Chapter 46: The Vanishing Notebook

Eugh! Eugh!

Klein squatted there, vomiting involuntarily. He was soon done with his puking since he did not eat breakfast.

A tin-colored square flask that looked like a cigarette box appeared in front of him, emitting a mixture of smells akin to tobacco and mint leaves that cleared up Klein's nose and rejuvenated him.

The pungent smell continued to linger, but Klein no longer felt nauseous. He traced the tiny flask up and saw Corpse Collector Frye with his cold and dark bearing.

"Thank you." Klein recovered completely, and with his hands on his knees, he stood back up.

Frye nodded without any expression, "It'll be fine once you are used to it."

Without gloves, he began examining the old woman. As for Dunn and Leonard, they paced slowly around the room, occasionally touching the table's surface or newspapers.

Old Neil pinched his nose and stood outside the door. "Seriously gross. I'm going to request additional pay this month!"

Dunn turned his head over and touched the wall beside the chimney with his gloved right hand. While doing so, he asked Klein, "Does this place look familiar?"

Klein held his breath and constructed the silver pocket watch in his mind to calm down.

With him already in his Spirit Vision state, he immediately felt different. A scene that came from the deepest recesses of his memories flashed past his eyes.

Chimney, rocking chair, table, newspapers, the rusty nails on the door, the tin cans inlaid with silver... The scenes were dark and dull, blurry and illusory.

The feelings of déjà vu and having been here before presented themselves clearly. An illusory and ethereal voice seemed to pass through invisible walls.

"Hornacis... Flegrea... Hornacis... Flegrea... Hornacis... Flegrea..."

"It feels a little familiar." Klein answered, feeling stabbing pain.

Hornacis... The Hornacis mountain range that appeared in the original Klein's diary?

Dunn nodded slightly, walking to a cupboard and opening its wooden door.

The bread inside was moldy, and there were many gray, dead rats.

"Leonard, go downstairs to get patrolling cops and explain the situation here," Dunn instructed.

"Alright." Leonard turned and left the apartment.

Following that, Dunn opened the door to two other bedrooms and did a careful search.

After being certain that there were no clues as well as any sign of the Antigonus family's notebook, Frye also stood up, wiped his hands with a white handkerchief, and said, "The time of death was more than five days ago. There are no external injuries, nor are there any clear signs that it was a result of Beyonder powers. The exact cause of death will require a postmortem."

"Did you discover anything?" Dunn turned to look at Old Neil and Klein.

The two who were no longer in Spirit Vision state shook their heads in unison.

"Apart from the corpse, everything else is normal. Actually, no, there was an invisible energy sealing the apartment in the beginning. As you know, there will usually be similar processes when we use ritualistic magic," Old Neil added.

Dunn was just about to say something when faint footsteps grew louder as Leonard walked in with a policeman.

The policeman's expression changed once he caught the noxious smell. He immediately cooperated with his "colleague" from the Special Operations Department and began knocking on the doors of the residents on the second floor to gain an understanding of the situation on the third floor.

Moments later, the corporal with his two silver chevrons looked at the corpse on the rocking chair.

"Katy Stefania Bieber. Between 55 and 60 years old. Widow. Has rented this apartment with her son, Ray Bieber, for more than ten years.

Her husband was formerly a gem artisan. Her son is about thirty years old and is single. He inherited his father's trade and earns about one pound and fifteen soli a week. According to their neighbors, they have not seen them in more than a week."

Missing. To be more precise, it was unknown where Ray Bieber had gone.

"Do you have a picture of Ray Bieber?" Dunn looked at the police officer, acting as the role of a high-ranking inspector.

The police officer shook his head. "I'm not sure... I'll have to return to the station to search for it. It's not typical for us to have pictures of every person."

"Got it. Continue questioning the residents on the first floor. Ask them in detail." Dunn gave the order.

As he watched the police officer leave, he closed the door and turned to Old Neil. "I'll leave the rest to you. If not, we will have to make all the residents sleep and obtain Ray Bieber's looks. Yea, I don't really trust sketches based on verbal descriptions."

Old Neil nodded. He took out a few thumb-sized bottles from a pocket in his black robe and scattered the liquids in a particular order. Then he scattered a clump of powder in a circle around him.

Strangely, a biting smell spread. Klein noticed that there was an invisible forcefield around him that separated him from the environment and everyone else.

Old Neil half-closed his eyes as his lips mumbled a soft and indiscernible incantation. Klein vaguely heard the words, "Goddess, give me strength." "We look forward to the protection of the night."

Hum! A sudden wind tore through the windows and blew up the powder.

A terrifying "smell" directly spread rapidly. Old Neil opened his eyes. He took out a fountain pen from his pocket and began drawing on a piece of scrap paper on the table.

He wrote a single line beneath the portrait: "Black hair, deep blue eyes. Left of his mouth is a fully ceramic tooth implant."

"This is the image of Ray Bieber according to what's left in the room." Old Neil whispered as the color of his eyes returned to normal.

Then he turned back to his original spot and slowly circled it. The invisible forcefield that isolated things immediately dissipated in the form of a breeze.

"Praise the Lady." Old Neil tapped his chest in four spots, forming the shape of the crimson moon.

"I'll try using Dowsing Rod Seeking." Klein picked up the portrait and male clothes from the bedroom and spread them onto the ground.

Everyone watched silently as he placed the black cane above the clothes and portrait. Klein's eyes turned from brown to black as he finished his recitation.

"Ray Bieber's location," he silently repeated to himself again.

With the sound of a humming wind, the cane fell down and changed directions. finally spinning in slight circles.

Klein repeated a few times with the same outcome. A strange power was interfering with his divination. He could only shake his head at Dunn and Old Neil.

Dunn said to Leonard and Klein, "Take Ray Bieber's portrait and inquire the residents for a final confirmation. Following that, we will issue a warrant of arrest against him for the murder of his mother."

"Alright." Klein held his cane and picked the portrait.

After the neighbors confirmed that the portrait was indeed Ray Bieber, Dunn instructed Leonard and the police officer to finish the procedures at the station. He and Frye headed to a few bars in Tingen City to seek help via other means.

Klein and Old Neil returned to Blackthorn Security Company on a public carriage. It was not even eight by the time they arrived; Rozanne had not even clocked in.

After closing the door, Klein cocked his head at Old Neil. "Why would I send the Antigonus family's notebook to Ray Bieber's home?"

This was completely in a different direction from Howes Street, where Welch stayed.

Old Neil walked to the sofa. "Isn't that obvious? Who knows what powers inside the notebook you invoked; maybe you did some described ritual out of curiosity and ended up provoking a strange existence that you should not have. The motive of this existence was to have the notebook sent to Ray Bieber and sever all clues to prevent anyone from discovering it.

Therefore, apart from you who were selected, Welch and Naya committed suicide; regarding you... To be frank, I still have no idea how you survived."

"However, there's one thing I don't understand. Why did I have to hand the notebook to Ray Bieber?" Klein pondered.

Old Neil shrugged, "Perhaps his Life Path Number matches the requirements, or maybe he's one of the last remaining descendants of the Antigonus family. In short, there are too many possibilities... And why the notebook was sold to Tingen City would have similar reasons."

Life path number is an occult divination technique from numerology—basically the combination of birthday numbers, personal day numbers, and some other things to divine destiny.

"I do not think it's because he's a descendant. Unfortunately, I did not discover immediately that Ray Bieber and that notebook have vanished." Klein sighed.

Old Neil laughed. "This is something that Dunn has to worry about. As for you, it's something good."