13 Minke Street

“Look, it’s this watch.” Mrs. Seymour took out a black box, in which was a ‘Miffet’ gold watch.

Recently, Mrs. Hughes had given him a ‘Monroe’ watch worth 2,000 lubi, while Mrs. Seymour’s watch here had a market price ten times more—20,000 lubi.

The last time Piaget next door gave him a consultation fee, it was 20,000 lubi. This time, Mrs. Seymour also gave him a watch worth 20,000 lubi.

People who live on this street are really rich!

What an ordinary person earns in a year, even before taxes and expenses, was just petty cash in the eyes of the truly wealthy.

“It’s a very beautiful watch,” Karen said.

“I’m glad you like it.” Mrs. Seymour smiled.

“No, ma’am, it’s too expensive. I can’t accept it.”

Karen was not pretending to be coy. He really didn’t want it.

In his previous life, he had gradually achieved material wealth through his own hard work, starting as an ordinary boy. In this life, he didn’t have to worry about food or drink in the Inmerales family, so he was able to maintain a stable outlook on money.

He haggled with the taxi drivers not because he was stingy about the fare, but because he didn’t like feeling fleeced.

He liked money, but he was not obsessed with it.

If the Inmerales was an ordinary family, with many people living together in a low-rent apartment, he would have probably accepted the watch with a smile.

Simply put, he wasn’t poor enough.

At first, Mrs. Seymour thought Karen was just being modest, so she persuaded him several times. Only later did she realize he really didn’t want it.

“How about this? I heard that psychologists can also offer package treatments, is that right?”

“I’m only responsible for providing services to the guests in our home right now. Of course, if you need it, madam, I can provide services for you.”

“Then this watch can be considered as my advance payment for your consultation fee for the next year. Is that okay? Once a month, you can visit me at my house. Or, when you are not busy at your house, I can come to your house and ask you to give me psychological counseling.”

“Even so, it’s too much.”

“I think it’s worth it. Do you know how much money I spent for my husband’s funeral?”

Karen opened his mouth. Then, slowly closed it.

He knew that it was a package B that could excite Aunt Mary.

But he couldn’t say the price directly.

Because the prices on the family’s menu had a lot of room for profit, with discounts given based on the customer’s reaction.

Karen knew the base cost, the actual expenses. But he didn’t know the final price they had settled on with Mrs. Seymour.

If he guessed too low, wouldn’t that make Mrs. Seymour immediately realize she was being ‘fleeced’?

Business is business, with room for profit margins. It was understandable as long as both parties were willing. In any case, he didn’t need to undermine the family business.

“200,000 lubi.” Mrs. Seymour held up two fingers.

Phew…

Karen breathed a sigh of relief. Uncle and Auntie hadn’t overcharged the funeral package too egregiously. It was still within a reasonable range.

That price was enough for Mr. Mauson and Jeff to get cremated another twenty times over.

“So, you see. I was willing to spend 200,000 lubi on that dead bastard’s funeral, so giving you a watch means nothing in comparison.”

Although Mrs. Seymour’s emotions had calmed down, her hatred for Mr. Seymour was still there.

“Don’t laugh. I’m just afraid, afraid that I’ll be very lonely from now on.” When Mrs. Seymour said this, there was no hint of love or desire in her eyes. The words themselves didn’t imply anything.

She was used to being a good wife, but before her husband died, he had given her a heavy blow to her worldview.

“I understand, madam. I am willing to provide you with psychological services. If you need them, you can call me directly,” Karen said.

“That’s wonderful. Here, let me put this watch on you myself.”

After the watch was put on, Mrs. Seymour took a few steps back, examining him carefully, and said:

“What a handsome young man.”

…

Walking out of the door, waving goodbye to Mrs. Seymour who had warmly seen him off, Karen headed for the end of the street where it was convenient to hail a cab. As he walked, he took off the watch from his wrist and put it away.

The golden retriever bounced around quite happily. No one at the Inmerales’ house was willing to take it out for long walks lately.

