Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 27: Unexpected Discovery

When Levi heard Irene’s answer, his first reaction was………what the hell?

How did that lunatic become the Courtesan Killer?

The Courtesan Killer was killed by his own hand, so how could he not know she looked like that?

If Emilia knew that in other people’s minds she had such an image, she would probably be angered to death without even needing to take action herself.

“What do you mean?”

Levi looked curiously at Irene, who hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“When the Courtesan Killer case first spread, quite a few people said this. They said the Courtesan Killer was a terrifying and vicious madman. He wore a mask, draped in a black cloak, holding a dagger with a lining as red as blood. Like a ghost, he drifted through the night streets of Mist City, hunting lone girls, tearing out their organs alive and eating them, leaving them to die in agony……….”

“…………………”

If not for the fact that the Courtesan Killer’s corpse had already been cremated, Levi really wanted to ask Emilia how she felt right now.

“But the newspaper already reported that the Courtesan Killer was Doctor Doolittle, right?”

“Ah, mm………but………I didn’t know him.”

Right!

Hearing Irene’s doubtful answer, Levi suddenly came to a realization, discovering that he had fallen into a self-assumed trap.

He had personally killed Emilia, and he knew very well what kind of person Doctor Doolittle was and what he had done.

But Levi had overlooked one point—that for most people, they neither knew nor cared about the difference between the Courtesan Killer and Doctor Doolittle!

In their impression, the Courtesan Killer was that black-cloaked, masked lunatic.

Now it was just that lunatic who had been given the name Doctor Doolittle!

At the time, the news had not published Doctor Doolittle’s photo, because most people had no idea what he looked like!

Which meant that for most people, the equation of Doctor Doolittle = Courtesan Killer = cloaked, masked pervert was valid!

Previously, Levi had thought that dream was inexplicable.

But after listening to Irene’s description, he immediately felt that this dream might actually hold deep significance.

That was to say, was he, in fact, killing the Courtesan Killer over and over again in his dreams?

If so, then those cries for help made sense.

After all, Levi’s most famous detective achievement was solving that very case.

So when those girls encountered the Courtesan Killer, of course the first person they would think of was him.

It was like a math problem—when asked 2+2=?, you instantly and without hesitation chose 4!

Similarly, who should one find when encountering the Courtesan Killer?

Naturally, Detective Levi, the one who shot him dead!

Alright, one problem was solved, but a new one appeared.

If the Courtesan Killer were still alive, then these dreams would be explainable.

But the problem was that the Courtesan Killer was already dead, the matter had already been closed in most people’s minds—so how could people still dream of him? And so frequently?

Moreover, from Levi’s own feeling before, this didn’t seem as simple as ordinary dreaming.

As for why Katie wasn’t sharing the same dream with him, Levi more or less guessed the reason.

It was because Katie was fast, and her identity seemed to have a certain confidentiality, so most people didn’t even know that Levi had such a detective assistant.

Naturally, she wouldn’t be summoned into the dream.

This matter was becoming stranger and stranger.

Levi kept a calm expression as he ate his breakfast, while his mind turned over various thoughts.

The already-dead Courtesan Killer was jumping around in dreams, while he had to rush in like a firefighter wherever the dream was happening, passively putting out the flames.

He didn’t recall ever having such an ability, and the system had never shown him possessing one either.

So what exactly was this dream? And how was he supposed to solve the trouble before him?

Up until now, the system still hadn’t popped up with a new mission.

Was it because he hadn’t found enough clues, or had the system simply classified all these incidents under the mission of uncovering Madam Clattie’s true purpose?

Judging by difficulty alone, this mission was far tougher than the previous ones.

Levi pondered for a moment and decided to first investigate the vampire case.

As for the Courtesan Killer, since the other party could only bounce around in dreams now, he wouldn’t last much longer anyway.

But vampires were a different matter.

After all………

Levi looked at the newspaper before him.

On the front page headline: 《Vampire Reappears? A Shocking Mystery at the Royal Master Academy》………

【………According to this reporter’s investigation, this case has already been assigned to Detective Levi, Special Consultant of the Police Station. He once assisted the police in solving the widely known Courtesan Killer case. This time, will this detective be able to use his extraordinary brain and wisdom to crack this terrifying case full of horror and uncover the real culprit?】

This was why he said journalists were truly annoying.

Luckily, they didn’t know that the victim had turned into a zombie in the morgue and attacked others.

