Mystery Detective of the Steam World

Chapter 236 Searching for Alice

The Durn family mansion was naturally located in the Upper Town, and they were considered a well-established and prestigious family. Upon learning that their younger brother had actually invited Levi, the Durn couple hurriedly came out to greet him. After a brief exchange of pleasantries, Levi expressed his desire to see Alice's room, to which the Durn couple had no objection.

Alice's room looked no different from any other little girl's room. Li Wei walked into the room, looked around, and asked.

Has this area been tidied up?

"No."

Mrs. Dunn answered hastily.

“The police investigated and said they needed to preserve the evidence, so I left the room as it was… I always felt that maybe if it stayed like this, the child would come back someday…”

As she spoke, Mrs. Dunn couldn't help but sob, and Mr. Dunn held her in his arms.

"Um……………"

Li Wei nodded silently, then began to carefully observe the room in front of him.

The clean and tidy bed, dressing table, desk, bookcase, and wardrobe were basically the normal furnishings of a family of this class. There was a window against the wall, and Li Wei went up to take a look, only to find that it was also locked and could not be opened.

There were no signs of forced entry on the door.

"What did the police say?"

As Li Wei investigated, he asked questions. The Dunn couple exchanged a glance, and then Mr. Dunn spoke.

"The police said it's highly likely that an outsider broke in and kidnapped Alice..."

"But there were no threatening letters or ransom demands."

"Yes, so..."

Mr. Dunn didn't know what to say. The police had certainly tried their best, but he also understood that the whole thing was strange.

"Um……………"

Li Wei stared at the floor, which was naturally covered in footprints. Fortunately, it seemed that the Dunn couple had followed the police's request and hadn't cleaned the room, leaving it as it was. Perhaps, as Mrs. Dunn said, maybe this way, one day when they woke up, the child would return.

Of course, this is just a form of self-comfort or hope for parents who have lost their children. However, for Li Wei, it's a good thing nonetheless.

Li Wei stared at the ground and quickly located a small footprint.

This must be Alice.

Looking at the scene before him, Levi quickly began to reconstruct the events of that time in his mind. Then he turned his head and looked at the Duen couple.

"Then, let me tell you about the situation at that time."

"Hey?"

"If I'm not mistaken, Mrs. Dunn, you accompanied Alice back to her room and then put her to bed, right?"

"Ah, that's right..."

"Then you sat down next to her, what were you doing at that moment?"

"I'm reading a story to Alice..."

In response to Li Wei's question, Mrs. Duen hurriedly answered.

"That child loves stories, and I read her storybooks every day to help her fall asleep..."

"Then you leave after she falls asleep."

“Yes, yes… But Sir Levi, how did you know…”

“What I saw.”

Li Wei pointed to the ground.

"After Alice fell asleep, you first went to check the windows to make sure the doors and windows were closed, then left the room and locked the door from the outside, right?"

"yes……………"

"The next morning, was it the maid who opened the door?"

"Yes, that child has always been a heavy sleeper, so I have to wake her up very early every day."

"Um……………"

Li Wei walked to the desk, examined it carefully, and then opened the drawer. Inside were drawing papers covered with all sorts of drawings. Of course, children's drawings aren't particularly beautiful; some could even be described as abstract. However, what concerned Li Wei wasn't the drawing techniques, but rather the content.

What are these drawings?

Generally, children draw pictures about their families and themselves, but the drawings on paper now are all anthropomorphic little white rabbits, big bad wolves, and the like.

"Ah, those are all fairy tales I told her."

Mrs. Dunn also hurriedly spoke up.

"This child loves to draw, and she always draws the stories I tell her..."

"Um……………"

Li Wei flipped through the pages one by one. The drawings on these papers were all cute fantasies of children. A little girl with blonde hair, wearing a blue dress, was playing and frolicking happily with small animals. They were all very ordinary drawings, and there seemed to be nothing strange about them.

"Ok?"

Just as Li Wei put down the drawing paper in his hand, he suddenly noticed something hidden in the gap between the desk drawers. Curious, Li Wei reached in and took out several sheets of drawing paper.

Li Wei opened the drawing paper, looked at the content of the drawing, and then raised his eyebrows.

"Good heavens, this is really..."

It was still drawing paper, still a girl in a blue dress with small animals, but the content was completely different from before. The drawing paper, which should have been white, was completely smeared black with crayons, and in this darkness, the little girl in the dress smiled, but the animals around her were now lying on the ground.

Moreover, on the necks and chests of these animals, there were also hastily drawn bright red marks made with crayons.

And the knife the girl was holding.

Moreover, the manner of death is different in each painting.

Hanged, stabbed, burned...

Kids really do have rich imaginations.

Looking at one of the paintings, which depicts piglets screaming inside a burning house while a girl laughs outside, Li Wei couldn't help but feel moved.

It's really awesome.

"Uh... Sir Levi, what is that? Have you discovered anything?" The rider asked anxiously, staring at the drawing in Levi's hand, wishing he could go up and take a look himself.

