A strange female voice came from the kitchen, "...Isn't there a curfew today? How did she-"
"I went to the police station cafeteria." Si Lei answered outside the kitchen, "Do you need any help?"
"No, please sit down!"
Si Lei took off his coat and began to look at the apartment in Chiba.
It is not big, with only one bedroom and one living room, and the visual area is not more than 50 square meters. There is a square table by the window in the living room. The table is covered with the same dark green thick cloth as the curtains. This living room has almost no personal characteristics. It is as simple as any check-in B&B outside. It can be seen that Chiba probably doesn't come in and out here very often.
Si Lei sat down and saw an old book on the table. It was carefully wrapped by Qianye in kraft paper. Si Lei opened the title page and saw the title: "When the Forest Sings·Collection"
Author: Anna Sokolova
There is also a date scrawled on the lower right corner of the title page: 01.01.4625
"Awaited."
The woman who had been busy in the kitchen came out carrying an enamel pot. Si Lei quickly stood up and helped clear the table. After a while, Qianye also returned to the living room, carrying a small basket of bread slices and a plate of garlic pesto.
Opening the lid of the pot, five pieces of golden-fried duck legs were immersed in the thick cream of mushroom soup. Some chopped parsley was sprinkled on the surface. The aroma of meat mixed with the aroma of mushrooms and butter made Si Lei say "Oh" A sound.
"Thank you, it must have taken a lot of effort."
"No, Chiba made sure you would come before we started doing it." The woman clasped her hands together and answered happily.
"What's your name?"
"Stella." She extended her hand to Si Lei, "Nice to meet you, Officer Si Lei."
Si Lei hesitated slightly, "...Stella Clifford?"
Stella's eyes flashed with slight surprise, "Oh, do you know me?"
"I don't know you, but I happened to look for you today." Si Lei said softly, "Are you the president of "Anecdote Express"?"
"Haha, I am the president, editor-in-chief, editor, and occasionally a guest reporter... We are a small newspaper with not many people, and everyone does everything." Stella said with a smile, "But it really shocked me. Most people recognize me as 'Stella Viking', but you are the first to call me 'Clifford'."
"So what's your real name?"
"It's hard to say. The name on my ID is still Stella Viking, but it won't be next month."
Stella Viking.
Si Lei thought about the name for a while, and suddenly an idea came to him, "It's you!"
Stella blinked, "...Do you recognize me again?"
"I know you. I've read your reports before. Was it you who was the one who started the background story about Jane Hestad in "The Indomitable" eight years ago?"
"Yes, that is indeed my handwriting." Stella raised her hands to cover her face, her expression a little embarrassed, "I was too young at that time, and what I wrote was rather flamboyant, so it was not a good work."
Si Lei narrowed his eyes and looked at Qianye, "...So you two have known each other for a long time! You pretended to be with me in the car that day -"
"No, officer," Chiba raised his hand again, "I only found out this morning that the Anecdote Express was written by this lady - before that, I had no idea that she ran the newspaper."
"Indeed." Stella nodded.
Si Lei turned to Stella again: "You have resigned from "Unyielding News" now?"
"Yes, I don't like the working environment there very much... Come, let's talk while eating."
Stella stood up and divided plates between Si Lei and Qianye, and poured half a glass of sparkling water for each of them. The three toasted in a routine manner, and the atmosphere relaxed slightly.
"It doesn't matter if you have changed jobs," Si Lei picked up his knife and fork, "In the early years, "Unyielding Daily" still had many wonderful reports. In recent years, it has completely declined. There are fewer and fewer valuable topics. One or two occasionally appear. It’s all cliché, I used to subscribe to this newspaper, but I couldn’t stand it two years ago and I canceled it.”
Stella laughed, "What a coincidence, I started this job two years ago."
"So you want to see me tonight?" Si Lei asked, "Why?"
"Have you read the report about Viscount Rich in the Express today?"
"seen it already."
Stella stood up, took out a black leather notebook from her bag not far away, and placed it in a blank space on the table.
"Then I'd like to ask you to take a look at this again."
"What's this?"
"Some manuscripts," Stella said with a smile, "Some... manuscripts that cannot be published, I think I should show it to you anyway. Start from the place where the bookmark is sandwiched, and go all the way back."
Si Lei picked up the notebook and flipped through a few pages. She quickly saw a few key names in the scrawled handwriting, such as Viscount Rich, Old Inspector Schmidt...
Si Lei looked up at Stella.
"Don't you want to see it?" Stella asked softly.
"Would you like to talk briefly about what is written in this?" Si Lei closed the notebook, but still pressed it tightly under his right hand, "Who wrote this?"
"Myself," Stella replied, "They are quite old."
"when?"
"Four years ago, in the spring of four years ago, the location was at the Cleyer Farm - it belongs to Viscount Rich." Stella answered calmly, "The first interview was on April 2, which was Heinz's October 1st. I remember my seventh birthday very clearly.”
"Who is Heinz?"
"She is my first interviewee. This is not her real name." Stella paused briefly and adjusted her breathing. "Nominally, she is the adopted daughter of Viscount Rich. But in fact, She was 'married' to Rich when she was nine years old, and has been living in a small log cabin north of Cleyer Farm ever since -"
Si Lei's eyes widened a little, "How old are you?"
"Nine years old, are you surprised?" Stella continued, "Viscount Rich likes young girls very much. He doesn't know how many such 'adopted daughters' he has brought back from the Niah Province over the years. Some of them are On his farm, some are raised in his courtyard in the city——"
"etc--"
"Since you want to hear me tell these stories, let me finish one of them first, and you can ask other questions later, okay?"
Si Lei frowned, "...Okay."
"Viscount Rich's father died of syphilis - yes, syphilis, I'm not wrong, and you don't have to doubt it. I know that syphilis is not an incurable disease, but you may not understand that old Rich is a very good doctor. An old-fashioned gentleman, he couldn't bear the dirty label of 'venereal disease' being pinned on his head, so he always insisted that his diagnosis of 'syphilis' was a misdiagnosis by a quack doctor. Later, he was too ashamed to seek medical treatment and only received treatment from an alchemist in private. 'Guaiac therapy'.
"I heard that Lao Lixi's condition before his death was very horrific. Not only were his ten fingers covered with erosive ulcers, but his body was also covered with blood sores. Syphilis damaged his nerves, making him deaf and blind, and he was paralyzed. Bed, even unable to recognize his only son.
"This incident probably gave Viscount Rich a big blow, so he rarely went out to prostitutes when he was a boy, and only fell in love with untouched young girls. This habit lasted until his middle age. In the past few years, Rich has changed Appetite has allowed many young girls to escape disaster..."
Si Lei stared into Stella's eyes. The other party's narration was carried with an understatement of indifference, but this casual attitude made her feel even more unbearable than the exaggerated and sensational reports in "Anecdote Express" .
