Why it never ends

Chapter 158 Clifford
A strange female voice came from the kitchen, "... Isn't there a curfew today? How did she—"

"I went to the cafeteria of the police station." Su Lei replied outside the kitchen, "Do you need help?"

"No, please sit down!"

Su Lei took off his coat and began to look at this apartment in Chiba.

It's not too big, it only has one bedroom and one living room, and the visual area will not exceed 50 square meters.There is a square table near the window in the living room, and the table is covered with the same dark green thick cloth as the curtains.This living room has almost no personal characteristics, it is as simple as any other B&B with bags outside, it can be seen that Chiba usually does not come and go here.

Si Lei sat down, and saw an old book on the table, which was carefully wrapped by Chiba in kraft paper. When Su Lei opened the title page, he saw the title of the book: "When the Forest Sings·Compilation"

Author: Anna Sokolova
There is also a date scrawled in the lower right corner of the title page: 01.01.4625
"Awaited."

The woman who had been busy in the kitchen came out with an enamel pot.Si Lei hurriedly got up to help clear the table, and after a while Chiba also returned to the living room, holding a small basket of sliced ​​bread and a plate of garlic pesto.

Open the lid of the pot, five pieces of fried golden duck legs are soaked in the thick creamy mushroom soup, some parsley is sprinkled on the surface, the smell of meat mixed with the aroma of mushroom and butter makes Su Lei lightly "wow" One sound.

"Thank you, it took a lot of effort."

"No, Qianye was sure you would come before we did it." The woman put her hands together and replied happily.

"What's your name?"

"Stella." She held out her hand to Su Lei, "Nice to meet you, Officer Su Lei."

Su Lei hesitated slightly, "...Stella Clifford?"

Stella's eyes flashed with surprise, "Oh, you know me?"

"I don't know you, but I happened to look for you today." Su Lei said softly, "Are you the president of "Anecdote Express?"

"Haha, I'm the president, the editor-in-chief, the editor, and occasionally guest reporters... We're a small newspaper with not many people, and everyone does everything." Stella said with a smile, "But it really surprised me, Most people recognize me by the name 'Stella Wiggin', and you were the first to call me 'Clifford'."

"So your real name is?"

"It's hard to say, my current ID name is still Stella Wiggin, but it won't be next month."

Stella Wiggin.

Su Lei thought about the name for a while, and suddenly had a flash of inspiration, "It's you!"

Stella blinked, "...you recognized me again?"

"I know you, I've read your reports before, was it you who did the background story of Jane Hestad in the Indefatigable eight years ago—"

"Yes, that was indeed my handwriting." Stella raised her hands to cover her face, with a slightly embarrassed expression, "I was too young at that time, and the things I wrote were relatively floating, so they were not good works."

Si Lei narrowed his eyes and looked at Qianye, "...So you two have known each other for a long time! That day you pretended to be with me in the car—"

"No, officer," Chiba raised her hand again, "I only found out this morning that the Anecdote Express was written by this lady—before that, I didn't even know that this newspaper was run by her."

"Indeed." Stella nodded.

Su Lei turned to Stella again: "Have you resigned from the Unyielding News?"

"Yes, I don't like the working environment there...Come, let's chat while eating."

Stella stood up to share the dishes between Su Lei and Qianye, and poured half a glass of sparkling water for each of them. The three of them raised their glasses as a routine, and the atmosphere relaxed a little.

"It's okay to change jobs," Su Lei picked up his knife and fork. "In the past few years, "Indomitable News" had many wonderful reports. In recent years, it has completely regressed. There are fewer and fewer valuable topics. It's all clichés, I used to subscribe to this newspaper, and I couldn't take it anymore, so I canceled it two years ago."

Stella laughed, "Coincidentally, I jumped into the slot two years ago."

"So you want to see me tonight?" Si Lei asked, "Why?"

"Have you read the report about Viscount Rich in today's Express?"

"seen it already."

Stella got up, took out a black leather notebook from her bag not far away, and placed it on a blank space on the desk.

"Then I want you to look at this again."

"what is this?"

"Some manuscripts," Stella said with a smile, "some... manuscripts that cannot be published, I think, I should show you anyway. Start from the place where the bookmarks are, and go all the way back."

Su Lei picked up the notebook and flipped through a few pages. She quickly saw a few key names in the scribbled handwriting, such as Viscount Rich, old Inspector Schmidt...

Su Lei looked up at Stella.

"Don't you want to see it?" Stella asked softly.

"Would you like to briefly talk about what's written here?" Si Lei closed the book, but still pressed it tightly under his right hand, "Who wrote this?"

"Myself," Stella replied, "they're old."

"When?"

"Four years ago, in the spring of four years ago, the location was at Claire's Farm—it belonged to Viscount Rich." Stella replied calmly, "The first interview was on April 17, which was Heinz's [-] I remember my birthday very clearly."

"Who is Heinz?"

"She is my first interviewee, and this is not her real name." Stella paused briefly, adjusting her breathing, "In name, she is the adopted daughter of Viscount Rich. But in reality, She 'married' to Richie when she was nine years old, and has been living ever since in a log cabin north of Clearyer Farm—"

Su Lei's eyes widened, "How old are you?"

"Nine years old, are you surprised?" Stella continued, "Viscount Rich likes young girls very much, and he has brought back many such 'adopted daughters' from the province of Nia over the years. On his farm, some are kept in his yard in the city—”

"and many more--"

"Since you want to hear me tell these stories, let me finish one of them first, and you can ask other questions later, can you?"

Su Lei frowned, "...OK."

"Viscount Rich's father died of syphilis—yes, syphilis, I'm not wrong, and you don't have to doubt it, I know that syphilis is not an incurable disease, but you may not understand, old Rich is a very An old-fashioned gentleman, he couldn't bear the dirty label of "Venereal Disease" on his head, so he always insisted that his diagnosis of "syphilis" was a misdiagnosis by a quack doctor, and he was ashamed to seek medical treatment afterwards, and only accepted an alchemist in private The 'Guaiac Wood Therapy'.

"I heard that old Rich was in a terrible condition before his death. Not only were his ten fingers covered with erosive ulcers, but he was also covered with bloody sores. Syphilis damaged his nerves, making him deaf and blind, and he was paralyzed in the Bed, did not even recognize his only son.

"This incident probably dealt a big blow to Viscount Rich, so he seldom went out to prostitutes when he was young, and only loved young girls who hadn't been married. This habit has been brought to his middle age. Rich has changed in the past few years. 'Appetite' has saved quite a few children from death..."

Su Lei stared into Stella's eyes, and the other party's narration carried an understatement of indifference throughout, but this kind of casual attitude was even more unbearable for her than the exaggerated and sensational reports in "Anecdote Express" .

(End of this chapter)