Volume 2: Empire Chapter 30 I Know It's You
At night.
Shelley and Pisco returned empty-handed.
The two of them were in the Governor's office, facing Luke who was waiting for his pizza.
"Governor," Shelley said aggrievedly, "It's our fault that we didn't ask for the address of the pizza shop. We went to Silver Avenue, walked from East Avenue to West Avenue, and then from West Avenue to East Avenue. We walked back and forth several times but still couldn't find the pizza shop you mentioned."
Pisco was kicked by Shelley secretly and said: "Shelley is right. It's incredible that there is no pizza shop on such a long street... Governor, did you remember the address wrong?"
Luke, who was sitting behind the desk, looked at the documents in his hand and asked casually, "If I remember correctly, the pizza shop is on Silver Avenue. Did you not look carefully enough?"
Shelley quickly said, "Governor, we searched very carefully, even in the alleys leading to Silver Avenue, and there really is no pizza shop."
“Yeah, we asked some people and they also said there’s no pizza place on Silver Avenue,” Pisco said.
"So... you searched several times but couldn't find it, and asked the people there but couldn't get the location?"
Shelley and Pisco said in unison: "Yes, Governor."
Shelley then said, "Governor, would you like to have something else?"
Luke didn't put down the documents in his hand. He waited for a moment and said, "Maybe when I was away from Saint Lun City, the pizza shop moved away from Silver Avenue, so you didn't find it.
I really miss the taste of that pizza!
You have been busy for so long, you must be tired, go back and have a rest. "
Shelley and Pisco glanced at each other, then bowed to Luke and exited the room.
After closing the door, Pisco couldn't help but ask Shelley, "Big sister, what kind of pizza is so delicious that the Governor can't forget it so much? I want to try it."
Shelley nodded. "Yes... My Lord never has any requirements for food. He can even eat the food in the cafeteria. The pizza must be very delicious to be praised by my Lord."
“I wonder where that pizza shop moved to?”
At this time, Kylena came out of the office next door with a stack of documents. When she arrived at the door of the Governor's office, she was stopped by Shelley and Pisco.
Shelley asked in a low voice: “Kylena, you are from Saint Lun City, do you know that there is a delicious pizza shop on Silver Avenue?”
"A pizza shop on Silver Avenue?" Kylena was puzzled by Shelley's question: "You have been deceived! How could ?"
Pisco said, "The Governor said so. He said he had eaten delicious pizza on Silver Avenue before, and today after interrogating the prisoner, he asked me and Sister Shelley to buy some.
But we searched for it several times on Silver Avenue and couldn’t find it.”
"The Governor must be lying to you." Kylena said sympathetically, "Half of Silver Avenue is the Crown Prince's Silver Manor, and the other half is all important imperial functional departments. There are no restaurants, no hotels, no pizza shops..."
Shelley and Pisco were stunned, recalling that when they stopped someone on Silver Avenue to ask about the pizza shop, the other person looked at them strangely.
"Why did the Governor lie to us?"
"I don't know... The Governor's actions are never something we can guess. Please open the door. I have something to report to you."
Shelley and Pisco immediately stepped aside and watched Kylena push the door open. They racked their brains but couldn't figure out why the Governor lied to us and asked us to go to Silver Avenue to buy a non-existent pizza.
The Silver Manor on Silver Avenue is the residence of the eldest prince Fania. At night, only a few rooms in the Silver Manor have lights on, and the number of guards and servants is also very small.
The eldest prince Fania is 42 years old today. He has not remarried since his wife died, and his life has become very low-key. Only the lowest staff are kept in the manor, and his main daily life is reading.
Fania's rich knowledge and humble character made him a group of loyal supporters in the imperial court. Everyone believed that if Fania could become the future emperor of the empire, he would definitely be a wise monarch.
Moreover, Fania sent his only son to the Northern Legion, and there were often news in the palace about what military exploits the emperor's grandson had made.
Fania reads in the study at night. He wears comfortable casual clothes and sits on a gold spiral chair with a velvet back cushion. The light from the gorgeous magic lamp on the ceiling is softer than that of an incandescent lamp, and the room is filled with a precious aroma that can improve concentration and mental strength.
