Salted Fish Chapter 42.2: Z’s Past (Part 2)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

Duan FeiZhou got out of the carriage at 49 Frances Square, waved goodbye to Mr. Lynn, then picked up his luggage and ascended the stairs. He reached the door, and was about to pull out his keys when the door opened by itself. A small figure slammed into his chest like an angry bird, and nearly displaced Duan FeiZhou’s internal organs.

“Master, welcome back!” Al said gleefully. He wore an apron.

Sword in the Stone suddenly came out with, “As soon as I got home, there was a little boy in a maid’s outfit…Ah no, a maid’s outfit to greet you. It’s a little subtle.“

Duan FeiZhou rolled his eyes, and handed his suitcase and jacket to Al one by one. Sword in the Stone, which he threw straight into the cupboard, screamed.

“I’ve read the papers, Master! The papers say the Aberdeen serial murders have been solved! Even though your name wasn’t mentioned, I know you must have credit for it!” Al hung up his jacket while he cast an adoring look at Duan FeiZhou. “Those reporters won’t write your name down, they just want to give credit to the local police. It’s like Lestrade trying to take credit for Holmes every time…”

Duan FeiZhou dragged his heavy feet toward the couch, and fell headlong onto it. “I didn’t do anything either…”

He still felt that the Aberdeen serial murder case wasn’t quite over. Duncan McKellen was still nowhere to be found. As long as Duncan McKellen remained missing, the case wouldn’t truly be settled until he too was caught.

“You’re too modest!” Al shouted. “It’s a shame I’m not as good a writer as Dr. Watson, or I’d be writing about you and telling the world how great you are!”

Duan FeiZhou buried his head in the sofa cushions. “If you really do that, the Nightmen should come for me tomorrow with silver handcuffs…”

“What are the Nightmen? Are you afraid of them, Master?” Al was full of enigmatic confidence in his master, or rather, he overestimated his master’s strength.

“…Haha. Yeah.” Duan FeiZhou laughed dryly twice. “Starting next Monday, I’m going to sit in Scotland Yard three days a week.”

He expected Al to scream in horror, but instead the teenager said in an increasingly adoring tone, “Master, you managed to penetrate inside the Nightmen?”

“…ah?”

“You have completely gained their trust, haven’t you?” The young man’s eyes glowed. “You’re really a master. You’ve played the police Nightmen like a fiddle! Are you going to use your work as an excuse to find out what’s going on inside the Nightmen? I heard that they keep the occult practitioners in the dungeon of Scotland Yard…Are you going to break into the prison?”

Duan FeiZhou let out a groan as if he came from hell. Why was Al’s imagination the only one that could leap forward so much? What probing inside, what breaking into a prison…It was just thanks to God he wasn’t put in jail!

Ahhhhh! What the hell should I do?

He was so worried that his head was going bald, but Al was giddy. He flew around the house like a little bird, and served Duan FeiZhou black tea and biscuits.

“To celebrate your successful infiltration of Scotland Yard, I must make a delicious meal! Master, what would you like to eat?”

“… Regret medicine,” Duan FeiZhou replied in despair.

 

The next day was Saturday, the day the Secret Trading House was regularly open for business.

Miss Madeleine Clearwater had made it a habit to come to the trading house regularly to browse. Today Madame Boyle was doing experiments, and not available to accompany her so she came alone.

It was still the first time she visited the trading house alone. Although she had been there many times, she couldn’t see enough of the strange and exotic goods. She recently looked at a Ptolemaic celestial chart, that was a coded chart left by ancient alchemists. It was said that as long as a person unlocked the code, he could learn advanced alchemy.

However, Madeleine was shy, and simply couldn’t afford it. She was afraid that only if she saved money for a year or two, could she afford the price. The premise being that in that one or two years, no one bought it first.

Madeleine was keenly aware that today the Master of the Trading House was very lethargic.

Although since he inherited the trading house, the trading house had only opened a few times in total, but in a customer’s impression, the Master of the Trading House had always been full of energy. He wasn’t just funny (or eccentric), but also full of whimsy, as he brought new and unprecedented concepts such as blind boxes, card draws and SSRs.

Originally, customers came to the trading house just to see what new goods were on the shelves, and speak with other occult practitioners to discuss occult philosophy. However, without realizing it, every time the trading house opened its doors now they were filled with anticipation – as they looked forward to what new idea the Master of the Trading House had come up with.

However this time, not only Madeleine, but also the other customers could clearly see that the Master of the Trading House was downhearted. He sat withered behind the counter, hands folded as they propped up his chin. His blank gaze seemed to look through the emptiness. Was he troubled by something? Or was he pondering a deep question that no one could penetrate?