"Yes, there are some."

However, Li Wei did not show it to him, but instead folded it up and put it away.

"May I speak with the maid who usually takes care of Alice?"

"of course."

Li Wei found a room, and then a young maid came in. She looked at Li Wei uneasily, her whole body tense—after all, Li Wei's appearance, status, and aura were enough to make her extremely nervous.

"Alright, please have a seat."

Li Wei gestured to the maid, who obediently sat down.

"Let me make it clear beforehand, I'm not a police officer, I'm a detective. And I won't reveal our conversation to your master, so you don't need to worry too much."

Li Wei leaned back in his chair, smiled, and gestured for the maid to relax.

"I want to know, what kind of child is Alice?"

"She...she is a very lovely, lively, and good child, adult."

The maid gripped her skirt tightly with both hands and answered in a low voice.

"She's not naughty at all, and very obedient. She always has a cheerful smile, and everyone likes her very much. Alice is also very clever and quick-witted; the master says she'll definitely go to graduate school someday… She can even read some picture books by herself now…"

I don't deny that.

Li Wei stared at the maid.

“But I don’t want this kind of casual conversation. You understand my problem, right, Miss Maid? The longer you stay here, the more people will worry about what you’ve been saying to me. So, if there’s anything you want to tell me, please say it as soon as possible. I know you’re nervous and uneasy right now because you want something but are afraid to say it, aren’t you?”

"………………………"

This time, the maid gritted her teeth, lowered her head to look at her hands, and then raised her head as if she had made up her mind.

“Alright, I’ll tell you… I’ve never told the master and madam about this, but sometimes I feel like… there’s another person inside Miss’s body.”

"Oh?"

Li Wei raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean?"

"I discovered it by accident."

Now that she had spoken, the maid let go of her inhibitions.

"A while ago, I went out with my daughter, and she found a baby bird—it didn't seem to be able to fly yet, it had fallen from its nest. My daughter felt sorry for it and wanted to keep it. I didn't object, but because the bird had injured its wing, we decided to give it some basic first aid, so I went back to get the first-aid kit..."

At this point, the maid took a deep breath.

"When I returned, I saw from afar that the young lady seemed to be holding the bird tightly, with a sinister smile on her face, while the little bird struggled desperately. I was startled when I saw this and rushed over. But when I got there, I saw that the young lady was just holding the little bird blankly, and the bird was already dead."

"I originally wanted to teach the young lady a lesson, that she shouldn't treat life like that, but she looked at me sadly and asked with a puzzled expression, 'Why did it suddenly die? It was perfectly fine just a moment ago?' Then I asked her if she knew what she had done, and she told me that she had just been standing there holding the bird waiting for me, and that she hadn't done anything else..."

Don't you think she might be lying?

Li Wei changed his posture.

"It's normal for children to lie when they make a mistake and are afraid of being scolded by adults."

"That's what I thought too, but I still helped the young lady bury the little bird and told her not to hurt other lives. The young lady was really sad at the time, and it didn't seem like she was faking it. I even wondered if I was seeing things... but..."

The maid paused for a moment and looked at Li Wei.

"Sir, you must have heard about the young lady's sleepwalking."

"Yes."

"Actually, after that, I also saw Miss sleepwalking. She was wearing pajamas and wandering in the corridor. I wanted to stop her, but for some reason, I remembered the ferocious look on her face when she faced that little bird, so I didn't speak immediately. Then I saw..."

The maid gripped her skirt tightly, trembling.

"I saw the young lady with that smile, the same expression she had when she killed the bird, muttering incomprehensible words, running around like a terrifying beast. I was terrified when I saw that. What's even more frightening is that when the butler discovered the young lady was sleepwalking and called to her, that terrifying and eerie appearance completely vanished..."

"Um……………"

Upon hearing the maid's description, Li Wei quickly began to think.

Although the maid thought she was being delusional, Li Wei felt that it was very likely the truth.

Is there another person's soul inside Alice?
Or perhaps it's a split personality?

This might also explain why Alice gets up so late every day, because her body wasn't sleepwalking at the time, but being controlled by someone else.

So who is the other person? Was it also that guy who drew those pictures?
"Thank you, the information you provided is very important."

Li Wei snapped out of his thoughts and smiled and nodded at the maid.

"Don't tell anyone about these things for now."

"Okay, okay."

After revealing her hidden secret, the maid felt much more relaxed. She quickly stood up and left the room.

Then, Li Wei said he would continue to investigate the situation, bid farewell to the Dunn couple, and left the mansion.

"Sir Levy, how is the situation?"

As soon as they stepped out of the mansion, the rider couldn't wait to ask questions.

"Yes, we have indeed found some problems, but it would be best to investigate them on-site."

"Field investigation?"

"Yes."

Li Wei turned his head and looked at the rider.

"Where is that small town you mentioned?"

Then he asked.

(End of this chapter)