The Threat from the Priest

By this day, all traces left by the Fire Festival in the central square had been cleaned up. The enthusiastic and noisy Auberdine overnight was hidden again in the gray mist blowing from the coast. That night two young couples got engaged, one of whom was Jorgen's subordinate. He asked Jorgen for wedding leave this morning. He was going to create his future, Jorgen thought, but our work was just the opposite, to end the past cleanly and neatly. Find the culprit, provide evidence, close the file, and seal the archives. With a dull thud, end it all.

He had already scheduled an interrogation with Erlin and Jito in the afternoon, of course, with the help of Gubo Blapp, the only one proficient in sign language. When he was about to go to the security bureau canteen at noon, he suddenly received an invitation from Lemenito, Jacobson's son.

Lemenito deliberately chose a casual restaurant nearby as the meeting place, otherwise Jorgen would not have come easily. When he entered the restaurant, he saw Lemenito sitting prominently. The surrounding tables were all stained with oil and water that could easily splash on clothes, with rude and noisy guests, only Lemenito's table was clean, obviously the boss had specially cleaned it for this VIP customer.

"Please sit down." Lemenito smiled as usual. "I took the liberty of ordEling some appetizers for you, Mr. Jorgen. It should be your lunch time now, right?"

"Everyone's lunch time." Jorgen sat down, looked at the table, and said, "It looks like you came prepared? These are really things I like to eat."

"That's great then."

Lemenito was still smiling. Jorgen knew he was deliberately avoiding the interrogative meaning in his own words.

"Do you need any wine? I'm not sure if..."

"No, thanks."

"So," Jorgen said after eating a little symbolically, "what do you want to talk to me about?"

"First of all, I want to thank you for your great contribution to the security of this port. Without you, the human settlement would have become a mess. Although I have actually known you for more than two years, this is the first time I have expressed these thoughts. "

"I don't think you invited me to meet just for these words."

"Of course not, but this is not entirely unrelated to my main purpose. I mean, for people like you, whether for yourself or for everyone, personal safety is more important."

Jorgen rested his hands on the table and stared into Lemenito's eyes. His eyes were still azure and full of calmness. Not the eyes of someone plotting threats.

"Speak plainly. For work purposes, I do not accept vague hints."

"I'm talking about my father. Do you still remember what I told you last time? I described my father as an uncontrollable man."

"He has the Light to bless him. What's uncontrollable? The Light can solve everything. Having been a priest for decades, your father's faith is deep enough."

Lemenito seemed not to have heard Jorgen's sarcasm at all. "Last time, because of Dores's matter, you investigated my father. You saw his hostility too."

"Do you think he will be unfavorable to me?"

"No, just this one thing is nothing. But later you investigated Senoni, didn't you?"

Jorgen leaned back a little, his elbows leaving the table.

"How did you know?"

"Because I am my father's son, and he is the most powerful man in Auberdine, so I inevitably know many things that I am not really interested in. I apologize for finding out about your secret investigation, but..."

"There was no secret investigation. We often take people away and ask some questions, that's all. So, I investigated Senoni, what does it have to do with your father?"

"Before inviting you out today, I had struggled in my heart... but you see, I hesitate again now. Besides, telling these things is not good for Miss Senoni..."

"I am a detective, not a nurse in the emergency room. I will not casually take personal information obtained in my work as leisure talk, because that would lose my job. So, if you have anything to say, say it quickly. I have urgent business this afternoon."

"Well... these words embarrass me. In fact, my father is not a truly devout man devoted to the Light."

"That's not news. I haven't heard of a second priest who lends money at high interest rates."

"Er, in general, the Light's priests require themselves to be moral exemplars in terms of marriage. But my father is not. He likes to use his power and wealth to gain the favor of many women."

"Mr. Lemenito, can we use a more secular expression? What you mean is that your father has several mistresses, right?"

"You can say that. In fact, Miss Senoni was almost one of those women..."

"Almost, nearly. Please speak more clearly."

