The old man didn't take Nuit's boasting seriously, but he didn't suspect that he was lying either.
He had seen many soldiers like Nuit and it was normal for them to look for women on their days off.
He had investigated Nuit's background before he came. He was the most suspicious one at first, but it seemed that his investigation was for naught.
The old man came to the table with the leftovers and empty bottles and casually scanned through them. His eyes stopped on the empty whiskey bottle.
He picked up the empty bottle and sniffed it. Then, he flipped the bottle and let the remaining drop of wine fall into the mouth of the bottle. Then, he stuck out his tongue and licked it. After savoring the taste for a long time, he seemed to find nothing unusual. Only then did he regretfully put the empty bottle down.
But in the eyes of the others, the old man looked like a drunkard.
The scene of him licking the bottle with his tongue made many laugh inside. They thought that the old man was a wretched and greedy man who wouldn't even let an empty bottle go.
"I'm a little curious. With your salary as a first lieutenant, you shouldn't be buying a bottle of whiskey from 1957 to celebrate with your girlfriend, right?
As far as I know, a bottle of whiskey like this is worth nearly two and a half thales, which is about half of your monthly salary. It's not even the 15th yet, and with your temperament, you probably don't have much money on you. So where did you get this bottle of whiskey? "asked the old man.
Nuit wanted to retort that the old man had nothing to do with him, but Horic was glaring at him like a tiger watching its prey. His courage ebbed away like the tide.
"I got it from Claude. I saw him coming home from work last night and remembered that he had a case of whiskey in his office, so I asked him to get me one," Nuit replied dejectedly.
The bald fat old man walked out without a sound, and the four or five Marines in the room followed him out.
Nuit grabbed Bjard, who was about to leave with Horwich. "Wait, tell me what happened first. Why are you guys barging in here in broad daylight?"
Perhaps Nuit had passed the old man's interrogation and showed that there was nothing wrong with him, so Lieutenant Bjard wasn't as serious as before. He looked around and pretended to be secretive. "You don't know this, but last night, someone dressed in our navy's first lieutenant uniform entered Sir Fux's manor in the name of delivering an urgent document and murdered him and his butler.
That was why the viscount was summoned to Forks Manor by Felidos early in the morning before dawn. When he returned, he gathered all the first lieutenants of the B Squadron with a gloomy face and had this bald, fat old man interrogate and investigate them. He even had the two servants and maids from Forks Manor identify the culprit in person.
They were said to have seen the lieutenant, who called himself Abraham, and recognized his face.
However, none of the seventeen first lieutenants in our B Squadron have any problems. You were the only one who didn't spend the night at the base dormitory yesterday. That's why we've come looking for you with great fanfare. "
"What?
A parliament member was murdered?
God of War, this is big news! "Nuit's mouth gaped open in shock.
"Right, I'll be taking my leave now. You and your little lover can have a happy morning."
Bjard blinked. "I remember that you're resting during the day and working at the office at night, so you have plenty of time.
Also, we didn't have a key when we came in, so we had to break in. Remember to fix the door, or anyone can come looking for your little lover at night. "
"Wait, what's that bald, fat old man doing?
Why haven't I seen him in the naval base? "Nuit asked.
Bjard shrugged. "I don't know, I forgot his name. I think he's a famous detective in the royal capital. He was asked by Felidos to investigate this case."
Viscount Wenisk waited in his carriage. He wasn't about to lower himself to Nuit's rented house.
Right now, he was feeling very conflicted. Seventeen out of the eighteen first lieutenants of the Navy B Squadron had already proven their innocence. Whether it was witnesses or physical evidence, they had nothing to do with the murder.
Only Nuit, who had gone out the night before, was the biggest suspect.
Wenisk hoped that Nuit was innocent and that he could be cleared of any involvement in the incident. He wanted to prove that the murderer had disguised himself as a naval lieutenant and was only using his name and the naval base.
At the same time, he hoped that Nuit was the culprit and that the murder case would end here so that those with ulterior motives wouldn't have the chance to stir up more trouble.
Detective Joseph was still frowning as he opened the door of the carriage and entered.
"Is it him?" Wenisk asked nervously.
"It's not him." Joseph shook his head.
Wenisk heaved a sigh of relief. Then, Joseph asked, "Who's Claude?"
"Who?
Claude? "
Wenisk asked. When Joseph nodded, he smiled. "It can't be him. He's only eighteen. Even though his father was forced to commit suicide by Sir Fux, his family's debt to Sir Fux has already been paid off by Lady Maria. Sir Fux is no longer connected to him.
Because of this favor, he helped Lady Maria open Normanley Real Estate Development Company and built a community to sell to our naval base. "
"Oh, so his father was forced to commit suicide by Sir Fux?
Can you elaborate? "Joseph asked, his interest piqued.
"I heard it from someone else. It's said that on the day of his father's funeral, the entire town went to send him off. It was a huge scene.
The citizens and commoners were all unhappy about Sir Fux forcing his father to commit suicide.
