The Deceitful One

The device known as the Telephone or the Sound Telegraph, as described in the parchment papers, was a small instrument that was designed for simultaneous transmitting and receiving human voice instead of codes in a telegram.

The telephone was economical and very simple to operate. It consisted of a power source, a circular dialer, a ringer, a transmitter, and a receiver.

The reason why it was inexpensive and easy to use was that the infrastructure had already been laid by the earlier invention of telegraphs beforehand.

The telephone could use the same network cables that have been set up for telegraphs to transmit codes and send signals through them. Only a few newer cables needed to be implemented.

However, Bryan realized that with the limitations of the design on these parchment papers, the telephone could only be used within cities.

Long-range communication that spanned the entire kingdom or perhaps even the continent was still not a possibility with the current technology. A lot of research and trial and error would be required to expand the range of communication.

However, Bryan wasn't disappointed in the slightest. Just the possibility of communicating from one place to another in a city as big as Damascus or maybe even Nadir was definitely a money-maker.

If he played his cards right, Bryan could earn a large amount of wealth for years to come. As far as he knew, the patents in the Belize Kingdom gave a protection period of 20 years.

This meant, if Bryan were to commercialize the telephone and became the sole manufacturer of this revolutionary instrument, he would be earning vast sums of money!

At least, for the first 20 years, no other person or company would be able to manufacture the telephone. Not unless Bryan sold the patent right to them.

Bryan calmed down his emotions after taking a few deep breaths and then seriously began to make plans.

'This design is too valuable. If I do it alone, I'll definitely be eaten up by the other money-hungry businessmen. Or perhaps even killed,' he thought inwardly.

Then suddenly his eyes lit up as he mumbled, "That's right! I can get assistance from Grace. I'm sure she'll be able to help. Moreover, I can also give her a share of the profits."

It would be better to do it with someone who had deep connections in the business world rather than do it alone. Bryan truly believed that he was too weak and had very few connections to keep the telephone design in his hands alone.

However, it would be a different thing altogether if he involved Grace, whose family operated a lot of businesses and had deep connections in Nadir. Furthermore, Grace came from a family of Transcendents!

Bryan finally decided to file a patent for the telephone with Grace when he went to Nadir with Detective Watson later.

He then carefully put all four parchment papers inside the brown-colored leather briefcase and then stored it inside his silver pocket watch. Then he went to the kitchen to cook himself some breakfast in a cheerful mood.

Since Detective Watson had already left for Nadir, Bryan decided to visit the shooting range at the police station after breakfast and practice his marksmanship. There was always room for improvement.

While Bryan was happily cooking some sunny side-ups and sausages for breakfast, the rest of Damascus had erupted in chaos.

…

Kingston Avenue.

A brown-haired middle-aged man, wearing a suit, an overcoat, and a top hat was rushing to work when all of a sudden he heard the paperboy who passed by him scream out today's headlines,

"Breaking news! 110 people died in The Damascus Massacre! Breaking news…"

The brown-haired man's heart skipped a beat as he listened to today's headlines. He hurriedly stopped the paperboy and said, "Kid, give me one!"

The paperboy who was dressed in stitched-up clothes, stopped in his tracks, took out a roll of newspaper from his satchel, and replied, "Here, 1 pence."

The man paid the paperboy the money, unrolled the newspaper, and then started reading the front page news of Damascus Daily.

'BREAKING NEWS!

Local coal tycoon, Jack Brown, son of the Late Jim Brown, was found dead alongside Jeffrey Gill, a business competitor in the same industry, and over a hundred other people at Brown Estate.

Many gang leaders were also identified among the dead. It is suspected that this massacre was started by the two businessmen over personal disputes.

Earlier, Jeffrey Gill was also being investigated for the death of Jim Brown…'

There was also a black and white photograph of the warehouse where the massacre took place, printed on the front page of the newspaper.

The brown-haired man sucked in a breath of cold air as he continue to read. After he finished reading the entire article, he mumbled, "These wealthy businessmen sure are ruthless. They even had ties with the underworld! How despicable!"

Most people in Damascus City also had similar opinions as they came across today's news headlines.

They were bound to believe that Jack Brown had tried to take revenge on Jeffrey Gill for killing his father, Jim Brown. Both parties got the help of criminal gang leaders and this is what eventually led to the Damascus Massacre.

Moreover, as more journalists and reporters dug into this matter and investigated the whole picture, they would find out the shady deals that both Jack Brown and Jeffrey Gill had made in the dark. All their crimes would then come to light and be made public.

This way, both of them would be labeled as the scum of society whose death would turn out to be a blessing to all those workers and laborers who were oppressed under their authority.

And the person, the true mastermind behind the Damascus Massacre, the one who instigated and misled Jeffrey Gill into thinking that Jack Brown had stolen his wealth.

The one who deceived all of Jack Brown's henchmen into gathering in the warehouse.

The one who personally lit the fuse of the massacre and also the one who ended it would forever be hidden in the shadows, unnoticed.

Unseen from the eyes of the public. Never to be found.

This was the perfect crime!