Chapter 44: The Fire Case
Chapter 44: The Fire Case
The capital city of the Kingdom of Aldo, Jingyao Fortress, was still shrouded in a tense and austere atmosphere.
Although it has been some time since the king’s party army recaptured the royal capital, the degree of martial law has not been reduced in the slightest, with one post for every five paces and one guard for every ten paces on the streets and alleys, and it often happens that patrolling soldiers suddenly call out suspicious people in their eyes, and then interrogate them to the 18th generation in detail.
The taverns, which used to be bustling in the past, were all very cold, with customers coming in and leaving in a hurry after buying a drink. Occasionally, a few people sat down to drink, but only to chat a few words about their parents, not at all the usual situation that once drunk, they would talk without a word and point out the mountains and rivers.
One or two carriages galloped towards the direction of the royal palace, and in the carriage sat a tall, thin man with an eight-bearded face, who was precisely the Earl of Merlin, who was in charge of the kingdom’s intelligence system.
At this time the count of Merlin is closing his eyes and resting his mind, in the view of outsiders as if the waves are not alarmed, but in fact his heart is annoyed abnormally.
On the night when the princess led the army to recover the royal capital, a large fire broke out at the place where the granary of the royal capital was located, and a large amount of grain and grass hoarded there was burned nine times out of ten. This fire caused serious consequences, directly disrupting the king’s party army’s plan to go south to quell the rebellion.
Fire prevention has always been a top priority in the daily management of granaries, and the measures were very strict, even if there was a fire, it was impossible for almost all the warehouses to catch fire.
Obviously, this is a provocation, this is a serious provocation, Giles this traitor is clearly in the face of the king’s party – you think you have won, I still have a lot of tricks against you, right under your noses, can’t think of it?
You can imagine how angry Her Royal Highness Princess Catherine was. After the fire occurred in the emergency meeting, the princess under the emotion of pulling out the sword to cut off the table in front of her, swore to be with Giles not to share the same day.
As the head of intelligence, Earl Merlin was rightfully ordered to investigate the truth of the fire, but the more he investigated, the more confused he felt. He combed through the current information in his mind over and over again, thinking about how to report the case to His Majesty the King and Her Highness the Grand Princess.
The current King of Aldo, Rodney XVI, finally got rid of his illness, and after being taken back to the capital by his daughter, his body gradually recovered, and now he is able to see the court and manage the government.
Earl Merlin entered the palace after being carefully searched by the royal guards, and even the core personnel of the king’s party like him was not an exception during the extraordinary period.
He hurried to the door of Rodney XVI.’s study, where the valet announced his arrival, and his Majesty at once authorized the Count to enter.
Upon entering the study, the Earl of Merlin found that Her Royal Highness Catherine, the Grand Princess, was already in the study.
“Secretary Merlin, how has the case of the granary fire been investigated?” His Majesty the King waved his hand to stop Earl Merlin’s salute and hurriedly went straight to the point. Nearly forty years old, Rodney XVI was a kind-faced monarch on weekdays, but due to working day and night on the affairs of the country, his temples, which were not too old for the aristocracy, already had a trace of gray hair. The king’s face was sad at the moment, and a palpable anxiety lingered between his brows.
“Your Majesty, I am incompetent, and there has yet to be a substantial breakthrough in the case.”
Although he was saddened to hear such bad news after his Majesty had just recovered from his illness, after much agonizing, Count Merlin finally chose to report the truth.
Princess Catherine, who stood by the King’s side, asked, “But there are difficulties.”
“Yes, Your Highness. Please allow my humble servant to state one or two things.” Earl Merlin pulled out a roll of parchment and began to report the information he currently had.
“According to the sentry on duty, the fire did not occur until after the warehouse supervisor, Fowler Bart, went in, and when Fowler Bart went in, another soldier offered to go in and help him with the lighting and followed along, and no one else went in at any other time.”
“So? The prisoner was between these two men?”