However, I'm not too sure about the specifics. I'll call Captain Horic over. He was one of the first to arrive in town, so he should know more about it. "
Horic had followed the survey ship to Whitestag in the first half of the third month. He was in charge of mapping out the public docks and planning for the naval base by the lake, so he was well aware of Morssen's suicide by jumping off a building.
He even found out that Sir Fux had tricked him into writing a promissory note, much to the displeasure of many of the townspeople.
It was said that there were already people trying not to vote for Sir Fux in next year's elections.
Joseph's eyes grew brighter and brighter as he listened to Horic's story. When he finished, he turned to Wenisk. "Let's go take a look at Claude."
"Claude should be at Normanley Real Estate's office right now," Wenisk said, "You don't suspect him, do you?
It can't be him. He looks completely different from the killer. "
"Let's go take a look first. Now that the first lieutenants of the naval base have been cleared of suspicion, the one who knows about the situation there must be someone close to the base.
Claude had a grudge against Sir Fux and was familiar with the situation at the naval base. Horic also mentioned that he was a strong hunter and graduated first in physical studies, so he had to be an expert in combat.
Let's go and find out more about him. Even if he isn't a suspect, he might be able to give us some clues, "Joseph said.
Soon, they arrived at the old three-story office building of Normanley Real Estate Development Company. Viscount Wenisk asked Detective Joseph to follow him inside while the others waited outside.
Detective Joseph was a little puzzled, but Viscount Wenisk said it was Baroness Maria's company, and he understood.
Claude's office was in the large room at the end of the first floor.
When Wenisk brought Joseph in, he saw Claude scolding one of the architects. That idiot had gotten the numbers wrong and the blueprint looked awkward no matter how you looked at it. When he checked it, he realized that the architect had forgotten about the decimal point and the width was longer than the length. He didn't even notice it and the blueprint he spent two days working on went down the drain.
Seeing Claude's fluffy brown hair, pale face and the dark circles around his eyes, Wenisk raised an eyebrow at Joseph, as if to say, 'See, I told you he doesn't look like the killer at all.'
Seeing Wenisk enter, Claude waved for the designer who made the mistake to go back to work. He smiled bitterly. "It can't be, Lord Viscount. Aren't you a little too impatient to be here so early in the morning to rush us for the blueprints of the western sector?
I told you long ago that as long as you decide on where the brothel will be located, there won't be any problems.
But now you can't decide whether to put the romantic area in the base or not. How can we design the functional layout of the entire western area? Look at the dark circles under my eyes. I haven't slept well for two or three days because of your design plan … "" You're right. You're right.
"Ahem, ahem …" Wenisk pretended to cough. "Umm, Claude, I'm not here to talk about the western district's layout. Instead, Detective Joseph wants to talk to you about something."
"Detective Joseph?" Claude looked at the bald old man who hadn't said a word. "Looking for me?
What do you want to talk to me about?
Don't tell me there's a family background check?
I don't think there's such a thing. Isn't the basic information clearly recorded in the town hall? "
"Uh, hello, Claude."
Joseph stared into Claude's eyes. "I want to talk to you about Sir Fux."
"Sir Fux?"
Claude's expression darkened immediately. He looked warily at the old man and said coldly, "My apologies, Mister. I have nothing to talk to you about."
"He forced your father to jump off a building. Don't you hate him?" Joseph continued to provoke Claude.
Claude's face flushed red and veins bulged on his forehead. His hands clenched into fists, but he held it in.
"I think, sir, you can leave now. Please don't disturb our work here."
Claude pointed at the door and gestured for the old man to scram on his own instead of forcing him to make a move.
Joseph sighed in disappointment. The young man in front of him acted very normally. Either he didn't know anything, or he was faking it.
But given his age, it was impossible for him to be able to put on a disguise that he couldn't see through.
"Alright, I'll tell you something. Sir Fux and his butler were murdered in the manor's study in the middle of the night," Joseph hurriedly said when he saw that Claude was about to chase him out.
Then, he saw the young man in front of him clearly stunned, staring at him as if he couldn't believe what he had just seen.
What Joseph didn't expect was for the young man to charge at him with a savage expression and grab his chest. He roared, "You're lying to me, aren't you? That old thing isn't dead, right? Who dares kill him?!"
"Claude, let go!"
Wenisk yelled, "Sir Fux is really dead. I saw it with my own eyes."
He slowly let go of Sir Joseph's collar and retreated to his desk dejectedly. Sitting down, he gnashed his teeth. "How did this old thing die just like that? Who killed him?! Argh!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've already arranged everything, but he's dead! How could he die so easily?! "
"What did you arrange?" Wenisk asked curiously.
"Next year's elections. His seat …" Claude hugged his head in pain. "I've already asked Uncle Tomas to get rid of him first.
Without the title of National Councilor, let's see how he's going to run around in town. There are plenty of ways to deal with him. Anyway, there are a lot of black marks on him. I'll slowly dig them out one by one. In the end, I'll force him to commit suicide like my father … "