Karen put Pu’er on his shoulder. This cat would not run around excitedly when it saw stray cats on the road, so there was no need to worry about it getting lost.

Standing at the corner, Karen waved down a taxi.

“13 Minke Street.”

“Yes, sir.”

Sitting in the car, Karen kept his eyes closed.

The first thing that came to his mind was the situation at Mr. Piaget’s house.

Piaget started to kill for fun after he developed schizophrenia?

It didn’t seem likely no matter how he thought about it.

Although it was possible to change the voice on the phone, such as changing a male voice to a female voice or a female voice to a male voice, this does not require a voice changer because the phone’s tone in this era was very ‘metallic’.

But Piaget did not match the psychological profile I had in mind for that twisted serial killer. He might be a bit simple in interpersonal relationships, but someone who could actively create a ‘split personality’ for himself was absolutely not ‘stupid’.

So, did that mean the few paintings I saw in his wife’s studio were mere coincidences?

It didn’t seem like a coincidence either.

Karen felt a headache coming, and couldn’t help reaching up to gently massage his forehead.

That feeling of nausea and dizziness had not completely dissipated since he saw the third painting of the God of Order’s judgement.

“Are you carsick?” the driver observed Karen through the rearview mirror. “I can drive slower.”

“No, I’m fine, please just go a bit faster.”

“Okay.”

The taxi stopped at the curb. Karen paid the fare and got out.

He suddenly felt that he should go get a driver’s license and buy a car.

It’s not difficult to get a driver’s license. As for a car, buying a used car wouldn’t be too expensive. Most importantly, it’s not convenient to get a taxi in Roja City. The cost was simply too high.

Karen walked into the living room and saw Aunt Mary and Mrs. Hughes sitting on the sofa. Mrs. Hughes’ eyes were red, and she was holding a tissue and wiping the corners of her eyes from time to time. Aunt Mary was comforting her.

It was too late yesterday, so Mrs. Hughes didn’t come into the house. Today, she came to seek comfort from her best friend.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make Mr. Darcy look very good, and arrange a very dignified funeral for him. Oh, the murderer is just too evil. Poor Mr. Darcy.”

When Karen heard Aunt Mary say this to Mrs. Hughes, he couldn’t help but walk over and remind her, “Yes, although the murderer cruelly dismembered Old Darcy into dozens of pieces, Auntie’s ability is definitely not a problem.”

“Damn that Mr. Darcy!” Aunt Mary blurted out. She had only just found out that Mr. Darcy had become multiple ‘Mr. Darcys’.

After cursing, Aunt Mary immediately corrected herself, “Damn that murderer for treating Mr. Darcy this way!”

Then, Aunt Mary was in no mood to comfort Mrs. Hughes anymore.

She also pulled out a tissue to wipe her tears.

“What’s wrong with you?” Mrs. Hughes looked at Aunt Mary. Weren’t you supposed to be comforting me?

“I feel so bad for Mr. Darcy, he was just…too miserable,” Aunt Mary said, somewhat choked up.

Mrs. Hughes raised her head and looked at Karen who was standing there. She forced a smile and said, “Karen, your aunt and I are planning to go out for barbecue tonight. Why don’t you come with us? It’s a very famous barbecue restaurant.”

“I think I’ll pass,” Karen declined.

Aunt Mary looked up, her eyes slightly red, and said, “Come on, I want to drink tonight. You’re the only adult man in the house suitable to accompany us.”

Karen suggested, “I can call Uncle.”

“I won’t give him a chance to carry both our drunk asses to bed!” Aunt Mary roared hysterically.

“Alright, I’ll go.”

“Just wait a bit while I go downstairs to finish up with those guests.”

“Okay.”

Aunt Mary got up, wiping her tears with a tissue as she headed to the basement. After going down the ramp, you could hear her yell loudly, “Fuck! Poor Mr. Darcy!”

