"Does Mr. Laurel live here? Is he at home?"
There is no wind today, and the city is full of fog again. The morning sun couldn't penetrate the clouds very strongly, and the whole street looked gloomy.
When the drunk looked at Xia De suspiciously, Xia De was also looking at him. Although the client, Mrs. Lemaire, was unable to provide a photo of the lawyer, the appearance of the drunk man in front of him was completely inconsistent with the appearance of the lawyer described by the client. He was definitely not a lawyer.
"Laurel? Go to the tavern on the street and look for him."
Speaking of the drunk man, he wanted to slam the door, Xia De suspected that this guy had just come out of the tavern.
Thinking in my heart, I stretched out my hand and pulled the door, no matter how hard the drunk man tried, he couldn't close it. There was a smile on Xia De's face that he thought was very friendly:
"Sir, I also want to ask, when did Mr. Laurel move here? Also, what kind of work does he do?"
Because he didn't want to breathe through his nose to avoid inhaling too much alcohol, his voice was a bit muffled at this time.
"He, when I moved here three years ago, he was here. He is a lawyer, and he specializes in solving legal problems for others, helping people with inheritance, divorce and other things... hiccup!"
The drunk man muttered, and after Xia De thanked him, he could finally close the door.
With his hands in his pockets, he looked at the door in front of him, then turned around and looked at the busy street. The carriage passed by, the newspaper boy looked at him expectantly, and the housewife who led the child reprimanded him and walked along the wall. After Shade rejected the boy who sold the newspaper, he looked in the direction of the street tavern:
"Although I have the information, I can't believe it all. I still need to see the lawyer. If it doesn't work, I just break into the house. Since I am a lawyer who has been practicing for many years, it is impossible not to have a lot of documents."
If it was midnight now, when Xia De knocked on the door just now, he could use illusion to confuse the drunk and then break in silently. It's a pity that Xia De's thaumaturgy is restricted during the day, and the outsider, who is favored by the silver moon, is a strong man at night...in fact, he is not very strong.
The pub at the end of Queen Mary Street is called "The Pig's Head Tavern", and you can tell from the name that it will not have any characteristics.
Although it is nine o'clock in the morning, there are still many people in the tavern. After Shade opened the door and walked in, he took a breath of the weird smell of alcohol mixed with fermented food, and saw that almost half of the tables were occupied.
Because it operates on the side of the street rather than in a narrow alley, at least the sanitation here is not bad. There is even a young man wearing a hat playing the lute sitting by the wall, and the sound blends into the tavern just right. in the hustle and bustle.
Xia De looked around the environment in the tavern, and after coming to the conclusion that the fire protection measures here are not complete, he walked towards the bar of the tavern. He knocked on the table, took out his wallet and raised his voice in the noisy environment and said:
"A glass of water... no, a glass of rye beer."
The busy bartender glanced at him:
"5 pence".
Xia De took out 7p and put it on the bar, the bartender glanced at him unexpectedly.
"Which one is Mr. Rock Laurel?"
the detective asked.
"Just two pence more?"
"Twopence's money too. . . . That tall man over there playing Rhodes with the others."
The client described the lawyer as a man with brown hair, dark brown eyes, taller than Shad, and a beer belly.
And looking in the direction pointed by the bartender, he saw five or six people surrounding the table near the wall. Among them, the man sitting on one side of the table was the only one in the group wearing a white shirt.
Although this is not a slum in the northern city of Tobesk, the people living nearby are generally hovering between the line of food and hunger. On weekday mornings, most of the people who hang out in the tavern are idlers, so they dress casually, which makes the lawyer in the white shirt stand out.
"Do you know what happened to Mr. Laurel?"
Xia De did not continue to walk over, but asked again. The freckled young bartender showed a philistine smile and made a gesture of twisting his fingers. Shade thought for a while and pushed the glass of rye beer to him:
"Count me as a treat."
"you......"
The bartender has probably never seen such a person, but he still puts the glass of beer on the shelf behind him, then takes out five pence from the small cardboard box where the money is collected, and stuffs it into his pocket:
"He's a lawyer and he comes to play Lords with us every Wednesday, Friday and weekend."
"He's been a lawyer since long ago? Is it expensive to gamble here?"
Xia De asked again, the bartender looked at him for a while, and seeing that he didn't intend to pay, he said helplessly:
"Yes, he has been a lawyer since he moved to this street five years ago. As for playing Rhodes, it's just a hobby, not even a gambler. Probably educated people can control themselves well of."
Shad put his arms on the counter and turned to look at the lawyer who was playing cards with his back turned. Judging from the current situation, it is very likely that Locke Laurel is a real lawyer. Combined with the divination by the Prophet Association, it is basically certain that this person is fine. But Xia De still needs to make a final confirmation before the investigation can be regarded as over.
And it just so happens that Xia De can barely be regarded as a Rhodes player.
Saying goodbye to the boring-looking bartender, he walked towards a group of people playing cards while sorting out the deck. Of course, all the special cards must be drawn out and replaced with ordinary cards. This kind of tavern is not a safe place.
Then he pretended to be attracted, stood with the crowd, and watched the match between the lawyer and a rude middle-aged man who was sweating profusely. The latter was obviously unlucky, and every time he drew a card, he had to swear dirty words. In the end, he even threw his own cards on the ground viciously ~www.mtlnovel.com~ The handful of change and cards on the table were all gone, and he stood up angrily and walked to the bar, it seemed that he had no money to continue playing.
"Anyone else want to play cards?"
The winning middle-aged lawyer looked very proud. People were whispering about the wonderful situation of the previous round, but no one seemed to be moved.
Of course, Xia De would not go up immediately, but waited until Lawyer Laurel seemed a little impatient, and then said loudly behind the crowd:
"If you don't mind playing cards with strangers, I think I can try."
They made way for him to go to the table, and Shad put his old set of Rhodes cards on the round wooden tabletop.
The lawyer sized him up very politely, picked up the wine glass in front of him, took a big sip, and then made a gesture of inviting him to sit down:
"A hand of 5p, doubling on busts, triples on blackjack, quadruples on draws of kings and queens. Only the highest multiplier is taken. Mind you, this is not a game for young people to play."
The stakes are relatively modest, but losing all the time can be terrifying.