marvelous rosaline

09

Frank Kutch is dead!

Rosalin never imagined that she came to New York all the way for a slim possibility, but she got such a result.

In the Kaqi & Poirot Detective Agency, Tiago, the assistant of the former private detective, hurriedly made coffee for Rosalin and served it.

The young man took off the suit jacket that concealed the camera, and rolled the cuff buttons of his white shirt to his elbows, revealing his wheat-colored skin.There was an awkward smile on his doll's face: "You drink it first, I'm not very good at cooking this, but it's better than just drinking water, right?"

Rosalin silently looked at the liquid in the coffee cup.

As a European, a confusion gradually emerged in Rosalin's mind: Is this what Americans usually drink when they drink coffee?

Compared with coffee, it is almost like muddy water.

Out of politeness, Rosalin didn't point this out. She had a good impression of this Latino young man, and she didn't want to annoy him within half a day of acquaintance.

Of course, she didn't even have the idea of ​​trying this glass of muddy water.

"You said Detective Kaqi passed away," Rosalin went straight to the point, "When?"

Thiago sighed.

He raised his hand and scratched his black hair, feeling very helpless: "Just half a month ago. I sent you a telegram, miss."

Rosalin had already set off half a month ago, rushing to South Cape from St. Mary Mead Village on the outskirts of London.Estimating the time, she probably just missed the telegram.And the cruise ships of this era do not have real-time communication technology, so Rosalin was completely unaware of this matter in advance.

"What happened?" asked Rosalind.

"It was murder."

Thiago's tone suddenly sank.

"Fifteen days ago in the afternoon, Frank suddenly said that he might have alerted the other party," he said, "and then left the detective agency in a hurry with a gun and a camera. After that, there was no news from him throughout the night, and I waited for a day , what finally came was the news that he was shot dead in the industrial zone."

"Surprised the other party?"

"He's been investigating a financial case, which I think Frank explained to you in his letter."

indeed.

Although the information Thiago revealed was limited, it was enough for Rosalin to deduce the general idea: Generally speaking, economic cases involve much more power and trouble than simple crimes.If the murder case is to find the thread in a mess and then sort out the clues, then the economic case is to cross the river by feeling the stones in the muddy water.

If you are lucky, you can walk across the river, but you will inevitably get wet; if you are unlucky, you will be caught in the undercurrent at the bottom of the river, and it will be difficult to survive.

Who knows if any company or capitalist will be involved behind an economic case?Frank Kaci is unfortunately the latter.

Rosalin was slightly unhappy.

She knew that finding clues about her mother would not be so easy, but Rosalin didn't expect it to be so troublesome.

And it was shot.

There are many ways to kill, and shooting is the most straightforward and the most arrogant.

This proves that Detective Kaqi has indeed touched the clues, and the clues are important enough to make people point their guns directly at their heads.This is not only a blatant contempt for the country's justice, but also a warning: the mastermind behind the case is fully capable of overriding the laws of the United States.

"Is this the camera you are holding?" Rosalin asked after thinking about it.

"what?"

"You said Detective Kaqi went out with a camera before he died." Rosalin pointed to the camera on the table. "Is it this camera?"

"Yes, but the film was taken away."

Ok.

The other party directly took the film, which is probably the cause of the murder.Now they don't even know why Detective Kaqi died.

She considered it: "The detective's death is not clear, and you will not be willing to continue to do the business of catching rape."

Thiago's eyes lit up: "Of course!"

His clear eyes were as innocent and clear as a fawn. Hearing Rosalind's words, Thiago looked angry and sad.

"I'm sorry, Miss Poirot," he said, "for not informing you in time... After Frank's death, the detective agency has too many things that I need to deal with and finish - the commission to catch the rape just now is one of them. I We can only consider the economic case after all these chores are over."

Rosalin nodded in understanding.

"Did Detective Kaqi leave any files, or other things that wrote the progress and summary of the investigation of the case?" she asked.

"Yes. Every commission from the detective agency has paper records, and the murderer didn't take Frank's notes."

Thiago stood up immediately: "There is another legal document that you need to see, and I will bring it together."

That's it.

With records, she can also start from scratch.

In fact, Rosalind doesn't like to solve crimes.Running with grandpa and solving puzzles with Miss Marple is because Rosalin likes them.

But now, the elders are gone, and the burden of finding her mother falls on Rosalin alone.So even if she didn't like it, Rosalin still accepted the case information from Tiago——

Rosalin paused her hand and picked up the top file: "What is this?"

Thiago: "Don't worry about the operating contract of the detective agency. I won't touch it when the lawyer sends it. The Kaqi & Poirot detective agency belongs to Frank and your mother, Ms. Edith Poirot. After your mother passed away, it will be Frank has always been solely responsible for the operation. Now Frank has also... passed away, and his lawyer said that as long as you sign your name, the ownership of the Kutch & Poirot detective agency will change."