"Simply put, not long after the Seashore Sunflower Theater Troupe came here, my father set his sights on Miss Senoni. Miss Senoni is a very gentle person, but she mustered up the courage to refuse my father twice. This was not easy. Feeling that his dignity was damaged, my father wanted to get her by force. But I stopped my father."

"You stopped Jacobson from getting Senoni. Why?"

"Although I have long tolerated my father's various evil deeds, he went too far in the matter of Miss Senoni. After all, Miss Senoni is only seventeen years old and should not devote herself to an old man like my father who has no loyalty to women at all; most importantly, her talent and passion for art are felt by everyone. Once forced into my father's arms, she will never have a chance to perform again. Miss Senoni has brought so many beautiful moments to Auberdine, and I don't want this beauty and her future to end just like that. So I threatened my father with some property documents I controlled and persuaded him to give up. "

"Did he listen to you?"

"Although it was difficult, I still succeeded. My father made a choice between property and a woman. This sounds really embarrassing, doesn't it? But after all, my father is a greedy man, and I can't defend him. However, although he did not get Miss Senoni, my father did not give up paying attention to her. In fact, he has had several young men who tried to pursue Miss Senoni injured. By comparison, your direct investigation of Senoni made my father more nervous. So..."

"So you didn't come to warn me on behalf of your father."

"How could I? In this matter, I only represent myself. Be very careful, Mr. Jorgen."

"Well, thank you very much for doing this. Since we mentioned Senoni... I also have some questions I want to ask you." Judging from what you just said, you know something about Senoni, right?"

"We talked a few times. But not quite friends yet, maybe I was deliberately avoiding her. I don't want my father to find an excuse from me to harm Miss Senoni."

"Well," Jorgen said, "have you heard about a necklace?"

"Necklace?"

"A necklace with a garnet pendant."

"Never heard of it."

"Oh... then there's nothing to ask."

"Did Miss Senoni give you such a necklace?"

"I requested it as evidence. She gave it to me. Since you don't know about it, I can't disclose information either."

"Hmm... I have nothing more to tell you either. You must be busy this afternoon too? Then I won't bother you any more."

After Lemenito left, Jorgen looked at his back. His steps were steady and straight as always.

During the conversation just now, Lemenito's calm expression did not change at all. But in the final conversation about the necklace, Jorgen noticed that his lengthy and circuitous way of speaking became abrupt and practical. Jorgen deliberately said "nothing more to ask", but it provoked Lemenito's follow-up questions.

Jorgen was used to dealing with liars, used to picking out credible parts from the other's answers, filtEling out the dregs of deception, and then refining what the liar really feared from these dregs. Lemenito did not pass this test; he disguised himself well, but his choice of words betrayed him. Therefore, Jorgen was very satisfied with this conversation.

As he was about to return to the security bureau, a subordinate ran up to him.

"Mr. Jorgen, there you are. Mr. Elin asked me to tell you to go to the Southwest Branch of the Security Bureau immediately. As he requested, the carriage is ready."

Elin requesting a carriage ready? This was really something new, Jorgen thought. But he would never do that unless there was some special situation. Besides, it was still two hours before the time they planned to interrogate Jito.

"Please hurry. Mr. Elin said the situation is urgent."

The Southwest Branch of the Security Bureau was not far from the abandoned orphanage where Jito lived. When he arrived, Jorgen saw Elin rushing out of the door and walking straight up to him.

"Damn, you're finally here. Something happened."

"What's the matter?"

"Sandis said that since Gamero was dead, the relics he had privately collected in his lifetime should be returned to the night elves. He sent people to search the entire orphanage, right after cleaning up Gamero's residence. "

"Don't tell me the person in charge of the search was..."

"That's right, it's still that Cannon. We don't care about relics or whatever, but he actually found that cloak in Jito's bedroom. Don't say you don't remember - the Twilight Cultist robe that disappeared from Dores's house the night he was killed. Relying on this, Sandis is demanding to close the case again, if we still want to properly interrogate Jito, we have to act quickly. "

While saying this, Jorgen and Elin both understood that the reappearance of this long-missing piece of evidence brought them exponentially more trouble.