It was his teenage assistant who was in charge of entertaining the guests that day, but his intelligence and cleverness and that of the Master of the Trading House couldn’t be compared in the same breath. When customers asked about the origin and function of a certain item, the teenager often had to scratch his head for a while before he could remember the answer, and sometimes even had to go to his master for advice.

“Master, a customer wants to buy a crystal pendulum, what should I do?” The teenage assistant came up to the Master of the Trading House and asked in a whisper.

With a long sigh, the Master of the Trading House waved his hand and the display case on the wall began to move automatically, so the display case with the pendulum went to the customer.

“Aren’t they all over there? Let them pick their own,” he said absentmindedly.

The teenage assistant scratched his head in embarrassment, and ran back to greet the customers. The Master of the Trading House was left alone to continue to stare into the void.

“What’s wrong with the Master of the Trading House?” Several guests gathered to whisper.

Madeleine had seen them many times in the trading house and was considered a familiar face, so she also joined them.

“He’s really not himself today.” Madeleine has the energy of a gossiping woman. “Did something bad happen in reality?”

“Maybe. By the way, have you heard about the Aberdeen serial murders?”

“Of course I have! It’s been the talk of the town lately! The newspapers said the killer was the son of a doctor, but he was already dead when the police caught him. Maybe the police didn’t catch him at all and found a random scapegoat.”

“My aunt lives in Aberdeen, and she said that the murderer was very unusual. He originally fell and became a cripple, but somehow regained his health. Could it be that the murderer was an occult practitioner like us?”

“The newspaper said that Scotland Yard also assisted in solving the case. Could this ‘Scotland Yard’ be referring to the police Nightmen?

“If it is the police Nightmen, then the murderer’s death is understandable. Haven’t the police Nightmen always beaten the occult practitioners to death? The ones who can be put in jail alive are the minority!”

“Damn it, the police Nightmen have killed another one of our brothers! Police Nightmen, I’ll never forget you!”

“Shut up. What’s the use of shouting and screaming here? Go shout at the entrance of Scotland Yard if you dare!”

“But the occult practitioners themselves have something wrong with them, right? Didn’t he kill someone?”

“Even if he killed someone, he should have been tried. Not killed by the Nightmen!”

Their voices grew louder and louder, and finally even Duan FeiZhou heard them.

Did the guests know that the ‘Nightman’ they were talking about was sitting right next to them? Duan FeiZhou listened to their increasingly outrageous (yet with subtle flashes of truth) discussion and was left in tears. Why had things come to this? He only wanted to go to Aberdeen for the funeral and avenge Ruth’s death! He obviously did not want to become a police Nightman!

It seemed that the more he didn’t want to be involved in anything, the more things came to him.

What kind of body was he?

The guests, who were discussing feverishly, noticed Duan FeiZhou’s gaze. They all looked at the Master of the Trading House, and were surprised to find his eyes were shining with vague tears!

“Oh my God, I’m not mistaken, am I?” Madeleine whispered in surprise, “What is the Master of the Trading House crying about? Could it be a moment of silence for our brother who died so tragically?”

“He is a true man of character!” Another guest was moved to say.

“He must have heard about the Aberdeen murder.”

“A man of character!”

Duan FeiZhou’s tears shone even brighter.

 

Monday, Scotland Yard, 

Duan FeiZhou walked through the dark corridor to the Abnormal Case Investigation Unit’s office with the dead expression characteristic of a beat worker.

He felt that every step in that direction was a step towards his own grave…

The floor where the Abnormal Case Investigation Unit’s office was located was quiet, but at the same time noisy, because at the end of the corridor was the entrance to the dungeon. The inmates imprisoned there occasionally let out a howl or two, that disrupted the peace and quiet. However those occasional screams actually accentuated the quietness of the floor.

However, today’s corridor was not at all, on the quiet side. There were three people standing in the corridor, which was typically empty! How crowded!

Duan FeiZhou’s eyes swept past their faces – he only knew one of the three, and that was Miss Acheson.

She was the police Nightmen clerk, code name A, for the Abnormal Case Investigation Unit section of the most diligent staff, the first to come to work every day, the last to go home, Duan FeiZhou even wondered if she was not just living in the office.

The other two were the first to meet. One was a middle-aged man in his early forties, his hair shaved as short as a soldier’s, and the letter R tattooed on the back of his hand. The other was an elderly woman with snow-white hair. She looked like a kindly neighboring woman, but a neighbor woman wouldn’t be in the Abnormal Case Investigation Unit section.

