At the intersection of Berkley Street, Leonard Mitchell was discussing their investigation target, Doane Tancred, with two of his "Red Glove" teammates. "I haven't had direct contact with this gentleman yet," said Cindy, who had a head of long, wine-red hair, "but I've been investigating his servants and neighbors. Initially, I've confirmed that Doane Tancred followed his usual routine last night and this morning—he entered his bedroom at 11 p.m. and went to sleep, then got up at 7:30 a.m. to brush up and have his personal servant prepare his clothes. There were no disturbances or anomalies during this time. Of course, sometimes he has a late-night snack, finishing his day after 12 o'clock, and occasionally he wakes up before 7 a.m. to take a morning walk—but these are not the norm." The other "Red Glove," Bob, nodded in agreement. "From this perspective, Doane Tancred appears to be entirely unremarkable." Leonard Mitchell, sitting with a relaxed posture, smiled and added, "But the reverse is also true." "Based on the current summary, the servant who went missing was likely replaced between 11:20 and 11:35 last night. The intruder entered through the Charnes Gate at 6 p.m., and we noticed the issue at 7:20, but couldn't locate the target. "That is, during the period of the intrusion, Lord Dauvray was asleep, with no witness to his absence." "That makes sense," Cindy said, looking at Leonard with a touch of surprise. In her experience, while Leonard often made sharp, direct observations and questions, he rarely delivered such a lengthy, logically structured explanation. He seemed more like a relaxed poet, with flashes of insight only occasionally emerging. Bob, with his pointed chin, shook his head in disagreement. "Then, everyone on this list is implicated—none of them slept under observation, not even their spouses or partners, who were also already asleep during that time." "Moreover, I don't think a stealth infiltrator would dare to be so bold—having already entered the Charnes Gate and successfully escaped, accomplishing something so astonishing, yet still lingering nearby, abandoning neither his identity nor his position, simply walking away? Is that even possible? The risks involved are incalculable unless he's still plotting something or holding onto something valuable. What could possibly compare with infiltrating the Charnes Gate? What could possibly match the seals, materials, or formulas?" If I hadn't known beforehand that something was amiss with Doun Thénardier, I would have reached a similar conclusion. Leonard had already prepared his response, lifting his right leg and saying: "I'm merely emphasizing that we can't simply dismiss Doun Thénardier's involvement so easily. Moreover, Captain Sostre mentioned that the infiltrator might have already perished behind the Charnes Gate. Even if Doun Thénardier is connected to this matter, his role is more likely that of a colleague or accomplice than a primary suspect." “Well… don’t you think it’s a bit too coincidental? He’s only been here for less than two months, and yet the church has experienced several events that haven’t occurred together in centuries. Plus, he’s been coming to St. Samuel’s Church quite frequently—enough time to become familiar with the details. And during this period, there have also been strange sewer explosion incidents on Berkland Street.” Cindy combed her deep red hair. “You’ve convinced me. This definitely warrants close attention.” Bob tugged at the edge of his left-hand red glove. “There’s certainly an abundance of coincidences. But coincidence doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a problem. Even if Dunne Thénardier visits the church every day and listens to the bishop’s sermons, he’d only grasp the surface-level routines—things like the schedule of the night guards who go to the Charnel Gate, or how the night watchmen hand over their shifts.” “So he’s more likely one of the accomplices,” Leonard said, shrugging. He also didn't understand how Doun Tangtes knew so clearly about the internal processes of the "Night Watch." Cindy agreed: "Anyway, we need to conduct a more in-depth investigation. "By noon, we could directly enter Doun Tangtes' dreams and ask him questions? Yes, he has a habit of napping during the afternoon." Leonard raised his right hand slightly: "We don't need to rush. "We've already conducted routine investigations—entered Doun Tangtes' dreams before—and found nothing amiss. "If he's truly fine, then revisiting his dreams won't yield new insights. If he has an issue, the fact that it wasn't revealed before suggests he has a method to resist dream-based questioning. In that case, even this time, we'll likely be kept in the dark." "So we should monitor him closely, observe who he interacts with, and prevent him from fleeing, while at the same time waiting for feedback from Dizzy to uncover the true identity of this wealthy gentleman. Once we have any leads, we'll request a more advanced level of investigation than the simple in-depth questioning." Cindy was again slightly stunned, and couldn't help but half-jokingly remark, "It's rare to see you so seriously analyzing the situation." And how clearly structured his thinking was! Leonard paused, offered a self-deprecating smile: "Perhaps I've experienced something similar." At that moment, Cindy noticed a subtle deepening in Leonard's green eyes. She didn't add anything further. "Then let's take turns monitoring Doun. Tang-tes—starting with me." "Agreed," Leonard nodded, then turned to Bob. "Retrieve the records from the previous