Otherwise, Levi didn’t dare imagine what today’s newspaper would look like.

Levi finished reading the newspaper, ate his breakfast, then got up and left.

This time, he planned to visit Edwards’s home.

Perhaps he might find some clues.

Edwards’s home was at No.

23 Chestnut Street, in an apartment building.

It was a very ordinary three-story building, a rental apartment, mostly renting rooms to people who weren’t particularly wealthy but not extremely poor either.

Levi stood at the entrance of the apartment, his expression complicated.

When he had first seen this address, Levi had only felt it looked a bit familiar.

But when he arrived and saw the words 【Durex】 on the apartment’s nameplate, he finally remembered.

He had seen this address before when investigating Madam Clattie’s property purchases.

Aside from the Pink Lady, she had also bought a factory, a warehouse, and an apartment.

And the apartment was precisely this one.

Was this a coincidence?

No, it couldn’t be a coincidence.

Levi stared at the building, sinking into thought.

He realized he had underestimated Madam Clattie somewhat.

Because that mastermind had killed her without hesitation, Levi had been left with the impression that Madam Clattie was just a pawn that could be discarded easily.

But in truth, whether she was really only an expendable pawn was not something Levi could confirm.

In fact, although Madam Clattie was dead, all the clues he had uncovered so far were still connected to her.

Including this very apartment before him.

Forget it, he’d go in and take a look first.

Just as Levi reached out to push open the door, suddenly the apartment door opened and a young girl stepped out.

Seeing Levi, she froze in surprise.

“Eh? Detective?”

“Miss Betty? Why are you here?”

Looking at the blonde, blue-eyed girl with a trace of baby fat, Levi was somewhat surprised.

He hadn’t expected Betty to also be here at this apartment.

“Me? I came to find Maggie to go have afternoon tea together………ah, Maggie is my friend, you’ve met her before………”

“Oh………”

Levi immediately recalled the girl with brown curls and freckles on her face.

“She lives here?”

“Yes.”

Betty nodded, looking curiously at Levi.

“Detective, why are you here?”

“I came to investigate the unlucky victim. He also lived here.”

“I see……………”

Betty was clearly a little surprised, while Levi gave her another glance.

“Why are you alone? Where’s Miss Maggie?”

“She’s not at home.”

Betty revealed a disappointed expression.

“We had made an appointment beforehand, but when I came, she wasn’t home.”

In this era, one couldn’t just suddenly think of dropping by to play.

Since most households didn’t have telephones, visiting someone usually required making an appointment beforehand.

Otherwise, one might end up in the awkward situation of eagerly going over but finding no one home.

Conversely, making an appointment but then standing someone up was considered very impolite.

“Then, I’ll be leaving. I wish you success in your investigation, Detective.”

Betty gave Levi a polite bow, then left the building.

Levi watched her figure in silence for a moment, then entered the apartment.

As before, Levi didn’t pick the lock but used the key he had obtained from Edwards’s body to open the door………hmm, as a detective, not knowing how to pick locks really was a bit unprofessional………

After all, he couldn’t always be taking keys off corpses.

What kind of person would that make him?

With a silent sigh, Levi opened the door and stepped into Edwards’s room.

The room looked very ordinary, like that of any college student.

The desk was cluttered with various instruments, and piles of books with unreadable titles were scattered everywhere.

Levi even found Edwards’s unfinished thesis, its title reading———《On the Feasibility of Brain Transplant Research》。

Hmm, this guy really was better off dead.

Then, Levi found Edwards’s diary.

After arriving in this world, Levi finally understood why so many people liked writing diaries.

The reason was simple———life was just too boring!

This world had no television, no radio, and very little nightlife.

Especially for the educated, they couldn’t go clubbing, or to internet cafés, or to cinemas like modern people.

And due to their social status, they couldn’t often frequent places like the Pink Lady either.

So, writing a diary became one of the rare pastimes for those with some education when night fell.

Moreover, it was also a way to vent emotions.

Since there was no internet or platforms to post on, even if one encountered something in life, there was no way to vent with a post or essay.

Thus, writing a diary was an excellent outlet for emotions.

Even Levi himself sometimes felt an urge at night to write a diary out of boredom.

But considering how many people had exposed their secrets through diaries, he suppressed the urge.

He liked reading other people’s diaries, but he didn’t like others reading his own.

Levi pulled back his thoughts and picked up the diary to read.