The four men stared at each other, but no one spoke for a while.

… Why do people want to crouch in the corridor? Was this some kind of Nightmen morning ritual? Is it like students having a school assembly every Monday, as they listen to the principal give a long and stinky speech?

It was Miss Acheson who finally broke the silence.

“Good morning, Mr. Chester,” she said, her voice like a silver bell.

“Uh, good morning, Miss Acheson.” Duan FeiZhou was a little overwhelmed. He looked over at the other two people.

“They are also Nightmen.” Miss Acheson introduced them. “Mr. R and Ms. Q. They are partners. I believe this is the first time you have met them.” Ms. Acheson turned to her two colleagues, “This is Leo, Mr. Chester, our associate member, whom the boss had mentioned.”

Mr. R. grinned and took Duan FeiZhou’s hands in his. His hands were incredibly rough and calloused. “The boss was very complimentary when he mentioned you. He said you did a great job on the Aberdeen case, so he made an exception and hired you. I’ve seen you today, and you’re a real talent!”

Duan FeiZhou gave an awkward but polite smile. “He spoke so highly of me that I would rather he not make an exception…”

“What a modest young man.” Ms. Q smiled and gave him two kisses on the cheek, “It’s been a long time since the Nightmen have had an injection of fresh blood. I’m so glad to have hired such a fine young man.”

I wonder how Ms. R would feel if she learned that the “fine young man” in front of her was the Nightmen’s number one rival? Duan FeiZhou asked, “Why are all of you standing in the hallway?” 

Ms. Acheson raised her index finger in a gesture of silence, then pointed to the office. “…No one has a key?”

All three were silent at the same time, and Mr. R. seemed to be eager to retract his comment, about a talented man.

“His Excellency the Secretary is here,” Miss Acheson whispered to Duan FeiZhou. “The boss wrote up the Aberdeen case yesterday and handed it in, then the Secretary came in early this morning.”

“Who is the Secretary?” Duan FeiZhou was hearing this title for the first time.

“The Abnormal Case Investigation Unit section is nominally a department of Scotland Yard, but actually directly responsible to Her Majesty the Queen, and Secretary, Officer Carter is the liaison between the Queen and the police Nightmen.”

Duan FeiZhou’s jaw dropped. The backer behind the Police Nightmen was actually Her Majesty the Queen! The famous Queen Victoria! No wonder they dare to walk across the whole of England!

Even through the door panel, Duan FeiZhou could hear the sound of heated arguments coming from the office.

“…Everything I know is already written in the report. You may wish to go back and read it again.” It was Z’s cold but angry voice.

“I’ve read it many times, Superintendent.” The voice was unfamiliar, that was Secretary Carter, slick and official, “What I want to ask is, you just let Duncan McKellen go? You are the head of the Nightmen, and you watched and let that guy get away with it?”

Carter deliberately pronounced the word, “watched” very strongly.

Z snickered. “You don’t have to be snide with me. I told you, he jumped on the train and escaped. I couldn’t have foreseen that the train would pass by at that time. I’m human, and I’m sorry I couldn’t catch the train. Please do thank Her Majesty in my place.”

“It is possible that he is the last member of the Scarlet Feast, and he is at large!” Carter raised his voice, and the door shook. “And the train he jumped on was bound for London. He could be in the city now! The capital of the world! Under the nose of Her Majesty the Queen!”

“I’ve had Aberdeen Police put out a warrant for him. It’s been posted all over London by now, hasn’t it?”

Carter yelled, “What’s the point of a wanted notice? If he’s an occult practitioner, it’s easy to change his appearance. The man must be arrested as soon as possible. Wasn’t Jack the Ripper a big enough mess back then? Her Majesty has instructed that there must not be another Jack the Ripper incident in London!”

The three police Nightmen outside the door frowned.

“That boy Carter is using the Queen’s name as a gun again,” Mr. R. spat. “I wonder if the Queen gave him that order or not.”

Duan FeiZhou could see that none of the three of them had good feelings towards His Excellency, the titular Secretary.

“So…” Z trailed off. “Do you have anything constructive to say?”

Carter laughed lowly. “In fact, I thought of a way. Jack the Ripper has his own psychic powers because he ate the flesh and blood of many psychics. His five senses are much sharper than normal people, especially his sense of smell. Why not let him be a hound, and uncover his hiding accomplice for us?”

There was a loud bang. Probably Z had slammed against the table. The four people outside the door craned their necks at the same time.

