Steampunk: Sixth Era Epic-Chapter 477 - Dr. Alfred

While speaking, Shard looked up again at Miss Maid's face.

The girl with long black hair, although unaware of the specifics of Shard's eyes at that moment, quickly covered her own cheeks:

"Mr. Hamilton, then let me try it as well. I have never heard of a magic potion with such effects," she said.

Shard thought for a moment and nodded:

"You may, but the potion's effects do not last long, and I can already feel them fading."

He looked again at Miss Servit's nose:

"Is every witch's skin this good? Every witch I've seen seems to have nice skin. Look, your pores are so even, and the blackheads on your nose..."

Seeing her suddenly fierce look, Shard wisely did not continue.

Thus, the girl with black hair also applied a drop of the magic potion to herself. Although she did not possess any arcane techniques related to eyesight, she could still perceive the enhancement it provided.

Since the experience reported by different circle sorcerers was essentially consistent, they could roughly infer that Dr. Jacob Alfred was definitely not a circle sorcerer.

Such a rare magic potion, even if used for an experiment, would not be wasted on an ordinary person, and moreover, that doctor didn't even bother to retrieve it afterwards. Although Shard couldn't directly appraise the value of the magic potion, the half bottle he now held, even with only the effects discovered so far, could likely fetch £1,000 on the black market.

The congenitally blind musician had been cured using this potion too. But Shard guessed that the musician used a greater amount of the potion during the treatment. Therefore, after regaining his vision, he saw the world's true face more "clearly," leading him to walk towards death in madness.

Knowing too much isn't always good. In such a world, it's sometimes better to see and know less.

Once the effect of the magic potion in Miss Servit's right eye had also worn off, the two immediately set out to visit Dr. Alfred.

The optometrist's clinic was located on the street at the northern edge of Tobesk. Two more blocks north from here would officially take them out of the city into the northern villages.

This was considered one of the most remote locations in Tobesk. It was not unusual that Mr. Mendis, the client, couldn't find it. However, this area was no slum; although situated at the very north of Tobesk, due to its unique location and heavy traffic flow, it was the center of major commodities trading in northern Tobesk City.

Wood, food, fresh fruits and vegetables, and flowers were usually transported from the plains in the north into the city, traded near here, and then distributed to every corner of the city.

Therefore, even on a Wednesday afternoon, the area near Dr. Alfred's eye clinic was bustling with activity.

However, his clinic was not at all imposing. To the left was the office building of the Sic Granary, which attracted a quarter of the street's visitors; to the right was a small private bank run by Carsonrickians, specializing in loans and currency exchange, hence its extremely grand appearance.

Buried between them, the eye clinic's yellow three-story building was narrow and dilapidated. Coupled with the steam and gas pipelines that passed through the clinic's walls from both sides, the clinic looked like a small child squeezed between two giants, or a garbage station between two grand buildings.

Apart from locals, it was unlikely that people from other places would dare to receive eye treatment here.

The clinic's door was closed. After dismounting the carriage, Shard knocked several times and, receiving no response, pushed the door open:

"Does no one like to lock their doors nowadays? It was the same when I went to the musician's apartment yesterday. When did Tobesk's customs become so relaxed?" he joked to Miss Servit, while Miss Maid thought the door was unlocked because the eye clinic was still in operation.

After the detective and his assistant entered, a tall, thin middle-aged man who appeared to have been cooking, pushed open another door from the antechamber, surprised to see the guests:

"Hello, are you here for an eye examination? I am Dr. Jacob Alfred. May I know who the patient is?" he said while taking off his apron and tossing it aside, observing the two visitors carefully.

Shard noticed that Dr. Alfred was wearing a beautiful gemstone ring, probably a counterfeit, as the doctor didn't seem wealthy enough to own such a piece.

"Do you know Mr. Frank Bondi, the blind musician from the Noan Opera Troupe?"

Shard asked standing at the doorway; the gaunt optometrist appeared surprised by the name he mentioned, but still nodded:

"Yes, did he send you to pick up medication? I remember those potions are due at the end of this month. Did I calculate wrong? Oh, I haven't seen him for more than half a month. How are Bondi's eyes? Does he need an increased dosage..."

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"He's dead."

Shard interrupted him.

"Dead?"

Among all the people who had heard of Mr. Bondi's death, Dr. Alfred was the most shocked:

"What? Then my experiment... I'm sorry, when did it happen?"

"Mid-last month, about 25 days ago," Shard said, then tentatively asked:

"Didn't you know about this? Or, didn't you notice anything wrong with his mental state?"

"No, every time he came, I just recorded his medication frequency and the recovery status of his eyes. Mr. Bondy didn't mention having any mental issues," the doctor responded.

