at

window, Klein could see the guards patrolling inside the

security inside

his spiritual intuition made him sense that

How can Daisy’s disappearance involve such a dangerous place?Klein thought for a few seconds, then