488 Crazy Julie
Benson Walton’s POV:
I’d been released, which meant they’d found the real murderer. But there was no news, and everything was still quiet as usual.
However, I knew that things weren’t as simple as they seemed on the surface. From the Spring Rain Pack’s increasingly orderly security to the shocking scandal of the influential family, the Lycan pack, to the fact that even the arrangement of the mobile patrol team had changed significantly.
This sent out the same message: A war without smoke was about to begin.
To be honest, I didn’t think that the Evaria Family could win. Don’t be fooled by the fact that this family was in full bloom, but that was only on the surface.
Even if there was discord in the past, I couldn’t go against my conscience and say that the current Lycan King was muddleheaded. On the contrary, he was a qualified monarch and even considered wise. This made his prestige among the people as solid as a rock, which was not something that the Evaria Family’s soft, sponge-like foundation could compare to.
I was not too arrogant. In my line of work, I could come into contact with too many hidden secrets whether I wanted to.
On the fifth day of my freedom, my transfer order came – I was going to the Golden Bell Pack to investigate an old case.
Layla, the former captain of the palace guards, committed suicide because of a scandal.
The vague information revealed a dangerous feel.
The higher-ups had given me a lot of clues, such as the in-laws between a noble and a local lord, the sudden appearance of the Woof Anca Family, and the fact that Layla was once Master Kevin’s fiancée, and that Master Kevin was now Selma – Princess Madeline’s trusted aide.
The contact had a meaningful look in his eyes, and I understood that the outcome was already decided.
There was no need to talk about Evaria. As for Woof Anca… they were unlucky to be on the wrong side. Moreover, they were the prime suspects.
However, as time passed and the personnel moved back and forth, my contact was quickly changed. When he learned about my progress, he said, “Just investigate as it is. There’s no need for any tricks.”
I realized that Selma had sent him. This was just like her. Her supporters always maintained a sense of integrity in the dark world that no one could evaluate.
I was just an errand boy. I’d just do what they say.
It was difficult to investigate this case because it had been long, and they couldn’t find any strong evidence. Even that year’s Alpha had already passed away, even if he knew something, he certainly didn’t tell his son, who didn’t know anything about what happened.
I came to the manor that I used to live in. It was almost deserted. I couldn’t find anyone else except an old man guarding the door. The bedroom where Layla had committed suicide still had traces of the blockade that had been left behind that year. It had already rotted into rags. A cold wind rushed in from time to time from the broken glass window, blowing the rags up like wandering ghosts.
Even if there were any evidence, it would have been taken away or destroyed twenty years ago. Of course, I didn’t find anything.
However, when I was leaving, I met a strange person.
It was a crazy old woman with messy hair and dementia. She leaned against the withered bushes in the green belt like a pile of mud. She was wearing a few clothes that were obviously from decades ago, but they were so dirty that one couldn’t tell that they had once been fashionable. They were piled up like broken sacks.
She remained calm and lifeless in the bush, not even noticing my arrival and departure. I tried to communicate with her, but she didn’t say anything, as if she couldn’t see or hear me.
I asked the old man who she was, and the old man looked up to take a look and lazily said, “She’s a madwoman who’s been crazy for decades, but no one has cared about her. She was originally a servant in this manor and the first to discover… That person’s corpse. It’s said that she went crazy because she was too shocked.”
“Does her family not care about her?”
“They did care a few years ago, but who would have much patience for a madwoman? She kept coming back here to make a scene. Her relatives were exhausted and embarrassed, so they slowly stopped caring about her. They’ve all moved out of town, leaving this madwoman alone.”
“She’s alone? How does she survive then?”
“How? Heh, just survive, I suppose. This madwoman isn’t crazy all the time. When she’s thirsty, she knows to look for water. When she’s hungry, she knows to look for food. She’s either going through the trash can or begging. That’s how.”
“What’s her name?”
“I don’t know. She was already here when I came to guard the door. But I heard others call her ‘crazy Julie’, so I just called her that. I guess her real name is Julie.”
I thanked the old man but didn’t leave. Instead, I returned to find that crazy woman.
She was still curled up in the bushes, motionless as if those sharp branches were made of plasticine. She turned a blind eye to me, even though I stood before her.
“Hey, Julie, are you hungry? Do you want a ham and egg sandwich?”
Julie looked up at me. Her muddy eyes made me shudder, and only then did I realize she was blind.
Julie was blind. Her eyes were like quail eggs that had been exposed to the sun for three days, and the dark and turbid color gave people goosebumps.