Mrs. Hughes on the sofa heaved a long sigh, and even winked at Karen. “Mary will have it tough. Oh right, Karen, where’s the watch I gave you? How come you’re not wearing it? Don’t you like it?”

Mrs. Hughes noticed Karen’s wrist was bare.

“I like the watch you gave me very much, but I haven’t gotten used to wearing a watch yet. I forgot when I got up this morning. Maybe I’ll get used to it later.”

“That’s good. I thought you didn’t like the Monroe I gave you.”

“How is that possible? It’s the most valuable gift I’ve received from anyone other than my family.”

Just then, the phone rang.

Karen walked over and picked it up.

“Hello, is this the Inmerales’ residence? I’m looking for Karen.” Chief Duke’s voice came from the other end of the phone.

“Hello, Chief Duke. This is Karen.”

“We have identified the body under the stage of the Crown Ballroom. His name is Cole. He is from the neighboring city and came to Roja to find a job three months ago. This is the information that the police station in the neighboring city gave us.

“I’ve already sent my officers to visit the neighborhoods where he used to hang out. We should be able to get some specific information soon, such as where he worked and who he was in contact with.”

“It would probably help to put it in the newspapers,” Karen said.

“I submitted a request but got rejected. Their reason was it would cause widespread panic and protests from the Berry church if the manner of death was made public.

“I really wanted to kick those politicians in the ass with my boots and give them a second asshole!

“They’re just busy with the election, so they’re desperate to suppress this matter. If we could have published the victim’s photo in the newspaper as soon as possible, we might not even need the help of the police station in the neighboring city. We would have already found his network in this city by now.

“Now, I can only pray we move faster.

“I’ve already mapped out Mr. Darcy’s connections here. We’re just waiting for that unlucky bastard Cole – like you said, if the two networks overlap, we can narrow down the suspect pool, right?”

“Yes,” Karen assured him.

“Let me ask you again, Karen – is the killer really that stupid, specifically targeting those close to him? Wouldn’t he be discovered quickly that way?”

“My intuition and experience tells me that’s the case. And the reality is you still haven’t caught him yet.”

“Haha, do you mean that the murderer’s cleverness is only highlighted because our police are too stupid?”

“I didn’t say that.”

“Haizz…” There was a sigh over the phone, followed by the sound of a match striking – Chief Duke was probably lighting his pipe. “Like you said, that bastard will likely kill another person soon to complete his shitty artwork. I hope we can catch him before he takes another life.”

“I hope so too.”

“Alright, I’ll hang up for now. I’ll notify you again if there are any updates. I don’t know why but I have a hunch that your judgment is correct.”

“Thank you.” After hanging up the phone, Karen smiled at Mrs. Hughes and pointed towards the basement.

“Madam, I’ll go help auntie first.”

“Okay.”

Karen came to the workshop in the basement. There were three bodies lying in there. Two of them were the victims from the Crown Ballroom, one of whom was Mr. Seymour, and the other was the victim sent from the hospital.

All three bodies had been nicely prepared, looking very natural, as if they were asleep.

Aunt Mary was currently sitting on a stool, legs crossed, a cigarette in hand, smoking it vigorously and angrily.

Incidentally, this pose accidentally left the hem of her skirt caught between her legs, revealing almost her entire thigh down to the roots.

Karen closed his eyes. And coughed.

Then, he opened his eyes. Aunt Mary had already changed her sitting position and was tidying up her skirt.

“Karen, you knew early on that Mr. Darcy had been turned into dozens of pieces, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” Karen admitted.

“Do you know how difficult it is to put dozens of pieces of a person back together? I have to search for each piece in a large basin like a bathtub, put them together one by one, and then sew them together one by one. I’d rather play Trent’s puzzle than do this!”

“I know it’s difficult, Auntie, but you’re the only one who can do it.”

“Why didn’t you tell me earlier? Do you know how much money I could have gotten if I had negotiated about this job in advance? I just promised her that I would charge the price of a welfare order for this one! Damn it, damn it, damn it!”