On the crystal round table next to him was a silver wine jug and a crystal glass. When Fania was reading, he would occasionally take a sip of wine from the glass. Whenever the wine in the glass was empty, the wine jug would automatically fly up and tilt its body to pour the red wine into the glass.
Fania was so engrossed in watching that he didn't notice the butler pushing the door open and walking to his side.
"Master." The butler bowed respectfully.
Fania asked casually without taking her eyes off the page : "How is the matter going?"
" Sam's death was handled very cleanly."
"I remember that last time you said that the matter was handled very cleanly, Sam was caught by the Secret Service and was held hostage. This time, his identity was discovered by Meteorite. Is this what you call a clean matter?"
"I'm sorry, Master!" The butler bowed deeply and apologized. "We didn't have enough time to prepare after receiving the order that night, which led to some mistakes in some links. Fortunately, the main assassins involved in the operation were safely hidden. Sam was just one of our peripheral intelligence officers. He didn't know that he was working for the Master."
"Are you blaming me for not giving you enough time?"
The butler immediately knelt down and said, "We are not well trained. Please punish us, Master."
Fania turned the page of the book in his hand and said, "Come on, some things are indeed unpredictable. You have done a very good job. But how did Sam get exposed?
Agatha couldn't do anything to him, but Meteorite figured out his identity right after taking over the case. It's incredible."
The butler stood up and talked about how Sam was exposed. He was also confused at this time.
"Master, this matter is indeed very strange. Meteor saw through Sam's identity, but did not send anyone to follow the other six suspects, allowing us to easily know the interrogation process. Moreover, during the operation to silence Sam, the imperial spy who followed Sam did not take any action. After confirming Sam's death, he returned to Copper Mulberry Avenue."
Such a strange action finally made Fania unable to focus on the book in his hand. He turned his head and looked at the butler: "You mean... Meteorite deliberately wanted us to silence us?"
The housekeeper said with a little concern: "Meteorite has always done things unexpectedly in Raging Waves City. I can't figure out his purpose for doing so."
Fania's tone was a little nervous: "Are you sure Sam doesn't know about my existence?"
"I'm sure! After Sam was arrested, all the people who had contact with him were dealt with. This time, by killing Sam, the entire line was completely eliminated.
I am the only one who knows that Sam is working for the Master..."
Fania looked at the butler and breathed a sigh of relief: "You are the person I trust the most. Keep a close eye on the Copper Mulberry Avenue. Every move of Meteorite must be reported to me."
"Yes, Master." The butler hesitated for a moment and said, "There was a strange thing today that was related to the meteorite."
"What's up?"
"Today, two of Meteor's confidants from Raging Waves City came to Silver Avenue to look for a pizza shop. They searched back and forth several times. This Silver Avenue is full of important imperial departments, and there has never been a pizza shop. I don't know where they heard it from."
Fania dropped the book in his hand to the ground. He asked, "Did these two people come to Silver Avenue before or after Sam was released?"
"After being released. Sam had just left the Secret Service's Sixth Division when these two men came to Silver Avenue. They did not hide their whereabouts and many people saw them.
Master, Master, Master, what's wrong with you?"
Fania's body was trembling a little, and she said to herself: "He knows it was me who did it, what does he mean by this?"
"Master..." The housekeeper, realizing that something serious had happened, said hurriedly, "You mean the meteorite has been found to have attacked Dai'er..."
Fania stood up from the chair, the magic energy gathered in his hands emitting a dazzling light. He stared at the butler murderously and said, "You just said... you are the only one who knows that Sam is working for me!"
The butler was so scared that he knelt on the ground again, crawling and begging: "Master, I don't know what happened, but I definitely didn't betray you. Please believe me, please believe me."
At this time, someone knocked on the door, and the servant shouted outside: "Master, His Royal Highness Sinclair and General Joe Shul are back."
Fania retracted her magic power and said to the butler fiercely: "Find out where the mistake is!"
