Bailonz Street 13

Chapter 168. Carrots and Sticks (2)

The director let out a shriek. I coldly snapped at him.

“Don’t make me ask twice. Bring them.”

The director hurriedly got up and pulled out several books.

They were documents bound together. Though disguised as novels with hastily attached covers, they were actually evidence of crimes.

His hands trembled violently as he turned the pages. Documents with the names of children Liam had mentioned passed by one by one. And then Peter.

There, in detail, was the record of Peter being purchased from the opium den. Along with dates, and how many were bought in each visit. Peter wasn’t the only one—they’d taken about five more children.

“Let me ask just one thing. Originally, you only sent children over seventeen. Why did you sell Peter when he wasn’t of age?”

“They… they were looking for younger ones…”

“They didn’t say. Just said they needed them. They always took one or two young ones along. How would I know what drug dealers were thinking?”

Let’s think.

There were children being sold. Probably taken from multiple orphanages, not just this one. The ledger we found deep in the opium den where Peter stayed. At least one opium den was definitely involved.

And they sold the children they took somewhere. Some might have used aliases, but Rick Sloughton, whether from stupidity or not, used his real name. Thanks to that we could catch his trail—should thank him later for that. Given the ages of the children in his house, Peter might have met the same fate.

I muttered bitterly.

“You probably didn’t care what happened to the children you sold.”

“…”

“You said they were adopted, but you sold children for money. Let’s use this as evidence. Please give this to Inspector Jefferson.”

An officer carefully took the book I held out.

“And you can arrest this person too. For human trafficking.”

* * *

After Bernard’s director was dragged away, we immediately raided Stone Orphanage as well. Liam had firm evidence they’d sold children to pay off debts. So we might as well clean everything up at once.

When we knocked on Stone Orphanage’s door, there was a loud crashing sound from inside. Glass breaking.

We immediately burst through the door and could hear shouting echoing from inside.

“Who are you people!”

Seems there were other visitors who’d arrived first. I lifted my skirt and drew the gun strapped to my thigh. Then immediately aimed toward the source of the commotion.

Stone Orphanage’s director was being dragged away by thugs. Along with that scene, a rough voice brushed past my ears.

‘Throw the supplier in the Thames.’

Ah, I see. So this one was also responsible for supplying children to the East End opium dens. For some reason, he’d said he couldn’t send more children. And now he was facing retaliation.

As I aimed my gun, Harold Stone spotted us and called out with a relieved expression. Though his words were muffled… It was certainly a desperate cry for help.

“Mmmmph!”

“What’s this?”

A group of thugs who spotted us also aimed their guns. While we were in a standoff pointing guns at each other, one person recognized Liam’s face. A man with a large scar across his face and a thick beard.

“Mr. Moore. You should stick to playing detective, why are you meddling in others’ businesses?”

“An orphanage isn’t your business, is it?”

“Things turned out this way. We’re not doing this because we want to. What can we do when orders come from above?”

Above?

The man spoke as if doing us a favor.

“We’ll leave the kids alone. But we have business with this one. Would appreciate it if you’d look the other way.”

Of course, such a deal wouldn’t work on our righteous detective.

“Oh dear, that won’t do.”

“Do we have to make this difficult?”

Liam smiled at these men speaking the words he should have said. His eyes, turned violet, sank deeply. Simultaneously, something happened—the air grew heavy, and an eerie pressure bore down on everyone.

I hadn’t known magic could subdue ordinary people like this. Faced with the terror of sharp air pricking their skin, everyone except the leader figure stumbled backward and collapsed one by one.

However, the man carrying the director jumped out through the broken window, seemingly using the others as decoys. Harold Stone’s muffled screams grew distant. Then the sound of horses starting.

After instantly taking down the remaining four men, Liam perched on the windowsill and held his arms out to me.

“Jane!”

“Got it!”

As I jumped into Liam’s arms, he grabbed just one curtain and leaped. The curtain ripped from its rod, unable to support the weight of two adults.

However, it was only two stories high, and there was a pile of straw below, so the impact wasn’t too severe. Liam, who had rolled smoothly to reduce the impact, helped me up and jumped onto the driver’s seat of an empty carriage. It was clearly the orphanage’s carriage. Though I wondered if we could just use it like this, Harold Stone would probably prefer us rescuing him to becoming yet another corpse in the Thames.

The orphanage was in a remote location. With very few people around, we could easily see the carriage that had departed ahead. A four-wheeled carriage with a heavy wagon attached—making it slow. Not a good choice.

As soon as I got into the back seat, Liam, gripping the reins, shouted.

“Hya!”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

We chased the kidnapper’s carriage at high speed.

Liam’s driving was extremely rough. I screamed every time the carriage slid on the frozen road.

“The wheels!”

The cold wind struck my ears until even my eardrums ached. Liam shouted again to me as I clung to him.

“Shoot the wheels!”

“From a moving carriage at this speed? Are you crazy?”

“Of course!”

Bang!

It wasn’t me who fired. It was from the carriage ahead, which we were gradually catching up to, shooting at Liam. Fortunately, the bullet only grazed his arm, but when red blood spurted from Liam’s injured arm, I saw red.

This bastard dares shoot someone’s precious husband?

I immediately aimed at the carriage’s wheels and calmly fired two shots. One hit the wagon, the other missed. Four bullets left.

“Damn it!”

“We have to stop them from reaching the Thames.”

“I know!”

I let go of the carriage I’d been holding onto. Then gripped the gun firmly with both hands. Until I gradually adapted to the jolting movement of the carriage.

It’s okay. I won’t fall. Liam will control it well.

I hold my breath. As the aim gradually aligned, the wheel came into clear focus.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

On the third shot, I heard the sound of wood splintering.

“Hit it!”

I shouted, releasing my held breath.

The carriage, having lost a wheel, wobbled and swayed before crashing into a tree. It was a violent sound. The kidnapper tumbled onto the ground.

Liam slowed down and jumped from the carriage. After confirming Harold Stone was safe in the wagon, he immediately approached the thug.

“Still alive?”

“Ugh, damn it…!”

“Oh, still alive. Tough one.”

Liam roughly shoved his fingers into the man’s mouth and pulled out a small pill. Having lost even his last resort, the man pounded the ground in rage. Liam calmly examined the pill while talking.

“Oh, cyanide tablets! How classic.”

Thanks to our advance notice, Scotland Yard’s carriage could be seen approaching in the distance. Jefferson was visible in the driver’s seat. He cheerfully called out when he saw us.

“You lucky devils!”

Lucky devils indeed. I quietly struck the man’s head with the gun’s handle.

Ah, not enough force. Unlike in movies, he didn’t pass out immediately. Though he was certainly in pain.

* * *

In the carriage heading to Scotland Yard, Liam and I got the chance to interrogate the bound Harold Stone and the man we’d caught. Through them, we could hear about what had been happening.

“You dealt with children who became troublesome when they came of age.”

Harold Stone trembled as he answered Liam’s questioning.

“Y-yes. But I thought they were just being used as farm hands or servants, I didn’t know about the opium dens…”

“Even when we visited, the documentation was inadequate. The structure allowed anyone to take children just by signing, and since you didn’t think to change that, there must have been people exploiting it.”

Just like the East End opium dens.

Liam’s eyes flashed sharply as he now questioned the thug.

“You killed Hans too, didn’t you?”