Chapter 100 The Gates of Hell

"Dad, I just found a key in the drawer. It looks like the key to open this door!"

"You actually took something so important?!" The man grabbed the key with annoyance: the lock opened as expected.

Father and son held their breath, their hearts pounding with tension as they slowly pushed open the gates of hell. The moment they opened a crack, a stench of decay and decay assaulted their nostrils, sending their hearts leaping into their throats.

However, when the door was fully opened, the scene before them was a great disappointment: apart from a broken glass on the floor, there seemed to be nothing particularly noteworthy in the secret room.

The restless kitten was about to take a step when it was sternly stopped: "Watch out, there might be a trap! Follow me."

Big Cat and Little Cat tiptoed slowly and cautiously toward the broken glass shards, but found nothing amiss: the cider bottle on the table was mostly empty, and there was an empty glass next to it, so the broken glass on the ground must have been a wine glass.

"Could it be that Osiris is just as immature as Zero, and this is just a publicity stunt?"

The man was puzzled, and before he knew it, he hadn't been watching his son, and the little detective had taken matters into his own hands again: "Dad, look! There's a letter in this brazier."

The brazier contained a pile of ashes, but thankfully a corner remained. The young detective struggled to decipher the writing: "Dear...Cider. Cider?!"

The man was startled and hurriedly ran to look, muttering to himself, "Strange, could cider be a code name? This secret room connects to Miss Swann's bedroom, doesn't that mean..."

"Are there members of the organization in Swann's family as well?"

"No, as far as I know, Swann and Karasuma only have business cooperation and have no other dealings."

"I see, that's why we had to meet in the secret room," the little detective reasoned. "I think Miss Swan was secretly meeting with Mr. Karasuma behind her parents' backs, without telling her family about her relationship or her organizational affiliation. The key to the door is in Miss Swan's drawer, which means she probably installed the door herself, perhaps wanting a more private space for their trysts."

"But she couldn't have carved the words on the door, could she?"

"Hmm, the style looks a lot like Osiris's."

The man looked around, puzzled. "But if this is a place for lovers' rendezvous, something very important is missing..."

What is it?

"There's only a table, chairs, and cabinets here. Don't you think we're missing a bed?"

The kitten covered its ears, shaking its head and protesting, "Daddy, this is not suitable for children!"

"Eh? Uh...sorry, I forgot about the character settings." The cat father scratched his head sheepishly. "Anyway, we need to be careful. Since Osiris called this place the Gates of Hell, there must be a reason. Maybe this is the real location of the 'Last Supper,' and perhaps we can find evidence like bones or relics."

“Miss Swan’s wardrobe has a hidden door behind it, so maybe there’s a hidden door here too!” The little detective, who seemed to ignore his father’s warning, pointed to a cabinet on the bottom shelf filled with cider and asked, “Dad, do you think the body might be hidden in the back?”

"Go a little closer, let me take a look!" The man calmly and collectedly found the mechanism, only to be surprised to discover that the cabinet led to an underground tunnel!

“So, people outside the castle can also enter through here. I think Mr. Karasuma came in through here,” the man said.

"Why burn the letter?" the young detective pondered, "but left behind the original love letter. Was it carelessness or intentional?"

"It's hard to say right now." The man was also deep in thought. "I didn't expect Miss Swan and Mr. Karasuma to have such a complicated relationship. It seems I oversimplified things. I originally thought the method of the crime 20 years ago would be very simple."

"Does Dad think that Osiris was the only one who did all of this?"

“I did have that thought before, but I’m not so sure now. However, I know that Vermouth, who is very close to that man in the organization, was attending the American Film Festival at the time. It’s hard to imagine that anyone else would be willing to be O’Sirius’s accomplice in killing the boss. From what we have so far, O’Sirius only moved the piano and carved some ambiguous words on the door. He seems to have had no involvement at all, more like an observer… Hey Joseph, where have you been again?”

The little detective groped his way forward, only to find something blocking his path. Shining his flashlight in the pitch black, he couldn't see anything clearly and thought he had reached the end of the road and encountered a wall.

He reached out and pushed it, wanting to see if there was any mechanism or anything, but when his hand touched it, he realized that it was not a wall, but a canvas!

The kitten lost its grip and tumbled head over heels, tripping over something hard with a thud. Then came several sharp squeaks and crunching sounds, and a few large rats appeared out of nowhere, rampaging around.

The kitten, startled and falling to the ground, rolled over again after getting tangled in the canvas. When the mouse ran away, he picked up his watch and nearly fainted: a headless man was right above him!

No, to be more precise, it's a skull without a skull.

The worst part is that it's still moving! It's even making a "click-click-click" sound.

The young detective stood frozen in place, speechless.

"Joseph!" The worried old father rushed over and, seeing this scene, felt a chill run down his spine.

Some bricks were scattered on the ground, and a rat lingered inside, peeking out. Under a beam of pale light, a skeleton was rhythmically swinging like a pendulum, accompanied by the clattering of gears: just like the pendulum of an old-fashioned clock.

