The detective is dead, I did it.

Chapter 42 A Turtle in a Jar

After a while, Li Ang slowly opened his eyes.

The lights in the living room were off, leaving only the dim light of the sky outside the window. Charlotte was breathing lightly, leaning back in her chair, seemingly asleep.

Because they had things to do later, neither of them returned to their room; they simply leaned back in their chairs for a short rest.

Li Ang remained silent, quietly stood up from the chair, picked up his coat, pushed open the door, and went out.

Because of the major event of the Viscount's murder, most of the servants were ordered to stay in their rooms and not wander around in order to prevent chaos, and the corridors were very quiet.

He tiptoed, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to attract the attention of others.

This was a trick he honed while stalking petty thugs in the slums, ensuring they never realized someone was following them.

Upon arriving on the first floor, the Viscount's bedroom remained locked, but there was no one guarding the door.

Shirley was probably wandering around the rest of the mansion. The blue-haired armed detective seemed carefree, and that's how he handled things.

The detective seemed to have forgotten about the incident and the importance of protecting the crime scene.

After looking around to make sure no one was there, Li Ang pushed open the door and slipped inside.

However, not long after he went inside, a figure appeared at the end of the corridor.

The smell in the room had dissipated considerably, but it was still noticeable. Li Ang did not turn on the lights, but instead walked straight to the row of ebony wardrobes at the back of the room, using the faint light coming in through the window.

During the previous search, his ability had given him a hint that there was a separate space inside, but he hadn't told anyone else at the time.

Now he's going down alone to investigate and see if his guess is correct.

Although the wardrobe was heavy, Li Ang gripped the edge of the wardrobe with both hands and moved it to the side with force, the wooden board making a dull rubbing sound on the carpet.

He stopped and listened to the sounds outside. After confirming that he did not hear any footsteps, he moved the wardrobe completely away.

An iron gate was revealed, with a padlock hanging on it. An ordinary person might need to find professional lock-picking tools, but Li Ang had already tested the sharpness of the black knife, so cutting a padlock was no problem.

So he pulled out his black knife and chopped it in two.

Behind the iron gate was a staircase leading down to complete darkness, the air thick with the smell of decay mixed with rust.

Li Ang supported himself against the wall as he walked down the steps. With each step he took, the smell inside became stronger.

He felt he was about to uncover the truth about the mansion.

At the end of the steps, a half-open wooden door appeared, with a dim red kerosene lamp shining through the crack.

Li Ang gently pushed open the door with the tip of his knife, revealing a complete basement.

The surrounding area was made of bluish-gray bricks and stones, and the ground was paved with dark stone slabs, with dark stains that could not be washed off embedded in the gaps between the slabs.

Ropes, barbed whips, and other instruments of torture were tied to the wall, and dark brown marks remained on the iron frame next to it, as if the blood had dried for a long time.

really.

For the first time, Li Ang felt a slight sense of unease at the fact that he had guessed the truth of the matter correctly.

In the center of the basement, there was a huge circular pattern drawn on the floor, like some kind of magic circle. Four maids stood in each of the four directions around it, each holding a candle.

Helena stood in the center of the magic circle, dipping her finger in some kind of dark liquid and drawing something on the stone slab.

Her maid's headscarf was long gone, and her long golden hair was completely exposed, draped over her shoulders, and gleamed with a bronze-like luster in the candlelight.

Li Ang saw them, and they saw Li Ang.

"How did you find this place?" Helena asked first.

Her brows were furrowed tightly, and her light gray eyes were fixed on Li Ang in the doorway.

He also made a point of observing behind Li Ang, but saw no one else and heard no footsteps, only darkness.

But she dared not be careless in the slightest.

The location of the Viscount's basement has always been known only to the Viscount himself. Even the senior maids in the manor are only responsible for delivering people to the master's room and have no idea of ​​its exact location.

Moreover, before they came down, they deliberately hung an iron lock on the door to give people the illusion that no one had come in.

But how did this assistant manage to find this place? And why was he alone?

Although the famous detective Charlotte Holmes did not appear at this moment, she was very likely already standing at the basement entrance, waiting for him to rush out of this exit.

Upon thinking of this, Helena's face instantly turned ugly.

Instead of answering Helena's question, Li Ang asked, "You didn't run away?" His surprise was no less than hers.

He wasn't being sarcastic; he genuinely hadn't figured it out.

This group killed the viscount, completing the most crucial step in their revenge plan.

Logically, the next step should be to escape the mansion under the cover of night, change into ordinary clothes, blend into the countless alleys and rental houses in East London, and disappear from the face of the earth.

They could even set a fire before leaving, burning the scene beyond recognition and making subsequent investigations more difficult.

But they didn't.

Instead of running away, he went into the viscount's basement, turning himself into a sitting duck, waiting for someone to put the lid on.

Is he out of his mind? Or does he think that since he can't escape anyway, he might as well hide here and take a gamble?

Li Ang couldn't understand it.

They had at least a window of opportunity to escape before the viscount's body was discovered.

During this time, he and Charlotte stayed in the collection room. The armed detectives had not yet arrived. The mansion was secured by the butler and a few male servants. With such a loose security, it would be incredibly easy to climb over the wall and leave.

But not anymore.

Armed detectives have arrived, and the Sequence 6 Inquisitors are standing in the main house. Even if they wanted to run, they couldn't escape.

As for helping them escape, Li Ang never even considered it.

He really wanted to kill the viscount, but he had to wait until the case was closed. With the detective in the room, he couldn't do it openly.

Moreover, even if he did take action, he wasn't confident he wouldn't leave any evidence. Otherwise, if a detective got involved, he would be exposed sooner or later.

Therefore, not telling Charlotte his speculations was the best he could do.

Going a step further, that makes one an accomplice.

Helena stood up, casually wiping the dark liquid on her fingers across her dress.

Her expression quickly shifted from initial shock to calm. "Run? Where to? Why run?"

Li Ang was even more puzzled.

Judging from this woman's tone, it seems she never intended to run away from the beginning?

Looking again at the magic circle behind the other person, a bad feeling arose in Li Ang's heart.

Are these women up to something big?