The two investors "died" one after another, so the ownership of the detective agency was transferred to Edith Poirot's daughter, as it should be.

Rosalin quickly flipped through the contract: "It's not Kaqi & Poirot Detective Agency."

Thiago was stunned: "Huh?"

Rosalin directly took the contract to Tiago: "Detective Kaqi transferred his shares to you, so it should be called Mara & Poirot Detective Agency from now on."

Thiago: "Huh????"

Compared with the ownership of the detective agency, Rosalin cared more about the case.

When Thiago was shocked, she had already started to look through the case records.

The economic case pursued by Detective Kutch was initially entrusted only by a theater manager, who wanted the detective agency to investigate his competitor, the Times Theatre.

The name of the Times Theater has even been heard of by Rosalin from as far away as Europe.

As a veteran theater, I don't know how many repertoires and actors became famous due to the performances of Times Theater. More than 20 years ago, Mama rose to fame at the Times Theater and became one of the hottest singers on Broadway.

Only in recent years, due to poor investment, management problems, natural disasters and the impending Great Depression, the status of Times Theater has been declining all the way, and it is on the verge of bankruptcy.

However, just before the closing of the Times Theater, the theater suddenly received a large amount of investment from unknown sources, and announced that it would launch Edith Poirot's biographical musical on the [-]th anniversary of her death, and even invited famous dancers Producer and director Williams.

On Broadway, Edith Poirot has always been a legend.As soon as news of the production of the opera and dance came out, it attracted a lot of attention and additional investment, which greatly improved the financial situation of the Times Theater, and it even came back from the brink of bankruptcy.

This kind of pie in the sky naturally attracted the jealousy of other theaters. Some people said that the investment made by the Times Theater was not in the right place, so Detective Kaqi received the commission.

According to Detective Kaqi's investigation records, he started with the mysterious investment and traced it all the way up. First, he found out that the investment company had falsified accounts, and then found out that there was another shady scene above the investment company.Detective Kaqi's investigation progress was stuck here for a long time, he had to change direction, and did what private detectives often criticize - he ran to the Times Theater to peek at the ledger.

As a result, after looking at it this way, Detective Kutch found that for 20 years, the Times Theater had been receiving fixed funding from Edith Poirot herself.

Thiago recovered from the shock when he saw Edith flip through the ledger.

"Saw Ms. Poirot's name, Frank went to the bank," Thiago said, "the bank manager told him that they did not open the business of fixed remittances after the death of the head of the account, and Ms. Poirot's will did not have any The content of paying money to the Times Theater."

"Not really."

Rosalin nodded: "Mom's will is with grandpa."

Thiago: "That's why Frank felt—"

Since this private bank does not serve the dead, there is only one possibility: the mother is still alive.

However, this has nothing to do with the case that Detective Kutch is investigating.

"I think," Rosalin closed the detective's notebook, "Detective Kaqi died because he found out the boss behind the investment company."

"I think so too."

Thiago nodded solemnly: "Frank was shot outdoors, and it could only be because he offended some big shot."

Roseline: "So no matter what he finds out, we can't continue the investigation from the investment company."

Detective Kaqi has already alarmed the enemy and paid his life for it, and it will be dangerous to track them down.

So we can only start with the theater itself.

Thinking of this, Rosalin took out the folder under the notebook.

Detective Kaqi is very smart, peeking at the theater ledger and taking photos.Rosalinn took out the photos from the folder, in which the accounts were very clear, clearly stating that it was from Edith Poirot's account, and $2000 was transferred to the Times Theater every month.

In 1925, $[-] was enough to buy an entire house in a Midwestern city in the United States.

"Whether it's your mother or not," Thiago commented, "she's rich."

But Rosalin looked past her mother's name.

She noticed that besides her mother, there was another person who was also sending money to the Times Theater.

"This man is—"

Rosalind pointed to the names in the photo.

"Ah, Jay Gatsby," Thiago shrugged, "a rich man who suddenly appeared in New York in recent years. He is generous and generous, but he is very mysterious. It is said that his money is not clean , but there are too many upstarts in New York, and there is no shortage of such one."

"He lives in West Egg, Long Island?"

"You also know? It is said that his mansion is filled with music every night, which is very extravagant."

More than knowing.

How many times in the "Golden Age" of the United States, there were still a few rich men named Jay Gatsby who had a nightly singing and dancing in West Egg, Long Island.

It turns out that there are more than just characters in mystery novels in this world.This millionaire Gatsby is probably the hero in Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby".

On the photo taken by Detective Kaqi, his name is just below his mother's name, and it shows that when the Times Theater just had financial problems, he directly sent [-] US dollars.It was neither early nor late, the second day after the investment company allocated funds to support the theater.

"Let's move on to the next step."

Rosalin made a decisive decision.

Thiago: "How?"

"First, help me find a place to live," Rosalin replied, "Second..."

She looked at Gatsby's name in the photo and raised the corners of her mouth.

"Let's explore Mr. Gatsby's mansion where he sings every night."