And right next to him was the bed he had been looking for.

"I thought I would see bones nailed to a cross, but why is it hanging?" The man stared at the horrifying scene, puzzled: the deceased's arms were bound and he was hanging up, with a large stone tied to his feet.

This is a very cruel punishment; the victim is slowly tortured to death, and the swaying stones exacerbate the pain.

Judging from the skeleton, the deceased should be a male: it is very likely Mr. Karasuma.

The man carefully examined the ropes binding the deceased and roughly deduced that the pile of bricks the young detective had accidentally stepped on was the switch that triggered the pendulum. Thanks to the cat's antics, the pendulum, dormant for 20 years, was wound up again and began to spin clattering away.

"Is this a timer?" the man wondered.

“No, it’s counting beats,” the little detective said, recovering from his shock. “The original metronome on the piano broke, so they made a new one… because this castle can’t be without music.”

"What?!" The man's eyes widened in surprise.

“Dad, I think I understand everything now,” the young detective said, facing the skeleton with his back to the man. He reached out, wanting to touch the swaying corpse.

"Don't touch it! Don't disturb the scene."

As soon as he finished speaking, the detective's flashlight turned green. He placed the watch on the stone at the dead man's feet, and the green light swayed to the beat. Under this grim filter, the skeleton appeared even more eerie.

"Joseph, what's wrong?" the man asked, his heart pounding. He thought to himself: Could this child really be possessed by some kind of evil spirit?

The young detective circled around behind the skeleton, his face also appearing a terrifying green under the psychedelic death light, his eyes lifeless, as if possessed by an evil spirit.

"Joseph, you, you're scaring me..." The man was genuinely frightened this time.

The little boy asked in a high-pitched voice, "Scotland, are you scared?"

"Who are you?" the man asked, trying to appear calm.

"We've met before, haven't you forgotten? Your lemon pie was pretty good!"

"Osiris? What... what are you trying to do?!" He clenched his fists tightly.

"Now that you're here, enjoy this piece I created 20 years ago!"

"Did you do this? Where is Miss Swann?"

"Alas! It seems you still haven't grasped the true meaning of the Passion of Matthew... Judas betrayed Jesus, leading to Jesus' crucifixion and death. I ask you, why did Judas betray his Lord?"

“I’ve heard that Judas chose to betray because the devil entered his heart.”

"Yes, it's the devil's temptation! But it's also God's plan."

"What's the meaning?"

Behind the swaying green skeleton, the little boy grinned sinisterly: "Judas' betrayal, Jesus' death... it was all God's will! Do you understand?"

"You mean...?" The man gasped.

“That’s right! I am the devil who bewitches people, and I am also the God who orchestrates everything. I am the master of heaven and hell! The whole world is under my control. You have nowhere to escape, Scotland!”

Then, under the man's astonished gaze, the little detective flashed an innocent and adorable smile and said softly, "Daddy, look, it's a green sticker!"

"Joseph, are you looking for a beating?!" The cat father, furious beyond endurance, stormed over to settle the score with the kitten.

"Dad, I just wanted to fit in with the atmosphere of a horror movie! If Osiris were really here, I think he would say something like that."

"You're the one who ruins the mood the most!"

The kitten was so frightened that it covered its head and ran away, begging for mercy repeatedly: "I'm sorry, Daddy, I was wrong! I won't do it again next time! Actually, I had two more paragraphs to tell you!"

"What else do you want to say?" the man asked patiently.

"Judas betrayed Jesus, but he also committed suicide because of it. Dad, who do you think was the traitor in this case?"

"Mr. Karasuma was murdered, so you mean Miss Swan was the one? How is that possible?"

"After eliminating all impossibilities, what remains, however incredible, must be the only truth. Osiris's Passion for Matthew is meant to tell us this: Miss Swann is the real Judas; she betrayed love not as a lover, but as a subordinate, because Osiris seduced her."

"cider…"

"Yes, but it's just reasoning at this point. To get a reliable conclusion, we'll have to go to Mr. Swann to verify it."

"Okay, I promise you. What's the last part you want to say?"

"Why play the entire St. Matthew Passion? I think the reason is closely related to another question: Why did Osiris kill the boss without any punishment?" the little detective reasoned. "Jesus died, but he rose again. So I think it's the same with Osiris. He puts himself in God's position and doesn't interpret it as murder, but as part of a plan, that the dead master will surely return."

And today happens to be Easter.

The man, drenched in sweat, glanced back at the still-moving skeleton and thought, "If he suddenly came back to life, this story would be even more interesting."

The little detective smiled contentedly: "Dad, you're right. Osiris 20 years ago was much simpler and easier to guess than he is now. His methods are too easy to see through. Except for replacing the cross with a metronome, the rest is a direct copy of the script from the Gospel of Matthew."

"Is that what you think?"

"Hmm, is there a problem?"

"On the contrary, I think we may have underestimated this opponent before."

Twenty years ago, Jingguang and Ling were just kids who would swing together after school, while Osiris was already a master manipulator.

"That's absolutely terrifying..."