Chapter 103: The Series of Deaths
However, for X, the answer lies in the riddle itself, since the "dead" cannot speak, but the "ghost" can.
X asked Amuro Tooru, who was already dead, "Did you see the culprit?"
But the suggested answer shook its head: "I didn't see anything. Suddenly everything went black, and then I died."
He helplessly shrugged, indicating that he didn't know the cause of death either.
Rimbaud, who was talking to X, suddenly received a line: it was his child who had died, and he shouldn't be acting like it was none of his business. As his mother, he should cry.
The long-haired French youth remained expressionless, demonstrating his professionalism as an intelligence agent on the spot. He delivered a crying scene on cue, even professionally producing a small handkerchief from somewhere and gently wiping the corners of his eyes, which had no tears.
To the newly arrived whiskey trio, it was a beautiful woman weeping, but those who knew the truth saw Rimbaud's acting as phenomenal. If the scene weren't so inappropriate, they would have applauded. What a heartbroken mother he was...
Speaking of his mother, X asked Verlaine, who was watching with Rimbaud, "Where is Hindley?"
The mother is crying for her son, but where is the father?
The Norse gods pointed out the way to their "mother," and X turned his head to see Ryunosuke Akutagawa holding a bottle of "Bourbon."
At this moment, this junior high school student who "lost his beloved son" is drowning his sorrows in "alcohol." At first glance, it seems like he is really chugging from the bottle, but upon closer inspection, it is actually cola.
This kid has already drunk so much Coke. If he keeps drinking it, X is worried he'll get cavities.
He happened to be in a somewhat dark corner, which made the cola in the bourbon bottle look just like the naturally dark-colored bourbon.
The only one who wasn't quite aware of the situation, Chuuya Nakahara, watched the three newcomers warily until X patted him on the shoulder and whispered to him that this was also part of the script, at which point he put on a somewhat speechless expression.
He vowed never to come here again.
For a time, only the three outsiders, along with Gin and Vodka who had suffered heavy losses, were still concerned about finding the murderer.
Even Matsuda, who was told by his "son" that the person was not actually dead, had a somewhat subtle expression, and then he wanted to laugh.
The main problem is that the person pretending to be dead is Furuya Rei, that serious guy, and he can't control himself. No, he has to hold back; there's still someone alive over there.
He had already figured out that the newcomer, Amuro, didn't recognize him. This was probably just a trick of the script, just like how he didn't recognize his colleagues.
Rimbaud, hiding behind his handkerchief, noticed Matsuda's strange expression. He then shooed this unrelated person away from his son to prevent him from laughing.
Verlaine also cooperated by pulling his "father" away, allowing the scene to continue.
Chuuya Nakahara noticed something was off when he saw Ryunosuke Akutagawa chugging drinks in the corner.
What was he drinking?
When Chuuya Nakahara was in the sheep, he had seen a lot of alcohol, so he naturally recognized that this was a bourbon whiskey bottle. But why did it look like cola? After all, bourbon, as a distilled spirit, doesn't have bubbles.
At this point, Akutagawa began his performance. He was now an expert actor at playing a drunkard. He drank the liquid in the bottle clean, then shook it in his mouth a few times to make sure it was all gone.
She slammed the bottle on the table with a bang, and retorted angrily, "Hmph, you little devil, can't you tell I'm drinking whiskey? In this house, even drinking gets me..."
Before he could finish speaking, the "drunkard's" legs gave way and he slid down. Morofushi Kagemitsu, who was closest to him, tried to help him up but missed, and the drunkard collapsed to the ground.
Morofushi Kagemitsu stared at his hands in disbelief. Strange, Mr. Hindley was a tall man, how could he only be holding onto thin air?
The truth is, he could have helped the real Hindley, but Akutagawa was short, and he watched helplessly as this stubble-faced cat-eyed man almost grabbed his head in his hand, which scared him so much that he quickly lay down.
Shuichi Akai had already picked up the empty bottle, and with a strange tone, he looked at the label on the bottle and said the name of the liquor word by word.
"This is a bottle of aged bourbon whiskey."
Morofushi Hiromitsu, who was questioning his existence, and Akai Shuichi, who was holding a bottle of liquor, both looked at Bourbon, who remained silent.
He didn't know when it started, but he silently stared at Hareton's corpse on the ground.
Even Gin and Vodka looked at Shuichi Akai after hearing his voice.
The blond young man in the center of their line of sight suddenly spoke up: "Have you called the police?"
He asked Vodka, "After all, a murder occurred as soon as we arrived at your residence..."
"I've already called the police, but they said the rain is too heavy and they won't be able to get here for a while."
Otis took over the conversation and said, "Please, the three of you, stay here for now and wait for the police investigation results before you leave."
"Of course, we will cooperate with the investigation."
*
Because of the deaths, the butlers' patrols became more stringent, making secret talks and investigations impossible.
The three of them could only stay in their room, waiting for the rain to stop and for the police to arrive.