Aunt Mary pulled at her hair.

According to the previous price, the starting price for this kind of restoration would be over 10,000 lubi!

Aunt Mary then added, “And what about the mortician’s own performance bonus?!”

“You’ve worked hard, Auntie. But I think this bill can be included in the offer to acquire Hughes Crematorium later.”

When she heard this, Aunt Mary’s expression improved a lot, but soon, she thought of something else and asked:

“Wait, that’s not right. I asked why you didn’t tell me in advance when you clearly knew already?”

“Grandpa instructed me that way.”

“Grandpa?”

“I asked Grandpa if I should inform you of the job’s difficulty in advance. Grandpa said there was no need, because you were the most outstanding mortician he had seen in his lifetime.”

“Father-in-law really said that?”

“Yes.”

Aunt Mary’s expression finally returned to normal. However, she immediately glanced at him and clenched her fists, saying, “Let’s talk about the acquisition later. Tonight, I’ll order a few more bottles of good wine and make her feel the pain too.”

“I thought we were eating barbecue?” Karen asked.

“Yes, that’s right, but it’s barbecue at a winery.”

“But I don’t drink alcohol.”

“You can drink grape juice. I don’t dare to let you get drunk and then be responsible for sending us home when we’re drunk.

“Also, your grandfather is not at home today. He will probably be back tomorrow. This is a really good opportunity.”

At 4:30 in the afternoon, Karen and Aunt Mary got into Mrs. Hughes’ car together. The car drove towards the eastern district of Roja City.

Because they were going east, Mrs. Hughes made a turn on Minke Street. Next, they would pass through the townhouses area.

Karen wanted to ask Mrs. Hughes not to go that way, because he still felt uneasy about 128 Minke Street, the townhouse where Uncle Mason’s first love lived.

But Mrs. Hughes was driving very fast. Karen hesitated for a moment but ultimately didn’t ask her to change the route.

“That family is moving out, huh.”

The road ahead was blocked by a truck, and Mrs. Hughes had to slow down.

Karen saw that the family moving out was from 128.

Uncle Mason said that because of Jeff’s incident, his first love’s family would move soon. It seemed that they were finally moving today.

Karen’s gaze subconsciously moved to the window on the second floor of that building, but the curtains there were completely closed, and he couldn’t see anything.

“Karen, what’s wrong?” Aunt Mary looked at Karen curiously. “Are you feeling unwell?”

“No, I’m fine.”

“Mary, what do you think about me buying a house here after I sell the crematorium? That way, I can be your neighbor and live very close to you.”

“Sounds good. That way, you can come over and help me when I’m busy.”

“Hahaha, aren’t you afraid that I’ll cut off those male customers’ dick and steal them to use at night?”

“Karen’s right here, don’t you have any shame?” Aunt Mary scolded Mrs. Hughes.

“Alright, alright, I get it. Let me see which number is vacant – 128, got it. I’ll get the agent to come look at this vacant house another day and ask the price.”

After about half an hour, they drove into a winery in the suburbs. It had a sign that said ‘Friday Winery’.

“Is this winery’s business not doing well?” Karen asked when they got out of the car.

“Of course not, so the owner chose to generate income,” Mrs. Hughes answered while saying to the waiter who came up to them, “I’ve booked a table, table 7. Also, bring up the wine I have stored here.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

The barbecue required self-grilling. The meat was good, but Karen didn’t really like to eat barbecue. In his previous life, he had some stomach problems. In this life, his body was weak, so he couldn’t enjoy the happiness of eating large pieces of barbecue for the time being.

He only ate a small amount. Most of the time, he was responsible for helping Aunt Mary and Mrs. Hughes grill. The two beautiful women drank and chatted about interesting things that had happened in the past. They were very happy.

At around 9 pm, at Karen’s suggestion, the two women reluctantly agreed to end their fun for the day.

Walking to the parking lot, Karen had an arm around each of them as they leaned on him. They’d surely fall over trying to walk alone in this state.