The Count nodded: “Let’s start with this soldier, we have collected his information, he is from a clean background, he has been serving under Viscount Klein for more than three years, those who are familiar with him have a good impression of him, even Klein recognizes this person and doesn’t believe that he is a spy, and these people’s memories don’t remember that this soldier has had any suspicious behaviors, we must know that the barracks are relatively more closed than other places, it’s hard to know if this is the case. places are comparatively more closed, and it is almost impossible to conceal them from everyone.”
Catherine said, “So it’s less likely that the culprit is this soldier, what about that Bart?”
The earl continued, “The warehouse supervisor does have a strong suspicion, and this supervisor should be known to you.”
Catherine replied, “Yes, as far as I remember, this person is very talented and dedicated to his work, during his tenure as supervisor, the warehouse has never experienced theft or embezzlement of any kind.”
“We have questioned everyone in his network of relations, colleagues, friends, superiors and subordinates did not say anything unusual. This person is also quite loyal to the royal family in his day-to-day life, and was even given a hard time by the rebels for it during the Halls Rebellion.”
“So, his relatives have?” The princess realized that something was missing from Earl Merlin’s list of identities. Count Merlin nodded once more, “Your Highness is wise, according to Fowler Bart’s wife, this Mr. Superintendent is a bit unusual.”
“Unusual how?”
“Supervisor Bart is not suspicious in all other aspects, and because of his status, he sees a lot of grain merchants from all over the world every day, and it’s hard to line up whether there are any suspicious characters among them. But his biggest suspicion is – his recent mental problems.”
Catherine huffed slightly, “You’re not saying that Supervisor Bart is actually a psychopath, so it would make sense for him to suddenly go crazy and burn the warehouse for fun?”
Earl Merlin replied in a panic, “That is not what I mean, Your Highness. Supervisor Bart’s mind has always been normal before this, and his family has never had a history of related illnesses, and the suspicious circumstances started nearly two months before the fire.”
“The period around the time Giles started his rebellion?”
“Yes Your Highness. According to Mrs. Bart, her husband suddenly began to suffer from insomnia during that time, unable to sleep through the night, and all sorts of medications to help with restful sleep were tried and still had no effect. After a painful and exhausting period of time, Supervisor Bart was finally able to sleep, yet began to talk in his sleep, but Mrs. Bart swears that she never heard her husband talk in his sleep after sleeping in the same bed with him.”
Catherine wondered out loud, “What did Bart say?”
Rodney XVI, who had been sitting behind his desk listening quietly, also sat up straight and waited for the Earl of Merlin’s answer.
Earl Merlin looked down at the information and replied, “Most of it was vague ravings, I have recorded a few here that Mrs. Bart was able to hear clearly.”
He took the scroll of paper in both hands and placed it on the king’s desk, and after the king and the princess finished reading it, they only saw the following sentences recorded on it:
“Who are you? Stop following me?”
“Where am I? Why can’t I turn out?”
“I don’t want to hear your nonsense, get out of my head.”
“I’ve done everything you’ve asked, I’ve put everything away so no one can find it, please leave.”
“I don’t want to do that! This is going to get you hanged.”
“Spare me! Please spare me! “
……
“Master, Master, I will continue to listen to Your holy teachings, do not abandon me.”
“Your servant will fulfill the mission to the death, my supreme master! “
The Earl of Merlin added in an aside saying, “The words of the last two weeks are especially suspicious. The sentence at the end is the last dream words Mrs. Bart heard, although for some time suffered from insomnia, but the supervisor still retains the habit of going to bed early, Mrs. Bart worried about her husband, has not been asleep, his husband said that shortly after finishing that sentence, woke up, said that he wanted to go out to walk around a little for some air, and then there is …… the warehouse on fire! .”
Catherine and Rodney XVI looked at each other, both seeing the question in the other’s eyes, “What is this?”
Looking at the puzzled King and Princess, Earl Merlin, who was also confused himself, suddenly came up with a strange thought: was Supervisor Bart hit by some kind of magic or witchcraft?
He quickly shook his head and drove this thought, which even he found absurd and ridiculous, out of his mind.
(End of this chapter)