So they went to bed early, but suddenly they heard the sound of footsteps.
This sound can only be made by a person barefoot, followed by the sound of turning the doorknob.
Their door was locked from the inside, since they were carrying something shady that they couldn't let anyone see.
The person outside seemed to realize they couldn't open the door, and stopped turning the handle, but then there was a muffled click.
The doorknob was ripped off by the guy outside, and the flying wood chips even landed on the face of Shuichi Akai, who was on guard with a weapon.
The tightly closed door slowly opened, and then another set of footsteps came from afar—the sound of shoes hitting the wooden planks. The person who had been waiting outside the door seemed to have found a target and headed straight for the other person.
The footsteps faded into the distance, and Shuichi Akai peeked out and saw a figure that should have been lying in the basement.
The figure that had just left was undoubtedly the dead Hareton, who looked very much like Bourbon. He wasn't wearing shoes, so his footsteps sounded strange, and there were some faint footprints on the ground.
Bourbon and Scotland are examining the broken doorknob; the outer one is deformed, and the immense force even ripped off the entire lock mechanism, causing a large chunk to fall off the door frame as well.
"Is this really something a human could do?" Morofushi Kagemitsu murmured, while Bourbon stared thoughtfully at the area where the finger marks had been pressed, then looked at his own hand.
"It's Hareton." The long-haired man with black hair, who had returned to the house, said in unison the true identity of the person who had been outside the door.
"This doesn't seem to be an ordinary house." Shuichi Akai stroked his chin and took out his weapon again.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Bourbon's expression was somewhat unpleasant, but given that he had never been friendly to him before, Shuichi Akai didn't take it to heart.
"Shall we go out and take a look?" Morofushi Kagemitsu suggested.
They were given no time to discuss the matter when a dull thud came from afar.
The three exchanged a glance, opened the now-obsolete door, and rushed towards it.
Standing at the corner of the stairs was a maid with a strange smile on her face.
“Miss Ishmael?” Scotland asked hesitantly.
The maid, with hair as brilliantly colored as the sea under the setting sun, was wearing a smile that was both standard and eerily strange.
Faced with their questions, she maintained a textbook-worthy smile, but the more she did so, the more abnormal she seemed.
She suddenly tilted her head, smiled, and uttered her first words: "Supervisor?"
Manager? What supervisor? Their housekeeper's supervisor?
She ignored them, leaving while laughing and muttering the word "supervisor".
They didn't see anyone resembling Hareton the entire time, so they had to go back, since they were still carrying a string of [illegible characters].
...
Early in the morning, it was the same routine as yesterday, and the same taste as yesterday.
One more person has died.
This time, it was Ishmael who died, and the trio who claimed to have seen the dead Hareton violently destroyed their door.
They called the police again. This time, the police heard that another person had died and couldn't sit still, but the rain was too heavy for them to go up the mountain.
Vodka, who was also a butler, looked at Ishmael, who still had a smile on her face even in death, and suddenly felt a chill down his spine.
Like Bourbon, she had no injuries on her body, as if she had died of natural causes.
X looked around and saw that Ishmael, who hadn't left the scene, was truly dead.
...
The next day, the death toll rose again.
This time, it was Vodka who died. The big guy touched his face in confusion, then looked at Bourbon next to him as if he had seen a ghost.
"Weren't you dead?" He raised his voice as soon as he said it, "Yes, I'm dead, so how can I still talk?"
X was looking at the big guy, while Adam stood beside him, holding a little bit of Wuwu who had inexplicably gained weight, and was also looking at the vodka with interest.
The tall, muscular man let out a terrified sound, like a frightened child.
He saw two more pairs of identical golden eyes looking at him, and he coughed twice to try and calm himself down.
"You can see me?"
After another round of questioning, his answer was exactly the same as Bourbon's. Suddenly everything went black, and he died.
The only difference was that before he lost consciousness, he saw a strange smile, but he couldn't see clearly who it was.
The Metropolitan Police Department received yet another emergency call—the same number, the same address, the same calm voice, and the same news of death.
"Another one died?!"
The police officers couldn't sit still any longer, but forcing their way up the mountain in this weather might make them the ones who needed to be rescued as well.
Ultimately, the only solution was to advise them not to act alone and to stay together in groups.
...
The Metropolitan Police Department received yet another call; as always, another person had died. Fortunately, the continuous heavy rain had finally stopped, and they were able to set off.
However, after the heavy rain, the mountain road became extremely difficult to traverse, and by the time they arrived, it was already completely dark.
This is a manor surrounded by dense foliage, and combined with the successive deaths of the victims, it appears even more sinister in the eyes of the police.
A middle-aged female housekeeper opened the door. She gave one of the policemen a meaningful look before welcoming them in.
Just then, a bolt of lightning suddenly flashed outside, illuminating a young man with curly hair among the police officers.
He looked up and met the gaze of a man who looked exactly like him walking towards him.
-----------------------
Author's Note: The murderer is actually—[doge][doge]
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
