??Chapter 401: I have a business deal I would like to discuss with you_1
Chapter 401: I have a business deal I would like to discuss with you_1
Doctor Howes’s supplier was a portly middle-aged man, who lacked Doctor Howes’s cleanliness and seed to have aged prematurely due to social obligations; the man’s na was Joe.
“I swear he was very healthy when I saw him, and we talked about the prices of the drugs, you know, factories have been developing rapidly recently, and so brands’ pharmaceutical factories are working overti to produce a large amount of dication at low prices, which made the dication I supplied seem expensive, so I needed to explain that to him,”
Joe started off with this explanation as soon as he saw Cui Siter.
“When I left the clinic, he was about to close up for the day; he said he had other matters to attend to that evening. I asked casually, and he didn’t specify, but I guessed it could be a party or seeing a woman, because he had grood himself very cleanly, you know, the kind of cleanliness that goes beyond his usual ticulousness; he was even cleaner that day.”
The middle-aged man with a thick waist took out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat from his own forehead, as the air was humid near the pharmaceutical factory, especially noticeable in the morning.
“Do you have the list of supplied dications?”
Cui Siter inquired.
“Right here, it’s all here; he didn’t buy many different types of drugs from .”
Joe took out a list, which was from his most recent transaction with Doctor Howes.
Cui Siter glanced at it and indeed, they were common dications, mostly used to treat stomach ailnts, wounds, lung diseases, and typical symptoms like colds and fevers.
In Grey Alley, these were the prevalent conditions.
“You didn’t supply any illegal drugs, did you?”
Cui Siter was blunt.
“No, of course not, I never do such things.”
The man wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“However, we found so rather illegal drugs in Doctor Howes’s clinic, like this one…”
Cui Siter took out a small bottle of dication that was found on the shelf in the hidden room.
Joe’s expression grew more solemn as he took a closer look at the bottle and imdiately defended.
“That dication wasn’t supplied by , this kind of drug, let alone dical representatives like us, even hospitals might not have it readily available, only certain powerful figures could have access to their supply channels.”
“Powerful figures, are you referring to the Catania Family?”
Cui Siter put the bottle away.
“I dare not say, dare not say; I know Howes is well-connected with many people, but you would be well-advised to steer clear of those affairs,”
The middle-aged man shrank his neck.
“Has Doctor Howes been acting unusually in any way lately?”
Lu Ban suddenly asked.
“Whether it’s behavior, the categories or quantities of drugs he purchases, or anything else you’ve noticed,”
“Him? There hasn’t been much change, that’s just the way he is, scrupulous. He seems to lack a personal touch, but sotis he acts quite the good Samaritan. In terms of purchases, he has acquired more dication for lung diseases lately, I guess the factory workers are gradually falling ill.”
Joe, seeing that Cui Siter and others no longer questioned him about the drugs, sat up straighter and seed less wilted.
“Ha, these businessn are so clever; they employ holess people in factories to make a profit, and then the workers’ health deteriorates due to the fus, necessitating dication for treatnt, and the wages they earn end up back in the businessn’s pockets…”
As he spoke, he noticed the glances from Cui Siter and Shia and promptly closed his mouth.
“Does Doctor Howes provide treatnt to those workers for free?”
Recalling the files he had reviewed earlier, where the majority of patients were sowhat wealthy middle-class with almost no workers listed, and thinking of Doctor Howes’s reputation, Cui Siter asked.
“Probably, he sotis goes to the factory area to distribute dication for lung diseases to the workers for free. I don’t know what he’s aiming for, maybe those in the dical profession have their own pursuits, not like us businessn.”
Cui Siter proceeded to ask the dical supplier for an alibi and compared it with the police investigation before leaving his house.
“The air here is quite fresh.”
Lu Ban stepped out of the house and took a deep breath.
“There’s always a foul sll in the room.”
“Agreed.”
Shia nodded as well.
“You two…”
Cui Siter said, also patting his clothes as if to dust off sothing unclean.
“He doesn’t seem to have a reason to kill Doctor Howes, and according to the pattern of the case, as the last person to see Doctor Howes, he’s the most suspicious, which ans he’s the least likely to have committed the cri.”
“That makes sense, shall we go see those two patients next?”
Lu Ban asked.
“I have to stop by Lady Martina’s place first, maybe you could wait for
across the street?”
Cui Siter subconsciously touched the handgun under his armpit.
“No problem, we’ll have a good al while we wait for you.”
Lu Ban had no objections.
With a touch to the dical records in his chest pocket, Cui Siter led Lu Ban and Shia to the corner of the street, asked the two to wait in the restaurant there, and himself took a rickshaw, winding through two streets, before arriving at a musical instrunt store.
The owner of the instrunt store was fiddling with a violin. Upon seeing Cui Siter, he didn’t speak, but simply gestured toward the back.
Cui Siter walked through the musical instrunt store to reach the room behind it, where two n in suits were sitting, puffing away and filling the room with the scent of cheap tobacco.
Upon seeing Cui Siter, the two n rose slightly, extinguished their cigarette butts, and beca a bit more polite.
“This is what Lady Martina wanted.”
Cui Siter handed the file from his chest to one of the n.
“You didn’t open it?”
The man glanced at the file.
“Nonsense, if I hadn’t opened it, how would I know this is what she wanted…”
Cui Siter felt these gangsters really needed so basic education.
“Oh, okay, we will deliver this to the lady. As for the paynt, the lady said it’s right here.”
The man feigned a look at the file, but Cui Siter knew very well that both n were illiterate, and it was exactly such illiterate henchn that gave people confidence when transporting docunts.
What he handed to Cui Siter was an invitation.
“Tomorrow night’s charity banquet?”
Cui Siter didn’t ask the two n; he knew they were re ssengers.
It seed Lady Martina wanted him to attend the charity banquet, to test him personally, and if there was no problem, she’d pay and let him go, but if there was a problem, then…
Tucking away the invitation, Cui Siter returned to the instrunt store.
He saw the store owner sitting in a chair, flanked by two tall bouncers who were holding him in place, not letting him leave.
On the other side, the violin that had just been in the owner’s hands was now in the grasp of a young man, who played a tune with a classical style.
Cui Siter did not curse or make a hasty exit; he saw the cars outside the instrunt store and knew very well that any rash move would be t with the crisp sound of gunfire from a typewriter.
After a mont, the young man set down the instrunt and glanced at the unmoving Cui Siter.
“Hello, great detective, I have a business proposition to discuss with you.”
The young man’s face seed oddly familiar to Cui Siter.
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