"Yes, Master. Thank you, Master."
Fania walked out of the study and met his son Sinclair, who had rushed back to the imperial capital from the northern border, and General Joshua, the commander of the Northern Army, in the living room.
The emperor's grandson Sinclair was wearing a military uniform. He looked young, handsome, and full of heroic spirit. He saluted Fania and said happily, "Father, I heard on the way that grandpa asked you to take charge of the southern front. With the northern army commanded by Uncle Joshua, you and I will definitely fight a great war that will be recorded in the history books."
Fania patted her son on the shoulder and said, "You are very brave, but you should ask your uncle and your grandfather if they will let you go to the South."
"Father?" Sinclair didn't understand what Fania meant.
Joshua saluted Fania and said to Sinclair, "The north is different from the south. The empire and its northern neighbors have not had a large-scale conflict for more than ten years. In the south, we have to face the barbarian army of the Celtic Grand Duke. Even I don't know if I can come back alive.
You are the only son of the eldest prince and your sister. Your grandfather and I will never let you take such a big risk. You must stay in the imperial capital."
The young and energetic Sinclair still wanted to fight for it, but Fania said, “Not only can you not go to the South, I won’t go either.
Sinclair, leave the war in the South to your uncle. The battlefield between you and me is here! In the imperial capital, our enemies are more numerous and more powerful...
You go and rest first, Qiao Xiuer and I have something to discuss."
…
Fania talked with Joshua, who had rushed back from the northern border, for a whole night.
Luke woke up after a good sleep.
Breakfast was taken in the office, and the food consisted of pizza, ham, and milk. Kylena reported on the summary of intelligence from all parties from last night to this morning.
After turning a new page of the folder in her hand, Kylena frowned and said, "Sir, at 6:45 yesterday evening, Philemon Sam was shot by a specially made poisonous crossbow arrow at home. The agent who followed Sam confirmed that the person died on the spot. The agent followed your instructions and returned immediately without taking any additional actions.
My Lord, you knew there was something wrong with Sam, why did you just watch him get silenced?
Now that Sam is dead, you've let all the other suspects go, and you haven't arranged for anyone to keep them under surveillance. How are we going to explain this to the princess?"
Luke ate pizza in big mouthfuls and said, “You don’t need to explain to the princess, I can explain it.
Sam's death proves my judgment that this is his final residual value. This is the end of the matter. If there is any follow-up action, wait for my order. "
Kylena took a pen and made a note in the document, then waited for Luke to sign and left.
During the interrogation yesterday, Luke was thinking about one thing.
Sam's appearance near the crime scene, can he prove that the eldest prince is the mastermind behind the attack on Princess Dale?
The answer is that it cannot be proven.
So Luke set a trap.
He hinted that he saw through Sam's identity and let him go. If the mastermind behind the attack on Princess Dale was not the eldest prince, the eldest prince would not kill Sam to prevent the incident from affecting himself.
But if the eldest prince is the mastermind, he must kill Sam to silence him.
Anyway, the eldest prince would never have thought that he recognized Sam because of him. Letting Sam go was not for the purpose of following the clues, but just to make a judgment question.
And letting Shelley and Pisco wander around Silver Avenue under the pretext of buying pizza was to let the guilty Crown Prince know... I already know it was you who did it.
The panicked eldest prince will definitely be exposed.
But Luke still felt that the case was difficult.
Knowing who the murderer is, it is not difficult to solve the case by collecting evidence in a targeted manner. Even this kind of case does not require too clear evidence, just let Augustine know that it was the eldest prince who did it.
But what happens next is uncertain.
Princess Dale went to the Qingkong Museum on impulse, which did not give the attackers much time to prepare and act. However, according to the process of the attack that night, the attackers' plans and actions were very thorough, and Agatha searched for so long but could not find any useful clues.
Judging from the eldest prince's usual behavior and that night's performance... he was patient, decisive, and would do anything to achieve the result, even if the person he wanted to kill was his own blood sister.
For an emperor like Augustine, is this a plus or minus?
Until the truth is revealed, absolutely no one knows the answer.
