Chapter 2195: Gilot’s Story

Chapter 2195: Chapter 2195: Gilot’s Story

The three individuals beaten down by Shard were merely ordinary members of the Black Hand Gang and didn’t know much. Under the threat of force, they quickly divulged the information they held — the Black Hand Gang refused to give up hope that the three missing cards might still be in this house, so they sent them to search again.

Shard wasn’t interested in them, so he instructed them to stay put. He searched the house himself and finally found a "Harry Gilot" business card in the corner of the desk’s cardholder. He memorized the information on the card, put it back, and then left with Mia.

Mr. Harry Gilot was a local businessman dealing in tobacco, his shop located in the dock area, evidently targeting sailors.

However, when Shard followed the address to the shop, he found it was under renovation. Upon inquiry, Shard learned that the tobacco shop had been sold to someone else weeks ago by Mr. Gilot. But no one knew where Mr. Gilot had gone; he hadn’t even bid farewell to the shop’s neighboring residents.

"Did he leave with the card after obtaining it?"

The shop appeared sizable, but if Mr. Gilot spent £250 to purchase a Roder Card, that would have been a significant expenditure.

Shard was quite perplexed, but he needed to find this person first. Luckily, he had other ways of obtaining information, so he went to the Princess Trading Partners located in the dock area to ask Ms. Annie Bonnie, who was familiar with the dock area situation, to help find this person.

Such a trivial matter was no problem, and at the same time, Ms. Annie Bonnie gave Shard a package sent from another part of the city.

The return address was again from the bookstore in the city center, and the sender was still Mr. Dylan. He was an agent of the Grey Glove; when Shard first arrived in Moon Bay City, he had asked him to investigate some inconsequential matters to aid the Princess Trading Partners’ fleet’s departure.

If Lecia’s fleet had already left port, the previous package had provided Shard with the accounting status of the Moon Bay Bridge construction. The data was so extensive that Shard hadn’t finished reviewing it. Today’s package contained information about a safe house the grey-headed eagle used over a decade ago and the current movements of the Black Family.

As Ms. Annie Bonnie went to find the tobacco shop owner’s whereabouts, Shard opened the package at the Princess Trading Partners.

He hadn’t looked into the Black Family’s movements, planning to deliver it to Belindel Estate before leaving Moon Bay that night, as he and the Witch had a clear division of labor. Matters concerning the Seven Great Families were to be investigated by the Duchess.

As for the grey-headed eagle’s former safe house...

"I remembered, I can now reverse object’s time limit to three years."

[Indeed, but the last time Sparrow Hamilton used those safe houses was far beyond this limit.]

"She" gently reminded.

"But Detective Sparrow’s time of death was last summer, and when he learned of his impending death in the spring of 1853, besides entrusting me with posthumous arrangements, did he also deploy personnel to those safe houses across the Old Continent to destroy items that absolutely couldn’t be left behind? He is a top agent of the Grey Glove, carrying items inconvenient to bring along but unsuitable to deposit with friends."

Shard surmised internally, but since Detective Sparrow hadn’t returned to these places for decades, it’s unlikely he left highly confidential documents in a safe house. Thus, even if he had deployed personnel in the spring of 1853 before dying to handle certain documents in Moon Bay, those items likely wouldn’t aid Shard.

"But... if there’s a chance, I’ll check it out."

He noted the locations and information of the safe houses; even though visiting them wouldn’t help, the Outlander remained interested in anything related to Detective Sparrow.

Ms. Annie Bonnie didn’t keep Shard waiting long, returning to the trade company’s small building shortly after three. She appeared hesitant, and after sitting down, she hesitated again before speaking:

"Mr. Watson, the tobacco merchant Harry Gilot you’re looking for is already dead."

"Dead? How did he die?"

Shard lifted the sleeping Mia onto his lap and sat upright:

"When did it happen?"

"About two weeks ago. I quickly gleaned this after asking around at the dock, it was quite a notorious incident."

This one-eyed woman hesitated again.

