Chapter 6 Section 5 The Hessel couple

"What kind of thing is this! Tell me about it—what's all this about?" A well-dressed man was complaining to the lady next to him, and the lady didn't say a word There was no expression on his face, just listening to him, holding a glass of Cuba Liberty in his hand. (Author's note: Cuba Libre, this is Spanish. A common rum-based cocktail - drinking Cuba Libre is not easy to get drunk. Therefore, ladies who want to socialize and don't want to get drunk are happy to choose this cocktail with cola and lemon. The scent of the wine.) Our detective came out of the master room, holding the Mojito made by John, and was meeting these two-they also saw him coming out of this room, so it seemed that they had to fight. Say hello:

"Hey, I know you! Are you that famous detective?" The man happily told the lady next to him, forgetting about the complaint that just came out of nowhere, "Detective Wenzel—this is One of the big names in the city." Our detective apparently wasn't too impressed by the ensuing compliments - thankfully he changed the subject fairly quickly: "Did you come out of that room?" The other party's expression suddenly became a little surprised, "Look at the glass of wine in your hand—John Baines must be in that room, right? ?” It's weird that he doesn't add "sir" to the name, but uses "that guy" instead.

"How can there be such an impolite guest?" Wenzel thought in his heart, "Maybe he is drunk? Or, this is his original temper-God knows where the owner of this villa offended him ?” Without waiting for a reply from the detective, the respectable gentleman went on, with an expression of recognizable disgust: "Tsk tsk? Look at this inauthentic drink—Mr. Wenzel, if I'm not mistaken, he used syrup instead of white sugar from San Diego, didn't he?" (Author's Note: This is of course referring to Santiago de Cuba, not Chile—because of the extreme development strategy of the Spanish conquistadors in the colony, Cuba's sugar industry is very developed) "Oh, right?", Wenzel He carefully looked at the glass of mojito in his hand - he couldn't tell the difference between using syrup and sugar with his naked eyes: it seems that the person in front of him should also be an expert.

"Don't wonder how I saw it!", he expressed his dissatisfaction with the detective's obvious observation behavior, "Such hasty coordination, I don't even want to take a second look.", He turned his head to the side The lady next to her complained, "What a pity, what a pity? Wasting such a good bottle of 'Havana Club'?" The lady didn't say anything, just nodded and took a sip from her glass of Cuba Libertad - it seemed that she was quite restrained in her alcohol intake. "Ha! Do you know what that guy wants this glass of wine for?", the man cast a contemptuous glance at the Mojito, which he had belittled to nothing, and said to our detective in a mocking tone :

"The old glass?" But he didn't have a chance to finish his sentence. The lady next to him stabbed him hard with an elbow, which made him let out a soft cry unconsciously. Then, looking back at the lady, he was very angry and wanted to say something, but the lady didn't give him any chance: "My Mr. Detective," she said, quite gracefully, "forgive my husband for his rude behavior—he is a little drunk and often is." When the well-dressed gentleman heard this, he deliberately chuckled, as if he didn't intend to say anything more. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Emma Hessel—and this is my husband, Lucius."

She smiled and pulled her husband closer—Mr. Lucius glanced at me again, and nodded to me with some embarrassment: "I get a little excited when I mention that guy. Don't you know, that John Baines?" Emma had to push him aside: "Always remember that you are a wine taster, not a column critic!", she reprimanded her husband. "And the column critic has far better diction than you!" "So, you and Mr. John are traveling together?" As a matter of conversational courtesy, our detective puts the controversial mojito aside and doesn't drink it. "Please don't compare me with him!" Lucius began to get a little excited again, "A hypocritical guy who seeks fame, who happens to be in a noble industry—this is my most pertinent evaluation of him."

"It started again?" Emma shook her head helplessly, "However, this sentence is still a bit standard?" The lady kissed her husband on the cheek, "But I don't want to hear these anymore It's a boring topic," she put down the wine in her hand, "I'm going to go to the hall for a walk, maybe I can hear something much more interesting.", she kissed Lucius on the cheek again, " Don't keep talking out of proportion? You've had too much brandy, my dear." She left the wing. "Mr. Wenzel, of course there is no reason for me to say this?" It can be seen that Lucius did not listen to his wife's advice at all.Regardless of whether our detective is willing or not, he pulls him to the left side of the side hall, next to a huge half-open French window:

"It's a good position—Mr. Wenzel, you know, I'm definitely not a nasty guy who likes to comment on others. I just want to let more people know about the many facts behind this reception. " "Mostly what a half-drunk and half-awake person says is unreliable?" our detective thought, but still replied quite politely: "I understand, Mr. Lucius, I understand?" He opened the French windows wider, and then helped the gentleman who spoke with a mouthful of brandy, and walked out of the window—there was the other side of the garden. side: "Perhaps it would be better to have some air?" Wenzel murmured.

Even this whispered soliloquy was heard by our Mr. Lucius: "Do you think I'm drunk? Ha!", he couldn't control his emotions completely, and responded to our detective's muttering in a loud and exaggerated voice, "No one can listen to me seriously—— How did John Baines steal the gold tulip glass with 'Taster of the Year' engraved on it?" His voice was so loud that almost everyone in the side hall The neighboring guests also looked over here. "Hey! Heiner!" he immediately called out to an old man who had just turned his head. "You sycophant! You really gave that hypocrite your bottle of bourbon?"

