Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 189 Dinner Party
Led by the maid, the group arrived at the restaurant.

Upon entering the restaurant, Levi quickly saw George Rogers sitting at the head of the table, with a woman sitting next to him. The woman was pale and indifferent, seemingly unconcerned about everything.

"Welcome to the Kuroki Mansion."

Looking at the crowd before him, George chuckled, stood up, and made a welcoming gesture.

"Please take a seat."

"………………………"

The group sat down at the tables on either side, and then George looked at everyone before nodding to the female lawyer.

"Now that you've met Miss Emma, ​​you should have a good idea of ​​the mystery, right?"

"Indeed, though it is a strange puzzle."

The short, stout detective nodded and then continued speaking.

"But I still have one question."

"please say."

"What about the time limit? There's no time limit? If that's the case, then we can live here for the rest of our lives?"

"Ah, the time limit, that is indeed a problem."

George was not surprised by this.

"Actually, I was a little confused at first, but..."

"but?"

"Please listen to it yourselves."

As he spoke, George snapped his fingers, and then the butler standing next to him took out a piece of paper and began to read.

"Enjoy the feast that begins in the dead of night!"

That was the last festival of this world, a feast for the souls.

As the first rays of dawn break, the beautiful dream will end.

He who opens the gates to the dark abyss will gain everything.

"What does it mean?"

After listening to the butler's account, the tall, thin detective frowned, while George shook his head.

"I do not know either."

"You don't know either?"

"The letter was found under the door when my wife and I left the room. But I don't know who wrote it, and I have no clue about it."

"Could we see this letter?"

"of course."

George gestured to the butler to hand the letter to the short, stout detective sitting next to him. After reading it, the detective passed it to the tall, thin detective, then to the female lawyer, and then through the maid to Levi and Katie sitting on the other side.

"Mr. Rogers, do you recognize the handwriting on this?"

"Absolutely not, I've never seen it before."

When asked by the short, stout detective, George shook his head.

"Um……………"

Everyone fell into deep thought, but soon the short, stout detective gave up thinking and patted his belly.

"Anyway, let's serve the food first. At least this letter shows that we're safe until dawn. But it's not worth starving to death here."

As the short, stout detective spoke, the previously tense atmosphere eased somewhat, and soon, the maid began serving everyone dinner.

Although the tall, thin detective had mentioned the possibility of food poisoning, Li Wei wasn't worried about it. He only needed to check if his lifespan countdown suddenly decreased abnormally while he was eating to know for sure if the meal had been poisoned.

It turned out that the meal was not poisoned.

Levi ate heartily, and the short, stout detective, like his physique, devoured all the food in front of him, while the tall, thin detective didn't touch a single bite. As for Katie and the female lawyer, they also ate normally, nothing special.

"Great! Great!"

After finishing dinner, the short, chubby detective happily patted his belly.

"I've tasted food from quite a few places, but this was surprisingly delicious! Very good!"

"Well, it's really good."

Li Wei nodded in agreement, and Katie and the female lawyer also chimed in. Clearly, the dinner was quite delicious in terms of quality.

"I will convey your praise to the Mrs. Bremen, she will be very pleased."

George smiled again, then stood up, and his wife followed suit.

"Now, it's your turn to have some time. I won't keep you any longer. Feel free to investigate anywhere in the entire Blackwood Mansion. If you find that door before sunrise, please be sure to let me know."

"Mr. Rogers, you're going back already?"

"I believe that professional matters should be left to professionals."

After saying this, George Rogers turned and left the room, and his wife silently nodded to everyone before following him out, leaving the few people in the restaurant looking at each other in bewilderment.

"This employer is really carefree, even though it is indeed our job."

The short, stout detective stood up and stretched.

"Then let's get to work. We can use the time after dinner to digest."

The restaurant was obviously unsuitable for meetings, so everyone returned to the lounge and sat back down on the sofas. The tall, thin detective took the note and read it carefully once more.

"Strange letters."

"But that should be the condition, right?"

The short, chubby detective also let out a burp, indicating that he had indeed eaten quite a bit.

"Look, this must be what's written above. Everything will end when the sun rises tomorrow morning. Only the person who opens that door will get everything. Does that mean the person who can't open that door will die?"

"I think so. Doesn't it say 'The Last Ceremony of This World'? If there's this world, there must be that world too. This implies that after this feast ends, the dream will end, and everyone will die." "So you mean that those who died fifty years ago didn't die from food poisoning, but because they didn't meet this condition—they didn't find and open that door before sunrise—that's why they died?"

