LOTM Side Story An ordinary person's daily life 3-QQ MTL

Lord of the Mysteries Side Story: An ordinary person's daily life (3)

In an instant, all the hair on Barton's body stood up.

Although he was not sure that what he smelled was blood, his slightly different inspiration told him that this was the smell of blood.

Something bad happened to Vernal? Like the archaeological team I was in? No, there is no blood residue on this envelope. Why does it smell like bleeding? After a brief, extreme fear, Barton stood up.

As an ordinary person, he has only one instinctive reaction to this kind of thing.

That's the police!

Barton had just left his seat with the envelope when he suddenly remembered one thing:

Within the Roon Antiquities Collection and Conservation Foundation, there are clear rules on how to deal with similar situations-if there is a frightening or incomprehensible phenomenon in a project, immediately suspend everything and report to the Compliance Department. They're in charge of the follow-up.

Patton has not quite understood why he went to the "compliance department", which, in his view, is a department that deals with a clause that examines whether a project has violations and has nothing to do with dealing with unknown dangers.

However, the founder of the foundation, that Audrey. Miss Hall did not make many changes when she reviewed the internal code of practice, only one item was added, so executives were reluctant to argue with her about it.

Obviously, I'd rather go to the head of security. Mumbling, Barton walked out of the office and went all the way to the Compliance Department at the end of the corridor.

Dong, he tried to calm down and knocked on the door three times in a gentlemanly manner.

"Please come in." There was an uncharacteristic voice inside.

Frankly, Barton knew little about his Compliance colleagues, except that they were ruthless and quick, catching one internal moth after another that swindled funding from the foundation.

Taking a deep breath, Barton twisted the handle and pushed the door open.

In his imagination, the "compliance department" was supposed to work in an unusually dark environment, where everyone remained silent and whispered a few words from time to time to determine the fate of a project and its leaders, but the first things that caught his eye were bright sunshine, brightly colored furnishings and a bright layout.

"what can I do for you?" A black-haired, brown-eyed employee of the "compliance department" with little appearance greeted him.

Dressed in a heavy black tweed overcoat, he did not seem to be able to withstand the cold and humid winter weather in East Chester.

In addition, Barton sensed that the compliance employee had a partial Beckland accent and was either born there or had been there for a long time.

Not so cold, mechanical, difficult to get along with, even make people feel cordial. Barton flashed a similar thought and said hurriedly:

"one of our partners seems to be in trouble!

"the letter he sent was only an envelope, but it had no content, and it smelled of blood."

The compliance employee nodded gently with little change of expression:

"show me the envelope."

Patton then handed out a "letter" from the archaeologist Vernal.

It was not until then that he realized that he had been a little impolite and asked:

"excuse me, what should I call you?"

The compliance employee held up the envelope in the sun, looked at it carefully, and casually replied:

"Pacheco. Dawn, deputy director of compliance, a senior solicitor, you can just call me Pacheco. "

Without waiting for Barton to respond, Pacheco put down his arm and said with a serious expression:

"there is indeed something unusual.

"according to preliminary judgment, this letter came from the Croft Hotel in the city, where I lived for a while and knew that they liked to print lavender castles on special envelopes and stationery."

"do you need to call the police?" Barton blurted out.

Pacheco shook his head:

"not for the time being. Let's go to the scene to confirm the situation.

"I need some help from you. I don't know that partner."

". All right, I'll go with you. " Barton replied hesitantly.

After getting out of the Roon Antiquities Collection and Conservation Foundation and boarding a taxi, Barton was somewhat silent and embarrassed, so he took the initiative to ask:

"Pacheco, are you from Baekeland?"

"No." Pacheco shook his head. "I'm from Mian Hai County. I've only lived in Beckland for nearly fifteen years."

"Why did you leave Beckland? I heard that it is the most suitable city for lawyers to grow up. " Barton chatted casually.

Pacheco smiled and said:

"but there is also a lot of competition.

"well, just kidding, I used to be a steam-powered car tycoon Flami. Cage's personal lawyer and partner, he later invested in the establishment of the Beckland Bicycle Company, and I began to serve as legal counsel for the company. "

Barton suddenly thought:

"Miss Audrey owns a large stake in the company, so you know her?"

"Yes." Pacheco sighed. "Flami died in the previous war, and his industry was involved in many disputes." As his friend, I got a considerable share of his widow and children, thus offending some people, which made my situation in Baekeland difficult. Fortunately, at this time, Miss Audrey extended an olive branch and invited me to go to East Chester County to work for the Foundation as deputy director of the Compliance Department. "

Seeing that Pacheco even told himself such things, Barton became more and more affectionate to each other.

He asked with a little doubt:

"Why are you targeted? You just did your job as a friend and a lawyer.

"those people should aim more at Flami. Cage's widow and children. "

Pacheco laughed at himself and said:

"I used some improper methods.

"in addition, Frankie's widow and children have other friends to take care of."

In such small talk, the cab arrived at the Croft Hotel in the heart of Storn.

The location of the hotel is quite good, the neighborhood itself is scenic and quiet, and it is only a ten-minute walk to some of the busiest streets in the city.

After entering the hotel and finding the owner, Pacheco asked bluntly:

"We are looking for a friend named Vernal."

Through the previous chat, he has mastered the general situation of the goal.

The boss frowned questioningly:

"if I remember correctly, there should be no customer named Vernal."

Barton heard the speech and hurriedly added:

"he is a little taller than me, he looks strong, his nose is always red, and he often smells of alcohol."

He described Vernal's appearance in detail.

The boss recalled and looked at the waiter next to him.

"there is such a guest." The waiter immediately replied, "he lives at 309."

Led by the waiter, Barton and Pacheco came to Vernal's room and knocked on the wooden door with their fingers.

The sound reverberated, but there was no movement inside.

Just as Patton was about to propose to call the police again, Pacheco suddenly bent down and picked up a rub of white, soft hair from the crack at the bottom of the door.

No, it's not hair, they're closer to the condensation of fog.

With the touch of Pacheco's fingers, they spread and melted into the air around them.

At the same time, Barton, with a slightly different inspiration, vaguely heard a faint male voice:

"Tamara. Tamara. "