Chapter 192 (2): Sequence of Murder

Chapter 192 Part 2: Sequence of Murder

“… would you let me go after I answer your questions? And… give me that… money?”

Chen Xiaolian did not answer her questions. Instead, he asked her, “What is your name?”

“Mary Ann Nichols… err, actually, my name is Mary Ann Walker. Walker is my maiden name. However, after coming to London, I changed it. I did it because… being called Nichols give some people the feeling that I am of Russian descent… some of the customers like that,” Polly answered obediently. “However, my friends all call me Polly.”

“Well then, how old are you?”

“Thirty-three…” she said, an obvious look of guilt appearing on her face. “Err, I am thirty-eight years old.”

Chen Xiaolian smiled without saying anything. He simply continued gazing at her.

Polly was unable to get used to the stare and she stuttered, “All right, I am forty years old…”

“I hope you can tell me the truth,” Chen Xiaolian said with a sigh.

“All right! All right! I'm forty-three years old! That is my real age! Are you are satisfied now!”  The frustrated Polly was forced to tell the truth.

Forty-three years old…

For someone to do this at this age… Chen Xiaolian could not stop himself from sighing.

Honestly, she was truly a very poor and pitiful woman.

Upon her body could be seen the marks of those from the bottom rung who had to struggle just to survive.

She was a smoker. Additionally, there was also signs of alcoholism – there was a scent of alcohol on her clothes.

In fact, before she woke up, Colombo had conducted some inspections on her and saw that there were some needle marks on her body… there was a high chance that this woman was also a drug addict.

“Good. See? Is this not a good? What I need is for you to honestly answer my questions.”

Chen Xiaolian pulled out the stack of money and counted out several notes worth two hundred pounds, which he handed over.

“One question, one hundred pounds,” said Chen Xiaolian as he smiled.

After accepting the money, she inspected them carefully before stuffing them into her chest area.

It was clear that after the stimulation of money, she became somewhat excited. She asked, “What other questions do you have?”

Chen Xiaolian smiled.

Phoenix who was standing beside also smiled.

“The third question, do you always conduct your business in the vicinity of Whitechapel area?” asked Chen Xiaolian.

“Yes,” Polly answered happily.

Chen Xiaolian pulled out another note and handed it over before asking, “Then, Annie Chapman, Catherine Eddowes… have you heard of these two names before?”

“… …” The woman did not directly answer the question. Instead, her eyes turned and she asked, “That… does that count as two questions?”

Chen Xiaolian smiled.

He smiled because, after hearing her words, it was obvious that this woman knew those names!

Chen Xiaolian happily pulled out another two notes and placed them on the surface of the table.

“I know them both. Annie Chapman – we all call her Black Annie, because she is black. Catherine Eddowes… I do not like her. She has been married twice. We call her Kate.”

“Are you friends with them? Are you very close with them?” asked Chen Xiaolian.

“Black Annie… I am closer to her. I often do business together with her… if you know what I mean.”

Hearing that, Chen Xiaolian felt rather awkward. However, he covered it up properly.

Polly continued, “Actually… when I was in the park earlier, Black Annie was also there. However, she was at the entrance to the park…”

Chen Xiaolian was stunned.

He recalled the black woman who came over to seduce him at the entrance earlier… unexpectedly, it was actually her!

A hint of chagrin welled up within his heart and Chen Xiaolian was unable to stop himself from sighing.

“As for Kate ... I'm not too close with her. I also do not know where she lives.”

After saying that, Polly showed some hesitation. She asked, “You people… why do you want to find them? They… do they owe you money?”

Chen Xiaolian did not answer the question. Instead, he pulled out another two bills. He asked, “How do I go about finding them?”

“I…” Polly appeared hesitant. Despite her greed, this situation was causing her to hesitate. She asked, “You… you won’t hurt them, would you?”

“No,” answered a smiling Chen Xiaolian. “I promise you, after finding them; we will only ask them a few questions.”

“Black Annie is my friend, I know her number. But… that Kate. I am not close with her. However, I know that the b*tch is an alcoholic. Every night, she will frequent the Savage Bar for a few glasses of beer before looking for customers. Sometimes, she would even seduce some people in the bar. If you want to look for her, you can try your luck at the Savage Bar at night.”

Chen Xiaolian sighed and placed another bill on the table. He said, “All right, give me Black Annie’s number.”

Polly gave them the phone number.

Chen Xiaolian had Colombo make the call. However, they found that the phone was not turned on.

“Err… she usually sleeps during the day and turns off her phone. You know… we usually come out to work at night,” said Polly. She was afraid that Chen Xiaolian would demand that she return the money and she quickly stuffed the money into her chest. “But, I know where she lives! I can tell you.”

The woman gave them an address.

After that, she asked, “Are you done questioning me? I… can I go now? I swear, I will not report this to the police! I will also not reveal what you look like… hey, I know the rules.”

Chen Xiaolian made a hand gesture toward Lun Tai, who came over and immediately seized Polly’s arms and tied her up with a rope.

