Chapter 184: All Major Problems
“From the death scene of Bluebeard the Count, the fatal wound of Bluebeard the Count was not caused by this stone sculpture.” After entering the count’s bedroom, the four first conducted an investigation on the corpse. Clark only observed the corpse for a moment before reaching a conclusion.
Mireille stared at him in a daze, pointing at the “weapon” that had smashed the count’s pig’s head until brains splattered, and said in shock and suspicion with wide eyes: “Even like this it’s not the fatal wound? Even the count couldn’t have such tenacious vitality.”
Hearing this, Clark immediately gave an explanation, pointing at the neat bedding and saying: “Look at the bed where the count is lying now. If the stone sculpture smashed him to death, a single strike wouldn’t be enough to be fatal. Even if the count who was smashed in pain didn’t have time to scream loud enough for us to hear, he would surely struggle in pain. This bed absolutely couldn’t remain this neat.”
Mireille suddenly understood.
“So, the count was probably killed by this knife stabbing him?” Hera looked at the military knife that pierced the heart, speculating.
“Very possible.” Valente said. He was the only one present who always carried gloves with him, so he was in charge of checking the corpse. He unbuttoned the clothes of Bluebeard the Count’s corpse and checked everywhere on the corpse, finding only fatal wounds on the head and chest. Since the possibility of death from the head being smashed was ruled out, the remaining speculation was very likely the count’s true cause of death.
“How much did the murderer hate the count, to destroy the corpse like this after killing him.” Mireille felt a chill, trembling all over.
The other lady present, Hera, was also hanging her head low, shivering secretly.
Hearing Mireille’s words, Clark didn’t think so.
To kill the count so silently without leaving a trace afterward, the murderer was certainly not acting in a fit of passion. From the precise stabbing technique, the murderer was probably premeditated. Such a murderer was unlikely to go to the extra trouble of destroying the corpse after killing the count, as doing so would only leave more risks.
Therefore, Clark inferred that the one who killed the count and the one who destroyed the corpse were probably not the same person.
Thinking of this, Clark couldn’t help but secretly glance at Hera beside him.
From the current impression, Hera was the one he thought had the most motive to kill the count. After all, from the signs observed while tracking last night, the count’s persecution of Hera was not just limited to sexual harassment, and although Hera disguised herself well on ordinary days, she absolutely hated and loathed the count from the bottom of her heart.
Then, he glanced at Valente and Mireille.
Valente’s action of not letting people investigate the corpse was understandable, but he also had suspicion.
Mireille was the first to discover the count’s corpse. Although she might not be the murderer, she had suspicion of destroying the corpse. After all, she had ample time to destroy it; she could smash the count’s head and then pretend to suddenly discover the death scene and scream to attract others in the castle.
Clark sincerely felt a chill, because in his view, the one who smashed the count’s head afterward was even more dangerous than the one who killed the count.
The stone sculpture should originally have been an item placed in Kander’s room, well hidden and sealed, but it was taken out by someone unknown and used to smash the count’s corpse’s head. This meant that the hidden person likely knew the stone sculpture had been moved, and Clark didn’t know if that hidden person had seen his actions last night. If they had, he might be at risk of taking the blame.
However, being framed wasn’t what made Clark most uneasy; he feared that the hidden person had smashed the count’s head.
This behavior of inserting the Shadow of All Things stone sculpture into the corpse’s eyes was not purely venting anger; it was also the most sinister demon-subduing technique.
Inserting the Shadow of All Things stone sculpture into the eyes of a person who had just died not long ago was equivalent to using the corpse as the eyes of the Shadow of All Things, guiding the Shadow of All Things to gaze here. When It notices here, the one using the demon-subduing technique can pray to It, and the “benevolent” It will quietly listen and fulfill the person’s wish.
However, this world has no deities, or rather, there are no normal deities known to people. There is a chasm of understanding between people and Them; people’s wishes might not mean the same to Them as people think, and what is ultimately fulfilled might be a twisted wish.
So, this meant that the hidden person likely watched the entire process of the murderer killing Bluebeard the Count, and after Bluebeard the Count died, conveniently used his corpse to perform the demon-subduing technique.
Clark suddenly felt a deep danger. This castle was indeed extremely abnormal. Not counting himself, there were originally only four people in this castle, and now there was already a calm and rational murderer and a demon-subduing sorcerer with sinister intentions inside. Bluebeard the Count’s “lecherous noble” identity was actually not so hateful in comparison.
After checking the corpse, the four took turns examining the scene and inquired of specific individuals about the things that appeared at the scene.
Valente: “There are cake crumbs on the bedside cabinet, Hera, did you bring a late-night snack to the count last night?”
Hera: “Yes, just like usual, I brought him a late-night snack. He was still fine at that time.”
She heard the suspicion in Valente’s words toward her, so she counterattacked: “Speaking of which, Mr. Valente, did you report the castle’s daily work summary to the count as usual last night?”
Valente said flatly: “Of course. At that time, the count was still reading a book. I remember it was the one in front of the candlestick on the desk, titled 《Transformation》.”
“What book!?” Clark immediately stepped forward and picked up the book. When he saw the book’s title and author’s name, he couldn’t hide his shock.
“What’s wrong, Mr. Clark, have you read this book too?” Valente narrowed his eyes and asked back.
Clark closed the novel in his hand, slowly placed it back on the table, and pretended to be calm as he said: “No, I was just curious about such a strange title. To be honest with everyone, I’m also a book lover.” He clenched his mouth and gritted his teeth secretly.
Something’s wrong! Something’s wrong! Everything here is too abnormal!
Clark felt like he was going crazy. After seeing the book the deceased had been reading before death, his brain and heartbeat began to run out of control.
This world could have a novel titled 《Transformation》, but it absolutely shouldn’t be the one Clark knew. It shouldn’t exist in this world or in this era.
This world has a big problem!
Valente seemed not to notice Clark’s suppressed agitation and turned to Mireille: “Speaking of which, Miss Mireille, you were the first to discover the count’s death. You have significant suspicion.”
“B-but… but I have no reason to do that. I’m just a maid in the castle.” Mireille shook her head hurriedly, trying to desperately clear her suspicion, but she was somewhat inarticulate.
Hearing this, a strange sneer appeared on Hera’s face: “Yes, but you’ve only been in the castle for less than a month.”
Since it’s a script murder, everyone can now guess who the bad guy is.