"The issue dates back further, approximately a month ago, when Harry Gilot’s only son gambled in the local Roder Card Casino and won too much money. While returning home at night, he was ambushed and robbed. But the attackers didn’t know their own strength, resulting in the younger Gilot mysteriously dying in the alley. The case remains unsolved. Mr. Gilot evidently believed that the casino dispatched people to deal with his son and, two weeks ago, he stormed into the casino alone with a gun and strapped with a steam bomb acquired from somewhere. He didn’t demand compensation, only that the casino hand over the killer. But he was alone and was shot during negotiations at the casino."

"I see..."

Shard remarked, reflecting again on how "gambling ruins lives" while asking:

"So where is his corpse buried? How was the case ultimately classified?"

"Though Mr. Gilot’s unfortunate death remains unresolved, the case of Mr. Gilot’s illegal possession of steam bombs and firearms has been concluded. With no other relatives locally, his body was sent to the city public cemetery for burial after the trial ended. The burial was just yesterday. Handling such straightforward cases is always swift."

She seemed to have anticipated Shard’s inquiry about the location of the corpse, handing him a note:

"The specific location is in the city public cemetery. Old Gilot didn’t leave much behind; it seems he spent all the money from selling his shop on gathering information and acquiring firearms and steam bombs. I bet those scumbags from the black market swindled him hard... the Church paid for his burial."

Shard nodded, and before getting up to leave, he asked:

"You’re well-connected in the Dock Area. Do you know who ultimately robbed and murdered Mr. Gilot?"

The one-eyed woman blinked her single eye:

"Mr. Watson, some things are destined to never be answered. This is the dock of Moon Bay; nobody can truly know all that happens here. Saying so might not be the most appropriate, but justice is useless where people only trust money... this sentiment seems accurate for the entire city. The City of Wealth is always like this, but if you wish to uphold justice and avenge the Gilot family, Princess Trading Partners will fully support you."

"No need... I’ll handle it myself."

Shard realized he seemed to have a peculiar affinity with city cemeteries. No matter which city he visited, he would always find himself at the local cemetery for various reasons, from Tobesk to Moon Bay.

The history of Moon Bay City’s public cemetery is not long. The original city cemetery was on the outskirts, but as Moon Bay City expanded, the cemetery was enveloped into the city and forced to relocate. Thus, despite the city’s long history, the current cemetery has less than fifty years of history.

With the mountainous north of Moon Bay, the newly constructed Moon Bay City public cemetery naturally resides here. A specially built path extends from the city to the cemetery gates. Holding a sleepy and groggy cat while disembarking from the carriage, Shard took one look at the gloomy sky and another at the empty cemetery. As he paid for his fare and turned back to the cemetery, there was already someone waiting for him.

"If it weren’t for the absence of fog, I’d mistake you for a ghost... Good afternoon, Miss Eles."

He nodded with a smile, not at all surprised. The blue-eyed, black-haired girl still wore that wide-brimmed hat tilted at an angle. She appeared without a sound, at least Shard hadn’t noticed her presence.

"Meow~"

The cat, initially sleeping comfortably, twitched its nose a few times and then suddenly opened its eyes.

"Meow!"

Without hesitation, it made a "menacing" sound towards Miss Eles, yet the girl merely smiled at them.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Watson. Are you not surprised by our encounter this time?"

"Not surprised. Your appearance anywhere is normal."

Saying this, he walked up to Miss Eles:

"Thank you for rescuing me and Earl Belindel last Sunday on the sea; she said your yacht is beautiful."

He emphasized the word "yacht," but the girl showed no interest in discussing it:

"Remember? When we first met, I asked you to complete five tasks."

She waved her hand, and Shard stroked the cat’s face, showing an unhappy expression, indicating to Miss Eles not to block the cemetery gate. They then walked through the elderflower ironwork decorated Black Iron gate together.

"Of course I remember."

"You’ve completed three now."

"But I recall it’s two: The girl wished for her mother’s company, so I had Miss Lisa tell her stories; the boy didn’t want to be a porter like his father, so I advised him to consider his future and responsibilities as he grew up. Yes, only those two."

The girl, with a graceful figure, smiled and shook her head:

"The third one was the spirit of the cat wandering the sewers; you helped it fulfill its wish to meet its owner once more. You showed it the light it sought, so the formidable wraith spirit didn’t disturb the ordinary people’s lives; the girl who lost her best companion in childhood finally conquered her childhood regrets as she grew up. Though I didn’t appear, this indeed was your third task accomplished."