Chapter 516: 516

Chapter 516 Key Questions

“Noomi, I’m from Sweden,” the girl replied, licking her lips .

Seeing that she was still a little uneasy, Zhang Heng produced a cigarette from his pocket and handed it to her . She thanked him graciously, but it wasn’t until the cigarette touched her lips that she realized something odd . She then asked slowly and cautiously, “You… How did you know I smoke?”

“It’s simple . Although you haven’t smoked in a while, your teeth are still yellowish, and the holes on your clothes are the result of cinders burning through them,” Zhang Heng said . After that, he paused for a while, noticing how his mannerism had become more and more similar to Holmes . It was probably because they had been living together for some time now .

On the other hand, Holmes was no exception to Zhang Heng’s influence, greatly interested in hsi fighting style and having started indulging in rock climbing lessons .

Noomi’s surprise brought Zhang Heng back to reality, “Oh, what is your profession? You have an excellent observation . ”

“Detective . Actually, I came to investigate Bernice’s death . Oh, and the two victims before her as well . ”

“Are you a detective?”

Noomi was relieved . “No wonder you went to that place . I overheard the men in the tavern saying the police have locked on to a suspect . They all said that the devil is doomed . ”

Zhang Heng wasn’t allowed to comment on this matter . It had always been the usual practice of Scotland Yard, where they would first release a batch of vague information to stabilize the situation . It was done to put the public at ease, which would otherwise have ended up in panic and hysteria . As far as these murders were concerned, only they knew how far along the investigation was, so far .

“I am just helping out,” Zhang Heng was forced to say . “Before the murderer is arrested, I would advise you to be more vigilant about your safety . ”

Noomi wasn’t the least bothered .

“Not only are the girls in a state of constant fear in a time like this, but our business has greatly deteriorated as well . Everyone hates that guy . Anyway, it’s not easy for me to get a customer, and I can’t be bothered by other things . Of course, if everyone is as generous as you, my life would have been much easier . ”

Zhang Heng did not say anything after that . He chose to change the subject, “Do you know all the three victims?”

Noomi hesitated, “As I said, even the prostitutes have their territory . I’m not familiar with the first and third girls, but I live quite close to her with the second victim . We even cross paths sometimes…”

Zhang Heng swiftly retrieved information about the second victim from his mind .

“Edna? What do you know about her?”

Noomi pondered for a while . “I heard that she had an Indian boyfriend, and he worked in a glass factory . But he was no good to Edna . He was a violent drunkard, bludgeoning her up every time he had too much to drink . ” Zhang Heng raised his eyebrows . This was a new clue . The police had also found out about Edna’s boyfriend, but they did not know about the latter’s violent tendencies, nor did they know that the two had conflicts before . That said, it was highly unlikely that Edna’s boyfriend was Jack the Ripper . The police had an excellent job of covering all the aspects of their investigation . On the night of Edna’s death, Jack was drinking at the bar with someone, leaving more than a dozen witnesses to prove his alibi .

It was a good sign, though . Zhang Heng’s decision to approach the prostitute could prove vital to the investigation, and thus, he continued his interrogation .

“Any other information?”

Noomi shook her head . “I don’t know Edna too well . This is how we usually behave in this line… every woman for herself, looking out for themselves first . We usually have no time to stick our noses in the affairs of others . Oh, one more thing! I’m not sure if this helps, but I heard that Edna had a child before she met her boyfriend, but she sent it back to her birthplace . ” “Oh?”

This time, Zhang Heng’s interest was truly aroused .

Back in the real world, someone had managed to summarize the similarities between the victims of the Whitechapel homicides . Other than the fact that they were all prostitutes, most of them suffered from moderate to severe alcoholism . Otherwise, they would be living with at least one drunkard and even had offspring as well . In the three homicides, Zhang Heng was currently investigating, the victims’ names and ages had been altered to some extent . However, alcoholism and cohabitation were two factors that remained unchanged . The second victim, however, was the only one with a child .

Nonetheless, the information provided by Noomi now filled the gaps in dotting Zhang Heng’s investigation .

As of now, Zhang Heng was confident Jack the Ripper didn’t select his targets based on the difficulty of achieving his goal . When he was hunting, he did abide by a set of strict guidelines . Or at least for the first few crimes that he committed, he carefully selected his targets . When the authorities started to close upon him, he would then abandon some of his rules to stay afloat .

So the question was, how did he acquire information about his targets?

According to Noomi, there were territorial boundaries, even among the prostitutes . They were usually unfamiliar with their counterparts from a different territory, and it just happened that Jack the Ripper committed the crime in a vast area . Not to mention how only a few people knew that the second victim had a child . At most, it was just a rumor that was spread among the inner circles .

The prostitutes were considered the group of people who belonged to the lowest of society’s lows even if they lived at the East End . However, the men that live here still needed their services . No one would care about their affair other than their bodies . Even if one met up with them every night, they would not know their living conditions, families, and interpersonal relationships .

A man deliberately collecting all this information would surely attract attention . Although the police officers of Scotland Yard were not as capable as Sherlock Holmes, they were more diligent than expected . It would be impossible for such a person to exist without catching their eye .

The case was beginning to get more and more interesting . Zhang Heng realized that if he could find the answer to this question, he might not be far away from finding Jack the Ripper .

Seeing that Zhang Heng had paused and seemed to be thinking about something else, Noomi became a little nervous . “Sorry, I’m not bright, and I don’t have many friends . Did I manage to help in any way?” “No, you did a great job . Have we arrived at the restaurant? Let’s have dinner first, and let’s stop talking about homicides . Let’s talk about your daily routine . ”

“My daily life?” Noomi was bewildered . She has been in this business for so long and had encountered many strange requests . No one, however, had asked her such a common question . It was then that a look of sudden realization flashed across her face .

“Oh, you want to know about my customers and me…”

“No, no, I don’t want to know about that . I want to know about your hobbies, places you would go to every day, people you meet, and so on . I don’t need the details,” Zhang Heng explained . He simply wanted to learn more about the prostitutes through Noome . From there, he hoped to find how Jack the Ripper selected his targets .

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