The tall, thin detective frowned.

"It's like a curse."

"It might be a curse."

The short, stout detective chuckled as he spoke, then sighed.

"Unfortunately, we still don't know the details of the case from fifty years ago. If we could have more clues..."

However, before the short, stout detective could finish his reflections, he was interrupted by Li Wei.

"I have."

"Huh? What do you have?"

"Information on that case from fifty years ago."

As Li Wei spoke, he opened the briefcase he had been carrying and took out a file bag, placing it on the table.

"Uh... how did you get this?"

"I've always had a good relationship with the police."

Li Wei looked at the two of them and shrugged.

“I contacted an acquaintance in the police force and asked if I could investigate the case. He then gave me the investigation files.”

“……………………………”

Upon hearing Li Wei's answer, both detectives wore complex expressions. Private detectives, at their core, are somewhat anti-authoritarian and often dislike the police. They see the police as lackeys of public power, not on the side of fairness and justice. However, the police also believe these detectives only hinder their investigations, such as secretly entering crime scenes and sometimes even taking away important but undiscovered evidence.

To the police, this was simply outrageous.

However, the detectives also had their own reasons. They felt that the police only served the rich and powerful. If they gave them all the evidence, they would definitely destroy any evidence that was not in their favor with the client. It was better to keep it for themselves, in case they could use it to their advantage someday.

But from a policeman's perspective, if you fucking pull off a winning hand, then my job is done...

Therefore, in this world, the relationship between private detectives and the police can only be described as average. The kind of operation that Li Wei, who is well-connected with the police and can even directly ask acquaintances to access files, is something they wouldn't even dare to dream of.

Of course, if Li Wei were an ordinary detective, it would be difficult for him to access the files.

But using the name of MI7 is a different matter altogether…

"If I can find the gate, I'll give you half of the reward."

The short, stout detective reached out, took the file, opened it, and spoke, while the tall, thin detective nodded in agreement.

After all, every detective knows the importance of intelligence. For civilian detectives, someone like Li Wei, who can access files from within the police station, is practically a legend.

"Then I'll trouble you."

Li Wei smiled slightly. This was actually the purpose of bringing the file. As Li Wei said, he really hated solving puzzles. But if someone was willing to do the thinking for him, Li Wei certainly wouldn't mind being lazy.

After all, he's not short of money.

The two detectives opened the file and quickly began reading.

"Here is the autopsy report from that time. According to the autopsy results, the time of death was probably between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m., so it doesn't seem like food poisoning."

"indeed."

The short, stout detective nodded.

"By this time, people usually have already digested their food. If it were me, I would be getting up to eat breakfast. If there was a problem with the food I ate at dinner, it would be impossible for it to take so long to manifest."

"They died in the early hours of the morning, and everyone looked terrified. Could it really be because of a curse?"

"In any case, let's check the location of these dead bodies first. Maybe someone has already discovered the location of that door, but just didn't have time to open it before the time came."

"So, does that mean there might be clues about a secret door hidden around the deceased? Hmm... let me see..."

"Of the five guests, two bodies were found in the lounge, right on this sofa. They were probably sitting here discussing something, or perhaps waiting. One of them was found on his bed in his room; maybe he didn't even think about it..."

"That is."

The short, stout detective chuckled.

“If someone invites me to a banquet and then tells me I’ll die if I don’t find a door before sunrise tomorrow, I won’t take it seriously, unless someone actually dies.”

"The bodies of the remaining two guests were found in the lobby and the library, respectively."

"Where is the servant?"

"One is in the storage room, and the other is in his own room."

"Where are Jim Rogers' wife and daughter?"

"That's the strange thing."

The tall, thin detective carefully examined the file.

"They were found in the garden."

"garden?"

“That’s right, isn’t this building square? There’s a garden in the middle. I heard that it used to be an execution ground for punishing criminals, and hangings were also carried out there.”

"Come to think of it, it seems like all the people locked up here are heinous criminals?"

"Pretty much. The information I've gathered is that death row inmates are held here before their execution, and then they are executed right here after the verdict is handed down."

Perhaps because of Li Wei, the tall, thin detective also contributed his information.

Where in the garden were they found?

"Right in the center, where the gallows used to be, now there's a tree planted there."

The tall, thin detective looked at the file with a serious expression.

"They were found hanged from the tree."

(End of this chapter)