Heiner seemed to shake his head and stopped looking this way.Those few people also hurriedly turned their heads, pretending to be serious and continue the topic they discussed earlier, for fear of unnecessary embarrassment caused by being named by this drunken lunatic. However, it's not that Wenzel has nothing to do with Mr. Lucius, who is half-drunk and pretends to be crazy with alcohol-in fact, after hearing such complaints from this gentleman, everyone knows what happened something happened: "You are quite right—that beautiful tulip cup was originally yours, Mr. Lucius Hessel?"

Our detective put on a posture of great admiration, bowed slightly to the person in front of him, and continued: "That mojito is really terrible!", he said against his will, "Everyone knows how unethical that guy's modulation method is: it is simply belittling Bairum's status, tsk tsk, and ruined it." A bottle of good wine?" Wenzel pretended to shake his head, showing a regretful expression. These words are obviously very suitable for Mr. Lucius at the moment, and he is even flattered by the performance of the detective in front of him: "Oh? No! You don't have to deliberately look like this—everyone knows, I'm just complaining." He sighed, and said in a tone unique to drunks, "It's not that the guy's skills are not good? Of course, everyone has their own way, and the tastes of the judges are also very different?" He finally gave a fairly objective evaluation. Lucius glanced into the side hall, then said: "I just really hate people of bad character, you know—I'm a devout Catholic, traditional?" Our detective patted him on the shoulder to show his understanding. "? Whether he bribed the judges, to be honest, I'm actually not very clear - although these rumors can be heard everywhere? There will always be some rumors about it?" "But you know—" he whispered mysteriously, "John Baines is a natural gay! Ha! Is this a problem?" In fact, our detective had learned this secret from him a long time ago—but, at that time, he thought that the foul language that he said in excitement was nothing more than a lack of targeted abuse. "It doesn't seem like a big deal?" Wenzel muttered in his heart.In order to prevent the gentleman in front of him from becoming agitated again, he did not say this sentence. Homosexuality is completely legal in Liberty City, and their marriages are even protected by law - only conservative Catholics are still stubbornly protesting against homosexuality and abortion laws, but these thin protests have never achieved anything substantial effect. Wenzel thought of the intimate gestures and hints that the host of the reception had made to him before, and felt a little funny, but he didn't laugh out loud—it had to take into account the emotions of the Catholic in front of him. "Think about it! A gay taster - who wants to touch the wine he appraises. Thinking about it later? I'm going to have to clink glasses with him, drinking red wine from the same bottle, I'm going to Feeling creepy?" Lucius' body trembled involuntarily, "I'm going to write a formal letter of protest to the wine tasting committee in this city - I've already decided: I called Commissioner Corteney and asked him to do something, but he never got back to me.This time, I must go to Chairman Kerrick. I want to pay a visit in person. I want to impress him with my sincerity and convince him with solid evidence. I want to let him know that all this is true. How ridiculous - gays make the best tasters, ha!How ridiculous?" "A poor person?" Wenzel shook his head in his heart, suddenly missing the Mojito just now.He wanted to find an excuse to leave, because now, this gentleman seems to be in a better mood—after all, someone is willing to listen to his drunken complaints patiently: although drunken complaints are often endless "That, Lucius Sir? My friend has been waiting for me in the lobby for a long time." The detective used an excuse most often seen at a reception to try to break up the conversation. "Are you impatient too?" Lucius obviously didn't like to walk down the steps laid by others, "This waiting friend is just a non-existent excuse, right? Hey! I knew no one Willing to hear me out, but I bet in the name of God - don't gay sommeliers live long? History doesn't tell us there are ready examples?" "Hey! Wenzel, why are you here? I've been looking for you for a long time!" What a timely relief!Our detective greeted him gratefully, and warmly shook hands with the guest who said this—although he also felt strange: Why did this black detective, Carl Nona from the General Bureau, also appear at this reception? "Oh? I'm chatting with Mr. Lucius! Did you see that too?" Wenzel winked at Carl. "Okay, Taphne and Amy are waiting for you! Come quickly." Carl urged knowingly, and nodded politely to the drunk Lucius. "You saw it too?" Wenzel shrugged at the disgruntled sommelier in front of him, "It's not an excuse. Mr. Lucius, I have to go - we'll talk when we have time." The sommelier who missed the golden tulip cup snorted helplessly: "Go, my friend, mark my words—and, nice to meet you?" Wenzel didn't forget to take the unfinished Mojito - he was very careful, deliberately covering the glass with the hem of his dress, so that Lucius, who was walking in from the garden, would not notice his small movements . "I hope he can find a place to sit down and rest quietly for a while?" Karl took a last look at Mr. Lucius, who was already staggering when he was walking, and turned around: "Hey! Wenzel, what are you doing?" Our black detective was obviously surprised and puzzled by the behavior of this detective friend hiding the cup. "Hush!", our detective quickened his pace, "I'm protecting a rare glass of fine wine from discrimination.", He smiled slyly, "It's what every wine lover must do matter."