“I beg to differ.” Z said fiercely. “The same issue was discussed within the police Nightmen five years ago, and the conclusion was ‘it can’t be done’. First, for Jack the Ripper to find someone by smell, he would need at least one of that person’s belongings, which we don’t have. Secondly, Jack the Ripper has gone mad. To make him a hound, he would have to be subjected to mind control-type illusions. That would be too dangerous. Once he breaks free of the illusion, the consequences would be unthinkable. I must not take such a risk.”

“But this is theoretically feasible, right?” Carter was defiant.

“So what?” Z asked rhetorically.

“You didn’t have the man’s belongings five years ago, but don’t you have them now?” Carter said. “As for Jack the Ripper, I just can’t believe that the occult practitioners of the police Nightmen are so incompetent that they can’t control him.”

“Let a vicious murderer catch another murderer?” Z said coldly. “You think you’re driving a tiger to a wolf, but you’re actually leading a wolf into a house. I refuse.”

“I’m afraid you’re not in a position to refuse.” Carter sounded arrogant.

“Oh? Has Her Majesty commanded something else?” Z said sarcastically, “Her Majesty herself ordered that Jack the Ripper be released?”

“Her Majesty did not say that. But Her Majesty has given me greater authority.”

There was a rustling. It wasn’t just Xenophon now; the other three people had their ears pressed together against the door panel, trying to hear exactly what Carter was up to.

“You see what this is? Oh, I forgot you’re blind.” Carter jeered. “Then I’ll read it to you reluctantly.”

He cleared his throat and said aloud, “In view of the exceptional cases that have occurred recently throughout the United Kingdom, Sir Colin Carter – that is, myself – is hereby appointed as temporary special agent of the Scotland Yard Abnormal Case Unit. All departments of Scotland Yard are required to cooperate with him to the fullest extent possible, without any excuses for delay or excuses. –Alexandrina Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India.”

The four people outside the door looked at each other with unanimous expressions of horror.

It seemed like a century before they heard Z respond reluctantly, through clenched teeth, “I see.”

“Then, please take me to the dungeon to meet Jack the Ripper.”

“…All right. I hope you are brave enough not to be frightened by him.”

The door of the office was slammed open, and Z came out aggressively, and with a grim expression. A man in a suit followed him out the door. He was in the prime of life, tall, solidly built, with brown hair and a stylish beard. He made a hypocritical bow to the four people. His eyes lingered on Duan FeiZhou for a few extra seconds.

“This young man is the ‘new man’ you mentioned in your report?” Carter asked.

Z turned his head back. When he noticed Duan FeiZhou, his gloomy expression opened up slightly, as if a ray of sunlight had penetrated the dark clouds. “That’s right.”

Carter surveyed Duan FeiZhou. “It’s been a long time since the police Nightmen hired a newcomer. I remember your standards have always been very strict. This gentleman must have some overachieving qualities.”

“You’re right.” There was a hint of pride in Z’s tone.

Carter smiled, not dismissing it.

“Are you still going to the dungeon or not?” Z prodded.

“It’s on my way.” Carter gave a salute to Duan FeiZhou and turned to follow Z.

Only after their backs disappeared into the darkness at the end of the corridor did the four people in the corridor sigh with relief.

“So we’re going to listen to that little white boy now?” R asked gruffly, his arms wrapped around him.

“I’m afraid so.” Mrs. Q sighed.

Miss Acheson was the first to walk into the office. She returned to her workstation as if she had grown out of there.

Duan FeiZhou, however, stood unmoving in the hallway. He stared into the darkness at the end of the corridor. There was a hidden door there that only the police Nightmen could open. It led to the dungeon, which held the occult practitioners arrested by the police Nightmen, and the suspects related to the cases of occult practitioners.

He remembers visiting Scotland Yard once after the incident at Perlilla Manor, the day he learned of Ruth’s death. It was also on that day that Z showed him two photographs.

The first was of the opium house, in front of the Mint Leaf, with ‘Miss Melissa’ holding Hart, the estate’s butler. The other was in a restaurant, with ‘Miss Melissa’ and a man drinking face to face. The man was no other than the Secretary, Colin Carter.

He was both the Queen’s Secretary and one of the key members of the Council for the Advancement of Science and Technology.

The organization that worked to develop Ether crystals and promote dirigible technology was suspected by Z to be behind the events at Perlilla Manor. Their purpose had been to take the land of the manor by trickery so that they could control the underground Ether crystal mine.

And Carter now has an edict from the Queen to take over the police Nightmen.

“Secretary Officer Colin Carter…” Duan FeiZhou whispered his name.

—What conspiracy are you hiding?