Shard could understand the situation; the blind musician was worried that the doctor might stop providing the medication due to his mental state. From the musician's last will, it was evident that he equally feared reverting to his original condition.

"Since that's the case... I am Detective Shard Hamilton, investigating Mr. Bondy's cause of death. This lady is my assistant. May I ask if there is a suitable place here for us to talk?"

As he spoke, he extended his hand to the doctor, who quickly wiped his hands on his clothes before shaking hands.

[Ordinary person.]

"Oh, yes, Detective, please follow me. But I swear, I had absolutely nothing to do with Mr. Bondy's death!"

He led the way ahead, taking them to a narrow study on the second floor. Dr. Alfred genuinely seemed unaware of the consequences his potion might cause. He only thought he had found a special potion for treating eye diseases, so he continued to express regret over Mr. Bondy's death as they ascended the stairs.

Reaching the study, Shard sat on the sofa and relayed the information he had gathered from the landlord, Noan Opera Troupe, Three Cats Inn, and Miss Mary to Dr. Alfred. Miss Servit was accompanying Shard today, mainly responsible for recording duties, so every time Shard mentioned a fact, she would display the corresponding notes.

Of course, the records omitted the bridge segment about the Roder Card.

The doctor bent down to examine the records, and this tall, slim man in a checkered shirt began to sweat more profusely. Once Shard finished sharing his information, the doctor immediately exclaimed loudly,

"No, I can assure you, my potion definitely has no issues!"

"What exactly is your relationship with Mr. Bondy the Musician?"

"I used him for testing! I devised my own potion formula! If I succeeded, I would change the history of ophthalmic treatment!"

"This is a sample I obtained from Miss Mary."

Shard retrieved the flatter bottle from his pocket:

"It still contains half of the liquid; I think that's enough for testing at Riddlevitch Field."

He watched the other's expression, then lowered his voice as if they were conducting some private transaction, which made Dr. Alfred even more nervous.

"Doctor, the evidence I currently hold is quite unfavorable to you. Although I am not a policeman, I can imagine how they might handle this case for convenience."

Shard had actually never dealt with the police of this era, but Dr. Alfred's face sweated even more, his eyes widening as he emphasized again,

"There are definitely no hallucinogenic substances in it! Detective, my potion won't cause madness! I believe in my potion."

"If you can convince me, give me enough information to report to my client, then I will believe you, and I won't go to the police. But first, I want to know…"

Shard placed the bottle on the coffee table in front of him:

"What are the components of this potion?"

Miss Servit looked at Shard; she thought he would genuinely encourage the doctor to reveal information but wasn't expecting him to resort to semi-true threats instead.

Having followed Shard around today, she had seen how Shard used different methods to gather information from different people, which gave Miss Maid a more thorough understanding of Shard.

This man, surely nothing like the fool he was two months ago.

"The components, yes, the components are definitely not the problem."

Saying this, the doctor stood to retrieve his notebook. But Shard asked him to sit down and had Miss Servit go fetch those documents instead.

The documents were all within the study, containing not only the formula for the potion but also the records of the blind musician's medical case and a three-month recovery log. These stacked files, filled with dense letters, sufficiently demonstrated the long-term effects of the potion and its medicinal efficiency.

Having his "assistant" check the recovery records, Shard browsed through the potion formula under the somewhat nervous gaze of the doctor.

This formula was Dr. Alfred's own invention, administering experimental treatment on the blind musician Mr. Bondy.

Such unregistered drug experimentation was of course illegal and, given the unknown efficacy and side effects, even though Dr. Alfred had nearly miraculously succeeded in restoring sight to the blind, he hadn't promoted his potion widely. Instead, he planned to confirm its lack of side effects over six months before seeking recognition for his work.

This was why the real client, Mr. Mendis the blind man, was unable to get information about the doctor from his friend Mr. Bondy, who had agreed to keep the experiment confidential.

The formula was extremely complex, with just the list of ingredients filling an entire page of the notebook. However, upon scrutinizing, Shard found that most were inexpensive herbs, not containing any of the synthetic chemicals that had emerged in the Steam Age, thus making the formula appear more like a poorly written prescription by a quack healer.

Moreover, among these herbs, only two were common ingredients used by Circle Sorcerers. Even Shard, with his modest second-year student knowledge, knew these ingredients could not be effective in this kind of potion.

"Then what exactly are the active components? It surely can't be that ineffective components combined to produce an active one?"

With a skeptical mindset, Shard re-examined the specific synthesis process and then, furrowing his brow slightly, looked up at the tense doctor,

"I apologize, but what exactly is this 'Red Potion'?"