“Hey! What are you doing? You liar! Just now, you said you would let me go! Wu wu wu wu…”

Before she could utter any curses, Lun Tai gagged her by stuffing a clump of cloth into her mouth.

“Don’t worry; I will keep my end of the bargain. I will not hurt you… however; you will need to stay here for a while longer. I promise that it won’t be too long. Furthermore… I promise that I won’t hurt you.”

Chen Xiaolian smiled and turned to Colombo. He asked, “Mr Colombo, you have a free room in your house, right?”

Colombo rolled his eyes.

Thus, Polly was stuffed into the guest room. Lun Tai had inspected the room and found no phone in the room. The windows were locked and the woman was tied up with the Black Widow’s spider silk – unless she was an Awakened, she could forget about breaking free.

“Now, let’s go find Black Annie,” said Chen Xiaolian with a sigh. “Damn it! If only we knew, we could have caught her back yesterday! We missed an opportunity there!”

“It’s not too late to do so now,” said Phoenix as she stood up.

Chen Xiaolian looked at the Phoenix. He said, “I can go ... ... I know how the woman looks like.”

“I will go with you,” Phoenix smiled coolly.

She retrieved the special revolver of hers, placed it on the table and said to Lun Tai, “I will loan this to you. Keep guard here and protect our guide character… and also the victims. If anything happens… prioritize the protection of the guide character!”

Chen Xiaolian nodded his head. Lun Tai showed no hesitation as he picked up the revolver before inspecting it.

Phoenix also produced several special bullets, which she left with them. After that, she followed Chen Xiaolian out.

“I say, Big Bro… I get the feeling that there is something strange with this young woman.”

Bei Tai sat beside Lun Tai. He held onto a bottle of whiskey and gulped down a mouthful of the wine. Then, he asked, “Why is she always following our Guild Leader? Could it be that she has fallen for our Guild Leader?”

“Shut up,” Lun Tai pursed his lips to the side. “Don’t go spouting nonsense.”

Bei Tai suddenly waggled his eyebrows and whispered, “Say, could Guild Leader have brought her to go eat McDonald’s?”

“What? What McDonald’s?”

“Big Bro, you are really stupid… have you never heard the song they play during McDonald’s advertisement?”

“Eh? McDonald’s advertisement song?”

“Ba~le pa pa pa~! … [1] … Ha ha ha ha…”

…

Both Chen Xiaolian and Phoenix left, unaware of the nonsense being discussed by the two fellows.

Chen Xiaolian remained vigilant toward the young woman beside him – she appeared very friendly, and the attitude she exhibited toward their cooperation had been very good. She had also spoken up before to stop the dissatisfaction shown by her team members.

However, a feeling from the bottom of his heart told him that this young woman was no simple character!

“Why did you come with me?”

After getting on the car, Chen Xiaolian asked as he was starting up the car.

“Because... ... I like being with you ah,” Phoenix smiled sweetly.

Chen Xiaolian’s hand, which was holding onto the steering wheel shuddered and their car nearly slammed into a wall.

“Ha ha ha ha,” Phoenix laughed and pointed at Chen Xiaolian. “You are really gullible. Can’t you take a joke?”

“That joke is not funny,” said Chen Xiaolian in a muffled voice.

“Why do I want to follow you? En, that is simple, because I want to keep an eye on you,” Phoenix replied coolly and smiled. “The one known as Polly is safely in our hands… but now, we need to go look for Black Annie… if you are to go alone and do something… I won’t feel at ease letting you go out alone.”

“… … you are overthinking things,” said Chen Xiaolian coldly. “Your team members went to find the fifth victim, but I did not say anything at all about it.”

“Have not the desire to harm others, lack not the desire to protect oneself,” said Phoenix, who leaned upon her seat. “From this point of view, you are really naïve. If I were you, I would never let my team members go find the fifth victim… at the very least, I would send someone to monitor the situation.”

Pausing for a moment, Phoenix then said in a low tone, “Right, about Jack the Ripper. What are your thoughts on it? Do you think that he is really a ghost? One that was spawned out by the system?”

“Hard to say,” replied Chen Xiaolian.

Phoenix suddenly spoke up, “Have you watched this movie called ‘Final Destination’ before?”

“… … yes.”

“I have this speculation. Perhaps Jack the Ripper is just a killer program created by the system. As long as he kills the five victims in sequence, the system wins. However, if we are to protect one of those victims… then…” Phoenix’s eyes flickered.

Chen Xiaolian’s expression shifted and he said, “Then, the system will skip over the one that is being protected and go for the next one?” Phoenix frowned and replied, “If that is the case… Polly is the second one, but she is now being protected. The third is Black Annie!”

Chen Xiaolian looked at Phoenix and said, “You mean to say, if the killer cannot kill Polly, he would go for the next victim in the sequence and kill Black Annie! This… is the reason why you insist on coming with me to find Black Annie?”

“Correct! So, you had better drive faster! I do not wish to see a sickening corpse when we arrive there.”

…

…

1 ‘Pa pa pa’ my friends, is the glorious sound of procreation… #ifyouknowwhatimean# … ok, ok, it’s sex.↩