Hearing her father's request, Audrey tilted her head slightly, and her green eyes moved around flexibly, showing a thoughtful look.
Soon, she asked with a smile: "Dad, what kind of gift do you want?"
"A mirror, a bronze mirror with ancient patterns and cracks on the surface." Earl Hall revealed his true purpose.
"Oh, I remember it," Audrey added with a smile, "You said that it was the treasure of the Black Emperor of the ancient Solomon Empire."
The Earl nodded: "Yes, that's it."
"No!"
The smile on Audrey's face suddenly bloomed, like a brilliant golden chrysanthemum, "I knew you had bad intentions, dad. Now I know, that bronze mirror must be a truly extraordinary item."
"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter. It doesn't matter."
Audrey walked a few steps excitedly, muttering in her mouth, completely immersed in the imagination of unlocking the seal of the bronze mirror.
Earl Hall looked at his innocent baby daughter and felt a little helpless.
If he could, he would definitely not let her suffer any injustice, but this time it really wasn't possible. His Majesty the King personally ordered all personnel to cooperate fully, and he was no exception.
He sighed, waved away the two servants, and then broke her illusions with a voice:
"Audrey, to tell you the truth, that bronze mirror is one of the items requested by His Majesty the King, and we have no other choice."
"Really?" The girl came back to her senses and felt very surprised, "But why, why did His Majesty the King suddenly mention my belongings?"
The count stepped forward and rubbed the girl's long golden hair, and said softly:
"How could I lie to you?"
"His Majesty the King is not referring to your belongings, but to find a special mirror."
"Not just us, but all the nobles and nobles in Backlund have received orders to send extraordinary mirror-like items in their possession to MI9 for inspection."
Audrey looked up at her father and asked, "What happens next? Will they force a deal?"
"There are no details," the Earl shook his head, "but His Majesty guarantees the reputation of the royal family. Unless that special mirror is found, all items will be returned to their original owners."
"Then what kind of mirror are they looking for?" the girl continued to ask.
"I don't know. I guess even His Majesty the King himself who ordered it doesn't know. He just knows that it is special."
The earl rested his chin on his hand, touched the two carefully trimmed beards on his lips, and analyzed: "Judging from the order, His Majesty does not seem to think that such a mirror can be found. There is a feeling that if you try, you will try your best."
"Okay," Audrey said, feeling a little depressed, "I'll ask Annie to find the bronze mirror later."
The Earl achieved his goal, and before leaving, he softly said "I'm sorry" to Audrey.
…
The red-haired Kirk felt uneasy.
As the brothers who asked questions returned one after another with answers, he pieced together the general story of what happened:
The mysterious intruder probably lurked outside the trade union building for a long time. It wasn't until around nine o'clock that the two part-time accountants left midway and then found an opportunity to enter through the window on the second floor.
Afterwards, he took a dagger from the utility room, climbed outside through the ventilation window at the corner of the stairs, grabbed the gas pipe to the balcony of the president's office, and pried the door to enter.
The intruder's goal is very clear, which is the important power of attorney mentioned by the boss. Well, during the search, he also took away 80 pounds in cash.
damn it!
The two accountants who returned from a break could have discovered him, just a little bit away!
Finally, the intruders left around half past ten, after the two accountants.
Kirk began to summarize his mistakes:
From entering to exiting, the brothers on guard found nothing but some faint sounds that might be related. On the contrary, two outsiders almost discovered the intruder.
This is the biggest mistake.
In addition, the daily inspections were in vain, and no flaws as big as the ajar door were found.
Kirk's scalp felt numb.
The more he thought about it, the more he felt that his arrangement was crude and crude. It looked like that, but in fact it was full of loopholes.
He thought of some improvements and then went to see the boss.
What he didn't expect was that after reporting the situation, not only did he not get scolded or beaten, he even got his boss pressing his shoulders to encourage him?
Boss, he still trusts me!
Yes, that's right, boss, he was just too angry this morning.
When his mood improved, he ordered a few brothers and followed the boss to the Boiling Blood Bar on Luyin Road.
The layout of the Boiling Blood Bar is different again.
It was the size of a Working Men's Union saloon, but the actual drinking area was only about the same size as the Brave Bar. This is because it allocated half of the area to house a casino.
"Stay together until I come back. You can drink, but no gambling."
Several people entered the bar. The president left this order and went forward alone. Kirk took his brothers to occupy a small table and always paid attention to the entrance of the bar.
The president went all the way, and soon came to the bar where the chips were exchanged, and said the secret code:
"Fifty cups for fourpence."
This comes from the sign hanging on the bar near the entrance - "Today's special, Southwell Beer, 4p, 50 glasses, first come first served."
The waiter nodded and opened the door of the "VIP Passage" beside him.
The president took the black cloak handed by the waiter, put it on after entering, walked up the dim and narrow passage, and soon arrived at the second floor of the bar - to be more precise, this should be the attic, but it is just like an ordinary attic. In contrast, it is larger and taller.
Except for the surrounding corners that are too low to stand on, the entire loft is larger than the bar area below.
There were almost no other furnishings in the attic except for the wooden chairs piled haphazardly in the corner.
In such a large space, there were only a dozen people wearing cloaks like him at this time. They were standing or sitting, each occupying a small space. Some of them had some strange objects in front of them.
The president ignored these, and after a short observation, he determined the target he was looking for - the man was sitting on a chair, and there was a stack of papers on a chair next to him.
He walked straight up to the man and asked in a low voice:
"There is a problem with your organization. My commission contract was stolen by the target!"
His question was met with a chuckle:
"Oh, impossible."
"If the contract is stolen, that's your business and has nothing to do with us."
"We only recognize contracts but not people. Hmm, without a contract, how can you prove that you are our customer?"
When the president heard this, he looked very ugly and couldn't help but ask: "What about my commission?!"
"It's very simple. If no one cancels the contract, then the contract is still valid and the mission continues as usual."
Although the cloaked man mentioned the possibility that the president was not a customer of the organization, he still gave the answer in a relaxed tone.
The president's expression changed again, "You mean, the person who got the contract can come here to cancel the task?"
"Of course, this is a term stipulated in the contract."
The cloaked man explained slowly: "After all, our organization pays great attention to credibility and will not take the initiative to breach the contract."
