Chapter 24: Battle of the Haunted House (Part 1)
Liu Zhen was very considerate and gave Liang Xi a full 24 hours when reporting the time, and also called to apologize in person. Liu Zhen told Liang Xi that Wang Shuang was a very important criminal, but unfortunately he had no bounty and could not give Liang Xi extra compensation.
This phone call reminded Liang Xi of a job that would allow him to open a detective agency, engage in the detective profession he was interested in, and also ensure his quality of life: offering a reward.
Due to limited manpower and material resources, Liang Xi could not investigate old cases. However, no matter how new a case is, once the police take offer a reward, it becomes an old case. The reward Liang Xi mentioned refers to the reward offered by the families of the suspected victims when the information is not accepted by the police and no case is filed. Most of these rewards are for finding evidence to file a case, and are posted on the police website with the assistance of the police. Because they are only for finding evidence to file a case, the amount of the reward is very low, with the highest being no more than 2,000 pounds.
However, this official bounty webpage is the favorite place for detective fans, because you can see the general situation of the case by clicking on each bounty. Someone has created a detective community specifically for the bounty website, inviting detective enthusiasts to discuss the case together. The most famous among them is the Baker Union, which is composed of more than 20 amateur detectives in the UK, and has successfully helped 12 families of potential victims to file a case in three years. The reason why it is called the Baker Union is that they are all fans of Sherlock Holmes without exception. The Sherlock Holmes Detective Agency is on Baker Street, so their joint team is called the Baker Union.
Three years, more than 20 people, and 12 cases filed already illustrate the difficulty of offering a reward.
Case 1: A lost her shoulder bag. She thought that her bag was left in a cosmetics store and was taken by the owner and the clerk. After the police took notes, retrieved surveillance footage, and questioned the suspect, there was no further result. After getting permission from the police, A posted her situation on a reward website to solicit clues and witnesses. If it can be proved that she brought the shoulder bag before shopping and lost it after shopping, and the case is successfully filed, she can get 500 pounds. If clues to the theft can be obtained, 1,000 pounds can be obtained. If evidence can be provided to incriminate the thief, 2,000 pounds can be obtained.
This case requires personnel to conduct a large number of street visits and inquire about the information of each business. Once the case lasts for more than three days, people's memories will become blurred, and it is almost impossible to get the reward through normal channels. Unless there is a way to find the stolen bag and trace back to find the thief step by step.
Case 2: A middle school student had an eye injury and claimed that he was beaten by some classmates. Several classmates denied the accusation. The police had no evidence or clues and could not rule out the possibility that the middle school students made random accusations. In order to vent his anger and pay for the child's medical expenses, the child's father offered a reward of 1,000 pounds.
No matter how easy it was, Yuan Wang would not accept orders from children, because children were so cute that Yuan Wang did not want to see them, let alone deal with them.
After watching all this, Liang Xi realized that he either couldn't do it alone, or someone else had already done it. There are so many people with nothing to do in London, so it seems that he has to set up a stall on the weekend.
When Liang Xi was about to close the website, he was attracted by a case.
The title is "Ghost". When you click on it, there is only one sentence inside. The victim claims to be haunted by a ghost and seeks help from a psychic. A generous reward will be given. This sentence is enough to drive away most people. It is similar to the farce of finding a dog and giving away a house. After the dog is found, the owner claims that someone has posted information pretending to be him. The house is impossible to give anyway. The dog has been found, so the house will not be given to you. What can you do? Therefore, many people think that rewards without a specified amount are hooliganism.
When it comes to psychics and ghosts, sometimes the story is very complicated, sometimes it is very simple. What interests Liang is that the police actually put the psychic incident on the reward website, which shows that the police have done some research and investigation. Because there are certain facts, the police cannot rule out the possibility of ghosts, but there is no correct answer.
Liang Xi called the number and the person who answered the phone called himself Yali, a real estate agent. Yali briefly explained the situation of the house on the phone.
Lily is a 27-year-old single beauty who is a private club manager. Two months ago, she always felt someone invaded her room when she went to sleep at night. Lily called the police twice, but the police did not find any clues or evidence to prove the existence of an intruder. The police persuaded Lily to see a psychologist. With the advice and help of her friends, Lily bought and installed indoor surveillance.
For the next week, Lily slept very well. But a week later, Lily felt that someone had invaded her house again while she was sleeping. Lily called the police again, and the police sent detectives to conduct a more comprehensive investigation and ruled out the suspicion of several suspects raised by Lily. After the fourth call to the police, the police forced Lily to take a urine test and found the ingredients of marijuana.
The UK has semi-legal control over marijuana. As long as you don't sell it or use it in front of the police, they usually ignore it. The police released Lily after warning her and put her on the police blacklist. If Lily calls the police, patrol officers will still respond, but not only will there be no special person to investigate, but Lily may even be charged with obstruction of justice.
Unable to bear it any longer, Lily gave the house to the real estate agent and temporarily moved into a friend's house. In principle, the reward was no longer valid, but the real estate agent played a language game that promised a big reward. He hoped that someone could solve the ghost problem so that the house could be sold normally.
"I am the medium." Liang Xi told the real estate agent.
The real estate agent doesn't care whether you are a psychic or not. If you do the job, he will give you a few dollars. If you can't do the job, he won't give you any money. Liang Xi drove over to meet the real estate agent. The real estate agent introduced the situation and promoted the houses he had. In the end, he assessed that Liang Xi did not have the ability to buy a house, so he gave Liang Xi the key and asked Liang Xi to go to the haunted house to investigate the case. When they separated, the real estate agent told Liang Xi that the haunted house was now 40% off and asked Liang Xi to consider it.
…
The haunted house is located on Vere Street, on the edge of London. The house is a three-story villa built along the road, with no front yard and a large backyard. Neighbors are separated by neatly planted shrubs, trees and other green plants. The architectural structure of each house has its own characteristics. In the Vere Street residential area, you can find popular styles of buildings from before World War II to this year.
The haunted house was built in the 1980s and was the legacy of Lily's grandfather. Whether from the environment, the emotions, or the financial situation of Lily introduced by the real estate agent, it is impossible to understand Lily's idea of selling the haunted house. Judging from this, Liang Xi believes that Lily and the real estate agent should not have lied, and there are really ghosts in the haunted house, at least Lily thinks so.