sewer explosion case—see if anything stands out. I'll go back and review the relevant files to check whether there were any anomalies in this neighborhood prior to that." After dividing their responsibilities, the three "Red Gloves" settled into their respective tasks. Leonard returned to the underground archives of Saint Samuel's Church, retrieving all records related to Berkland Street and the past three years of Aurora's active or passive involvement in events across Beckland. This line of thinking emerged from clues provided by the "endosymbionts" within him: "Since the existence and title of 'The Fool' first emerged through the Aurora Society, certain matters involving the Society—or specific challenges it has faced—may very well be connected to organizations that uphold the faith in 'The Fool'!" Back in his office, Leonard adopted a more composed and serious demeanor, carefully poring over the thick, stacked files. Among the files related to the auroras, the one he was most familiar with was the Lan'urus case—a case in which the "True Creator" had been striving to achieve success only to face an unexpected, inexplicable accusation that ultimately led to failure. In this case, a mysterious figure emerged who had killed the principal perpetrator. This figure appeared to be connected to the "Thief-Prince" Black Emperor, as both had targeted particularly egregious offenders and, upon arriving at their victims' bodies, had scattered Tarot cards—except in one instance: when Leonard arrived too quickly, and thus the ritual was not performed. Similarly, Leonard again encountered the name Sherlock Moriaty appearing at the margins of the unfolding events. "The Luminous Circle's representative, Mr. X, was assassinated at the gathering he convened, with residual powers of half-divine strength still present at the scene... At this time, Doun. Tangthais has already arrived in Beckland, precisely at that moment... The Luminous Circle's representative A collaborated with the Order of the Magi to orchestrate the Beckland smog crisis, resulting in their own demise... Representative A then assassinated the Ambassador of Indist... ... Leonard reviewed each point in sequence, yet found no particularly useful information." He rubbed his temple and decided to shift direction, beginning with cases related to the "Robin Hood" Black Emperor: "The Lan'erus case... the first instance where cards were laid out at the murder scene as part of a ritual—'The Fool' being the starting point of the Tarot deck." "The Kaping case... given the strength and stature displayed by the 'Robin Hood' Black Emperor, he would neither emulate others nor fail to do so—just as he himself scattered Tarot cards over the bodies." "The 'Desire Apostle' Jason Beleia case... I personally witnessed the 'Robin Hood' Black Emperor intervene, leaving him no time to scatter the cards." What other connection existed among these three cases, beyond their shared significance and the severity of the crimes? Leonard had previously pondered this question, noting that both the Lan'erus and Kaping cases featured Sherlock Moriarty, the renowned detective, at their peripheries. What about the 'Desire Apostle' case? Leonard pulled out the accompanying files, reviewing them page by page and item by item, until he spotted a line of words in an unobtrusive corner: "...the victims include Esingston Stanton, Sherlock Moriarty..." Leonard's expression gradually brightened, as if he had found a breakthrough. He flipped back to the files of the Aurora Society, examining every name mentioned and extending his search to gather all relevant files associated with each name. "A先生 from the Aurora Society assassinated Ambassador Intis... Ambassador Intis is currently leading the competition for the Difference Engine manuscripts... the trail of the Difference Engine manuscripts traces back to a spy who operates under the guise of a private detective, a private detective..." "It's reported that another private detective has also become involved, nearly killed by the crime syndicate loyal to Ambassador Intis... another private detective..." Leonard suddenly stood up, leaving St. Samuel's Church and heading directly to the police station where the case had originally been handled. Although most of the files had already been taken by MI9, Leonard still spotted the name of the caller: "Sherlock Moriarty!" Now he has reason to suspect that this renowned detective also made an appearance in the Beckland smog crisis—on the periphery of the case, among the many connected parties! Does he, like Daven Tout, belong to the secret organization that venerates the "Fool"? With a slight upward curve of his lips, Leonard decided to immediately return and retrieve supporting materials to verify his hunch. The densely piled corpses hanging there, the towering, eerie mushrooms, and the countless transparent worms twisted into a tangled mass—these scenes unfolded one after another, jolting Caine from his dreams. Rubbing his temples, Caine realized his mental state was truly not up to par, and this wasn't simply a matter of the ethereal pollution caused by the gray mist. He pondered for a while, then went to the bathroom, rose above the gray mist, and materialized Germán Sparrow, asking him to pray: "…Please tell Miss Justice when she might be available soon. I'd like to begin psychological therapy." P.S.: I'm not certain whether the current time setting uses Roman time or domestic time, so if this chapter's update time appears irregular, please don't mind—things will settle once this is resolved.