Charlotte sat in the carriage, secretly pondering: “I lost a few expensive ornaments, worth one or two écu, but the probability that the murderer took them is relatively low. It’s more likely that someone took advantage of the chaos to steal them.”

“As for the murder case itself, under no circumstances can Newman miss know about it.”

Charlotte rubbed his brow, feeling deeply troubled.

A man and a woman came to the door, a fight broke out, and even a murder occurred. Even if one isn’t a logically rigorous private detective, it’s easy to deduce that this case is most likely related to a romantic entanglement.

Charlotte, himself!

He was probably an unsavory member of a love triangle.

Newman once had a fiancé like Axel Robinson Zimmerman, so she must utterly despise playboy types and would never allow someone like her ex-fiancé to work under her. If this scandal were to become public, even if he could extricate himself, he’d likely lose his job.

This isn’t Earth, and imperial government employees aren’t like modern civil servants who can’t be easily dismissed.

Newman only needs to say a word, and Charlotte would lose his well-paid job, and might never be able to work in the government sector again.

“This incident is a wake-up call. I need to get rid of that multi-chain shackle as soon as possible, then buy a house elsewhere, move out of the Alexandria District, and sever ties with my old social circle.”

Charlotte rubbed his brow and sorted through “his” social connections.

Charlotte Baker had weak friendships, with hardly anyone who could be called a close friend, and only superficial relationships with everyone.

His parents were both merchants, quite wealthy, and had ample financial resources. Charlotte was able to attend Sheffield University thanks to his family’s support.

Now, Charlotte’s father, due to worsening health, was gradually handing over the business to his eldest son—Charlotte’s older brother.

This brother was very wary of him and had repeatedly advised their father: “Give Charlotte a sum of money and have him give up his inheritance rights.”

As long as he endured for a few more years until his parents passed away, Charlotte could rightfully part ways with his brother’s family and never have any contact again.

The only remaining tie was Charlotte’s older sister. The siblings were very close, but she had married far away, so they rarely saw each other.

Other than this brother and sister, Charlotte had no other immediate family. He did, however, have a fiancée, and the wedding date had even been set, which made things a bit tricky for him.

“I’ve heard that my fiancée is very dissatisfied with this marriage and has tried several times to break off the engagement. Maybe I can help push things along.”

The carriage soon arrived at the city patrol’s office—a standalone three-story building on the street, full of Sherlockian style, a relic from the previous dynasty, bearing the marks of history.

The routine questioning ended quickly.

Through this, Charlotte confirmed the identities of the man and woman who had broken into his apartment.

They were a married couple, surname Mills. He didn’t know the husband, but had a rather unspeakable relationship with Mrs. Mills.

As for how Mr. Mills discovered his wife’s affair with Charlotte, came to confront them, and ended up killing his own wife during the argument and struggle—that was another tragic story.

Fortunately, Charlotte had been lingering at the weapons market at the time; otherwise, things would have been much harder to resolve.

The city patrol recorded Charlotte’s account as a supplementary file, archived it, and issued a wanted notice for Mr. Mills. With that, the matter was considered closed.

City patrol wanted notices generally carried no reward, and it was rare for any civic-minded citizen to help the patrol catch fugitives.

Whether in the Fars Empire or other countries, including several now-defunct dynasties, there had been news of wanted notices being issued for decades, only for the fugitive to be found living comfortably at home, working as usual, with life going on as normal.

Such was the absurd state of the legal system in this era.

Leaving the city patrol office, Charlotte was physically and mentally exhausted. Even though he wasn’t a suspect in the case, his mood was still quite low. He hadn’t expected his new life to be so tumultuous—he’d just been promoted and given a raise, and in the blink of an eye, he was caught up in a murder case.

He hurried back to the savings society apartment, tipped the maid Mary two shillings for watching his home. In this era, a two-shilling tip was considered quite generous.

With the help of the manager, he quickly moved and settled into a suite on the fourth floor.

After moving into the new room, he lay on the sofa, breathed a sigh of relief, and realized he was hungry.

Charlotte glanced at the sky and, realizing that no shops would be open at this hour, had no choice but to make another pot of the same food he’d eaten a few days ago.

The taste, as always, was indescribable.

After eating, Charlotte lay on the bed, subconsciously reached for the diary, then set it aside. Although he knew the original owner’s diary would help him understand his new identity, anything related to the evil god made him avoid it like the plague—he was deeply conflicted.

Charlotte began to think seriously, deciding to properly plan out this life.

“Tomorrow, I must ask Newman senior for one more day off.”