From the Ship of Fools to Earl of Wugang

Upon arriving at the location, Edmund saw a young woman standing there wearing a dark short coat.

Her gaze constantly swept across the street and passing carriages, while her right hand hung naturally at the most convenient position to draw her weapon.

Edmund recognized the face at a glance: the man waiting for Mary Mostan was none other than his teammate who had not yet appeared in the waiting room.

"Rapid currents?"

Jiliu's gaze fell on his face, her eyebrows noticeably raised—she recognized them too.

Secrets were clearly not suitable for being exchanged under the pillars. After confirming the identities of the four, the rapids summoned a carriage parked by the roadside.

She had originally only planned to pick up Mary Mostan and two companions, but now with the addition of an inspector, the five of them had to squeeze into the same carriage.

After having the police officers he had brought board another carriage, Douglas sat coldly in the seat near the door. The driver cracked the whip, and the carriage drove away from the theater along the wet street.

Jiliu straightened his short jacket and got straight to the point.

"My name here is Vera Sholto. My father is Major Alfred Sholto, and I have an older brother named Bartholomew. I previously served in the Knights of the Frontier for a long time, and have rarely returned to London in recent years."

Rebecca already guessed what it was: "Did you send those pearls?"

"To be precise, it was Vera who arranged for it to be sent."

Jiliu took out a booklet from his bag, which contained records of dates, agents, and mailing addresses from previous years.

"Old Sholto left behind twelve black pearls before his death, from a piece of jewelry that had been dismantled. He admitted that the Sholto family's wealth involved a breach of contract, but he did not explain the whole story, only asking that half of the pearls be given to Captain Mostan's daughter."

Edmund recalled the same knotted rope and blue copper powder in the box.

"Bartholomew possessed the family property and most of the belongings. He believed that Captain Mostan had long since disappeared, and there was no need to acknowledge a rightful owner who lacked written evidence."

Jiliu explained, "To prevent the orphaned girl of Mostan from living in poverty, Vera, who was in charge of the pearls, entrusted a quartermaster to have different agents send one pearl each year."

Douglas asked, "Why one a year?"

"To avoid being discovered." Torrent turned the page. "Three days ago, Bartholomew suddenly sent an urgent telegram, claiming that he had found the treasure chest that his father had hidden for many years and that she should return to London immediately."

She took out the folded telegram. The telegram was sent from the west side of the city, half a day earlier than Rebecca received the invitation to meet.

"I originally planned to see Mary first and then take her home with me." Rapids looked at everyone, "But now Dionysus has gathered everyone for us."

Suddenly, dark red watermarks appeared on the surface of the carriage window, and a line of text remained steadily suspended in the center of the glass as the carriage swayed.

[Phase one of the missions is complete. Please begin investigating the truth behind the case.]

The words lingered for a few seconds before dissipating into the receding lights outside the window.

"Since Miss Sholto is also on our team, the confidentiality requirement is no longer necessary," Conrad said. "The inspector will come with us to the mansion, which will at least save us from having to file a second report later."

Douglas did not object, but warned Rapids not to approach anyone connected to the treasure chest alone.

The carriage then headed towards the southern suburbs of London, and around ten o'clock the group arrived at the mansion surrounded by high walls.

The doorman, holding a lantern, recognized Jiliu's face and visibly relaxed with delight: "Miss Vera, you're finally back. Mr. Bartholomew went into the top-floor laboratory two days ago and hasn't come out since."

The raging torrent stopped in its tracks: "What's going on?"

"The master often locks himself in there to conduct experiments, and we thought... but the meals we've been sending up these past two days have remained untouched outside the door. The servants went to check, but strange things have been happening in the corridor."

The doorman swallowed hard. "We can't get close to the lab. No matter which way we go down the corridor, we'll always reappear at the stairwell."

As the group entered the courtyard, Edmund looked up to observe the top floor.

There was no heat coming from the laboratory chimney, and no fresh ash from recent burning was visible on the inner wall of the outlet. Near the side vent, a dozen or so black moths, each about the size of a thumb, were gathered.

Their wings had a dark, oily sheen at the edges, and they repeatedly extended their mouthparts, as if sucking something unseen from the cracks in the bricks.

Black-winged moths: Born from oleophobic fungi, they feed on corpses, decaying rituals, and decaying spirits. Small gatherings usually indicate the presence of decaying matter nearby that has persisted for more than a day...

Edmund looked away: "Something inside the lab is decaying. Since the corridor has been affected, it's best to go in from the outside."

The inspector scoffed, "At the very least, we need to take a look first."

So the group went inside and, passing the servants who were gathered and scrutinizing them, went to the top of the stairs on the second floor.

The inspector solemnly announced, "There is only one road leading to the laboratory on the top floor of the mansion," and then walked up the stairs under everyone's gaze.

But after walking only a few steps, he somehow ended up back among the group.

The inspector, realizing what was happening, was somewhat annoyed: "Let me try again using other methods."

Before Edmund could suggest using his "path intuition" to assist him, Rebecca took out a coin, tossed it once, and shook her head.

"I suggest we follow the method of 'The Republic' and go through the rooftops."

She explained it this way: "My approach has a certain degree of foresight and is more suitable for making choices between two options—the result just now was that going up the roof would lead to more discoveries."

The inspector raised an eyebrow but did not object. After discussion, the group decided to proceed with Edmund's plan for now.

Back outside, the gardener quickly brought over a long ladder, and Edmund spoke before Conrad could, saying, "My position here makes me more familiar with the site investigation; let me take a look first."

With the help of several people holding the ladder steady, Edmund climbed onto the slippery roof.

He found a cast iron drain pipe near the laboratory, with several fresh scratches on the pipe wall and the outer rust layer scraped off to reveal the shiny metal inside.

As you approach the skylight, a faint, bitter, and fishy smell becomes increasingly distinct.

Edmund covered his mouth and nose with a scarf, took off his coat and wrapped it around his arm, then smashed a corner of the skylight and opened the latch.

He climbed over to the top floor and landed in the attic above the laboratory.

The dust here is well preserved, and there is a series of circular indentations near the corner of the wall.

There are roughly evenly spaced dots on the floor, indicating that a certain instrument with a round metal head had repeatedly touched the floor, with the marks extending all the way to the edge of the laboratory door.

Edmund used a knife to make a hole in the ground and peeked into the laboratory.

Just as he had imagined: Bartholomew Cholthorn sat behind the lab table in the moonlight, his body stiff against the back of the chair, his hands hanging at his sides.

His lips were stretched to their limit, revealing his neat teeth, and an unusually exaggerated smile was frozen on his face.

Several black-winged moths landed on his collar and hair, but he didn't react at all.

He went back down to the area beneath the skylight and shouted out onto the roof, "Inspector, you'd better come up and take a look. This is a murder scene."

Douglas muttered something below and climbed up the ladder, holding onto the handle.

After landing, he first checked for dust and marks, his expression gradually becoming serious.

Edmund gave up his seat to the inspector, who glanced at him and immediately stepped back from the slit: "This gentleman was murdered two days ago."

The inspector turned and walked towards the skylight, shouting outside.

"This is Inspector Charles Grayson of the London Metropolitan Police. Seal off the entrances and exits, and immediately place the mansion under guard. No one is allowed to use the telephone."

A response came quickly from downstairs, and dark red characters slowly seeped out from the cracks in the floor, covering the dust in front of the two people.

Mission Two has begun. Please find the real killer.