This feeling of holding two women in his arms was not a happy one.

The pungent booze smell on both women was occasionally accompanied by retching, with a faint sourness in the air strong enough to wash away any improper thoughts that should not have arisen.

Mrs. Hughes pulled open the car door, wanting to get into the driver’s seat. But Karen didn’t dare let her drive drunk. She wanted to drive, but he didn’t dare ride with her.

“Madam, let me drive.”

“You… know… how… to… drive?” Mrs. Hughes asked with an intoxicated smile.

“Yes.”

“You’re… so… so… amazing.”

Mrs. Hughes threw herself into Karen’s arms. Her right index finger naturally pressed on Karen’s chest and drew circles.

Karen gently pushed Mrs. Hughes away and put her in the back seat, just like Aunt Mary.

Then, he got into the driver’s seat and started the car.

As the car was leaving the Friday Winery, Karen saw a police car driving in. The two cars passed each other.

“Heh, it’s so obvious that they’re using public vehicles for private use.”

…

In order to familiarize himself with the car’s condition, and also because it was the first time he had driven since waking up in this world – and most importantly, it being a manual transmission – Karen drove very slowly.

The two women in the back seat had already fallen asleep. Karen opened the car window and let the fresh evening breeze blow in.

At 10:15, Karen drove the car back to Minke Street.

He got out of the car first, helped Aunt Mary out, and then helped her push open the yard gate and front door. They walked into the living room.

“You drank so much.” Aunt Winnie, who was sitting on the sofa in the living room checking the bills, hurriedly got up to help Aunt Mary. At the same time, she called Mina upstairs to come down and help.

“Where’s Uncle?” Karen asked.

“He’s not allowed to send her back!” Aunt Mary, who was already drunk, suddenly sobered up. “He’s not allowed to go and send her back.”

Seeing this, Aunt Winnie was both angry and amused. “Mason received a call after dinner and drove the hearse to pick up a guest. The Maranko family’s funeral home had a falling out with the client, so the client wanted to transfer their loved one’s body to our funeral home. He’s not back yet.”

“Oh, that’s good then.” Aunt Mary nodded, then facing the floor: “Blehh…”

Karen took a few steps back, lightly covering his nose, and said, “Then I’ll go and send Mrs. Hughes back.”

“Can’t you call a taxi? Oh no, taxis aren’t safe.”

A drunk woman taking a taxi home alone at night was really hard to feel at ease about.

“It’s Mrs. Hughes’ car. After I drop her off, I’ll leave the car at her place and take a taxi back myself.”

“Okay. If you can’t get a taxi then, call me back and I’ll ask Mason to pick you up.”

“Okay, Auntie.”

Karen walked out and returned to the car.

In the back seat, Mrs. Hughes was now lying there horizontally, with her skirt completely splayed out over her upper body.

Karen took a look, shook his head with a smile, and started the car again.

…

Roja City Police Station.

Police Chief Duke sat with an unlit pipe in his mouth, napping in his chair.

He had been busy working nonstop for days without sleep, and could only catch some shuteye in his office when he had the chance.

Ring ring… ring ring…

Chief Duke immediately opened his eyes and picked up the phone. “This is Duke speaking.”

“Chief, we found him. We found him!”

“Tell me quickly!”

“Cole used to work at a winery in our city called ‘Friday Winery’. The winery also serves food. Cole worked there as a waiter for a month before quitting.”

“He quit?”

“Yes. According to his coworkers, Cole once bragged to them about hooking up with a wealthy widowed lady who often drank and dined there, and that she was willing to keep him as a lover.”

“Who is this lady? Did you find out?”

“It’s Mrs. Hughes, the owner of Hughes Crematorium.”

Chief Duke suddenly stood up.

Cole… Old Darcy…

One was her lover.

The other was her long-time employee.

She really did only target those closest to her.

Chief Duke tightened his grip on the phone, disbelief written on his face.

Karen was completely right.

This killer really was stupid!